The Investment Case for a Resilient Future

The policy brief by the Global Resilience Partnership advocates for a systemic shift in how capital markets account for resilience-related risks. It argues that current policy frameworks and market incentives are inadequate, leaving assets exposed to increasing global shocks. The document proposes a new definition of resilience based on five attributes: diversity, redundancy, connectivity, inclusivity and equity, and adaptive learning. It emphasizes that investing in resilience, particularly in the Global South, is a risk mitigation strategy that can provide high economic returns, with benefit-cost ratios for climate adaptation ranging from 2:1 to 10:1.

• Current definitions of resilience used by major intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, including the IMF and World Bank Group, are often too narrow, focusing primarily on 'bouncing back' or returning to the status quo after a shock.
• Investments in climate adaptation that build resilience can yield significant financial returns, with benefit-cost ratios estimated between 2:1 and 10:1.
• The document proposes a new framework for resilience based on five core attributes: diversity (sectoral flexibility), redundancy (back-up strategies to avoid 'single-point failure'), connectivity (balance between global networks and self-sufficiency), inclusivity and equity (reducing social instability), and adaptive learning (systems to detect and respond to shocks).
• Improving resilience in the Global South is critical for global investors because the region is integral to global supply chains; failure to do so increases the volatility of returns and exposes portfolios to systemic risks.
• Corporate diversity and inclusivity are linked to better financial performance; McKinsey analysis indicates that gender-diverse executive teams were 21% more likely to achieve above-average profitability, and resilient companies saw 10% higher total shareholder returns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The document outlines three primary requirements for financial institutions: adopting a definition of resilience that includes adaptation and transformation, conducting materiality assessments of future risks (such as global warming and rising inequality), and increasing capital allocation toward resilience in existing portfolios, especially in the Global South.

APA

Global Resilience Partnership (n.d.). The Investment Case for a Resilient Future. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/the-investment-case-for-a-resilient-future-brief.pdf

Chicago

Global Resilience Partnership. The Investment Case for a Resilient Future. n.d. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/the-investment-case-for-a-resilient-future-brief.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Resilience Partnership |title=The Investment Case for a Resilient Future |url=https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/the-investment-case-for-a-resilient-future-brief.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalresiliencepartnershipndinvestment, author = {{Global Resilience Partnership}}, title = {{The Investment Case for a Resilient Future}}, institution = {Global Resilience Partnership}, url = {https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/the-investment-case-for-a-resilient-future-brief.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }