10 November 2026
How can resilience be embedded across the infrastructure life cycle? At Session 10 of this year’s OECD Infrastructure Forum, hosted by the Blue Dot Network (BDN), the answer that emerged was less about who is in the room than about what they are all looking at. Developers, governments, investors and users need a common language on the costs and benefits of resilience, built on transparent, robust climate models.
That is where BDN comes in. Its certification and the evidence behind it give every party the same starting point.
Amit Prothi, Director General at CDRI, set the tone: when resilience is built in early in the project cycle, the adverse impacts of climate risk can be significantly reduced. Maintenance then keeps that resilience strong once an asset is operating.
Garrick Pierrefeu, Global Director, Infrastructure Resilience & Risk at Arcadis, showed what “early” looks like in practice. Tailored adaptation studies, ideally during project preparation, let assets be calibrated to evolving risks and lead to better-informed CAPEX decisions.
Mariya Peykova, Sales Director at EDHEC Scientific Climate Ratings, argued for pairing BDN certification with a Climate Risk Assessment. Resilience, she said, should be seen as a bankability enabler rather than an added cost. Certification is an important first step, and the risk assessment completes the picture, giving investors and developers the evidence they need for CAPEX planning.
Stuart Cannon, Climate Change Manager at PIDG, reminded the room that the benefits of resilience don’t stop at the asset boundary. Do a project’s resilience measures also help the individuals and communities around it? Capturing those wider benefits is part of an honest cost-benefit picture, and it multiplies the value of every resilience dollar spent.
Daduna Kokhreidze, Chief Legal and Contracts Officer at FIDIC, looked at how resilience can be written into contractual frameworks. Contracts can be powerful catalysts, but they are not enough on their own. Thorough project preparation is what ensures the clauses are applied as intended.
Edwin Lau, Head of the BDN Secretariat, closed the session with a simple checklist: “Go early. Go robust. Go impactful. Go tailored. Go systematic.”
When resilience is considered from the outset, assessed with transparent and robust climate models, and expressed in terms every stakeholder understands, its impact is systematic and lasting.
