Demonstrating how the finance sector can invest in adaptation to deliver community resilience and commercial returns.
To overcome the adaptation finance gap, Climate-KIC Australia (Climate-KIC) brought together a cross-sectoral group of people from state government, local government, climate risk analysis service providers, insurance and banking with a goal to demonstrate how the financial sector could invest in climate adaptation to deliver commercial returns and greater community resilience. Aligned on a goal, this multi-sectorial group and were motivated to see real world action.
Initially the group collectively set investment criteria for finance ready adaptation projects. This was used to run a market scan to find adaptation projects which matched the criteria. The idea was, projects which met the criteria would be wrapped up into an investment deal, for example the first adaptation bond in Australia. The aim was that this deal, and the underpinning investment criteria developed through the process, would set a precedent and catalyse broader investment in adaptation projects in Australia.