About
Communities nationwide face mounting costs from extreme heat, flooding, wildfires, storms, and sea level rise, yet investment in resilience and adaptation remains fragmented, inconsistent, and insufficient. Although numerous federal and state programs fund elements of resilience and infrastructure finance, there is no cohesive national or state-aligned system dedicated to helping communities finance large-scale adaptation projects. As a result, funding is often episodic rather than strategic, funding gaps persist at the local level, and critical infrastructure vulnerabilities remain unaddressed.
This dialogue will explore how the United States can move beyond project-by-project efforts toward a coordinated resilience and adaptation finance approach. Specifically, it will examine the role of finance platforms: entities that pool public, philanthropic, and private capital to help communities assess risk, develop investable project pipelines, and access technical assistance. Finance platforms can also help communities secure predevelopment funding, aggregation support, early-stage risk capital, and guarantees that reduce risk and unlock long-term investment.
Participants will explore whether nationally supported state resilience and adaptation financing platforms—or a broader national model—could help streamline investment flows, accelerate project development, and ensure that resources reach the communities and sectors most in need.
The conversation will examine how new adaptation-focused financing entities could interact with existing infrastructure financing institutions like infrastructure banks, green banks, and community development finance institutions. Participants will also explore lessons from international models that could inform a U.S. approach.
Participants include leaders with hands-on experience in collective-impact partnerships, pooled capital platforms, green banks, and resilience finance compacts, alongside representatives from national agencies, multilateral development banks, investors, and academic institutions.
This event is invitation-only and has limited capacity, but interested professionals can apply for the opportunity to register.
This DC Climate Week 2026 event is organized by Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability and the Milken Institute, and is aligned with the Duke Climate Commitment.
Questions about this event? Contact Victoria Salinas, victoria.salinas@duke.edu.
View other events organized by Duke University at DC Climate Week 2026.
DC Climate Week is not responsible for this event. It is organized by the organizing group, and being listed on the DCCW calendar is not an endorsement of content or partners.
