Municipal Financial Resilience in the Face of Climate Change: A Systematic Review

Climate change has increasingly intensified the frequency and severity of extreme events, including floods, droughts, heatwaves, storms, and wildfires, creating substantial economic and financial pressures on cities and municipalities. Under such conditions, the financial capacity of municipalities to anticipate, absorb, manage, and recover from climate-related shocks while maintaining the continuity of public services has become an essential component of urban resilience. This study aims to review and analyze existing research on municipal financial resilience in the face of climate change and to identify its major dimensions, influencing factors, and existing research gaps. In terms of methodology, the study is an applied research based on a systematic review of the relevant literature. Accordingly, theoretical foundations and previous studies concerning financial resilience, climate change, climate finance, sustainable investment, and financial and insurance mechanisms were reviewed and organized. The findings indicate that municipal financial resilience is influenced by factors such as the sustainability and diversification of revenue sources, budgetary flexibility, expenditure management capacity, access to alternative financial resources, risk anticipation and management capacity, and risk-transfer mechanisms. Moreover, climate finance, sustainable investment, innovative insurance mechanisms, smart technologies, and public-private partnerships can strengthen municipalities’ financial capacity to cope with climate-related shocks. Overall, the review highlights the need to move from reactive crisis management toward proactive financial planning and integrated financial, climate, institutional, and risk-management mechanisms. Strengthening these capacities can enable municipalities to maintain essential services, reduce fiscal vulnerability, support climate adaptation investments, and improve their ability to recover from future climate-related disruptions.

کلیدواژه ها:

Financial Resilience ، Municipalities ، Climate Change ، Climate Finance ، Sustainable Investment ، Urban Resilience