Building Climate Resilient Utilities 2025

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank Definition of resilience specific to infrastructure and utilities, in its 2019 publication: Lifelines: The Resilient Infrastructure Opportunity. 51 “The ability of infrastructure to provide the services users need during and after a natural shock. While natural hazards are only one of the causes of infrastructure disruptions, resilience is still an essential dimension of the overall reliability of infrastructure systems. ‘Resilience’ here is used in a broader sense than the traditional definition in ecology, which refers to the ability of systems to recover and bounce back. Boosting resilience, using this broad definition, can be achieved in many ways, including: –Reducing the exposure of infrastructure assets to natural hazards, such as by building energy assets outside floodplains –Reducing the vulnerability of assets, such as by making roads able to cope with heavy precipitation or bridges able to resist strong wind –Designing infrastructure systems so they are able to deliver services, even if some of their components have been damaged or destroyed –Ensuring that infrastructure systems do not fail catastrophically, can recover quickly, and be repaired efficiently if damaged –Making the users of infrastructure services better able to cope with service disruptions, such as by installing batteries or generators in hospitals or ensuring that firms rely on multiple suppliers.” Building Climate-Resilient Utilities: Lessons from China and Future Pathways 26