Infrastructure networks will be affected by the physical impacts of climate variability and change, but will also play an essential role in building resilience to those impacts. Extreme events illustrate the extent of this potential exposure. For example, OECD modelling of the potential impacts of a major flood in Paris found that 30% to 55% of the direct flood damages would be suffered by the infrastructure sector, while 35% to 85% of business losses were caused by disruption to the transportation and electricity supply and not by the flood itself. Ensuring that infrastructure is climate resilient will help to reduce direct losses and reduce the indirect costs of disruption.

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