June 30, 2026 – The Brookings Institution released a working paper that argues that care systems are essential climate resilience infrastructure. Highlighting early childhood education and care alongside long-term care, the paper outlines how investing in climate-resilient care services can strengthen communities, protect vulnerable populations, and support climate adaptation.
Building resilience of a care services infrastructure involves adapting both services and physical infrastructure. The heart of the paper is an empirical methodology for estimating the costs of investing in a climate-resilient care services infrastructure, focusing on early childhood education and care and long-term care services.