Acute climate shocks—such as floods, droughts, wildfires, and other extreme weather events— cost human lives, impact economic growth, and undermine efforts to eradicate poverty. Meanwhile, the slow-onset effects of climate change—such as temperature rise and evolving rainfall patterns— increasingly affect the development trajectory of critical sectors like agriculture, water, transport, and energy. The Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) was established in 2008 to support developing countries and regions that are highly vulnerable to climate change with strengthened adaptive capacity, tools, and pilot approaches that can help build resilience to both acute and slow onset climate shocks across sectors.
Infrastructure investments have proven a central component of PPCR's resilience-building efforts within and across sectors through two key functions: first, by supporting investments that climate-proof infrastructure to increase its resilience to climate shocks (e.g., climate-proofing roads, bridges, and dams to withstand extreme climate events), and second, by supporting investments that build resilience for people and communities through infrastructure (e.g., delivery of disaster shelters, rainwater ponds, boreholes, seed storage buildings, market facilities, etc.). The first “climate-proofing” function was piloted at scale through PPCR and has since been taken up by multilateral development banks (MDBs) over time as due diligence for all new infrastructural investments. The second function has sought to instrumentalize infrastructure as one important mechanism for cushioning the impacts of climate shocks in economic, social, and environmental spheres.