Jakarta – Investing in climate and nature resilience could create over 280 million new jobs across emerging markets and developing economies by 2035, while boosting global GDP and opening up a USD 1.3 trillion market opportunity, a recent report said.
The report, launched on Thursday, October 16, by Systemiq and 20 global partners at the World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings, titled “Returns on Resilience: Investing in Adaptation to Drive Prosperity, Growth & Competitiveness”, offers a comprehensive analysis of the economic and financial benefits of adaptation investment.
It underscores that investments in resilience deliver at least four times more benefits than costs, with a 25% annual average return. Yet, for every USD 1 spent on resilient infrastructure, USD 87 is still directed toward projects that fail to account for climate risks, such as ports without raised quays or housing built in flood zones, Systemic said in a press statement on the report.
The report draws on insights from more than 120 organisations and 70 leading publications, including the World Resources Institute and the London School of Economics. By quantifying the real economic returns of resilience, the study urges world leaders and investors to shift from reactive disaster recovery to proactive investment.
“Resilience is the bedrock of prosperity, yet it remains the most undervalued investment of our time. Our financial rules still constrain it instead of enabling it,” said Dr Pep Bardouille, Director of the Bridgetown Initiative and Climate Resilience Advisor to the Prime Minister of Barbados. “COP30 must be the turning point—to rewrite the rules, recognise the true returns on resilience, and unlock the scale of finance vulnerable nations need.”
Vera Songwe, Chair and Founder of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at Brookings, added: “Investing in resilience is not only about managing risks. It is an opportunity to transform our economies. As this report shows, resilience drives sustainable growth, creates jobs, and improves long-term debt prospects.”
Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Co-chair of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens, emphasised the dual moral and economic imperative: “Investing in resilience is about protecting people and their livelihoods in the face of storms, heatwaves, and floods. However, it is also an urgent economic imperative: building resilience is critical to ensure that hard-won development gains and economic growth are not washed away.”
Systemiq’s analysis arrives ahead of the COP30 summit in Belém, Brazil, where the Presidency has placed adaptation and resilience at the centre of global climate negotiations. The report introduces a roadmap of 15 scalable “best buy” interventions, from climate-smart agriculture to mangrove restoration and early-warning systems, spanning food, water, health, infrastructure, and ecosystems. (nsh)
Banner photo: Image generated by OpenAI’s DALL·E via ChatGPT (2024)
