Why it’s time to invest in climate resilient infrastructure

The document highlights the inadequacy of current global infrastructure to withstand extreme weather, noting that low and middle-income countries are most vulnerable. It emphasizes the financial risks of climate change, citing potential losses of US$250 billion in assets and $1 trillion at risk over five years. To address the systemic failure of markets in pricing physical climate risk, the document introduces the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment, a private sector-led initiative involving 34 organizations with over US$5 trillion in assets. The author argues that while building resilience requires an average of 3% additional upfront capital, it generates four dollars of economic value for every dollar invested.

• Current global infrastructure is insufficient to handle violent or unpredictable weather, with low and middle-income countries facing the highest vulnerability to extreme climate effects.
• Climate change poses significant material financial risks to companies; the Carbon Disclosure Project estimates US$250 billion in potential lost assets and $1 trillion at risk over the next five years, with the financial services industry representing 80% of that exposure.
• A systemic market failure exists regarding the pricing of physical climate risk in investment decisions due to a lack of transparency, understanding, and analytical tools to quantify necessary capital investments.
• The Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment, launched at the UN Climate Action Summit on 23 September by Willis Towers Watson, comprises 34 companies and organizations managing more than US$5 trillion in assets to develop solutions for climate resilience.
• Investing in resilience is economically efficient, as an average upfront capital increase of 3% can generate four dollars of economic value for every dollar spent.

APA

Haley, J. J. (2019). Why it’s time to invest in climate resilient infrastructure. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/why-it-s-time-to-invest-in-climate-resilient-infrastructure/

Chicago

Haley, John J. Why it’s time to invest in climate resilient infrastructure. World Economic Forum, 2019. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/why-it-s-time-to-invest-in-climate-resilient-infrastructure/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Haley |first1=John J. |title=Why it’s time to invest in climate resilient infrastructure |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=22 September 2019 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/why-it-s-time-to-invest-in-climate-resilient-infrastructure/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{haley2019why, author = {Haley, John J.}, title = {{Why it’s time to invest in climate resilient infrastructure}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2019}, month = sep, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/why-it-s-time-to-invest-in-climate-resilient-infrastructure/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }