4. Building Resilience for Cities, Infrastructure and Water
The Climate High-Level Champions help cities, governments, and communities build the infrastructure they need to survive and thrive in a changing climate. From flood-resilient water systems to zero-emission buildings and sustainable waste management, this axis connects local action with national planning and private investment.
Cities are home to more than half the world's population and are increasingly on the front line of climate risk.
Rapid urbanisation, ageing infrastructure, and intensifying climate extremes are driving cascading failures across transport, housing, water, and waste systems, particularly in climate-vulnerable regions. Strengthening urban systems is essential to delivering the Paris Agreement, achieving the Global Goal on Adaptation, and protecting livelihoods at scale. Axis 4 works across multiple levels of government to scale up resilient buildings, integrated water management, nature-based urban solutions, and circular waste systems. The goal is to move from fragmented pilots to portfolio-level investment, drawing in the public and private finance needed to protect communities and keep cities functioning as the climate continues to change.
Key Objectives:
Advance multilevel governance by fostering integrated climate governance frameworks for subnational and national actors, strengthening finance mechanisms and adaptation planning across levels of government.
Promote sustainable and resilient construction and buildings by aligning with breakthrough agendas for energy efficiency, materials innovation and infrastructure resilience, ensuring urban systems adapt to climate risks.
Strengthen resilient urban infrastructure, mobility, and disaster response through inclusive planning, nature-based solutions, early warning systems, and low-carbon transport pathways to support sustainable urban development.
Improve water management by expanding resilient supply and sanitation, integrated resource governance and access to drinking water for isolated and semi-arid communities, supported by adaptation partnerships.
Promote solid waste management through prevention, reduction, recycling, circular economy, waste-to-energy and biogas recovery, with breakthrough initiatives to address organic waste and methane emissions.
Progress
52 countries
include urban content in their national climate plans (NCDs)
910 cities
now reporting on adaptation measures (tripled from 380 in 2017-2023)
50%
less deaths in climate disasters (down from 1.62 to 0.79 per 100,000)
*Data refers to Global Socioeconomic Indicators listed on the 2025 Yearbook of Global Climate Action and not to Plans to Accelerate Solution (PAS) progress. For more information read the 2025 Yearbook of Global Climate Action.
Be part of the implementation
Take action where your operations and value chain have the greatest climate-related risks. Drive change by seizing new opportunities across energy, nature, agriculture, cities, human development, finance.
Through Axis 4: Cities, Infrastructure, and Water, businesses can build resilient communities by aligning investments with localized adaptation plans, adopting low-carbon construction standards, and embedding strict water-risk management directly into supply chain operations. Key actions businesses can take include:
Align investment footprint decisions with national and city adaptation plans by joining a leading group of businesses.
Adopt resilient construction standards and low-carbon building practices through the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (Global ABC), the Green Buildings Councils of WorldGBC and Climate Resilient Housing.
Strengthen logistics infrastructure to reduce climate-related supply chain disruptions by joining a leading group of businesses, including FMDV, working on bespoke urban development solutions, and UNEP Finance Initiative, catalyzing action across the financial system.
Integrate water risk management into operations and supply chains decisions through the Water Resilience Coalition (WRC).
Related Campaigns & Breakthroughs
Net Zero Activation Group
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Race to Resilience
Race to Resilience has completed its first full delivery cycle, from ambition to implementation, and proven that people-centred resilience can be measured, delivered, and scaled.
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2030 Breakthroughs
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Sharm El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda
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Climate Proofing SMEs
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Case Studies
Recircula Brasil is a digital platform promoting the circular economy, certifying 40,000+ tons of recycled plastics from 304 suppliers.
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AdaptaCidades Initiative
AdaptaCidades strengthens multilevel governance in Brazil, helping states and municipalities integrate climate adaptation into planning, using data, standards, and financing for resilient cities.
Transforming the housing landscape in disaster-prone Philippines
This solution strengthened 4,000 buildings in the Philippines, creating 3,500 jobs and protecting 45,000 people. Women are 95% of borrowers, showing how resilient housing empowers communities and drives recovery.
Buenos Aires water utility leads climate fight with bold water strategies
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Dakar TER – A Transformative Rail Link
Dakar TER, Senegal’s first electrified standard-gauge rail, boosts mobility, cuts up to 17,000 t CO₂/year, creates 10,000 jobs, and links city, suburbs, and airport sustainably.
Related Resources
11 November 2025 2025 Yearbook of Global Climate Action
The Yearbook of Global Climate Action 2025 reveals a decisive shift from promises to delivery
Showing how cities, regions, businesses, investors and communities are driving climate action implementation at scale, across each of the axes of the Action Agenda. The Yearbook also highlights that significant gaps persist, underscoring the need to accelerate implementation in line with the Global Stocktake – the UN’s official report card on climate progress.
11 November 2024 1. Transitioning Energy, Industry, Transport Azerbaijan Sustainable Built Environment Blueprint
This report presents a blueprint for Azerbaijan’s sustainable built environment, underlining the necessary technical capacity building, job creation, energy efficient and healthcare.
04 December 2023 4. Building Resilience for Cities, Infrastructure and Water UAE Sustainability Built Environment Blueprint
This report maps the challenges to and key enablers of unlocking greater climate action for the built environment, using the UAE as a regional and global blueprint.
This includes policies and regulations, buildings materials and systems, access to green finance, data, and skills, in addition to insights on the upcoming policies and priority areas from the UAE’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure.
