The drive for decarbonization has demonstrated the private sector’s power to coalesce around best practices, attract investment, and shape policy. There is an urgent need for similar dynamism to accelerate climate resilience. The lack of a unifying language and framework for corporate climate action is a missed opportunity—without a collective approach, we leave the true potential of the private sector untapped, the economy’s resilience vulnerable, and vital resources underutilized.

To address this time-critical gap between opportunity and risk, Resilience Rising and its consortium partner Resilience First, in partnership with C2ES, jointly engaged with senior leaders from over 45 organizations in a series of virtual and in-person meetings over the course of 2023. These sessions brought together sustainability and climate change experts from across all major economic sectors, representing a combined annual revenue of more than $2.1 trillion USD, to dissect evolving climate challenges and the essential role of businesses in fostering societal resilience to climate and compounding impacts. The collaborative insights gathered from these discussions, alongside the latest research and expert analysis, informed the development of this position paper and the working “Principles for Corporate Leadership on Climate Resilience.”

In this report, we detail the key findings from our consultations–the case for private sector action, the drivers of and barriers to accelerating investment, and a first look at the pioneering principles to guide corporate leadership for on resilience. Together with this accompanying position paper, the working Principles set the foundation for defining a new narrative for the private sector—one that underscores the necessity of robust resilience measures and establishes a community of practice committed to fostering a resilient, inclusive, and thriving global economy.

Learn more about the Corporate Climate Resilience Pathways Initiative.

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Colorado is at the frontlines of climate change impacts, including growing wildfire and heat hazards. The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) launched the first regional Climate Resilient Communities Accelerator (Accelerator) in 2023 to support communities and businesses that operate in the North Front Range of Colorado prepare for these impacts.

Through the Accelerator’s 2023 convenings, a diverse set of leaders identified and explored seven Key Action Areas to advance the North Front Range’s resilience to wildfire and heat. These areas cover a range of crucial resilience components and can serve as a roadmap moving forward.

The 2023 Accelerator convenings—a Climate Resilient Economies Roundtable in October and a Resources Connector Forum in November—connected communities and businesses to each other and helped expand the pool of potential partners, including economic development groups, community-based organizations, nonprofits, and state and federal agencies. The discussions were designed to augment local resilience efforts by uncovering strategies that can reduce the impacts of more than one climate hazard and will require action from a broad range of actors to succeed.

This brief captures discussions from 2023 convenings, including the stakeholder engagement process, current and projected wildfire and heat impacts, the shared regional vision for a prosperous future, key action areas for resilience, and opportunities and resources to accelerate resilience action.

C2ES launched the 2023 Accelerator in partnership with the Colorado State University (CSU) Climate Adaptation Partnership and with the generous support of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation.

More on C2ES’s work in the North Front Range

• Blog: 7 key action areas emerge for wildfire, heat resilience on Colorado’s North Front Range
• Read more about the C2ES Climate Resilient Communities Accelerator here.

The post Accelerating Resilience: Wildfire and Heat Strategies for Colorado’s North Front Range appeared first on Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

Equipped with more information on how these and other climate-related factors present financial risks and opportunities, local leaders can improve their decision-making, risk management, and project prioritization.

This C2ES primer is designed to help communities protect their fiscal health and position themselves for a thriving future by better identifying and assessing financial risks and opportunities related to climate change.

The primer is organized as follows:

1. How local governments can benefit from understanding the impacts of climate-related financial risks and opportunities
2. Potential financial impacts from climate-related risks and opportunities
3. Science-based tools and other resources for local governments and public sector entities to assess climate risks and opportunities
4. Climate risk assessment and disclosure and its evolution for local governments in the United States
5. What’s needed to enable strong fiscal management at the local level as climate impacts and economic shifts accelerate

This primer’s resource tables are available here.

The post Climate-related Financial Risks and Opportunities: A Primer for Local Governments appeared first on Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.