Court Backs Trump Admin Claw Back of Climate Grants, Support for EU Climate Resilience Initiative, Adaptation VC Backs Road-Scanning Tech, and More

A US appeals court last Tuesday cleared the way for the Trump administration to reclaim around US$16bn of climate grants awarded to non-profit groups, reversing a lower court ruling that had frozen the money. 

The money, part of former President Biden’s US$20bn Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), was intended to bankroll a wide range of decarbonization and climate resilience initiatives, including infrastructure upgrades to harden communities against extreme weather and natural disasters.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 that the dispute falls under contract law and should be heard in the Court of Federal Claims, not a district court, which had issued a preliminary injunction against the claw back in April. “While some grantees may be forced to shutter their operations during the litigation, their harms do not outweigh the interests of the government and the public in the proper stewardship of billions of taxpayer dollars,” the majority opinion reads.

At the center of the legal fight are five non-profits — including the Climate United Fund, Power Forward Communities, and the Justice Climate Fund — that had been awarded large chunks of funding last year, but have been unable to access the money from their accounts at Citibank since February.

Their lawsuit argues that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under Trump’s pick Lee Zeldin, illegally froze and terminated already-disbursed funds without justification. Zeldin, in a February video, slammed the grants as “boatloads of cash” funneled to progressive groups under the guise of environmental justice. By March, he’d called for an internal review, effectively halting the program’s rollout.

Judge Nina Pillard, the lone dissenting voice on the appeals panel, argued the move was a politically driven assault on climate investment and directly undermined Congress’s spending authority. She noted the lack of credible legal reasoning from the EPA and warned that allowing such unilateral action threatens the integrity of congressionally mandated climate initiatives. Pillard was appointed to the bench by President Obama, while the two judges in the majority were appointed by President Trump.

Climate United CEO Beth Bafford maintains that the funding freeze is unlawful and vowed to continue fighting.

“This is another hurdle in our fight to lower energy costs for those who need it most while creating jobs for hardworking Americans, but we will continue to press on for communities across the country that stand to benefit from clean, abundant, and affordable energy. This is not the end of our road,” she said.

US homes worth a collective US$12.7trn now face severe or extreme flood, wind, or wildfire risk, according to Realtor.com’s 2025 Housing and Climate Risk Report. Besides the direct threats they pose, these hazards are also rapidly changing housing markets and insurance availability. In places like Miami and New Orleans, insurance premiums can reach up to 3.7% of a home’s value, and that doesn’t include separate flood policies or steep hurricane deductibles. In addition, the report finds that US$1trn of housing outside of FEMA flood zones are at risk of inundation, revealing a major blind spot in federal mapping. (Realtor.com)

A top executive at Munich Re has warned that the growing role of hedge funds and private investors in the reinsurance sector could upend the market for catastrophe cover, especially after major climate-related disasters. In an interview with the Financial Times, Board member Stefan Golling said the US$115bn surge in alternative capital into catastrophe bonds and reinsurance ‘sidecars’ could inject volatility into the disaster insurance market, as these investors may lack underwriting expertise and could withdraw capital abruptly after losses, as seen after Hurricane Ian in 2022. (Financial Times)

Global insured losses from natural catastrophes are climbing fast, with Verisk projecting a $152 billion annual average — driven less by blockbuster hurricanes and more by fast-moving hazards like wildfires, floods, and severe storms. These so-called frequency perils now account for nearly two-thirds of expected losses, reflecting a new risk regime shaped by rapid urban growth, inflation-fueled exposure, and the creeping effects of climate change. (Verisk)

Climate-related shareholder proposals lost traction in 2025, with filings down nearly 50% and none passing, data compiled by The Conference Board shows. Submitted proposals numbered 101 in 2023, 102 in 2024, and just 56 this year. Investors grew more selective on what proposals to back amid political headwinds — but also in response to improved climate-related metrics, targets, and governance practices introduced by many companies. A rule change by the US Securities and Exchange Commission made it easier for companies to exclude ESG proposals, further dampening activity. (The Conference Board)

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has released Phase 2A of its Sustainable Finance Taxonomy, introducing a “Climate Change Adaptation” category to capture investments that help prevent, adjust to, or reduce the impacts of a warming world. While voluntary, the taxonomy is being positioned as a tool for capacity building and may eventually inform regulatory supervision. The updated taxonomy is open for public consultation until October 8. (HKMA)

