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The Resilient Community Impact Fund is raising US$10 Million in its first phase and has received funding commitments from Z Zurich Foundation and Bank of America.
(New York, NY, 16 March 2022) –
The Resilient Cities Network (R-Cities) announced the establishment of the Resilient Community Impact Fund (RCIFund), to catalyze investments in resilience and resilience-related efforts as cities around the globe face urgent pressure to adapt quickly to climate change.
Two global leaders in insurance and banking, Zurich Insurance Group, in collaboration with the Z Zurich Foundation, and Bank of America, will provide grant funding to support the RCIFund. This funding anchors a broader effort by the RCIFund to achieve its Phase 1 goal of US$10 million by 2024.
“We are pleased to be able to help catalyze the Resilient Community Impact Fund. This is a vehicle run by an organization with a solid reputation for advancing a range of resilient projects in cities. We see the Fund as a unique and necessary element to create impact on the ground as part of our larger partnership,” said Gregory Renand, Head of the Z Zurich Foundation. “I invite like-minded peers to join us in contributing to this Fund to surpass the initial goal for creating more climate-resilient cities and communities and address social inequity.”
The RCIFund will provide grant-based support to member cities in the R-Cities global network for prioritized local resilience projects. These grants will act as a leverage for additional funding to advance projects and ensure vulnerable communities become resilient to future shocks and stresses from environmental, social, and economic disruptions.
“Cities are calling for targeted resources to fund projects that deliver a safer and more equitable future,” said Lauren Sorkin, Executive Director, Resilient Cities Network. “The global pandemic and its cascading effects coupled with more intense and frequent natural disasters repeatedly demonstrate that we must protect the most vulnerable in our cities. Today we are inviting partners to invest with us, knowing our cities can effectively implement solutions to the many challenges we face.”
“Climate change is having an adverse impact on our most vulnerable communities now. The Resilient Community Impact Fund will provide critical funding to cities and organizations to jump start local resilience projects. Over time, these projects will provide the foundation for cities to meet the challenges posed by extreme weather and related impacts,” said Rich Brown, Environmental Program Director, Bank of America.
The RCIFund launches with US$500,000 from the Z Zurich Foundation as part of the larger North America Climate Resilience Program. Bank of America is contributing US$350,000 to catalyze projects in Asia and North America. Conversations are underway to extend RCIFund to R-Cities’ five regions across the globe.
“From a city government perspective, this type of catalytic grant funding is rare but essential to increase and scale resilience projects,” said Brian Strong, Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) with the City of San Francisco and member of the R-Cities Global Steering Committee. “I am confident that our community would be able to quickly deploy resources from the RCIFund to address the critical resilience building needs in our city.”
Projects seeded through the RCIFund will leverage additional funding from private, public and philanthropic stakeholders. The initial round of grants will be awarded to city projects in late 2022.
For inquiries and further information, please contact Stewart Sarkozy-Banoczy, RCIFund project director, Resilient Cities Network at RCIFund@resilientcitiesnetwork.org and visit the RCIFund landing page here.
ABOUT RESILIENT CITIES NETWORK
Resilient Cities Network is the world’s leading urban resilience network. Present in more than 100 cities, 40 countries, and 6 continents, R-Cities is a global city-led nonprofit organisation that brings together knowledge, practice, partnerships, and funding to empower cities to build a safe, equitable, and sustainable future for all.
For more information on Resilient Cities Network: www.resilientcitiesnetwork.org
MEDIA CONTACT
Nikki Rudnick
Global Communications Lead
nrudnick@resilientcitiesnetwork.org
