Climate finance

There is a demand for significant investment in water, energy, agriculture and transport, from small-scale development interventions to major infrastructure projects. Investments are made in the context of uncertainty related to future climate change and growing demands on natural resources. Our approach to managing future risks is focused on promoting climate resilience. Climate resilient water services and communities are better able to minimise the impacts of, and bounce back from, ‘climate shocks’, such as floods, droughts, cyclones/hurricanes and slower onset sea level rise. Accessing finance for effective implementation is key to making progress.

Climate resilient services and infrastructure are designed to resist climate hazards, provide a reliable level of service and sustainable returns on investment, whatever the future holds. Climate resilient systems can endure shocks and stresses and recover to deliver their long term objectives. We provide services to help our clients to prepare, resist, recover and adapt to climate variability and change. We specialise in co-developing climate resilience and adaptation guidelines for government and private sector organisations; applying tools to identify and screen climate risks (e.g. in Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessments - CRVAs), prioritising and preparing investment plans, and support to prepare financing proposals for funding, including climate funds.

We help our clients to deliver evidence-based and climate-informed financing proposals, e.g. for the Green Climate Fund (GCF). In Africa, the Caribbean and elsewhere we’ve prepared guidance and training to support countries with the integration of climate resilience in the water sector, prepared a special Water Supplement to the UNFCCC NAP Technical Guidelines, supported the preparation of national investment plans and co-developed financing proposals for implementation. This includes the preparation GCF Concept Notes to strengthen climate resilience in national water sectors, working in partnership with water supply service providers and water resource management departments and agencies.

GCF Concept Notes provide an early outline proposal for funding. Our experience shows that these provide an early opportunity to start dialogue with the GCF Secretariat, receive valuable feedback and ultimately lead to better final proposals.

We offer capacity building and training courses on the integration of climate resilience in the water sector, which are underpinned by more than 70 years of engineering research in the water environment. This includes capacity development at all levels – from policy makers to technical professionals and community-based organisations - on a range of subjects including climate resilience, climate risk assessment, climate change adaptation, sustainable water resources management, water and wastewater services, flood risk management, urban drainage and coastal zone management, and the preparation of investment plans and financing proposals.