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has inked a US$200mn lending deal with Turkey’s Development and Investment Bank (TKYB) to boost private investment in climate resilience and digital infrastructure. The ‘on-lending facility’ will see TKYB borrow from the AIIB in order to re-lend funds for investments in climate mitigation, adaptation, and climate-related industries. These include projects that bolster the resilience of productive processes, equipment, buildings, and infrastructure, as well as nature-based solutions like drought management, water storage, and afforestation. (AIIB)

The European Union’s forthcoming climate resilience initiative is getting an early thumbs-up from businesses and trade groups. However, respondents to a recent consultation made plain that lawmakers had to bring the private sector to the table and create space for adaptation to become an investable market.

Feedback sent to the European Commission came from respondents including engineering firms, insurers, multinationals, and climate policy outfits, urging lawmakers to prioritize market-making and long-term finance as part of the initiative, which is due to be finalized in 2026. A total of 237 individuals and organizations responded to the call for evidence.

The initiative aims to roll out a mix of legislative and non-legislative tools to shore up Europe’s climate preparedness. Key goals include harmonized risk assessments, stress testing of critical assets, and embedding "resilience by design" into investment decisions.

Almost all the feedback supported the new initiative, with many respondents calling on the EU to embrace an ambitious resilience agenda. The European Federation of Engineering Consultancy Associations pressed lawmakers to ensure all infrastructure investments would be designed to withstand climate risks over their lifecycle and to implement climate stress testing of taxpayer-funded assets. Climate KIC, the bloc’s top climate innovation agency, added that the EU should have a binding climate resilience goal by 2050, complete with targets and indicators co-designed with key economic sectors and other stakeholders. It also called for long-term financing for resilience to be baked into the EU’s budgeting process. 

Insurance stakeholders also responded in force. The Lloyd’s Market Association — representing fifty-one managing agents at the London-based insurance organization — said the EU should steer clear of measures that restrict insurance capital or warp pricing while promoting alternative risk transfer solutions, like parametric insurance. Trade body Insurance Europe said policymakers could consider an EU-level Climate Resilience Investment Fund to finance resilience upgrades in vulnerable communities and high-risk sectors.

As for corporates, carmaker BMW wrote that efforts should be focused on reducing red tape and overhauling the regulatory framework so it can better address forthcoming climate-related challenges. Similarly,  biomedical giant Bayer called for “a harmonised and coherent outcome-based agricultural sustainability policy and regulatory framework” to incentivize sustainability performance, including on climate resilience. 

Following a period of public consultation and rulemaking, the European Commission says it plans to adopt the new resilience initiative sometime in the last three months of 2026.

More than 85 leading climate scientists have issued a scathing rebuttal to the US Department of Energy’s July 2025 report downplaying the risks of greenhouse gas emissions. In a 400+ page expert review, the authors accuse the DOE Climate Working Group (CWG) of cherry-picking data, misrepresenting scientific consensus, and relying on just five “hand-picked contrarians” to produce a report riddled with “basic errors”. The DOE report was issued ahead of a push by the Environmental Protection Agency to overturn the 2009 endangerment finding, which provides the legal basis for the bulk of US climate regulations. (Real Climate)

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin is reintroducing the America’s Clean Future Fund Act, a sweeping climate bill that aims to invest in US climate resilience while slashing emissions and boosting clean energy jobs. The legislation would impose an economy-wide carbon tax starting at US$75 per metric ton, ramping up over time, and fund a new Climate Change Finance Corporation to back resilience and clean tech projects, especially in environmental justice and fossil fuel-dependent communities. Durbin first introduced the bill in 2020 with a carbon price of US$25 per ton. (Senator Dick Durbin)

Two wildland firefighting crews raided by immigration agents at Washington’s Bear Gulch fire in August were certified and actively assigned to suppression work, despite claims from federal officials that they were “not firefighters.” Internal planning documents show both crews met national qualifications and had been tasked with securing fire lines and protecting structures before being reassigned to cut firewood on the day they were detained. The Department of Homeland Security said the crews were not actively fighting the fire, a claim repeated by Republican figures and some media outlets. Fire veterans allege the reassignment to firewood duty may have been a pretext for the raid and warn the incident is undermining morale and breaking longstanding protocols that bar immigration enforcement at emergency sites. (News from the States)

