8th Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum Resilience of Cities, Infrastructure and Settlements Outlook

This outlook examines the resilience of cities, infrastructure, and settlements across Asia and the Pacific region in response to climate change. The document identifies that adverse climate impacts increasingly threaten socioeconomic development, with cities facing heightened exposure to extreme weather while rapid, often unplanned development overlooks climate risks. The analysis assesses current adaptation trends and barriers across five enablers: policy and governance, science and assessment, technologies and practices, planning and programming, and finance and investment. Key findings show that while National Adaptation Plans and sectoral priorities are being developed, significant gaps exist in translating plans into funded projects. Emerging positive trends include increased climate data integration for decision-making, growing recognition of Indigenous and Local Knowledge systems, and expanded use of nature-based solutions. However, substantial barriers persist, including outdated building codes, limited local government capacity, weak co-production of adaptation solutions, fragmented infrastructure planning, and insufficient climate finance. The outlook proposes opportunities centered on strengthening sub-national governance capacity, scaling nature-based solutions, prioritizing pro-poor and gender-responsive measures for informal settlements, and leveraging expanding climate finance mechanisms.