The impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly evident, with the frequency and severity of extreme events such as floods, heatwaves, and wildfires surpassing historic norms. Globally effective climate action is essential, to simultaneously accelerate the net zero transition and mitigate the severity of future events, while also building resilience to locked-in climate change impacts.

Climate change affects infrastructure assets and their operations in diverse ways. Slow onset events can wreak havoc over time, while extreme weather events can cause damage and disruption in a matter of days or even hours. Climate change makes infrastructure assets and operations subject to increasingly long disruptions, with growing implications. Most infrastructure assets are interdependent with other systems with a range of societal and economic functions relying on them. The failure of infrastructure can thus cause a wide range of cascading impacts.

Global average temperatures set a record in 2023, rising to around 1.4 °C above the preindustrial average. Behind this rise lies the growing frequency and severity of extreme events such as heatwaves and floods, as well as gradual onset changes such as droughts and inundation by rising seas. Some future climate impacts are now inevitable, but the consequences of those impacts are not. Enhanced efforts to prepare for the impacts of climate change are a vital complement to mitigation efforts.

Infrastructure is key to a well-functioning society by enabling the circulation of people, goods and information. However, storms, floods or wildfires induced by climate change have led to widespread infrastructure failure and damages. Projections suggest that infrastructure will be increasingly exposed to climate impacts. This chapter introduces the rationale for building climate-resilient infrastructure as part of fostering broader sustainability and quality of infrastructure. It demonstrates how social and economic resilience to climate change hinge on the ability of infrastructure to adapt to and absorb climate impacts. Finally, it provides an overview of how planning, financing and design need to consider climate resilience, topics covered in more detail in the other chapters.

Effective governance for infrastructure can enable governments to anticipate and respond to threats posed by climate change. This chapter examines how countries can identify risks and respond by engaging the actors and stakeholders that deliver, operate and use infrastructure, identify interdependencies among infrastructure systems and share information about vulnerabilities to climate risks. It also examines how countries can use policies and regulation both to provide incentives for infrastructure providers and to impose mandatory requirements on them. Finally, the chapter examines how infrastructure providers can collect data and use technologies during the operations and maintenance phase of the infrastructure life cycle to improve resilience.

As weather patterns diverge from historic norms, the physical impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly visible. Climate change is both heightening risks to infrastructure services and influencing demand for them. Investing in climate-resilient infrastructure systems is cost effective, can save lives and support continued economic growth. However, such investment faces a significant finance gap and challenging macroeconomic conditions. This chapter explores the crucial role that finance can play in achieving climate-resilient infrastructure. It highlights the need to make climate resilience the norm for all infrastructure financing and investments by increasing awareness around climate-related risks, improving risk-sharing arrangements and strengthening the enabling environment. The chapter also highlights the potential of using public finance to unlock private investment in infrastructure.

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are getting more attention in national and international policy debates. They are increasingly viewed as cost-effective and flexible solutions that can help countries adapt to the accelerating impacts of climate change, including on infrastructure. Yet while NbS are often praised for generating social and environmental co-benefits, understanding and actual use of NbS for infrastructure remain limited. This chapter focuses on how NbS can be part of the toolset of measures to build climate resilience into infrastructure. It shows how NbS can be used as substitutes, complements or safeguarding measures to grey solutions. The chapter reviews successful applications of NbS in climate resilience building of different sectoral infrastructures. It sketches the enabling factors needed to increase consideration of NbS in infrastructure planning and development.

As climate change accelerates, developing countries face heightened risks of extreme weather events, sea level increases and other natural disasters. This chapter delves into the imperative of making infrastructure climate resilient in the context of developing countries. Presenting perspectives from Africa, Asia and Latin America, and focusing on competitiveness-related infrastructure, the chapter clarifies the specific needs and challenges of these economies. From energy infrastructure to transportation and digital networks, this chapter underscores the need to improve planning and implementation capacities, as well as to update international partnerships to foster climate-resilient infrastructure for sustainable development.

This chapter explores how taking an integrated approach can help create more climate-resilient regions and cities. It highlights the unequal vulnerability of different places to climate change, their varying capacities to build climate resilience, the critical role of regional and local governments, and the interdependency of infrastructure systems across sectors and places. Addressing these challenges will require working together with regions and cities to build climate-resilient infrastructure by i) adopting a place-based approach; ii) harnessing multi-level governance; and iii) supporting subnational government finances. The chapter provides insights and case studies to help national, regional and local governments build climate-resilient infrastructure and communities.