IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/frz/wpaper/wp2025_04.rdf.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Too calm in the storm? Revisiting the Relationship Between Vulnerability and Climate Action

Author

Listed:
  • Giorgos Galanis
  • Giorgio Ricchiuti
  • Ben Tippet

Abstract

Most countries are expected to become more vulnerable to climate change over the coming decades. Existing literature suggests that increasing vulnerability might incentivize mitigation, as climate-induced disasters often act as ``focusing events'' that spur action. This viewpoint is somewhat optimistic, implying more action due to increases in damages. However, there is limited empirical support for this. Conversely, wealthy countries (which are generally less vulnerable) are expected to take greater action under the principle of \emph{Common But Differentiated Responsibilities} due to their high incomes and historic responsibility for climate change. These two observations raise the research question of whether the negative relationship between vulnerability and climate action holds, even when controlling for countries' income per capita. Using relevant vulnerability data and controlling for output per capita, we find a strong negative association between vulnerability and three proxies of climate action (pledges, mitigation laws, and growth rate of emissions). Our findings challenge the ``focusing events'' argument, highlighting the importance of not relying on damages and vulnerability increases to foster action.

Suggested Citation

  • Giorgos Galanis & Giorgio Ricchiuti & Ben Tippet, 2025. "Too calm in the storm? Revisiting the Relationship Between Vulnerability and Climate Action," Working Papers - Economics wp2025_04.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
  • Handle: RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2025_04.rdf
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.disei.unifi.it/upload/sub/pubblicazioni/repec/pdf/wp04_2025.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tim Wappenhans & António Valentim & Heike Klüver & Lukas F. Stoetzer, 2024. "Extreme weather events do not increase political parties' environmental attention," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 14(7), pages 696-699, July.
    2. Samuel Fankhauser & Caterina Gennaioli & Murray Collins, 2016. "Do international factors influence the passage of climate change legislation?," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 318-331, April.
    3. Shepherd, Philippa M. & Dissart, Jean-Christophe, 2022. "Reframing vulnerability and resilience to climate change through the lens of capability generation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    4. Santos Silva, J.M.C. & Tenreyro, Silvana, 2010. "On the existence of the maximum likelihood estimates in Poisson regression," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 107(2), pages 310-312, May.
    5. Galanis, Giorgos & Napoletano, Mauro & Popoyan, Lilit & Sapio, Alessandro & Vardakoulias, Olivier, 2025. "Defining just transition," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    6. Birkland, Thomas A., 1998. "Focusing Events, Mobilization, and Agenda Setting," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 53-74, January.
    7. Lisa Zaval & Elizabeth A. Keenan & Eric J. Johnson & Elke U. Weber, 2014. "How warm days increase belief in global warming," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(2), pages 143-147, February.
    8. Peter Andre & Teodora Boneva & Felix Chopra & Armin Falk, 2024. "Globally representative evidence on the actual and perceived support for climate action," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 14(3), pages 253-259, March.
    9. Silva, José Maria Cardoso & Araujo, Leonardo Schultz & Torres, Roger Rodrigues & Barbosa, Luis Claudio Fernandes, 2024. "The sustainability of development pathways and climate change vulnerability in the Americas," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    10. Roman Hoffmann & Raya Muttarak & Jonas Peisker & Piero Stanig, 2022. "Climate change experiences raise environmental concerns and promote Green voting," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 12(2), pages 148-155, February.
    11. Giorgos Galanis & Mauro Napoletano & Lilit Popoyan & Alessandro Sapio & Olivier Vardakoulias, 2025. "Defining just transition," Post-Print hal-04884553, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guglielmo Zappalà, 2023. "Drought Exposure and Accuracy: Motivated Reasoning in Climate Change Beliefs," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 85(3), pages 649-672, August.
    2. Crispino, Marta & Loberto, Michele, 2024. "Do people pay attention to climate change? Evidence from Italy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 434-449.
