Building coastal resilience globally through the Global Green-Gray Community of Practice

Coastal cities and communities are facing rising seas, stronger storms and worsening floods. Yet mangroves, wetlands and other natural systems are still rarely planned and financed as essential infrastructure. 

The Global Green-Gray Community of Practice (G3CoP) is working to change this. Convened by Conservation International, the network brings together conservationists, engineers, policymakers, planners and financing experts to make nature a more routine part of infrastructure decisions. 

With support from the Global EbA Fund, the G3CoP is turning experience from different regions into practical guidance: helping governments create stronger policies, explaining how coastal resilience projects can be planned and prioritized, identifying pathways for financing, and building the capacity of the people responsible for infrastructure. The aim is to make green-gray infrastructure easier to understand, fund and apply at scale. 

Project Update 

1. Published Multilingual Policy Guidance:

The project’s first major publication, Guidance for Policymakers: Enhancing Resilience with Green-Gray Infrastructure, was released in May 2026 in four languages. Developed with input from across the Community of Practice, the report serves as an instrument to support analysis and creation of policies, institutional development and partnerships needed to bring natural and conventional infrastructure together. 

2. Developed New Knowledge Resources: 

Along the North Brazil Shelf — one of the world’s most extensive and interconnected coastal ecosystems — Conservation International teams and regional partners are building a pipeline of coastal resilience initiatives. The G3CoP is transforming this experience into an accessible knowledge product that will explain how regional data, local priorities and technical expertise can be combined to identify and prioritize potential interventions, helping capture and communicate the process so that its lessons can inform similar efforts elsewhere. In parallel, the project is developing a new high-level resource on financing pathways for ProManguezal, linking them with wider coastal adaptation discussions such as the Belém to Busan Roadmap. Additionally the G3CoP is creating a Project Hub, a digital space where practitioners can discover green-gray infrastructure projects, access practical resources and contribute examples from different regions.  

4. Developed a Green-Grey Infrastructure Training Program: 

A tailored green-gray infrastructure training program developed with Liberia. Working with Liberia’s Ministry of Public Works, CI Liberia and external experts, the G3CoP developed a four-session program designed to strengthen the application of ecosystem-based adaptation and green-gray approaches in infrastructure planning. Delivery is being scheduled with the Ministry and participating speakers 

5. Created Opportunities for Knowledge Exchange and Stakeholder Engagement: 

The G3CoP is creating opportunities for practitioners and governments to exchange knowledge directly, bringing green-gray infrastructure into forums where infrastructure, climate and urban development decisions are being discussed. This has included regional exchanges in Paramaribo and Singapore, engagement with government partners in Brazil and Liberia, public webinars, and participation in global forums such as Climate Weeks, COP30 and the 13th World Urban Forum.