'How To' Guide for Adaptation Finance Vehicles, America's Disaster Aid Bottleneck, Wildfire Tech Collab, and More

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⏰ February 10, 2026, 02:00pm Eastern Standard Time

I’m a New Yorker and I love to cook. This supposedly makes me an outlier, as Gothamites are notoriously time poor and spoiled for choice when it comes to takeout. Still, I’m yet to see any solid data to support this claim.

What’s certainly true is that us home cooks have a dizzying array of options when it comes to stocking our (small) kitchens. Big-name grocery chains sit alongside tiny delis catering for almost every cuisine imaginable. Personally, I find Whole Foods a fairly dependable one-stop shop, where I can get around 80% of what I need for a fair(ish) price. But when a dish calls for something special – like exotic spices and Asian sauces – it usually falls short. That’s when I trek to Kalustyan’s, the legendary specialty food store in Midtown Manhattan. While you won’t find much general produce here, it is stuffed to the rafters with imported ingredients for even the most obscure recipes – most of which are on the pricier side.

Why am I comparing grocers in a climate adaptation newsletter? Because I see a parallel: the climate risk intelligence space is similarly stratifying into big, generalist vendors and niche, specialist providers. This in part reflects the market’s growing maturity. Climate risk and analytics for private-sector companies has been around for 20 years or thereabouts, and the user base – mostly financial institutions and large, complex corporations – is getting more sophisticated. 

Advances in technology, not least AI, are also playing a role. Modern capabilities allow for ever more targeted analytics and risk estimates, while lowering barriers to entry for start-ups with deep domain expertise but less tech savvy than the average Silicon Valley bro. This means small teams with lean operations can turn their know-how and understanding of industry-specific workflows into enterprise-grade tech products at a faster clip than ever before. Among the start-ups in this mold – let’s call them the Kalustyan’s set –  I’d include Class 3 Technologies, ClimateFirst, Ignitia, and Floodwaive. 

Who, then, fits into the Whole Foods’ category? For me, it’s the companies that offer broad climate risk coverage across multiple geographies and hazard types, with tools designed for those managing vast portfolios of real assets, or financial assets tied to them. That includes First Street, Climate X, Jupiter Intelligence, and public companies MSCI and Moody’s, among others.

Of course, there are also those that fit in the middle — those delivering strong risk intelligence, but focused (for now) on just one or two specific hazards. Think of Fathom and 7Analytics in the flood risk modeling vertical.

Now some of you will disagree with this categorization. To be clear, I’m not claiming one business model is superior to the other. That said, it’s becoming increasingly clear that identifying and managing climate risk — let alone adapting to it — is a highly industry- and company-specific task exercise. This means risk managers will likely seek out partners with domain expertise that aligns closely with their own. I’m reminded of one of my favorite quotes from Josh Gilbert, the founder of geospatial analytics company Sust Global, who said the climate risk intelligence space is evolving to be less about brute data capabilities and more about the “taste and discernment” specialist providers offer to targeted customer segments.

What does this bode for the bigger, broad-scope players? Well, New York is big enough for more than 15 Whole Foods stores. In the same way, the climate risk intelligence market may well have space for several large, all-in-one providers. But I’m more confident that – just as the Big Apple has thousands of small, but thriving, delis – there’s plenty of room for a wave of niche specialist climate risk firms to succeed on their own terms.

Louie Woodall
Editor, Climate Proof

The Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) has released a new guide aimed at helping fund managers and investors design climate finance vehicles that support adaptation. The primer comes as the non-profit prepares to select its next cohort of climate finance solutions from over 1,000 submitted through its Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance.

‘Assessing Climate Risk, Framing Resilience, and Reporting Impact’ offers finance innovators a straightforward framework for building workable solutions. This is organized around three pillars: assessing and managing physical climate risk, defining an adaptation investment thesis, and developing impact measurement strategies. It offers step-by-step guidance on how to align solutions with international disclosure standards and on meeting standards necessary to access capital from major public funders like multilateral development banks.

