Urban Resilience Fund Project Screen framework to fund and build resilient communities

Wood will discuss a resilience screen and framework that was developed within a consortium that included the Rockefeller Foundation, 100RC (now GRCN), Impact Infrastructure and Social Finance. This resilient infrastructure investment screen is being applied that will be applied to infrastructure projects across a range of sectors within cities to increase their resilience, improve smart integrated digital and technology solutions and evaluate those assets for potential funding from an investor-backed Urban Resilience Funds. This framework is helping to drive private investment into projects that can make communities more resilient in cities around the world. The goal of the framework is to deliver projects that are funded from urban investments and dedicated to implementing infrastructure that is both resilient and results in resilience for the communities they serve - representing a shift in project prioritization, development, implementation and financing. The goal of or investor-backed screen is to provide a pipeline of projects to the fund manager that are resilient and provide resilience value and with measurable KPI outputs across the following: 1) Developed through a resilience-based process; 2) The infrastructure project’s resilience to relevant and potential shocks and stresses; 3) Services that the infrastructure project delivers which contribute to overall city resilience; 4) Delivery includes key elements to ensure that projects maintain resilience value over the lifespan. Increasingly institutional investors (pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, etc.), are investing in resilient urban infrastructure projects that can be scalable and help address the world’s critical infrastructure financing gap (SDG Goal 9). Projects can also demonstrate the value of the resilience dividend to address other key sustainable development goals including making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (SDG Goal 11), reducing inequality (SDG Goal 10), and reducing poverty (SDG Goal 1). The TURF Project Screen and Investment Fund is being developed in partnership with leading influencers such the UNGC, S&P Global, World Bank/IFC, and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to optimize the impact this innovative program will have on global infrastructure and the communities that can directly benefit from these integrated and resilient projects. We will discuss how our global engineering, energy and infrastructure is integrating resilience into projects that create more resilient communities and support both recovering and renewal. Key areas to be reviewed include: • How to leverage expertise to identify climate change • Building for Impact by prioritizing projects and imbed resilience & sustainability into projects to reduce our city and community risks • Utilizing a turn-key project delivery framework to build projects more efficiently and for community impact • Infrastructure is a key to economic stimulus and better-connected infrastructure in growing cities offers meaningful economic and societal ROI if cities can better articulate the benefit it creates and who wins • Collaboration is needed to build robust investment cases and alignment on priorities and policies • How to use as proof points our initiatives with the likes of Citi, the Global Resilient Cities Network and the UN Global Compact involves working together with the financial sector to accelerate the uptake of sustainable and resilient infrastructure in the market.