The white paper on “Governance of Infrastructure for Resilience” emphasizes the urgent need for robust governance to ensure infrastructure systems are resilient to climate change and natural hazards.
It identifies seven key themes: whole systems perspective, adaptive capacity, prioritization of infrastructure needs, financing, regulation and standards, capacity and resourcing, and data and technology. The paper highlights fragmented governance, outdated policies, and lack of coordination as major barriers.
It advocates for cross-sector collaboration, adaptive governance, evidence-based planning, inclusive stakeholder engagement, and improved data systems. Integrating nature-based solutions and ensuring equitable, sustainable infrastructure are central to achieving long-term resilience and socio-economic benefits.
Key points
- Infrastructure resilience requires governance across lifecycle, sectors, and stakeholders collaboratively.
- Fragmented policies hinder resilience; integrated, adaptive governance frameworks are essential.
- Prioritizing infrastructure needs demands transparent, evidence-based, long-term planning processes.
- Financing resilience needs early-stage support, not just construction funding alone.
- Capacity gaps and brain drain weaken infrastructure resilience implementation efforts.
- Reliable data and digital tools are vital for resilient decisions.