CPI urges early engagement with local stakeholders, such as community groups and project developers, to tailor financial structures to on-the-ground climate risks and deliver meaningful adaptation outcomes. The non-profit has so far backed over 40 adaptation finance vehicles supporting clean cooling, parametric wildfire insurance, and climate-smart agriculture, among others.

The publication also offers tools to put adaptation financing strategies into action, including screening criteria for potential investments and methods for conducting climate exposure assessments.

More than a third of high-risk US drinking water utilities are failing to mention climate change in their municipal bond disclosures, new research shows. The study developed a national climate risk index for 1,455 medium and large drinking water systems, factoring in climate hazards, infrastructure vulnerability, and financial exposure. It found that 67 million people are served by utilities facing elevated climate risks, but that 36% of these omitted any reference to climate change in official bond statements. Among the most high-risk drinking water utilities, 65% (95 utilities) did not mention climate change in their documentation. Most of these utilities are based in the South, particularly Texas. (Communications Earth & Environment)

Europe’s top banking regulator plans to update its rules so national authorities can better address climate-related risks in the financial system. In a new consultation paper, the European Banking Authority (EBA) proposes changes that would let countries apply extra capital requirements to loans most exposed to climate threats — such as those tied to fossil fuel industries or located in areas at risk of floods and wildfires. The updated rules would allow regulators to use more detailed data to identify risky loans, helping avoid penalties on low-risk sectors or green investments. The EBA says the changes should make the system more accurate and consistent across countries. It expects to finalize the new guidelines by mid-2026. (European Banking Authority)

Roughly US$17bn in federal disaster aid is being held up by extra bureaucracy introduced by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, according to internal documents obtained by The New York Times.

A directive, issued by Secretary Noem in June, mandates that all disaster-related disbursements over $100,000 receive her personal sign-off. This is delaying payments for debris cleanup, road and sewer repairs, and emergency services after weather-related catastrophes. Staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) say the backlog has grown significantly, with final processing timelines stretching from weeks to months, leaving communities financially stranded.

FEMA is also holding up around US$1.3bn of adaptation grants meant to protect communities against future climate risks like floods, fires, and extreme storms, according to other documents seen by the Times. These funds — earmarked for projects such as elevating flood-prone buildings and installing emergency generators — have not been approved for any major disaster since March. States with the largest shares of pending grants include Louisiana, Florida, and Texas, where local leaders warn that stalled funding undermines efforts to prevent repeat disasters and reduce long-term damage costs.

FEMA’s slow-moving pipeline comes amid broader uncertainty over its future under the Trump administration, which has floated plans to restructure or downsize the agency. A task force report on FEMA’s future was abruptly shelved in December after its recommendations were leaked to the media.

The US formally exited the Paris Agreement on January 27, becoming the only country to abandon the international accord on tackling climate change. The move was initiated by President Trump via an executive order issued last year. The president has also ordered US withdrawal from the underlying United Nations climate treaty last month — the Framework Convention on Climate Change — which was ratified by the US in 1992. (New York Times)

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) plans to significantly expand its use of commercial weather data, with spending expected to reach into the billions over the next decade. The agency is developing a new procurement strategy that will give private data providers a 10-year view of NOAA’s needs — twice as long as the current five-year contracts. Speaking at the American Meteorological Society’s annual meeting, Commerce Department official Taylor Jordan said the move reflected NOAA’s growing reliance on commercial sources for critical Earth and space weather observations. (Space News)

COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago is promoting a two-tier climate multilateralism framework to address the growing urgency of climate action amid a fragmenting global order. The proposed model, outlined in a January 27 letter, would maintain a consensus-based decision-making approach to ensure legitimacy and universality across countries, while introducing a parallel track focused on accelerated implementation through smaller coalitions and collaborative resource deployment. Corrêa do Lago emphasized the need for climate governance to evolve into a “living system,” arguing that rapid climate mitigation and adaptation cannot be bogged down by the current international policy framework. (COP30)

A Dutch court ruled last Wednesday that the Netherlands violated the human rights of residents of the Caribbean island of Bonaire by failing to protect them from climate change. The Hague District Court ordered the government to set binding greenhouse gas reduction targets within 18 months and develop a detailed climate adaptation plan for the overseas territory within four years. The court found the approximately 26,000 residents of the Caribbean territory were discriminated against, noting that they face more immediate and severe climate risks than residents of the Netherlands itself. (New York Times)

