Cross-Sector Leaders Launch First Commercial Real Estate Playbook to Address Mounting Weather-Related Risks

The Resiliency Company brings together 55 organizations representing $2.5 trillion in market cap to set a new standard for managing climate risks in real estate development

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, The Resiliency Company announced the launch of the From Vulnerability to Value: A Risk Mitigation Playbook to Drive Resilient Development (“CRE Playbook”), a first-of-its-kind framework designed to help building owners, developers, designers, contractors, investors and lenders manage climate-related risks with a strong, unified approach. The CRE Playbook has been developed through the convening of top cross-sector leaders including JLL, Ryan Companies and the Urban Land Institute, among others.

Research from First Street estimates that $1.4 trillion in American real estate value is at risk due to climate-driven population shifts and soaring insurance costs. In 2024 alone, global insured losses from natural disasters reached $137 billion, and weather-related events are rising 5 to 7 percent annually. Meanwhile, commercial real estate insurance premiums have surged 88 percent nationwide in the past five years, leaving developers, investors and owners increasingly at risk. The stakes are immense and up until this point, resources have been siloed by sector, limiting the needed collaboration between parties to effectively manage risk across the value chain.

Developed with collective insights from 55 organizations across design, construction, real estate, finance, insurance and other sectors, representing $2.5 trillion in market capitalization, the playbook fills this longstanding gap. It will offer the first framework designed to connect stakeholders across sectors to mitigate climate risks throughout the development lifecycle.

“Building resilient communities requires reimagining how we fund, insure and design for the future,” said Abby Ross, CEO of The Resiliency Company. “The playbook is about uniting historically fragmented industries around clear, actionable standards so we can reduce risk, scale climate resilience and help communities withstand and recover from disasters.”

The CRE Playbook provides clear, actionable frameworks and practical strategies for identifying, assessing and mitigating climate-related risks. It addresses physical risks such as wildfires, flooding and extreme heat, alongside transition risks driven by regulatory, technological and financial shifts.

“Insurance and climate risk management play a critical role in strengthening the resilience of real estate markets,” said Janika McFeely, vice president and co-lead of the Climate and Decarbonization Practice at JLL. “We’re honored to be a part of the playbook with our cross-sector peers, to put climate-resilient solutions at the forefront of development. We believe the Playbook will help us collectively lead the way to a more sustainable and insurable future.”

Together, these practices shift the industry from reactive compliance toward proactive resilience, positioning climate risk management as a strategic differentiator that safeguards asset value, attracts investment and strengthens long-term stability.

For more information, please visit https://resiliency.com/climate-risk-management-playbook.

About The Resiliency Company:

The Resiliency Company mobilizes funding, policy, and innovation to build a safer, more climate-resilient future. We bring together historically fragmented industries and stakeholders to scale resilient infrastructure solutions that allow communities to withstand and recover from climate disasters. For more information, visit https://resiliency.com/.