The Business Case for Resilience: Southeast Florida

ULI and the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact’s joint project The Business Case for Resilience for Southeast Florida is a regional cost-benefit analysis that examines the impacts of sea level rise in Southeast Florida and provides a set of regional recommendations for climate change adaptation.

To develop a more robust understanding of the business case for resilience, the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact and the Urban Land Institute conducted a new regional cost-benefit analysis examining the economic impacts of sea level rise and flooding, and potential economic opportunities associated with investments in resilient infrastructure.
The report finds that there is a compelling business case for the Southeast Florida region to make significant investments in resilient infrastructure now.
View Report

Status:
Complete, report available

Focus Area:
Southeast Florida Region

Partners:
Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
The Beacon Council
Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce
Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce
Broward Workshop
Community Foundation of Broward

Economic Analyst:
AECOM

Date:
December 2019 – October 2020

Topics:
Resilience
Waterfront
Sea Level Rise
Adaptation

ULI Center / Focus Area:
Urban Resilience

Background

The economics of sea level rise, flooding, and resilience are an essential component of encouraging continued action to address the challenges facing our community. Beyond the physical implications of rising seas, the economic implications of these impacts are an essential component of a smart cost-benefit analysis.

The study will serve as a key tool for better understanding and advancing climate adaptation efforts throughout the region and will provide a springboard for future analysis by collecting economic data on revenues by sector and risk that are not currently packaged and will explore national precedents and best practices from other cities seeking to quantify the return on their investments in resilience.

The study explored:

  • The economic risk of flooding and the augmentation of that risk due to rising sea levels
  • The economic benefit of resilience action as a function of risk reduction and avoided economic losses
  • The economic opportunities associated with resilient investments
  • Recommended strategies to incentivize and improve resilience for our community

The study will help inform:

  • Recommendations for collaborative resilience planning
  • Targets for economic resilience
  • Potential strategies for future infrastructure investments; and
  • Comprehensive evaluation of projected returns on investments of sea level rise adaptation measures

More on this project