Adaptation Centre of Excellence 

Extreme climatic events are becoming more frequent and severe, with serious economic, social, and political consequences for communities, companies, and nations around the world. In fast-evolving and increasingly complex operating conditions, BwB’s Adaptation Centre of Excellence specialises in developing tailored strategies that enable public and private entities to successfully plan and finance climate adaptation and resilience initiatives.   

Our dedicated team is embedded within BwB and works closely with clients to understand their needs and to develop tailored solutions. This includes:

   

• Adaptation planning at an entity, city, or national level 

• Nature-based solutions, including modelling and reporting requirements 

• Co-benefit analysis and modelling  

• Financial structuring  

• Private investor engagement for adaptation financing 

 
Financing Solutions 

High upfront costs, long payback horizons, uncertain returns, untested technologies, and difficulties with measuring impact are among the many issues that make it challenging to finance climate adaptation and resilience interventions. 

Our Adaptation Centre of Excellence experts possess an impressive track record of structuring innovative financial solutions that overcome these challenges to open up access to private, public, and philanthropic capital for a diverse range of climate adaptation and resilience projects. These solutions include:

 

• Blended Finance Structures: Combines public and private investment to reduce risks and attract more private sector funding. This can come in the form of guarantees or insurance support. 

• Parametric Insurance: Insurance products that deliver a predefined payout based on specific trigger events. Payouts depend on the occurrence of the event rather than on actual losses.   

• Green Bonds: Debt securities that are issued to provide financing for projects that have positive environmental benefits.  

• Climate Adaptation Funds: Provide financial resources specifically for adaptation projects.   

• Debt-for-Climate Swaps: Involves restructuring a country's debt in exchange for commitments to invest in adaptation projects. This can help reduce the financial burden on countries in the Global South while promoting sustainable development. 

• Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs): Collaborations between governments and private sector entities that can leverage private investment for public adaptation projects, such as infrastructure improvements and community resilience programmes. 

 

Representative work:  

• DesirMED: BwB is leading the financial workstream for this Horizon Europe-funded project, which is exploring financing mechanisms for adaptation and NBS in the Mediterranean region. Among other objectives, the project is looking at the role for insurance products in enhancing potential returns from these investment projects, thereby making the more attractive to institutional capital.

• Climate City Capital Hub: Through the Climate City Capital Hub, BwB is assisting European cities under the Adaptation Mission and the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission to find private funding for their adaptation projects. This work includes assisting with project initiatives such as de-paving, living gardens, and rewilding. 

• UNCCD Drought Resilience Fund: BwB has designed a fund for targeting drought resilience initiatives in Africa. The work includes ensuring the fund is attractive to private sector investors and supporting continued engagement. 

 

To learn more or engage with our team, please contact us at adaptation@bwb.earth