Resilience & Transition Tech

The Climate Technology (C-Tech) research project at the EDHEC Climate Institute is dedicated to developing knowledge on technology-driven solutions that enable infrastructure assets to decarbonise and strengthen resilience against climate risks.

Infrastructure sits at the center of the climate challenge—both as a major contributor to global emissions and as an asset class highly vulnerable to climate change. As the world transitions to a low-carbon economy, infrastructure companies face two major risks:

• Transition risks from evolving regulations, market shifts, and technological advancements.
• Physical risks from increasing climate hazards such as floods, storms, wildfires, and extreme heat.

Understanding and mitigating these risks is no longer optional—it is essential to preserve asset value, ensure operational resilience, and meet regulatory and market expectations.

infraTech 2050: The Largest Global Database for Infrastructure Decarbonization & Resilience

At the core of C-Tech is infraTech 2050, the world’s largest database of decarbonization and resilience measures for infrastructure. This database systematically evaluates strategies for 101 infrastructure subclasses, offering:

• Decarbonisation Strategies: Categorized by Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions to provide targeted solutions.
• Resilience Measures: Focusing on adaptation to floods, storms, extreme heat, and wildfires.
• Evidence-Based Insights: Each measure is backed by scientific research and expert assessments on effectiveness and implementation feasibility.

In addition to the infraTech 2050 database, C-Tech produces scientifically reviewed research papers for eight infrastructure superclasses, along with real-world case studies demonstrating the practical application of its insights.

Figure 1:Components of the infraTech 2050 database

Key applications of infraTech 2050 include:

• Sector-Specific Risk Analysis: Allows for sector-wide risk assessments, providing projections of potential climate-related outcomes based on risks and available mitigation strategies.
• Asset-Specific Risk Analysis: Can be integrated with emissions and climate models to deliver granular asset-level risk and mitigation assessments for decision-making.
• Portfolio Risk Management: Enables a consistent framework for assessing risk exposure and evaluating mitigation strategies across diverse infrastructure assets.
• Investment Prioritization: Helps identify high-priority projects by assessing the cost-effectiveness of emissions mitigation and resilience strategies.
• Validation of Corporate Commitments: Can be used to benchmark corporate climate targets and transition plans against evidence-based insights to assess feasibility and realism.

Ensuring Scientific Rigor & Industry Validation

infraTech 2050 is a continuously evolving resource, designed to stay relevant and robust in addressing infrastructure-related climate risks. A dedicated Review Board, comprising experts from academia, the private sector, construction standards, sovereign wealth funds, public pension funds, consulting, and regulatory bodies, regularly assesses and refines the project’s outputs to ensure the highest scientific and industry standards.

Key Publications:

Research Papers

• Strategic Decarbonisation and Resilience Enhancement in Infrastructure
• Climate Risk Management Strategies: Conventional Power (IC10)
• Climate Risk Management Strategies: Environmental Services (IC20)
• Climate Risk Management Strategies: Social Infrastructure (IC30)
• Climate Risk Management Strategies: Water Infrastructure and Natural Resources (IC40)
• Climate Risk Management Strategies: Data Infrastructure (IC50)
• Climate Risk Management Strategies: Transport (IC60)
• Climate Risk Management Strategies: Renewable Power (IC70)
• Climate Risk Management Strategies: Networked Utilities (IC80)

Tools

• The infraTech 2050 database

Research team

Dr. Nishtha Manocha is the Project Leader for the C-Tech project, specializing in assessing transition and physical risks across multiple sectors, including energy, transport, shipping, water management, data centers, and real estate. With over a decade of experience in sustainability, her expertise spans engineering consultancy, sustainable finance, risk management, ESG reporting, and academic research. She holds a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the National University of Singapore.

Rob Arnold is the Sustainability Research Expert at the EDHEC Climate Institute. He is an energy and environment specialist with extensive experience in industry, business, national governments, and international organisations. His expertise is in developing technology-led decarbonisation strategy and deriving value and business opportunities from implementing it. He has worked for the UK government, developing innovative technology and approaches in the low-carbon energy, climate mitigation, sustainable industry, and clean transport sectors.

Conor Hubert is a Sustainability Research Engineer at the EDHEC Climate Institute, researching carbon emissions and physical climate risks faced by infrastructure assets. His background is in infrastructure design and, more recently, sustainability consulting within the built environment sector, focusing on whole life carbon. Conor has particular experience working in the transportation and water sectors and city- and district-scale infrastructure system master planning, both locally and internationally.