The Irish government has released its draft Tourism Climate Change Sectoral Adaptation Plan for 2025-2030, a raft of measures designed to “maintain the attractiveness of Ireland for holidaymakers” amidst worsening extreme weather events. The plan aims to bolster the tourism sector’s adaptability to climate impacts through enhanced awareness of the links between climate variables and tourist trends and the implementation of resilience measures. Stakeholders are invited to submit feedback during the public consultation period ending September 17, 2025. (Government of Ireland)

Adaptation tech venture capital fund Mazarine Climate had made its inaugural investment in New Zealand-based roadway moisture insights company TDRI.

TDRI uses a trailer-mounted moisture sensing system — leveraging Time Domain Reflectometry Imaging (TDRi) — to rapidly scan for subsurface moisture beneath road pavings. The tech allows for the creation of maps showing where water could erode, crack, and otherwise impair highways and byways. The data can be used by road owners and operators to detect early-stage water damage, diagnose drainage problems, and order preventative maintenance before things fall apart. The company says that excess moisture leads to a 2.5 times increase in pavement deterioration and 30% waste in maintenance spend.

Water risks to roadways are increasing as climate-induced flooding and extreme rainfall events ramp up.

Mazarine Climate did not disclose the size of the seed investment. The fund is focused on tech solutions that tackle water risks to ‘linear assets’ — like roads, pipelines, and railways — with a particular interest in innovations that produce or consume data. The fund’s website says investment prospects have to “demonstrate a plausible strategy for reaching profitability” and have booked more than US$300,000 in revenue in the last calendar year.

Stanford spinout YiLab has raised over US$10mn in an pre-Series A round to scale its thermoregulating textile brand LifeLabs. Co-founded by nanotech pioneer Professor Yi Cui, the company is establishing a new R&D lab and factory in Asia to fast-track production and prototyping. LifeLabs’ fabrics offer a high-performance, low-resource solution for making temperature-regulating outdoor and active lifestyle apparel. (YiLabs)

Nigerian agri-tech platform Babban Gona has secured US$7.5mn in debt financing from British International Investment (BII) to scale its AI-powered services, which help facilitate access to high-quality agricultural inputs, financial credit, and training on climate-smart practices. Babban Gona’s innovative franchise model also allows top-performing farmers to create and run their own micro-enterprises on the platform. BII’s investment is intended to help the enterprise expand to strengthen the climate resilience of around 140,000 smallholder farmers in northern Nigeria by 2029. (British International Investment)

Agtech startup FarmHQ has raised $500,000 to expand its irrigation automation platform. The company’s smartphone-integrated system offers farmers real-time control over water flow and irrigation data, and can pair with a variety of hardware including sprinklers, irrigation pumps, valves, and flow meters. FarmHQ has secured US$5mn in total funding since its founding in 2020. (GeekWire)

The City Council of St. Petersburg, Florida, approved a new GIS-based system to improve real-time coastal flood forecasting and impact assessment. The new tech, introduced as part of the city’s Coastal Conditions Monitoring Project, will integrate storm surge, tide, and climate risk data with local infrastructure and terrain models to deliver hyper-local flood insights. The system aims to sharpen both emergency response and long-term planning to escalating flood risks. Clearview Land Design, a Florida-based engineering and tech firm, was selected to deliver the project. (City of St. Petersburg)

State of EU progress to climate neutrality (Institute for Climate Economics)

Beyond the payoff: How investments in resilience and disaster preparedness protect communities (US Chamber of Commerce)

Beyond single company climate risk disclosure: Event-based physical risk reporting (Environmental Research: Climate)

Fostering complementarity: How development and climate financiers can scale up locally led adaptation (SEI)

The 2021 Henan flood increased citizen demand for government-led climate change adaptation in China (Communications Earth & Environment)

A warming ocean threatens mangrove restoration targets and deepens global inequities in ecosystem service losses (Environmental Research: Climate)

How climate change and deforestation interact in the transformation of the Amazon rainforest (Nature Communications)

Climate change increases the interannual variance of summer crop yields globally through changes in temperature and water supply (Science Advances)

Empowering long-term, relational research pathways: innovation and adaptation at the speed of trust within more-than-human and human communities (Emotion, Space and Society)

Thanks for reading!

Louie Woodall
Editor