ARISE-US Global Initiative · Now Accepting Inquiries

Coastal Resilience

Scorecard

A global initiative for public and private stakeholder convergence around identifying, assessing, designing and implementing a synchronized coastal resilience strategy - from asset-level adaptation through ecosystem-scale transformation.

1B+ People in Coastal Zones
10 Disaster Risk Reduction Essentials
3 Implementation Areas
Multi-Generational Time Horizons

Building resilience strategy capacity for a climate-accelerated world

Coastal cities and their stakeholders face growing, debilitating uncertainty that undermines resilience and sustainability planning. The Coastal Resilience Scorecard equips public agencies, private sector leaders, and communities with the tools, frameworks, and networks to respond.


ARISE-US · Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies

Hosted under the ARISE-US global framework — the private sector constituency of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction — the Scorecard brings institutional credibility, global networks, and a proven resilience methodology to coastal risk.

World Ocean Council (Barcelona) · Center of Excellence for Coastal Resilience
This ARISE-US Global Initiative is housed within the World Ocean Council's Center of Excellence for Coastal Resilience in Barcelona — bringing together ocean industry leadership, institutional expertise, and global networks in service of coastal communities worldwide.

Our Mission
To accelerate coastal resilience strategy development by connecting stakeholders with evidence-based tools, peer networks, blue finance pathways, and cross-sector capacity building.
The Challenge
From episodic hazard to deep uncertainty — cities now navigate non-linear, compound coastal risks with no probability ceiling, undermining planning across every time horizon.
The Response
A multi-generational, multi-sequence strategy spanning prevention, response, and recovery — adapting greenfield and brownfield assets, sites, and coastlines to stabilise communities and economies.

Why coastal resilience cannot wait

01
🌊

Accelerating Hazard

Sea-level rise, intensifying storm surge, and compound coastal hazards are exceeding design tolerances built into existing infrastructure and planning frameworks globally.

02
🔴

Deep Uncertainty

Risk models are breaking down. Non-linear cascades, compound events, and no probability ceiling on losses actively undermine confidence in conventional resilience planning.

03
🏙️

Governance Gaps

Most cities lack integrated coastal resilience strategies that span idiosyncratic asset-level risks and the systemic, ecosystem-level context within which those assets sit.

Capacity building across all three phases of coastal resilience

Our programme equips city teams, private sector partners, and communities with structured tools, peer learning, and applied strategy development across prevention, response, and recovery.

Phase 01 · Prevention

Anticipate & Harden

Spatial risk assessment, nature-based coastal defence, greenfield siting controls, brownfield retrofit support, and policy and zoning reform frameworks.

Risk Mapping Asset Hardening Nature-Based Solutions Policy Frameworks
Phase 02 · Response

Absorb & Withstand

Early warning systems, critical infrastructure protection, community emergency preparedness, multi-agency coordination, and economic corridor continuity planning.

Early Warning Emergency Protocols Infrastructure Defence Coordination
Phase 03 · Recovery

Rebuild & Transform

Build-back-better standards, ecosystem rehabilitation, community stabilisation, adaptive coastal redesign, and knowledge integration into multi-sequence strategy.

Build Back Better Ecosystem Restoration Adaptive Redesign Knowledge Capture
Cross-Cutting · Blue Finance

Finance Pathway Development

Translating scorecard gap analysis into bankable project pipelines — connecting adaptation finance, blue bonds, venture capital, and concessional instruments to coastal resilience priorities.

Blue Bonds Adaptation Finance Nature-Tech VC Concessional Capital

The Coastal Resilience Scorecard

City teams use the Scorecard to assess strengths and gaps across the 10 Coastal Essentials — producing an evidence-based diagnostic that directly drives investment prioritisation, strategy sequencing, and blue finance use-of-proceeds design.

E1 · Governance E2 · Risk Knowledge E3 · Finance E4 · Nature-Based Defence E5 · Early Warning E6 · Infrastructure E7 · Preparedness E8 · Build Back Better E9 · Ecosystems E10 · Recovery
Request a Scorecard Assessment →

A partnership built for the full ecosystem

🏛️

City & Government Teams

Municipal resilience offices, urban planners, coastal zone managers, and public infrastructure agencies undertaking multi-generational coastal strategy development.

🏢

Private Sector & Investors

Asset managers, real estate developers, infrastructure operators, insurers, and blue finance investors with material exposure to coastal zones and climate risk.

🌱

Startups & Innovators

Nature-tech ventures, coastal monitoring platforms, climate insurtech companies, and risk analytics firms solving for coastal resilience at scale.

🤝

Communities & NGOs

Coastal communities, grassroots resilience organisations, and civil society groups working to protect livelihoods, housing, and natural assets in vulnerable zones.

🔬

Research & Academia

Coastal scientists, climate modellers, urban resilience researchers, and applied institutions generating the evidence base for adaptive strategy and policy.

🌐

Multilateral & DFIs

Development finance institutions, UN agencies, climate funds, and multilateral development banks deploying capital and technical assistance for coastal resilience.

From scorecard gaps to bankable opportunities

The Scorecard creates a shared evidence base — translating coastal resilience gaps into structured investment opportunities across the full capital stack and all stakeholder types.

Adaptation Finance
Mature Companies & Assets
Blue bonds, sustainability-linked loans, and asset-level climate adaptation finance for coastal infrastructure retrofit, nature-based development, and hardening of legacy assets.
Venture & Growth Capital
Startups & Innovation
Equity and growth capital for nature-tech, coastal monitoring, climate insurtech, and risk analytics ventures operating at the frontier of coastal resilience solutions.
Concessional & Grants
Communities & Public Coastlines
Concessional finance, grants, and coastal ecosystem restoration bonds for public asset hardening, community resilience programmes, and social adaptation at the local level.
How the Scorecard Drives Capital
1

City Team Assessment

Multi-stakeholder team completes the 10-Essential Scorecard, scoring 1–5 across prevention, response, and recovery dimensions.

2

Gap Analysis Output

Gaps below the 3.0 resilience threshold are identified, prioritised, and mapped to asset types, spatial areas, and communities.

3

Use-of-Proceeds Design

Gaps are translated into structured blue finance use-of-proceeds frameworks, matched to the appropriate capital instruments and investor types.

4

Investment Pipeline

Bankable projects are developed, connected to Scorecard investors, and tracked against Scorecard improvement across the multi-sequence strategy.

Join the Scorecard

Whether you're a city building its first coastal resilience strategy, an investor seeking blue finance opportunities, or a startup working on coastal solutions — the Scorecard is built for you.

No spam. We'll reach out to understand your context and match you to the right entry point.