Investing in resilience today to prepare for tomorrow's climate change

Even as we redouble our efforts to cut greenhouse emissions, we must build resilience against the current and future impacts of climate change. The economic argument for investment in resilience has been well-established, and while financial resources have started flowing to this end, the latest studies suggest that the world is underinvesting in resilience by at least 70 percent. In addition, resources may not be going where they can best protect those who are disproportionately affected by climate-related shocks. While new sources and larger volumes of finance for adaptation are mobilized, decision-makers - particularly in developing countries - would be well advised to add to their toolkit insurance-linked social safety nets, better resilience metrics, and system-of-systems vulnerability assessments to get more bang for their scarce resilience bucks.