Coastal Communities Connect - Paths to Urban Resilience and Equity

City governments are on the front line of intersecting urban challenges, including those associated with housing insecurity and climate change. These challenges can either reduce long-term risk or unintentionally deepen vulnerability, depending on how they are addressed. Rapid urbanization is placing a growing strain on municipal systems globally, particularly in coastal cities. Climate change compounds already existing pressures through more frequent and intense shocks, while fiscal and institutional constraints limit the options available to local authorities. As a result, cities often rely on reactive responses that may increase long-term risk. In this context, organized urban poor communities are critical governance actors, not merely stakeholders. These communities possess place-based knowledge and adaptive capacities that are essential for effective, inclusive climate resilience. When meaningfully engaged, their strategies can strengthen resilience not only locally, but across the wider city. The IPCC has consistently highlighted the growing risks facing coastal cities, including sea-level rise, damage to urban assets, coastal erosion, and rising costs of protective infrastructure. With an IPCC Special Report on Cities expected in 2027, and informal settlement resilience featuring prominently in global processes such as Innovate4Cities, there is a timely opportunity to connect community experience with scientific evidence and policy formulation. Against this backdrop, this networking event will bring together coastal community leaders, governments, and partners from Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Arctic to exchange experience and build practical connections. The event will focus on strengthening local leadership, improving policy coherence, and advancing inclusive approaches (better practices) to coastal climate resilience. It will: • Enable communities and their leaders to engage more effectively with scientists, authorities and international partners • Strengthen the integration of community perspectives into coastal climate policies, including climate finance instruments and dialogues with multilateral development institutions. • Build cross-regional networks among coastal cities and communities to share lessons on what works—and not—in climate adaptation and mitigation. The event will lay the groundwork for a global assembly of coastal cities and communities to consolidate good practices and inform future policy and financing discussions.