Getting ready to finance Toolkit
Getting Ready to Finance Toolkit
Despite the strong economic case for investing in climate adaptation, public funds are significantly limited. This challenge is particularly acute for municipalities which own and operate 60 percent of Canada’s public infrastructure, have limited capacity and revenue sources to address climate impacts, and are facing a large price tag for infrastructure adaptation. Given the accelerating changes in our climate and the multi-billion-dollar loss events recently experienced in communities across Canada, a whole-of-society approach is needed. Through a financing model where private investors work alongside all orders of government, municipalities can achieve the scale and speed of the resilient infrastructure construction required to withstand and recover from climate impacts. The effectiveness of this approach depends on the collaboration of municipal climate practitioners and financial experts.
The Getting Ready to Finance Toolkit is designed to help municipal practitioners prepare resilient infrastructure projects for financing. It contains examples of resilient infrastructure projects that could be implemented with the help of innovative financing, along with the tools needed to identify and prepare similar projects for financing based on the unique needs and circumstances of different communities.
How to Use the Toolkit
1. Watch the Building Tomorrow: Getting Resilient Infrastructure Projects Ready for Financing Webinar to learn about the Toolkit and how to use the various resources it contains to prepare resilient infrastructure projects for financing.
2. Read Getting Ready to Finance: Examples of Resilient Infrastructure Projects to see examples of resilient infrastructure projects that could be realized with the help of innovative financing and start thinking about the type of projects that could be implemented in your community.
3. Use the Getting Ready to Finance: Project Ideation Guide to identify and prioritize potential resilient infrastructure projects to prepare for financing.
4. Use the Getting Ready to Finance: Project Preparation Template to prepare resilient infrastructure projects for financing while simultaneously referring to the Getting Ready to Finance: Project Preparation Template Instructions.
Toolkit Resources
Building Tomorrow: Getting Resilient Infrastructure Projects Ready for Financing Webinar
Watch this webinar replay from March 5th, 2024 to hear from municipal and financial experts involved in the creation of the Getting Ready to Finance Toolkit. Learn about the resources included in the Toolkit, how to use these to prepare projects for financing, and listen in on a Q&A session.
Getting Ready to Finance: Examples of Resilient Infrastructure Projects
Getting Ready to Finance: Examples of Resilient Infrastructure Projects provides an overview of 22 municipal resilient infrastructure projects. These showcase a range of possible projects that address various climate hazards and could be implemented in any Canadian community with the help of innovative financing.
Getting Ready to Finance: Project Ideation Guide (Editable Excel Spreadsheet)
Getting Ready to Finance: Project Ideation Guide is meant to be used by municipalities as a first step in the process of getting resilient infrastructure projects ready for financing in their communities. This editable Excel spreadsheet is designed to guide municipal practitioners through the process of identifying and prioritizing potential projects as a way to choose which projects to prepare for financing.
Getting Ready to Finance: Project Preparation Template (Editable Word Document)
Getting Ready to Finance: Project Preparation Template provides a mechanism for municipalities to prepare resilient infrastructure projects for financing by filling out an editable Word document. Once filled out, this template can be used to apply for public and/or private funding and inform climate resilience planning and implementation.
Getting Ready to Finance: Project Preparation Template Instructions (Read Before Using the Template)
As the name implies, the Getting Ready to Finance: Project Preparation Template Instructions provides detailed instructions on how to use the Project Preparation Template. The goal of this resource is to ensure that municipalities have all the information they need to fill out the Project Preparation Template. The two resources are designed to be used simultaneously.
About the Toolkit
The Getting Ready to Finance Toolkit was created based on the work undertaken by 10 Canadian municipalities alongside financial and climate risk experts from Co-operators, Addenda Capital, and ICLEI Canada over the course of 2023 through the Financing Resilient Infrastructure Project (FRIP). Through FRIP, municipal practitioners and financial experts from both the private and public sectors exchanged insights on topics related to project feasibility and bankability (i.e., cash flows) and explored finance-related questions. 22 possible resilient infrastructure projects that could be realized with the help of innovative financing emerged from this work. These, along with the tools that were used to identify and prepare them for financing, have been compiled into the Getting Ready to Finance Toolkit.
The Getting Ready to Finance Toolkit was developed by ICLEI Canada and Co-operators through FRIP. We gratefully acknowledge that this project was undertaken with the financial support of Co-operators. We would also like to acknowledge the municipal staff, financial experts, and the FRIP Advisory Group who were instrumental in the creation of this resource.
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We respectfully acknowledge that ICLEI Canada’s work happens across Turtle Island which has traditionally been and is home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples since time immemorial.