Climate-related Financial Risks and Opportunities: A Primer for Local Governments

Local governments across the United States are bearing increasing costs of extreme weather disasters while facing a global transition to a low-carbon economy.

Equipped with more information on how these and other climate-related factors present financial risks and opportunities, local leaders can improve their decision-making, risk management, and project prioritization.

This C2ES primer is designed to help communities protect their fiscal health and position themselves for a thriving future by better identifying and assessing financial risks and opportunities related to climate change.

The primer is organized as follows:

1. How local governments can benefit from understanding the impacts of climate-related financial risks and opportunities
2. Potential financial impacts from climate-related risks and opportunities
3. Science-based tools and other resources for local governments and public sector entities to assess climate risks and opportunities
4. Climate risk assessment and disclosure and its evolution for local governments in the United States
5. What’s needed to enable strong fiscal management at the local level as climate impacts and economic shifts accelerate

This primer’s resource tables are available here.