Be more proactive in fundraising for climate adaptation, decarbonisation expert urges

Engineers must speak the language of financial decision-makers – and vice versa – if they’re to close the funding gap that’s holding back efforts to adapt infrastructure for climate change.

That was the key message emerging from the inaugural session of the ICE’s new expert Resilience Community Forum on 15 May.

It was issued by Mark Crouch, Mott MacDonald’s decarbonisation discipline lead, while co-hosting a guest presentation to the event’s audience of senior infrastructure experts.

He and Katie Momber, senior programme manager at the International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure (ICSI), were discussing the main findings of the coalition’s latest report, Engineering Climate Adaptation.

This called for a more coordinated, cross-sector approach to funding sustainable, resilient and equitable infrastructure worldwide.

Crouch noted that one of the main barriers to scaling up adaptation finance was that engineers and investment decision-makers “often speak different languages: one technical, the other focused on social and economic outcomes. That communication gap is really something to be resolved.”

Breaking down silos

Since June 2024, the ICSI has held a series of roundtables with support from the ICE and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. Their aim has been to bridge the divide between finance providers and infrastructure builders.

In total, the roundtables have involved more than 60 organisations engaged in engineering, investment, insurance, multilateral development banking and policymaking from around the globe.

From these discussions, the ICSI has proposed five ways in which the engineering sector can boost funding for climate adaptation:

• Form standardised risk-assessment frameworks that include engineering, investment and insurance criteria to cover climate risks.
• Translate technical concepts into policy-relevant recommendations, including explaining the socioeconomic benefits of proposed infrastructure projects.
• Offer training for engineers in topics such as financial modelling, investment evaluation and policy development.
• Promote the development and uptake of technical standards for climate resilience and adaptation.
• Hold regular meetings with investors, insurers and policymakers to tackle problems together.

“Our report emphasises how we can embrace new collaborative approaches,” Momber told the forum. “Consistent technical standards and cross-sectoral skills will enhance how effectively we all work together.”

Read more about the recommendations in the ICSI report