Public-private collaborations as the catalyst2 The private sector has a critical role to play in advancing global climate resilience. Businesses are no longer limited to reactive responses. Instead, they can identify clear roles in climate resilience that align with their strategic interests, capabilities and risk exposures. From protecting core operations to co-investing in public infrastructure, companies and investors have multiple pathways to engagement. To date, most of the activities and guidance are concentrated on the private sector’s own interests in climate resilience, focusing on either protecting the business or capturing the growth momentum. For example, the World Economic Forum and BCG’s report The Cost of Inaction: A CEO Guide to Navigating Climate Risk13 outlines a four-step action framework for corporate leaders to assess physical risk exposure and formulate a company- wide climate resilience strategy. The BCG- Temasek report14 highlights investable opportunities in climate adaptation and resilience, offering deep dives into solution spaces such as climate intelligence, resilient building materials, smart water infrastructure and resilient agriculture. At the same time, many large-scale climate adaptation and resilience projects (e.g. flood protection, watershed infrastructure and resilient transport systems) are less discussed as they often deliver non-exclusive, non-rival benefits that serve mutual interests for both private and public sectors. These initiatives generate multiple outcomes, from risk reduction to economic development and ecosystem services, which are hardly attributed to one single actor. Public-private collaboration offers a key to unlocking the full value of these benefits. The complexity of climate resilience infrastructure and the diffuse nature of its benefits often limit the clarity of roles or incentives for private actors. Structured collaboration models are essential to aligning public interests with private incentives and unlocking scalable, investable solutions. To estimate the investment required for large-scale climate adaptation and resilience, two analyses were conducted for this paper: a top-down macro- level sizing anchoring climate adaptation and resilience needs within global investment flows, and a bottom-up estimation based on hazard-specific solution costs. Using both approaches ensures that projections are both relevant at the macro level and realistic to the predicted risks. Methodologies for each approach are detailed within the Appendix. Based on top-down estimations, the investment need for large-scale, public-private climate adaptation and resilience infrastructure will reach $240–370 billion annually by 2030 and $330– 500 billion by 2050 (Figure 1). Meanwhile, the emerging market would require more collaboration projects, given the often limited financial capability to invest in climate resilience and competing priorities of the public sector within developing and emerging markets. Based on the bottom-up analysis conducted, an estimated $230–320 billion per year by 2030 and $320–400 billion per year by 2050 (Figure 1) in climate adaptation and resilience investments will be required through public-private collaboration. The model includes the investment needs in three major groups of solutions: drought and water scarcity solutions, coastal and riverine flood solutions, and extreme wind solutions.Overall, public-private collaboration opportunities worth an estimated $320–500 billion by 2050 will be critical to scaling climate resilience. Structured collaboration models are essential to aligning public interests with private incentives and unlocking scalable, investable solutions. 8 The Resilience Opportunity: Unlocking Climate Resilience through Public-Private Collaboration

The Resilience Opportunity Unlocking Climate Resilience through Public Private Collaboration 2025