Why Climate Resilience Stalls at the Local Level, and How Cities Can Unlock Real Delivery

Cities sit on the front lines of the climate crisis, but turning resilience plans into real infrastructure remains difficult. Governance fragmentation, financing gaps, regulatory friction, grid constraints, and community acceptance often slow or block urgently needed projects.

Organized by Accelerating the Transition, this session brings together city practitioners, researchers, and infrastructure experts to examine why urban climate resilience so often stalls in the US, and what it takes to actually deliver it.

Through real-world stories from Lund (Sweden), New York City and the North Valley of California, speakers will unpack how cities are deploying resilient energy systems, accelerating neighborhood-scale climate upgrades, and building institutional models that can move projects from plan to reality.

The discussion focuses on actual implementation: what worked, what didn’t, how projects were financed and governed, and what conditions allowed them to move forward.

The audience will leave with concrete lessons and replicable approaches that city leaders, utilities, investors, and policymakers can apply to unlock climate resilience at scale.

For anyone working at the intersection of energy, infrastructure, cities, and climate, this conversation will offer a rare look inside how resilience projects are actually getting built and how the next wave of urban climate solutions can move faster.

Moderator:  Dr. Marc A. Weiss, Chairman and CEO, Global Urban Development (GUD).

Speakers:

Jonas Birgersson, Chairman, ViaEuropa; Chair, EnergyNet Task Force; GUD Senior Fellow and Sweden Coordinator; Lund, SwedenSantino Plazola, GUD Fellow, Berkeley, CADr. Thomas Pogue, Executive Director, Center for Business and Public Policy, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CALou Riordan, GUD Senior Fellow, Berkeley, CADr. Jan Whittington, CEO, Climate Solutions International, and Professor of Urban Design & Planning, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Curated by Tuong-Vi An-Gourfinkel (Accelerating The Transition)

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ATT Student Fellowship & Volunteer Program

Accelerating the Transition is committed to ensuring that the next generation of climate leaders has access to the networks, ideas, and opportunities shaping the future of the clean energy transition.

Through our Student Fellowship & Volunteer Program, a limited number of students and emerging professionals will receive complimentary access to the conference.

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