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This report explores how insurance can be integrated into urban climate resilience strategies to mitigate financial and physical risks. It argues that while insurance is underutilized, cities can act as consumers of risk-transfer products, stewards of risk-reducing policy, and conveners of stakeholders. Key barriers include a lack of technical capacity, data gaps, and the short-term nature of insurance products. The report recommends increased investment in risk assessment, the development of collaborative resilience plans with the insurance industry, and the use of concessional finance from DFIs to make insurance affordable for vulnerable urban populations.

This working paper by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) proposes a practical framework for implementing climate action in cities, particularly in developing countries. Based on an analysis of seven urban projects across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, the paper identifies five critical levers—power and leadership, communication and engagement, capacity building, financing implementation, and the demonstration effect—that practitioners can use to overcome barriers and embed climate compatibility into urban planning and investment.

This report explores the economic impact of temperature on shelter in Pakistan's rapidly growing cities, focusing on the need for adaptive, resilient designs to mitigate the effects of temperature increases and other natural hazards.

This document contains the remarks delivered by Sam Bickersteth, Chief Executive of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), at the opening plenary of the Eighth International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation (CBA8) in Kathmandu, Nepal. The speech focuses on the necessity of scaling up finance for local-level climate adaptation and the relationship between greenhouse gas emission reductions and adaptation resource requirements.