As climate-driven disasters grow more intense and frequent, experts are warning that Asia and the Pacific can no longer afford to rebuild the same vulnerable infrastructure after every crisis. Instead, governments and development banks must urgently pivot from disaster recovery to long-term resilience planning.
In a policy update published on February 6, leaders from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) argued that the region remains trapped in a costly cycle of reactive rebuilding. Annual average disaster losses in Asia and the Pacific are now estimated at more than $170 billion, with climate change amplifying risks across transport, energy, water, and telecommunications systems.
Less than 4% of Climate Finance Goes to Resilience
Despite mounting losses, resilience continues to receive a fraction of global climate funding. Of total climate finance worldwide, less than 4% is directed toward adaptation and resilience, while the bulk flows into mitigation efforts such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
While mitigation remains critical to limiting long-term warming, experts stress that infrastructure systems are already facing climate conditions far beyond what they were designed to withstand. Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, stronger storms, and sea-level rise are exposing deep vulnerabilities in roads, bridges, power grids, ports, and water systems across the region.
Floods can wash away highways and railways, disrupt ports, and overwhelm drainage systems. Prolonged heatwaves degrade pavements and rail tracks and reduce power generation efficiency. Coastal infrastructure faces mounting risks from erosion, saltwater intrusion, and corrosion. In many cities, informal settlements often dependent on fragile or incomplete infrastructure are especially exposed, worsening social and economic inequality.
Cascading Failures Multiply Economic Damage
Modern infrastructure systems are deeply interconnected. A breakdown in one sector can trigger ripple effects across others. When transport corridors collapse, supply chains stall, markets are cut off, and emergency response is delayed. Power outages can paralyze water treatment facilities, hospitals, telecommunications, and factories. Damage to sanitation networks raises the risk of disease outbreaks, particularly after floods.
The economic toll can be staggering. Severe flooding across Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam in late 2025 caused more than $20 billion in estimated losses. Damage to ports, energy grids, roads, and water systems disrupted domestic and regional trade, tourism, and agricultural production. These impacts extended across borders, increasing insurance losses, raising borrowing costs, and deterring private investment.
Repeated disasters also strain public finances. Governments often divert funds from long-term priorities such as education, healthcare, and poverty reduction to repair damaged infrastructure. Over time, this cycle erodes productivity, widens inequality, and weakens public trust.
Experts argue that breaking this cycle requires integrating climate risk directly into infrastructure design, financing, and governance. Rather than rebuilding to outdated standards, countries must invest in systems capable of withstanding future climate extremes.
Multilateral development banks (MDBs), including ADB, are seen as key players in driving this transition. They can provide long-term and concessional financing for projects that may have higher upfront costs but deliver substantial long-term savings by preventing repeated damage.
MDBs can also promote climate screening tools, stress testing, and updated engineering standards that reflect projected future conditions rather than historical climate data. By embedding climate risk into lending decisions, development banks can steer investments away from post-disaster reconstruction and toward preventive resilience.
In addition, MDBs can mobilize private capital through guarantees, public–private partnerships, and innovative instruments such as green and resilience bonds. Combining durable construction methods with nature-based solutions such as mangrove restoration for coastal protection can further reduce exposure to climate hazards.
While environmental and social safeguards have become standard practice in infrastructure development over recent decades, resilience has not received comparable attention. That imbalance must change, experts say.
Stronger, climate-resilient infrastructure is not only safer and more durable but also more financially viable in the long run. By reducing the frequency and scale of losses, resilient systems lower insurance costs, stabilize public finances, and enhance investor confidence.
As climate risks intensify across Asia and the Pacific, the message from development leaders is clear: continuing to rebuild after every disaster is unsustainable. A proactive shift toward risk-informed planning and resilient infrastructure is no longer optional it is essential to safeguard economic growth, protect development gains, and ensure a more stable future in a high-risk world.