• Helping countries carry out the stress tests and risk analyses needed to identify the weak spots in their infrastructure systems. This initiative also has a Technical Assistance component, in cooperation with UNOPS, UNEP and Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute. 
• Putting together a knowledge module on public-private finance and to share best practices.

Prakash Javadekar, India’s Minister for the Environment, highlighted India’s contribution to the resilient infrastructure agenda through the creation of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), which will be working with the Commission throughout the Year of Action.

“During the Year of Action, I propose that the Global Commission and CDRI work together to initiate pilot transformational action in ecological infrastructure and nature-based solutions and climate-resilient power and telecommunications infrastructure”

Shemara Wikramanayake, CEO of the Macquarie Group Ltd and GCA Commissioner said:
“In addition to mitigation solutions, addressing the need for more resilient infrastructure is an urgent priority as we adapt to changing weather patterns and a warmer climate. Like any new area of investment, public and private sector collaboration is essential to catalyse activity. We’re committed to driving pilot projects during the Year of Action that improve resilience for communities around the world.”

The world is faced with the challenge of getting infrastructure networks that are fit for purpose. Europe is faced with an ageing, and sometimes obsolete, infrastructure that needs to be updated, not only to adapt us to the realities of climate change, but also in response to demographic changes.  This will also have the added benefit of unlocking the potential of new technologies. In other parts of the world much of the required infrastructure is missing with billions of people lacking access to safely managed sanitation and almost 1 billion people without access to electricity.

Climate change will exacerbate many of the impacts we are already starting to see:

• Major cities, including Sao Paulo and Cape Town, are coming close to running out of water
• Hundreds of thousands of people in Puerto Rico have been left without electricity for months after Hurricane Maria
• Wildfires caused by a combination of dry conditions and ageing transmission lines in California

Scaling up good practices and knowledge sharing is necessary to facilitate the ambitious action required to ensure resilient infrastructure systems become the norm. The Global Commission on Adaptation’s flagship report released in September showed this is not only the right thing to do but the smart thing to do with climate-proof infrastructure only 3% more expensive than the norm and with the an additional benefit of saving four dollars for every dollar invested in terms of avoided losses.

Over the coming year, the GCA will collaborate closely with the Coalition on Climate-Resilient Investment and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure to drive this change in the public and private sectors, helping to mobilise action to:

• Share the tools and data needed understand the risks from climate change
• Translate the concept of climate-resilience into practical terms that can be used by engineers, financiers, and others.
• Support the development of new funding models for climate-resilient infrastructure, including piloting approaches for mobilizing private sector investment