PARIS, 20 Sept. - (ANA) - Enhancing the climate resilience of infrastructure will be critical for achieving sustainable development, especially for developing countries. This report was prepared for G20 policy makers to advance financing for climate-resilient infrastructure and was welcomed at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in July 2024. 

 

 

 

 

Infrastructure damages caused by extreme weather and slow onset events in the last years demonstrate how infrastructure is affected by climate change, and are expected to become increasingly severe.

 

Enhancing climate resilience of infrastructure will be critical for achieving sustainable development in a changing climate.

 

Developing countries have an urgent need to expand access to infrastructure services, such as clean water and electricity, to support progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which can be particularly challenging when they are vulnerable to climate change.

 

Meanwhile, all countries are faced with the need to manage the increasingly severe impacts of climate change on infrastructure.

 

Proportionate, targeted measures to integrate climate resilience across the infrastructure lifecycle can strengthen economic returns, protect social services, and reduce risks to public finances. Governments at all levels should consider investments in upfront climate resilience of infrastructure assets as it can strengthen the basis of investment returns, and reap cost-benefits for public investment.

 

Recommendations in this report are broad in nature, and application should be balanced within the context of each country. The specific country circumstances will affect how each recommendation is adapted and applied. Emerging and developing countries in particular may require specific considerations to be made in the application of these recommendations.

 

 

 

 

• Actions that allow governments and investors to better assess and understand climate risk should be integrated into investment decisions, and financial structures that support climate-resilient infrastructure should be encouraged.

 

 

• By understanding the role and unique challenges of subnational governments and communities to provide local climate-resilient infrastructure that protects local businesses and communities, targeted action can be adopted to better address the spatially differentiated impacts of climate change.

 

 

• Risk transfer mechanisms and insurance arrangements can provide better climate risk assessment and understanding for infrastructure assets, and price climate risk, providing a pathway for quicker recovery funds being made available.

 

 

• By improving sustainability reporting, standards, labels and taxonomies, greater visibility of physical climate risk could be achieved, and inform investors of climate risk exposure.

 

 

To download the report, visit: file:///Users/mac/Downloads/8f6d436a-en.pdf

 

 

AB/ANA/20 September 2024  - - - - -