EU's Stance on UN Climate Goal, Bad Weather Hits US Workers in July, Climate Disaster Map, and More

Today in Climate Proof:

Finance:

• EU Tees up Climate Finance Fight

• Feds Invest US$400mn in Drought Resilience

Policy:

• Corporates Back Biden’s Resilience Initiative

• Bad Weather Hits US Employment

• Kamala Harris’ Adaptation Credentials

Tech:

• New Map Shows Extent of US Climate Disasters

Research:

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

EU Tees up Climate Finance Fight

The European Union wants some developing countries to pay toward the next UN-backed climate finance goal, according to a negotiating paper seen by Politico.

Setting a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) for climate finance is a key focus of the upcoming COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan. This new goal would replace the US$100bn a year target that expires in 2025. At the Bonn Climate Conference in June, a warm-up for COP29, developed and developing nations squabbled over the makeup of the contributor base to the new target, and how much finance should be directed to emerging economies each year. Contributions toward the current target are made solely by rich, industrialized countries.

The EU negotiating document seen by Politico, dated July 26, “CALLS on all countries according to their financial capabilities, including emerging economies, to contribute to the new goal.” Although specific countries are not mentioned, it is understood that EU diplomats want China and wealthy Gulf states to contribute to the NCQG.

The EU is also lobbying for the private sector to contribute more to this goal: “private investments will have to undertake the largest share of the required investment in low emissions, resource-efficient and climate-resilient development,” the document reads.

Moreover, the text suggests the EU may ask COP delegates to prioritize climate finance for the most climate-vulnerable countries, like small island states, instead of having the new target pay out to all developing countries equally.

Feds Invest US$400mn in Drought Resilience

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is spending US$400mn on drought resilience for the American West as parched conditions become a persistent reality for the region’s farmers.

The federal investment will support irrigation districts in 12 states, including California, Nevada, and New Mexico, and promote the use of water-saving tech and farming practices among the region’s agricultural producers. The aim is to conserve up to 50,000 acre-feet in water use across 250,000 acres of irrigated farmland.

Each of the initial 18 irrigated districts earmarked for investment will receive up to US$15mn. Farmers in these regions will get paid for curbing their water use while continuing to produce crops. The USDA will not impose specific drought-resilience solutions, but instead learn from those employed by producers themselves.

The American West has been plagued by near-chronic drought in recent years. In June, moderate to severe drought conditions affected 19% of the West as a whole, 24% of the Pacific Northwest, and 22% of the Southwest. In the week through July 30, 17% of the US was experiencing drought conditions, affecting 80.9 million acres of major crops.

The USDA’s latest investment builds on the Western Water and Working Lands Framework for Conservation Action, which was launched in 2023. This lays out how the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which is part of USDA, is addressing drought and building climate resiliency for 17 states in the West. Last year, the NRCS spent US$2.3bn on water conservation investments.

Other Stuff

From Scotland to Malawi: climate survivors are rebuilding with world first loss and damage fund (The Guardian)

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva’s statement at the conclusion of the third meeting of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (IMF)

Adaptation Fund projects in Tanzania build resilience to drought in vulnerable farming communities (Adaptation Fund)

Can development banks do better on climate adaptation finance? (Breakthrough Institute)

Closing the adaptation finance gap in fragile and conflict-affected settings (World Bank Blogs)

Biden-Harris Administration announces US$190mn grant opportunity for payment programs that help private forest landowners address climate change (USDA)

UK backing enables new Africa-focused climate fund to achieve US$200mn first close (British International Investment)

African Development Bank calls for increased private sector engagement in climate finance at Uganda conference (African Development Bank Group)

Interior Department Announces US$20mn from President’s Investing in America Agenda to Bolster Climate Resilience in Hawaiʻi (US Department of the Interior)

Massachusetts Governor awards US$52mn in climate resiliency funding to communities (mass.gov)

Asian Development Bank, University of Chicago to promote innovations to reduce climate change impacts (Asian Development Bank)

Corporates Back Biden’s Resilience Initiative

Samantha Power has taken to the role of climate adaptation booster with gusto. The Administrator of USAID, America’s international development agency, made waves earlier this year with a speech on addressing climate shocks. She has since promoted public and private innovation in support of climate-proofing as part of PREPARE — the Biden administration’s plan to build climate resilience across the developing world.

“The more we can harness ideas and capital from around the world to help jump start innovations … the faster we can build affordable solutions to keep climate disasters from shocking our systems,” Power said back in February.

Her efforts appear to be paying off. A call to action to engage the private sector with PREPARE has yielded commitments from 34 companies and partners since 2022, according to a July 30 press release. These include pledges from corporate giants which recently announced resilience initiatives that could help more than nine million people globally. 

AstraZeneca, the biopharmaceutical company, has committed to support the climate adaptation of health systems in nine African countries, focusing on heart and kidney conditions that can be made worse by extreme heat. Technology leader Cisco is partnering with ConSenso Project, a coalition of Tanzanian espresso farmers and Italian plant and technology researchers, to rollout tech that helps coffee farmers save water, preserve soil quality, and produce more climate-resilient coffee crops. And finally, infrastructure consultancy AECOM is making available PlanEngage, its project stakeholder engagement and planning platform, to advance the climate resilience of certain cities and communities in USAID target countries.

Their pledges follow commitments made in 2023 by corporations including Aon, Arup, Howden, IBM, and Visa. In 2022, Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, and other tech and finance firms also offered services in support of PREPARE.

