The Waterfront Alliance, in collaboration with ARISE-US, has announced the release of the Coastal Resilience Scorecard, a first-of-its-kind global assessment tool designed to help coastal cities and settlements identify vulnerabilities and strengthen disaster risk reduction strategies. The tool aims to enhance resilience against growing threats such as sea-level rise, storms, and other coastal hazards that are intensifying due to climate change.
The Scorecard has been developed to support cities of all sizes, from major coastal megacities and island nations to smaller coastal communities, offering a common framework to assess readiness and guide action.
Public launch at global ocean summit in Barcelona
The Coastal Resilience Scorecard was officially launched at the Sustainable Ocean Summit, held alongside the Tomorrow Blue Economy Expo in Barcelona, Spain. The public unveiling took place during a “Blue Spark” session presented by the World Ocean Council, where the Scorecard, its User Guide, and a Self-Scoring Tool were introduced to global stakeholders.
The launch marks the completion of Phase 1 of an international, multi-stakeholder collaboration that brought together a global team of volunteer experts over the past year.
Tool designed to assess both disasters and long-term coastal stress
Led by the Waterfront Alliance and ARISE-US, the development team created a comprehensive framework that allows cities to evaluate their preparedness for both sudden coastal disasters, such as storms and flooding, and long-term challenges, including erosion and sea-level rise.
The Scorecard was refined through extensive peer review by international disaster risk reduction experts, ensuring it can be applied universally across different geographic, economic, and governance contexts.
Built on UN disaster resilience principles
The structure of the Coastal Resilience Scorecard is grounded in the Ten Essentials for Making Cities Resilient by 2030, which are based on the United Nations’ Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The first eight chapters of the Scorecard focus on prevention, planning, and risk reduction, while the remaining sections address emergency response readiness and post-disaster recovery.
This approach encourages cities to move beyond reactive responses and instead prioritise long-term planning and resilience-building.
A planning roadmap, not just an assessment
Beyond measurement, the Scorecard is intended to act as a strategic organiser for cities facing the complex, interconnected challenges of coastal resilience. Municipal teams can use it to develop short-term and long-term plans that balance built infrastructure with natural systems, improve resource allocation, and strengthen social and economic resilience.
“With coastal populations densifying and native economies facing unprecedented uncertainties and resource constraints, the Global Coastal Resilience Scorecard provides a clear starting point for cities to turn urgency into action,” said Eugene Karl Montoya A., Senior Lead for Sustainable Blue Economy and Board of Trust Member at the Waterfront Alliance. He described the Scorecard as both a diagnostic tool and a roadmap designed to empower cities to act decisively on climate adaptation.
Peter Williams, Co-Chair of ARISE-US, said the tool builds on existing UN frameworks. He noted that the widely used UN City Disaster Resilience Scorecard has been expanded and updated to address the unique risks faced by coastal cities, where failures can have severe consequences for lives, property, and economies at multiple scales.
Global recognition during phase one of the project
Phase 1 of the initiative included international presentations at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, within the Resilience Hub, and at the Ocean Rise and Coastal Resilience Summit in Nice, France, ahead of the United Nations Ocean Conference 3. These milestones helped establish the Scorecard’s global relevance and visibility among policymakers, researchers, and practitioners.
Phase two to build a global coastal resilience partnership
With the release of the Scorecard, the project now moves into Phase 2, which will expand into a Coastal Resilience Partnership. This next stage will bring together organisations including the Waterfront Alliance, ARISE-US, Fugro, Jacobs Engineering, and the Global Development College.
The partnership aims to develop a broader Coastal Resilience Toolkit, creating a global hub for localised data, training resources, and financial guidance to help cities plan, fund, and implement resilience investments.
Cities and communities interested in piloting the Coastal Resilience Scorecard have been invited to contact the Waterfront Alliance or ARISE-US to participate in the next phase of the initiative.