President Biden plans to mobilise $5 trillion in public and private sector investments over the next ten years to ensure that buildings, water, transportation, and energy infrastructure can withstand the impacts of climate change.   

With sea-level rise, increasingly frequent and intense storms, and heavier rainfalls already presenting significant challenges in many US states, stormwater management and flood control will be an important component of this ambitious investment.  

Blue-green infrastructure, consisting of natural approaches to water management, promises to be a sustainable and cost-effective solution. It can control floods and urban stormwater runoff while addressing water quality impacts, and provides triple-bottom line benefits such as urban greening. In many cases it is also vastly more cost-effective than traditional ‘grey’ infrastructure approaches.  

In partnership with Stantec, and presented by GWI, this discussion brought together policy makers, industry experts, and city and utility leaders to define the new agenda for climate– resilient blue-green infrastructure, reflecting on the successes thus far and the potential for future applications.  

Key Issues

Featuring four case studies from New York, Louisiana, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, where communities already have ground-breaking programmes underway to tackle hurricane recovery, flood management and water quality control, this high-level meeting will address the following key issues:  

• What are the benefits of blue-green infrastructure and how should they be quantified?  
• How can we replicate the programmes that have been successfully adopted to date? 
• What funding models are available, and are they sufficient?  
• Why should blue-green infrastructure be a federal investment priority? 
• How can digital technologies and other innovations facilitate further adoption? 
• What role can the private sector play in supporting blue-green programmes?

View case study videos produced in advance of the meeting.

View discussion highlight videos from the meeting.