Community Development Innovation Review

October 17, 2019
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Foreword

Author(s):

Without smart, proactive investments in adaptive capacity and resilience, low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities will likely be disproportionately affected by climate change-related events.1 This issue of the Community Development Innovation Review explores these investment opportunities and calls on the community development sector to take a leadership role in preparing vulnerable regions most at risk for a “new abnormal.”2

This issue would not have been possible without the extraordinary work of its guest editor, Jesse M. Keenan. A leading thinker on climate change risk—even adding the helpful term “climate gentrification” to the lexicon—Jesse recruited a remarkable group of thirty-eight authors to write for this issue. Their contributions, and Jesse’s, advance the community development sector and help us better prepare for a changing world.

Despite the challenges that lie ahead, I’m encouraged by the work that’s already begun. As recently as this summer, in fact, the Low Income Investment Fund—a national Community Development Financial Institution—issued a $100 million “Sustainability Bond,” the first public offering directly aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.3 If that’s any indication, the community development sector has already begun to mobilize capital to address the impacts of climate change in LMI communities.

Enjoy this issue of the Review.


1. See, for example: Anderson, M. and McMinn, S. “As Rising Heat Bakes U.S. Cities, The Poor Often Feel It Most,” All Things Considered, National Public Radio (September 3, 2019)

2. Former California Governor Jerry Brown (November 11, 2018), as cited by Allison Brooks in her article, Drawing a New Roadmap: The Resilient by Design Bay Area Challenge.

3. Low Income Investment Fund, “$100 Million in Sustainable Bonds for Social Impact: Announcing LIIF’s First Bond Issuance.”

Download the article (pdf, 55.35 kb)

Other articles in this issue

Climate Adaptation and Community Development

Flood Risk and Structural Adaptation of Markets: An Outline for Action

Real Estate as a Tool for Adaptive Banking

Rebuild to Fail or Rebuild to Adapt: How CRA Lending Can Guide Climate Change Disaster Response

Insurance Innovation and Community-Based Adaptation Finance

Forest Finance Unlocks Opportunities for Rural Communities: Exploring the Triple Bottom Line Impacts of the Forest Resilience Bond Model

Community Resilience and Adaptive Capacity: A Meaningful Investment Across Assets

Hunting for Money: U.S. Cities Need a System for Financing Climate Resilience and Adaptation

Climigration and the Private Sector

Building Community Wealth through Community Resilience

Building on Shared Values to Engage with Mainers on Climate Change

Embracing the Challenge of Climate Education and Engagement

America Adapts: The Value of Podcasting in Climate Communications

Healthy Aging: A Conceptual Model of Community-based Solutions in the Face of Climate Change and Global Demographic Changes

The Critical Role for Young People and Schools in Resiliency Planning

Drawing a New Roadmap: The Resilient by Design Bay Area Challenge

Promoting Equitable Climate Adaptation through Community Engagement

Investing in the Virtuous Cycle

Pre- and Post-Disaster Investments in Housing and Community Development Under the CRA