Countries Close in on Climate Finance Deal, UK Adaptation Lawsuit Dismissed, and More

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Today in Climate Proof:

Finance:

• New Climate Finance Goal Negotiations in Focus

• Green Climate Fund Approves US$1bn in New Projects

Policy:

• UK High Court Rejects Adaptation Plan Challenge

Tech:

• Climate Tech Startups Compete for Future Resilience Prize

Research:

• Another round-up of papers and journal articles on all things climate adaptation

New Climate Finance Goal Negotiations in Focus

COP29 is two weeks away, and the contours of a new international deal on climate finance are coming into sight. However, the latest draft text features a wide range of options, underlining the gulf between countries on the size, scope, and scale of any new agreement.

The paper details three options for structuring the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG). Option 1 would set an annual dollar amount for rich nations to channel to developing countries. Figures cited range from a floor of US$100bn to a whopping US$2trn. Option 2 would define an “annual investment goal” for the world or for developing country parties, made up of a “core” amount for poor nations and an additional layer of finance mobilized from multiple sources. Option 3 would aggregate Options 1 and 2 as a “cumulative goal” or in tandem with a cumulative goal. The time horizons over which the NCQG would be achieved vary wildly across all three options.

The three options mirror the positions taken by the different coalitions of rich and poor countries that have ossified over the past few months of negotiations. The US, EU, and other rich developed countries are in favor of a multi-layered goal, one which China, Saudi Arabia, and other relatively wealthy developing countries contribute to. Poor countries much prefer a dedicated public finance goal, and for this finance to be delivered via grants or grant-like structures — rather than through interest-bearing loans. Large developing countries, like China, do not want to contribute to the overall goal, citing their own ongoing development needs.

The latest negotiating paper is ambiguous on the use of sub-targets for directing finance toward climate adaptation and other specific goals. One proposal is for a singular NCQG that includes finance for mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, and more — but sets no quotas for any one objective. Another suggests that a fixed percentage of the annual goal be dedicated to each theme. Yet another calls for the NCQG to be sufficient to support poor countries in implementing their decarbonization and adaptation plans. Other parts of the text present different ideas on the sources of NCQG contributions and the arrangements for tracking and reporting finance delivered by countries. 

Last week, US nonprofit the National Resources Defense Council publicized a model on how public and private finance could be scaled up to achieve the NCQG. This shows there are limits to the degree to which country-to-country and multilateral finance flows could be increased without “greater political will and citizen support.”

Green Climate Fund Approves US$1bn in New Projects

Projects to enhance climate resilience in Angola, Iraq, and Somalia were among 16 approved for a total US$1bn investment by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) last week. This year, the fund has allocated US$2.5bn to 44 new projects.

The GCF was set up by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2010 to invest in climate mitigation and adaptation solutions in developing countries. It oversees a US$16bn portfolio spread across 286 projects.

The latest slate of investments includes new financing instruments like a “debt-for-climate-conversion” in Barbados. Through this mechanism, the Caribbean nation will be able to exchange high-interest debt for a lower-paying alternative, using the savings to invest in climate-resilient infrastructure.

Other adaptation-related projects approved last week include a multi-hazard early warning system in Azerbaijan, a safe water initiative in drought-prone areas of Ethiopia, and a climate-resilient health program for southern Malawi.

The GCF also said it is continuing efforts to speed up the process of approving projects and disbursing finance. A long-standing complaint of the GCF is that it takes too long for funds to get to worthy projects because of the entity’s bureaucracy.

Other Stuff

Commonwealth leaders and climate experts call for additional climate finance (The Commonwealth)

Network for Greening the Financial System publishes a climate macroeconomic modelling handbook (NGFS)

ECB’s Villeroy: Central banks can’t shrug off climate change issues (Reuters)

Insurance on the rise: Climate risk and real estate investment decisions (Urban Land Institute / Heitman)

Avaana raises USD$135mn for climate fund to fuel climate-tech startups (Entrepreneur India)

Unlocking finance at scale to meet climate and development Goals (E3G)

UK High Court Rejects Adaptation Plan Challenge

A legal challenge to the UK government’s national adaptation plan was dismissed by a High Court judge last Friday, although at least one plaintiff has vowed to fight on.

Kevin Jordan, Doug Paulley, and Friends of the Earth allege the UK’s Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) is unlawful, as it is failing to protect people, property, and infrastructure from escalating climate risks. The UK’s independent Climate Change Committee wrote in March that the plan “falls far short of what is needed.” 

In a written ruling, High Court judge Justice Chamberlain rejected the case, claiming there was “no error in law.” Plaintiffs had asked the Court to consider whether the government had fallen short of its obligations under the Climate Change Act by failing to set clear adaptation objectives, failing to consider the risk of delivery of adaptation policies and actions, and failing to consider the human rights of those affected by climate impacts.

Responding to the ruling, Kevin Jordan, whose home was demolished last December because of coastal erosion, said: “This is an extremely disappointing judgment. Without a tougher set of government policies to protect us, more people will face the horror of seeing their homes, lives and livelihoods threatened by the growing impacts of our rapidly changing climate.”

He told the BBC he is “not giving up.”

Friends of the Earth said it was considering the judgment and its appeal options.

Other Stuff

New Zealand Health National Adaptation Plan 2024 - 2027 (NZ Ministry of Health)

Pakistan proposes regional climate data bank for evidence-based response to disasters (Arab News Pakistan)

Climate Tech Startups Compete for Future Resilience Prize

InsurTech startup Faura won the inaugural Future Resilience Prize from a top New York City-based climate tech incubator last week, beating out four other companies working on climate adaptation solutions.

Faura offers property-level climate risk assessments to help insurers and homeowners reduce their natural disaster risk and identify ways to boost their climate resilience. The award comes with a US$50,000 check and admission to the ACRE Incubator, the longest-running climate tech incubator in New York State. Urban Future Lab, a unit of New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering and host of the ACRE Incubator, awarded the prize at last Thursday’s Urban Future Summit.

“In the last year, millions of individuals in vulnerable communities have been stripped of their insurance policies or given outrageously high premiums that result in many losing their most valuable assets: their homes,” said Valkyrie Holmes, Faura CEO and Co-Founder. “Faura helps homeowners qualify for better and cheaper insurance by teaching them exactly what, when, and how they should reduce the risk on their properties, aligning incentives for both insurers and policyholders to close the transparency gap.”

The runners up for the Future Resilience Prize were Aquaria Technologies, Blip Energy, Frontline Gig, and Kind Designs.

Faura’s Valkyrie Holmes will feature on a forthcoming episode of Climate Proofers. 

Other Stuff

New Crop Innovation Centre officially opened by Secretary of State for Scotland and First Minister (The James Hutton Institute)

Albanese Labor Government putting tech, tools and trials on the table in latest grant round (Government of Australia)

RESEARCH

An open access approach to mapping climate risk and vulnerability for decision-making: A case study of Birmingham, United Kingdom (Climate Services)

From Grey to Green: Better data to finance nature in cities — State of Finance for Nature in Cities 2024 (UNEP)

Thanks for reading!

Louie Woodall
Editor