Green Climate Fund Investments, Ex-NOAA Chief Blasts Trump, Tipping Point Alert System, and More

Finance:

• Green Climate Fund Approves US$687mn of Investments

• Cities Need US$86bn for Climate Resilience – CDP

Policy:

• FEMA Purge Imperils US Climate Shock Response

• Ex-NOAA Chief Unloads on Trump Admin

Tech:

• High-Tech Climate Tipping Point Alert System Wins Funding

Research:

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

** Event Announcement **

Join Climate Proof and impact investor Mercy Corp Ventures for the latest in the Climate Adaptation Technology Virtual Roundtable series, where we’ll explore how regenerative and climate-smart agriculture, coupled with emerging technologies, can drive food system resilience.

Green Climate Fund Approves US$687mn of Investments

The UN-backed Green Climate Fund (GCF) signed off on nearly US$687mn of investments in climate adaptation and mitigation last Friday.

The funds will go towards 11 projects in 42 countries, supporting over 115 million people. With co-financing from private sector partners, the GCF anticipates the latest investment round to top out at US$1.5bn.  First-time winners of GCF funding this year include Serbia, which will use the investment to strengthen its forests, and Togo, which will spend the proceeds on enhancing the resilience of climate risk-prone communities.

The GCF board also greenlit six new GCF project implementing partners, including five national and regional partners, to speed up developing countries’ access to climate finance.

The GCF was set up in 2010, and has approved US$16.6bn across 297 projects to date. By design, the fund has to commit 50% of its financing to adaptation projects. The fund may have to rein in its ambitions in the coming years, however, following the Trump administration’s tearing up of US$4bn of US pledges to the fund.

Cities Need US$86bn for Climate Resilience – CDP

The world’s cities need US$86bn of investments to build climate-resilient infrastructure, new data shows — up 23% from last year.

CDP, the non-profit run environmental disclosure system, compiled data on 2,508 climate-related projects across 611 cities in 75 countries for its annual Global Snapshot, which outlines global urban climate finance needs. This showed surging demand for climate-proofing funding. The top three sectors seeking investment last year were water management (US$28bn), transport (US$19bn), and buildings and energy efficiency (US$12bn).

Investment Needs By Sector (US$)

Rich world cities had the highest number of projects outstanding, with Europe, North America and Latin America leading the way. In contrast, cities in poorer countries accounted for just 27% of financing needs. 

The CDP says the world has to mobilize at least US$800bn annually in public investment by 2030 to support urban adaptation and mitigation projects. Achieving this target depends on public authorities nurturing conditions that support private sector investment in urban climate projects and ensuring their national climate plans align with the needs of cities.

In Brief

Thailand plans to introduce a Climate Fund aimed at supporting the country’s shift to a low-carbon and climate resilient economy. The fund, which is part of the country’s draft Climate Change Act, would offer green loans, grants, and investments in climate adaptation, research and development, and other activities. The Department of Climate Change and Environment (DCCE) said the find could generate 1.1 trillion baht (US$33bn) in profits by 2050. (The Nation Thailand)

Canada has allocated over CAD$3.6mn (US$2.5mn) to six climate adaptation projects in Quebec under the government’s Climate Change Adaptation Program and the Climate-Resilient Coastal Communities Program. These focus on developing climate scenarios, adaptation tools, knowledge-sharing networks, and integrated adaptation plans. The funding is part of a broader national investment to reduce climate risks and strengthen community resilience under Canada’s National Adaptation Strategy. (Government of Canada)

FEMA Purge Imperils US Climate Shock Response

Climate-focused employees at the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are likely to be fired by the Trump administration, as the president continues a wide-ranging cull of government workers.

More than 200 FEMA employees have already lost their jobs, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the agency. Politico reports that FEMA officials are now compiling lists of staff involved in climate, environmental justice, and DEIA projects —meaning diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility — with the intention of making further cuts.                

The agency plays a key role helping Americans before, during, and after climate-related disasters, and was recently deployed dealing with the fallout of Hurricanes Helene and Milton across six states. 

FEMA is already understaffed, according to government testimony, and is likely to be tested further by escalating climate-related disasters. Last month, President Trump mused about eliminating the agency altogether, and signed an order establishing a FEMA Review Council to advise on the agency’s ability to “capably and impartially address disasters occurring within the United States.” 

“The indiscriminate mass firing of essential FEMA staff will cause endless disruption to an agency that was already inarguably understaffed and overstretched given the need to respond to back-to-back extreme weather and climate change-related disasters,” says Shana Udvardy, a senior climate resilience policy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Many of the staff let go have a wealth of experience and knowledge that’s irreplaceable and their departures will have longstanding consequences for the people that experience disaster at their doorstep.”