India plans to invest more public money in adaptation and ecosystem-based approaches to mitigating climate risk, according to its latest Economic Survey. The report notes that adaptation-related spending rose from 3.7% of GDP in 2016 to 5.6% in 2022, with increased investment in agriculture, water security, coastal protection, and urban infrastructure. (India Government)

Lockheed Martin, PG&E Corporation, Salesforce, and Wells Fargo announced the formation of EMBERPOINT, a new joint venture designed to improve wildfire prevention, detection, and response in the US.

The partnership will harness AI-powered technologies to support first responders in identifying and responding to wildfires more rapidly, reducing the cost burden of tech development on public agencies and utilities. The founding companies have pledged US$100mn to the venture.

Lockheed Martin will contribute early fire detection and military-grade suppression systems, while PG&E brings operational experience in wildfire mitigation across California. Salesforce will provide the digital infrastructure to unify data and communication systems using its Agentforce and Slack platforms. Wells Fargo is backing the venture financially. The companies say the combined approach will enable faster coordination and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires.

EMBERPOINT expects to begin demonstrations of its technologies later in 2026. The initiative remains subject to regulatory approval.

Nvidia has launched Earth-2, a suite of open-source AI models that could speed up and improve the accuracy of weather forecasts. The family of models are reportedly able to slash forecast compute times by up to 90% and can downscale predictions 500x faster than traditional methods. The models are fed with real-time data from satellites, radar, and weather stations. Early adopters like the Israel Meteorological Service and TotalEnergies are tapping the models for hyperlocal nowcasting and grid optimization. (Nvidia)

DexMat has raised over US$5mn in seed funding to scale up Galvorn, a lightweight, carbon-based material touted as a climate-resilient alternative to copper. The funds will support the company’s expansion and strengthen support for early commercial clients, including manufacturers in aerospace, energy, and defense. The round was led by non sibi ventures, with participation from Governance Partners, Tailwind Futures, BetterWay, and Capital Factory, among others. (DexMat)

Rainbow Weather has raised US$5.5mn in seed funding to scale its hyper-local, short-term weather forecasting platform. The Warsaw-based start-up delivers minute-by-minute precipitation predictions on a one-square-kilometer grid, updating every ten minutes. Unlike conventional models optimized for longer-term forecasts, Rainbow’s system uses machine learning to integrate radar, satellite, weather station, and smartphone sensor data, allowing it to respond quickly to rapidly shifting conditions. (Tech.eu) 

AI-powered crop startup Heritable Agriculture Inc. has secured a US$4.98mn grant from the Gates Foundation to accelerate development of drought- and heat-resilient crops for smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income countries. The funding will fuel the JASON project, a cloud-based AI and genomics platform designed to reduce breeding cycle times by identifying climate-adapted genes at scale. (FoodBev Media)

Germany-based wildfire start-up CAURUS Technologies has landed pre-seed backing from specialist investor resist.vc to scale its high-precision fire suppression system. The company uses sensor arrays and targeting algorithms to locate wildfires, and deploys a drone-mounted blow-out mechanism to create a firefighting aerosol cloud which can drastically cut wildfire damage. Earlier this month, the company also received grant financing from the European Regional Development Fund to support firefighting units and civil protection organizations in Lower Saxony. (resist.vc)

Climate change risk index and municipal bond disclosures of United States drinking water utilities (Communications Earth & Environment)

Global gridded dataset of heating and cooling degree days under climate change scenarios (Nature Sustainability)

Projected impacts of climate change on malaria in Africa (Nature)

Climate change risks and customer concentration: Evidence from US-listed firms (Business Strategy & the Environment)

Addressing the physical risks of climate change in the GCC — The role of policy and finance (MBRSG)

La Niña, climate change, high exposure and vulnerability combined led to devastating floods in parts of Southern Africa (World Weather Attribution)

Addressing the impacts of catastrophic wildfires through proactive forest management and wood utilization (Canadian Studies Center)

Thanks for reading!

Louie Woodall
Editor