The Climate-Resilient City
Using public-private partnerships (PPPs) to develop infrastructure that will enhance urban resilience to climate change is a promising option for countries affected by increasingly intense droughts, severe floods, and other environmental factors. Countries such as Mozambique and Vietnam are now piloting aspects of this approach, but we must address various weaknesses in it if we are to come up with a “climate-smart PPP” program.
Vietnam is a useful case study. Three development issues are shaping how Vietnam addresses urban resilience to climate change. First, large-scale migration is increasing the number of urban centers that lack critical infrastructure such as water, sanitation, solid waste, transport, and energy. Second, the effects of climate change on economic growth have introduced new risks in urban infrastructure planning and investment. Third, the shrinking fiscal space and the need for greater infrastructure investment is reinvigorating alternative forms of investment (such as PPPs). Within this context, we see an opportunity to use PPPs to upgrade infrastructure while strengthening urban resilience to climate change.
