As the global community continues to grapple with the coronavirus (COVID-19), the Atlantic Council is open for business. Our business, meetings, and events, however, are occurring virtually. For more information, please read an update from our President and CEO.

The COVID-19 crisis has been a wake-up call that our social and financial systems must be better prepared for the climate crisis. Building resilience to climate impacts will be critical to the efficacy of response and recovery efforts, yet climate-adaptation finance flows are at risk of falling sharply in the coming years at a moment when adaptation finance has never been more important. Cities in particular face cascading social, budgetary, and health risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic alongside climate risks.

This event will highlight findings from two recently released reports: Adaptation Finance in the Context of COVID-19 (from GCA and CPI) and Analysis of Urban Climate Adaptation Finance (from Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center and Climate Policy Initiative). Through brief presentations on these reports and a panel of experts and implementers of adaptation finance, the discussion will highlight 1) adaptation finance instruments deployed and key outcomes to date, 2) lessons learned and opportunities for scale and replication, and 3) transformative interventions that could support implementation of adaptation finance solutions.

Registration for this event can be completed on Zoom.

Please email us at resilience@atlanticcouncil.org if you have any questions about the event.

Opening remarks

Barbara Buchner
Global Managing Director and Executive Director, Climate Finance
Climate Policy Initiative

Report presentations

Nidhi Upadhyaya
Associate Director, Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center
Atlantic Council

Morgan Richmond
Senior Analyst
Climate Policy Initiative

Moderated discussion

Nisha Krishnan
Climate Finance Associate, Climate Resilience Practice
World Resources Institute

Joep Verhagen
Lead, Water
Global Center on Adaptation

Josué Tanaka
Formerly Managing Director, Operational Strategy and Planning, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Felipe Larraín Bascuñán
Senior Advisor, Climate Finance
Global Center on Adaptation

Closing remarks

Kathy Baughman McLeod
Senior Vice President and Director, Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center
Atlantic Council

The Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center will reach one billion people with resilience solutions to climate change, migration, and security challenges by 2030. We will focus our efforts on individuals, communities, and a broad spectrum of governments and institutions to help them, and their constituencies and stakeholders, better prepare for, navigate, and recover from shocks and stresses. We will help build a more resilient world.

Please register for this event by visiting Zoom.