Tracking Investments in Climate Resilient Infrastructure

The report finds that investments in climate resilient infrastructure (CRI) are in their nascent stages, representing only about 1.1% of average annual infrastructure investment in 2019/20. It proposes a five-principle framework to define and track CRI, though data gaps limited its operationalization to three principles. The study highlights a significant gap between investment and vulnerability, noting no correlation between per capita CRI investment and the ND-GAIN Vulnerability Index. It recommends the adoption of common resilience principles, mandated double materiality disclosures, and the creation of a standardized CRI taxonomy to scale finance.

• Investments in climate resilient infrastructure (CRI) are minimal compared to conventional infrastructure; for every USD 1 spent on CRI, USD 87 was spent on projects that do not integrate climate resilience principles.
• Annual CRI investments in 2019/20 reached up to USD 31.3 billion, which is approximately 1.1% of the average annual infrastructure investment for that period.
• The water and wastewater sector received the largest share of tracked CRI investments in 2019/20 at 42% (USD 13.1 billion), followed by other/cross-sectoral flows (25%), AFOLU (20%), transport (9%), and energy systems (3%).
• Grey infrastructure dominated CRI investments, accounting for over half (53%) of the total, with the highest concentration in the water and wastewater sector (40%). Green infrastructure received less than 10% of tracked investments.
• Public financial institutions provided the vast majority of CRI funding in 2019/20 (83.5%, USD 26 billion), with multilateral DFIs being the largest source at 45% (USD 14.2 billion).
• There is no correlation between the amount of per capita CRI investment in a country and its vulnerability as measured by the ND-GAIN Vulnerability Index.
• Private sector disclosure of physical climate risks remains limited; in 2022, less than 30% of GRESB Infrastructure Asset Assessment participants used physical scenarios to evaluate resilience strategies at the asset level.
• Current climate-related disclosure standards lack 'double materiality'—the assessment of how infrastructure investments impact systemic and community resilience—with the EU's CSRD being a notable exception.
• A case study in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, demonstrated that while a project can align with most resilience principles, it may still be outperformed by future climate scenarios (such as NGFS Current Policy Scenario) by 2050 if ambitious action is not taken.

APA

Padmanabhi, R., Richmond, M., Naran, B., Bagnera, E., & Stout, S. (2022). Tracking Investments in Climate Resilient Infrastructure. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Tracking-Investments-in-Climate-Resilient-Infrastructure.pdf

Chicago

Padmanabhi, Rajashree, Morgan Richmond, Baysa Naran, Elena Bagnera, and Sean Stout. Tracking Investments in Climate Resilient Infrastructure. Climate Policy Initiative, 2022. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Tracking-Investments-in-Climate-Resilient-Infrastructure.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Padmanabhi |first1=Rajashree |last2=Richmond |first2=Morgan |last3=Naran |first3=Baysa |last4=Bagnera |first4=Elena |last5=Stout |first5=Sean |title=Tracking Investments in Climate Resilient Infrastructure |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=December 2022 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Tracking-Investments-in-Climate-Resilient-Infrastructure.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{padmanabhi2022tracking, author = {Padmanabhi, Rajashree and Richmond, Morgan and Naran, Baysa and Bagnera, Elena and Stout, Sean}, title = {{Tracking Investments in Climate Resilient Infrastructure}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2022}, month = dec, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Tracking-Investments-in-Climate-Resilient-Infrastructure.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }