In the context of increasingly visible climate change and disaster impacts, and the widely recognized need to do more to adapt and prevent them, the report highlights positive examples in both the public and private sectors where significant progress is visible. These success stories of private actions, locally-driven solutions, and government interventions offer a vision of what can be done. As well as contributing to faster, better, and more resilient development, these actions are replicable with appropriate adjustments in other contexts, and can be scaled up to build resilient communities, businesses, and economies.

Building on what can be learnt from these initiatives, this report aims to frame the adaptation and resilience (A&R) imperative in the context of global development challenges, and to offer examples of successful and replicable actions that can accelerate progress toward more resilient development and poverty reduction.

Example for best practices are:

• To manage extreme heat, the Ahmedabad Heat Action Plan in India combines an early warning system with communication campaigns and mobilization of health care workers and has prevented more than 2,000 heat-related deaths in just its first two years.
• To help people respond to drought, a new adaptive social protection system in Niger delivered cash to affected families during droughts, improving their food security by 8% and increasing their consumption and reported well-being by 18%.
• To help communities prepare for cyclones and more frequent storms, Bangladesh improved weather forecasts and helped farmers use them in their daily activities, with crop losses from bad weather now reduced by 75%.
• To ensure reliable electricity services, from Brazil to Albania, private utilities are increasingly including climate risks in their business decisions and investing in resilience, such as by using nature-based solutions.

Main messages from the report:

Development, adaptation, and resilience are inseparable

Reducing climate and disaster impacts on people, communities, and economies  requires more rapid development, more resilient development, and targeted adaptation interventions. Only a wholeof- society strategy will allow countries to coordinate efforts across sectors and support people, the private sector, and communities to build resilience.

Countries have not mainstreamed adaptation and resilience in their economic and development policies

A&R readiness assessments for 44 countries and economies identify major gaps and limits in current policies and systems, particularly in poorer countries. These include key gaps in implementing adaptation measures at sector level, addressing broader macrofiscal risks and implications, and monitoring and evaluation.

Private and public actors are stepping up A&R action and investments

While not always visible, there are strong examples of effective adaptation practices in all sectors, regions, and income levels. These provide lessons for delivering successful adaptation interventions in both the public and private sectors and offer opportunities to replicate and scale up proven solutions.