All in all, the call to action has yielded more than US$3bn in cash, insurance coverage, credit, and in-kind services from the private sector, which is additional to the US$2.3bn spent by the federal government in 2022.

Bad Weather Hits US Employment

The number of US workers unable to do their jobs because of bad weather surged in July to 436,000 — fourteen times the month’s historical average for the last ten years.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday further shows that over one million full-time workers could only work part time in July because of weather disruptions, far higher than the 194,000 average.

July saw Hurricane Beryl ravage the states of Texas and Louisiana, and a record-breaking heatwave punish huge swathes of the country, pushing temperatures in many regions well above 100°F. Last month also saw Vermont hit again by devastating floods and an outbreak of wildfires in the West, including the Park Fire in California, which is already the fourth-largest blaze in the state’s history.

Workers Unable to Work Because of Bad Weather

The huge number of work interruptions may have been a factor driving last month’s tepid employment numbers. US employers added 114,000 jobs in July, short of the 175,000 forecast. However, the Bureau claimed that Hurricane Beryl, at least, had no discernible effect on the July job estimates or data collection rates.

Whatever the full story behind the latest numbers, higher weather-related work absences are a drag on economic growth and reduce the financial resilience of individuals and communities. The data makes the case — once again — for increased investment in adaptation and resilience to shield workers and employers from climate shocks.

Kamala Harris’ Adaptation Credentials

On Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, setting up a November showdown with former president Donald Trump. Either today or Tuesday Harris is set to round off her party’s ticket with her own VP pick.

The current Vice President has a strong climate track record, having shared in the legislative achievements of President Biden in enacting the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In the case of the former, she cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the Act when all Republican senators voted against.

Her bonafides undoubtedly contributed to her endorsement for president by four climate groups — the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, the Sierra Club, and Clean Energy for America Action. She has also won the backing of The Green New Deal Network, a coalition of 19 lefty environmental and social justice organizations.

Harris is no stranger to the consequences of climate risks and the importance of adaptation. In a 2021 speech on the root causes of migration to the US, Harris said that a lack of climate adaptation and resilience are one of the longstanding factors driving people in Central and South America to the US. The Biden-Harris administration also debuted the National Climate Resilience Framework and pushed for 20 federal agencies to produce climate adaptation plans. 

Prior to assuming the Vice Presidency, Harris served as Attorney General in California, where she sued oil companies and automakers over climate and environmental pollution. Before that, as Attorney General for San Francisco, she set up the state’s first environmental crimes unit. 

Other Stuff

Americans’ attitudes toward electric vehicles, climate, and energy policy ahead of the 2024 presidential election (AP-NORC)

Senator Markey announces legislation to improve longer-term weather and climate forecasting (markey.senate.gov)

US farmers want to adapt to climate change, but crop insurance won’t let them (Bloomberg)

California must improve plans to address climate change impacts, state officials say (Courthouse News Service)

Singapore’s US$170mn climate defense for luxury stores shows protections aren’t equal (Bloomberg)

New Map Shows Extent of US Climate Disasters

Want to know how often your home county has been hit by extreme weather events? Then this new map is for you.

The Atlas of Accountability, produced by the nonprofit Rebuild by Design, shows how many federally declared weather disasters have struck each county in the US between 2011 and 2023 — and how much each has received from federal agencies in recovery funds.

Overall, 90% of US counties have suffered extreme weather shocks over the last decade, while US$92bn in taxpayer funds have been spent helping affected populations recover.

What’s striking from the Atlas is just how many parts of the US have suffered extreme weather disasters — not once, not twice, but dozens of times.  While coastal cities and wildfire-prone regions hog the headlines, plenty of inland counties and smaller states have been ravaged by weather shocks, which are on track to get more intense and damaging as the world heats up. Kentucky, South Dakota, and Vermont have all had 20 federally declared disasters over the period studied. Kentucky is also home to the two counties — Johnson and Floyd — with the overall highest disaster count. 

The Atlas is intended to educate communities and policymakers on their exposure to climate shocks, and bring home how spending on climate resiliency could save counties money, property, and lives. “By investing in infrastructure that reduces the impacts of severe weather events before a disaster strikes, communities, the built environment, and the economy will be better prepared for a future with more climate extremes,” the report accompanying the Atlas states.

Rebuild by Design also makes clear that extreme weather risks don’t care if a region is Republican or Democrat. Of the 23 congressional districts that have suffered 10 or more disasters, over two-thirds have Republican representatives. This data may be useful when it comes to spurring climate-skeptical lawmakers to get on board with adaptation and resilience.

Other Stuff

Weather Radar System a significant milestone for climate change and disaster response in Vanuatu (SPREP)

Caltrans unveils new tool to prioritize multimodal infrastructure investments to combat climate change (California Department of Transportation)

UF scientists study how to bring you ‘climate-smart coffee’ (University of Florida)

Mississippi State University tackles climate change threats to soybean production through collaborative US$6mn National Science Foundation grant (MSU)

RESEARCH

Deadly Mediterranean heatwave would not have occurred without human induced climate change (World Weather Attribution)

Heat claims more than 175,000 lives annually in Europe, latest data shows (United Nations)

National monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems for climate change adaptation (International Institute for Sustainable Development)

Numeric social-media posts engage people with climate science (PNAS Nexus)

Cultivating climate resilience in California agriculture: Adaptations to an increasingly volatile water future (PNAS)

The housing regime as a barrier to climate action (NPJ)

California dreaming: Why environmental justice is integral to the success of climate change policy (PNAS)

Thanks for reading!

Louie Woodall
Editor