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In a world increasingly battered by floods, droughts, and economic uncertainty, a powerful truth is emerging: resilience isn’t just survival—it’s strategy.
A landmark global report released at the 2025 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund reveals that targeted investments in climate and nature resilience could create 280 million new jobs in emerging markets and developing economies by 2035—while unlocking a trillion-dollar global market and boosting GDP growth across nations most vulnerable to climate change.
The study, titled “Returns on Resilience: Investing in Adaptation to Drive Prosperity, Growth and Competitiveness,” was produced by a coalition of 20 leading research and advocacy organizations led by Systemiq, with contributions from the World Resources Institute, the Grantham Research Institute at LSE, Instituto Clima e Sociedade, the Boston Consulting Group, and others.
It paints a transformative picture of adaptation—not as a humanitarian burden, but as a new frontier for economic and social opportunity.
The Billion-Dollar Logic of Building Back Smarter
According to the report, resilience investments yield at least four times more benefits than costs, boasting an average 25% annual return rate—a performance that rivals or exceeds most traditional markets.
If scaled up globally, such efforts could add up to 15% GDP in the most climate-vulnerable countries by 2050, reduce sovereign debt risks, and prevent up to 2 million annual deaths linked to climate impacts.
These are not abstract projections. Over the past two decades, developing economies have already lost over $525 billion due to climate-related disruptions. Without decisive action, the cost of inaction could reach $1.2 trillion in corporate losses and a 23% global GDP decline by 2050, according to S&P Global and the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS).
Yet despite the overwhelming data, for every $1 spent on resilient infrastructure, $87 is still spent on infrastructure that fails to account for climate risks.
As Dr. Pep Bardouille, Director of the Bridgetown Initiative and climate advisor to the Prime Minister of Barbados, bluntly puts it:
“Resilience is the bedrock of prosperity, yet it remains the most undervalued investment of our time. Our financial rules constrain it instead of enabling it.”
A Call to Action Ahead of COP30
With COP30 taking place in Brazil, the global conversation on climate policy is shifting from mitigation—reducing emissions—to adaptation and resilience, ensuring communities and economies can withstand inevitable impacts.
The Returns on Resilience report offers a roadmap for targeted action, identifying 15 scalable “Best Buys” across key sectors: food, water, health, infrastructure, community, and nature. These include climate-smart agriculture, mangrove restoration, and early-warning systems—interventions that not only protect lives but strengthen economies and fiscal stability.
According to Vera Songwe, Chair of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility and a co-chair of the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance:
“Investing in resilience is not only about managing risks. It’s an opportunity to transform economies. Resilience drives sustainable growth, creates jobs, and improves long-term debt prospects.”
Leaders Unite Behind a Common Vision
The report has earned endorsements from global visionaries across policy, academia, and industry:
Ban Ki-moon, former UN Secretary-General, called it “an urgent economic imperative”, emphasizing that resilience investments “protect hard-won development gains and stabilize economies.”
Paul Polman, business leader and former Unilever CEO, said: “Resilience investments are the connective tissue that protect people and planet, stabilize economies, and unlock opportunity.”
Carlos Lopes, professor at the University of Cape Town, declared that for developing economies, “closing the financing gap for adaptation is not optional—it’s survival.”
These voices converge on one message: resilience is not a cost—it’s a catalyst.
From Vulnerability to Viability
The report’s release arrives at a pivotal moment. With climate-induced disasters displacing 20 million people annually, resilience is now a cornerstone of sustainable development and competitive growth.
Beyond its humanitarian value, resilience has become a macroeconomic necessity. From securing food systems to stabilizing supply chains, adaptation strategies are redefining how governments and corporations assess value, risk, and opportunity.
As Melanie Robinson, Global Director for Climate, Economics & Finance at the World Resources Institute, underscores:
“Investing in resilience delivers dividends even when disasters don’t strike. It protects lives, creates jobs, and strengthens economies.”
A Turning Point for Global Finance
The Returns on Resilience report marks a clear shift in global climate economics: from cost avoidance to value creation.
It urges world leaders to redirect capital flows, incentivize private-sector engagement, and embed climate resilience into the DNA of economic planning.
With financial institutions, governments, and businesses convening ahead of COP30, the message is unequivocal: the era of reactive disaster response is over. The era of proactive resilience has begun.
About the Report
The Returns on Resilience study was coordinated by Systemiq, a systems change company specializing in sustainable transformation across energy, food, materials, and finance. Partners include the Ban Ki-moon Centre, Gates Foundation, Global Citizen, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and Global Center on Adaptation.
The report was launched in Washington, D.C., with keynote remarks by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados, a global leader in climate resilience advocacy.
For more details, visit www.systemiq.earth or download the full report: Returns on Resilience 2025 (PDF).
“Investing in resilience is not an act of charity—it’s the smartest investment humanity can make.”
— Wazzup Pilipinas
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
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