EXAMINING THE CLIMATE POLICY PRIORITY PARADOX: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF GOVERNMENTAL ATTENTIONAL ALLOCATION BETWEEN CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND MITIGATION

The need for governments to balance investments and policy attention between climate change adaptation and mitigation has intensified. Despite the complementary nature of these strategies, many governments continue to prioritize one over the other, creating a climate policy priority paradox that may undermine sustainable development and climate resilience. This study examined the governmental allocation of attention between climate change adaptation and mitigation and assessed the factors influencing policy prioritization and their implications for ICG. A quantitative research design was adopted, using a structured questionnaire administered to 200 participants drawn from relevant public institutions and climate policy stakeholders. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis to address the three research questions. The findings revealed that adaptation and mitigation policy attention jointly exerted a significant influence on governmental climate policy allocation, with the regression model explaining 61.0% of the variation in policy priorities (F(2,197)=154.03, p<.001, R²=.610). Furthermore, political commitment, institutional effectiveness, socioeconomic development, and public awareness significantly shaped governmental allocation of attention between adaptation and mitigation policies (F(4,195)=118.62, p<.001). The results also demonstrated that government allocation to adaptation (β=.384, p<.001) was the strongest predictor of ICG, whereas policy coordination (β=.318, p<.001) significantly enhanced SCG through improved institutional collaboration.The study concludes that effective climate governance requires a balanced and coordinated allocation of attention to adaptation and mitigation strategies. It recommends strengthening political commitment, enhancing institutional coordination, increasing public awareness, and promoting evidence-based policy frameworks that integrate adaptation and mitigation priorities to achieve long-term climate resilience and sustainable development.