The road to resilience - managing and financing extreme weather risk

‘The road to resilience – managing and financing extreme weather risks’ report is the first in a series that addresses the need for more investment and system change to combat the new emerging risks, including extreme weather, the energy water food nexus and cyber risks.

In North America when Hurricane Sandy hit Manhattan the lights stayed out for more than three days. In early 2015 in Chile the country experienced the equivalent of 7 years of rain in 12 hours leaving thousand s without electricity. And in the Philippines, the cost of recovery from the 2013 typhoon was estimated at more than double the GDP of the country. With a shift in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, new approaches are required for the management and financing of energy infrastructures as companies and governments seek to meet the challenges of increased extreme weather risks and secure a sustainable energy future.

This report focuses on identifying and characterising the nature, frequency and severity of extreme weather risks across the world. By understanding how to technically and financially address these risks, the report provides recommendations for the energy industry to work together with the financial community, investors and policymakers to share and promote measures that must be incorporated into energy infrastructure design and investment decisions.

The series of  reports is prepared with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions and Marsh & McLennan Companies with insights from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The next report in the Resilience series, the energy water food nexus, will take note of the areas impacted by drought, flooding, and changing weather patterns to investigate how the energy sector can better manage impacts on land and water whilst still aiming to balance the Energy Trilemma.