A successful outcome at the 2015 UNFCCC meeting in Paris will rest in part on finding ways to increase adaptation finance flows to the most vulnerable countries. This paper explores the potential for two elements of an approach that could help unlock public funding and accelerate the disbursement of international climate finance: a) scaling up one cost effective adaptation response, support for productive safety nets which support public work programmes; and b) assessing the extent to which reimbursable debt service payments could play a role in freeing up finance for such national programming.