The World Bank Group has introduced a Resilience Rating System (RRS) to enhance climate resilience in projects, offering guidance and criteria for assessing resilience along two dimensions of project design.
The RRS, as described by the World Bank Group, is unique in its approach to evaluating resilience. It focuses on assessing the confidence that expected investment outcomes will be achieved despite climate and disaster risks, as well as the project's contribution to the resilience of beneficiaries and communities. Projects are rated on a scale from A+ to C for each dimension, providing a straightforward assessment of adaptation and resilience quality.
According to the World Bank Group, the RRS is not only a valuable tool for evaluating project design but also serves as a reporting mechanism to monitor progress on adaptation and resilience across project portfolios. By integrating climate risk stress testing methods, the RRS aims to support better project design and management of current and future climate risks.
The successful piloting of the RRS in 21 projects across various regions and sectors during FY21-FY22 has provided valuable insights. The key lessons learned from the pilot have been compiled in the paper "Resilience Rating System: Synthesizing Key Lessons from IDA19 Piloting," as highlighted by the World Bank Group. These lessons are expected to inform ongoing applications of the RRS in IDA20 projects and Bank operations to assess resilience performance and drive transformational adaptation.
The RRS is part of a broader effort to enhance climate resilience, with public and private actors undertaking climate risk screening and resilience metrics. By providing a structured approach to evaluating and improving resilience in projects, the RRS aims to mobilize public and private capital towards more resilient investments.