Financing Adaptation and Resilience in London and the UK: Moving from Aspiration to Reality: Part II – Urban Adaptation Financing

Based on insights from the industry, this paper is part of the research project: “Financing Adaptation and Resilience in London and the UK.” The project identifies and discusses drivers and challenges for investing in adaptation and resilience and necessary changes for developing capital market solutions in London and the UK. This research has been conducted by the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment (CCFI) at Imperial College Business School and the Singapore Green Finance Centre, following papers focusing on adaptation and nature financing (Buhr, B. (2022); Holtedahl, P., Köberle, A. & Koci I. (2023); Whittaker, S. & Nguyen, T. (2023)). The research project, divided into three separate papers, takes a practical approach by focusing on the real estate and water sectors in London and the UK, ensuring the findings are directly applicable to the local context.

The goal of this research is to learn about the experience of London (covering the greater London area) in the delivery of climate finance and financing for urban climate change adaptation and understand the potential barriers and opportunities to mobilising finance. The research question ‘To what extent can cities and investors build for innovation in climate adaptation in cities?’ aims to inform and promote a better understanding of financing for climate change adaptation actions today. This paper includes an extensive review of the literature and relevant policy documents (see Annex 1). The research was conducted focusing on London in 2023. Through this project, we gathered industry insights provided by leading institutions, senior officials, and policymakers, which are presented (for the research methodology and complete results, see Annex 2).