Valuing Adaptation and Resilience Interventions in the Power Sector

By 2040, the global power sector will require an estimated $30 trillion in investment to keep pace with current trends and achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of universal electricity access. As global efforts to combat climate change increase, a growing proportion of this investment will be spent on lower emitting power resources. As decision-makers plan and undertake these investments, climate change is also shifting the investment risk calculus for the power sector. If new global power infrastructure fails to incorporate resilience measures that protect against climate hazards—including more frequent and intense storms, droughts, sea level rise, and heat waves—massive amounts of investment and hundreds of millions of people who rely upon it could be put at risk.