Ex-NOAA Chief Unloads on Trump Admin

Eliminating the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would “kill a few thousand Americans every year”, push the US into greater debt, and destroy real estate across the country, the former head of the agency said in a blistering statement last Thursday.

Rick Spinrad served as NOAA Administrator from June 2021 to January this year, a period that saw the agency invest millions in climate resilience. In the weeks since his departure, NOAA has been thrown into turmoil by the Trump administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Project 2025 — a policy blueprint for the new presidency written by the right-wing Heritage Foundation — explicitly calls for NOAA to be “broken up and downsized”.

In his two-page statement, Spinrad said eradicating the agency would lead to “deaths and destruction”, and ultimately end up costing the federal government more over time than its US$7bn annual budget. He added that even with its existing workforce, NOAA is understaffed, and “needs at least an additional 5,000 employees to be most effective.”

“The predicted impact to lives, livelihoods, and property [of NOAA’s elimination] isn’t hyperbolic. In fact, just look back to where we were before we had the benefit of many decades of investment in what NOAA does for America,” he said.

If NOAA were to disappear, Spinrad says commercial interests would “have to pick up the bill” for the agency’s assets, making vital weather forecasting and climate data services available only to “the privileged few willing to pay the private sector the fees and subscriptions that would have to be charged, like one does for Netflix or Amazon Prime.”

In Brief

The Trump administration has ordered US federal scientists to halt work on the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, says CNN, putting the 2009 edition of its global assessment in jeopardy. Kate Calvin, NASA’s chief scientist and senior climate advisor, was scheduled to co-chair a discussion among IPCC authors in China this week but is now no longer attending due to the stop-work order. (CNN)

California lawmakers have introduced the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act of 2025, which aims to charge fossil fuel majors for climate-related damages to the Golden State — like those from January’s wildfires. Similar to bills passed in New York and Vermont, this Superfund Act would see oil and gas companies levied a fee in line with their past emissions to pay for climate adaptation and disaster recovery. Forty percent of funds raised would go toward disadvantaged communities. Senator Menjivar introduced the bill in the California Senate, and Assemblymember Addis in the state’s lower chamber. (Senator Caroline Menjivar)

The Los Angeles Commission on Climate Action and Fire Safe Recovery, set up earlier this month to promote a “resilient and sustainable recovery” from the recent firestorms, has tapped UCLA to provide research expertise and programmatic support. UCLA’s advisors will help the commission formulate policies on fire-safe reconstruction, resilient infrastructure, and faster, equitable rebuilding processes. (UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs)

India’s finance commission has been urged by a coalition of 12 civil society groups to set up a dedicated climate adaptation fund for vulnerable communities. Led by Greenpeace India, the groups say the country risks more extreme heat-related deaths and lower economic growth if it does not prioritize climate-proofing measures. Data from India’s Economic Survey shows adaptation spending reached 5.6% of GDP in 2021-22, which is “not enough”, according to the citizen groups. Along with the fund, the groups want the government to recognize heatwaves as national disasters and institute a Climate Damage Tax to hold fossil fuel giants accountable for climate-driven catastrophes. (Greenpeace India)

High-Tech Climate Tipping Point Alert System Wins Funding

Experimental airships, AI-powered models, and floating sensor platforms will all be deployed by UK scientists to help gauge the effects of climate change on a critical ocean current.

The UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC) won an £11mn (US$14mn) grant to develop an early warning system for the potential collapse of the Atlantic Subpolar Gyre, a part of the ocean’s circulation system that conveys heat around the planet. This acts as a natural thermostat for Europe and North America, and its disruption could bring about huge climatic changes and increasing extreme weather shocks.

Three NOC projects are being supported by the funding. One, AEROSTATS, will use “novel earth observation platforms” like airships and high-altitude pseudo satellites to gather data on ocean salinity and temperature shifts; two, Full Ocean Fibre, will leverage existing undersea communications cables to build out a marine sensor network; and three, Subpolar Gyre Observations, will deploy AI and advanced models to detect evidence of the current’s distress.

The funding was awarded by the UK’s Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) as part of its £81mn (US$102mn) Forecasting Tipping Points program.

In Brief

Texas-based drone maker Hylio has raised over US$2mn via crowdfunding platform StartEngine to expand production of its autonomous crop care devices. The company plans to use the investment to build out a new facility capable of producing 5,000-plus drones a year. Hylio says it has sold over 550 units to date and generated US$23mn in lifetime revenue (StartEngine)

RESEARCH

Evaluating the association between heatwave vulnerability index and related deaths in Australia (Environmental Impact Assessment Review)

Global chocolate supply is limited by low pollination and high temperatures (Communications Earth & Environment)

Urban environments promote adaptation to multiple stressors (Ecology Letters)

Making networks resilient to climate change (Nokia Bell Labs)

Thanks for reading!

Louie Woodall
Editor