    3. Shiwei Fan & Lan Xue & Jianhua Xu, 2018. "What Drives Policy Attention to Climate Change in China? An Empirical Analysis through the Lens of People’s Daily," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-20, August.
    4. Emőke Kiss & Dániel Balla & András Donát Kovács, 2022. "Characteristics of Climate Concern—Attitudes and Personal Actions—A Case Study of Hungarian Settlements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-22, April.
    5. Bonan, Jacopo & Curzi, Daniele & D'Adda, Giovanna & Ferro, Simone, 2023. "Climate Change Salience and Electricity Consumption: Evidence from Twitter Activity," RFF Working Paper Series 23-34, Resources for the Future.
    6. Otrachshenko, Vladimir & Popova, Olga, 2024. "Environment vs. Economic Growth: Do Environmental Preferences Translate Into Support for Green Parties?," IZA Discussion Papers 17475, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Jie Duan & Zengxi Hu, 2024. "Internet linkage and international trade: From the perspective of risk alleviation," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(8), pages 3551-3577, August.
    8. Dramane Coulibaly & Blaise Gnimassoun & Valérie Mignon, 2018. "Growth-enhancing Effect of Openness to Trade and Migrations: What is the Effective Transmission Channel for Africa?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 27(4), pages 369-404.
    9. Tobin Im & Kris Hartley, 2019. "Aligning Needs and Capacities to Boost Government Competitiveness," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 119-137, March.
    10. Abigail Sullivan & Dave D. White & Kelli L. Larson & Amber Wutich, 2017. "Towards Water Sensitive Cities in the Colorado River Basin: A Comparative Historical Analysis to Inform Future Urban Water Sustainability Transitions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-27, May.
    11. Kaitlin T Raimi & Paul C Stern & Alexander Maki, 2017. "The Promise and Limitations of Using Analogies to Improve Decision-Relevant Understanding of Climate Change," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(1), pages 1-20, January.
    12. Ernest Miguélez & Rosina Moreno, 2013. "Do Labour Mobility and Technological Collaborations Foster Geographical Knowledge Diffusion? The Case of European Regions," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 321-354, June.
    13. Dramane Coulibaly & Blaise Gnimassoun & Valérie Mignon, 2018. "The tale of two international phenomena: International migration and global imbalances," Working Papers 2018-02, CEPII research center.
    14. Gabriel Târziu, 2024. "What does it mean, what does it take, and why is it important to understand climate change?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-5, December.
    15. Abdoulaye Seck, 2017. "How Facilitating Trade would Benefit Trade in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of African Development, African Finance and Economic Association (AFEA), vol. 19(1), pages 1-26.
    16. Carattini, Stefano & Fankhauser, Sam & Gao, Jianjian & Gennaioli, Caterina & Panzarasa, Pietro, 2023. "What does network analysis teach us about international environmental cooperation?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    17. Lopez Cordova,Jose Ernesto, 2020. "Digital Platforms and the Demand for International Tourism Services," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9147, The World Bank.
    18. Álvarez, Inmaculada C. & Barbero, Javier & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Zofío, José L., 2018. "Does Institutional Quality Matter for Trade? Institutional Conditions in a Sectoral Trade Framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 72-87.
    19. Jahanger, Atif & Hossain, Mohammad Razib & Usman, Muhammad & Chukwuma Onwe, Joshua, 2023. "Recent scenario and nexus between natural resource dependence, energy use and pollution cycles in BRICS region: Does the mediating role of human capital exist?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    20. Maria Mercè Clop-Gallart & María Isabel Juárez & Montserrat Viladrich-Grau, 2021. "Has the euro been fattening the European pig meat trade?," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 67(12), pages 500-510.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate Risk; Vulnerability; Mitigation Laws; Global Warming;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General
    • C4 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q57 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Ecological Economics

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2025_04.rdf. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Giorgio Ricchiuti (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/defirit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.