Resilient LA Delta Fund, Bonn Adaptation Talks, Fathom's Flood Model Upgrade, and More

Adaptation financiers plan to raise US$250mn to supply Los Angeles homeowners with grants and loans to rebuild their fire-wrecked properties to higher resilience standards. 

The Resilient LA Delta Fund, a collaboration between nonprofit The Resiliency Company and think tank Insurance for Good, aims to help some of the more than 16,000 properties impacted by the Eaton and Palisades fires to build back stronger and more resilient to future blazes. Residents will be able to access the fund to upgrade their homes to the Wildfire Prepared Homes Plus standard established by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety.

Policymakers, insurance pros, community leaders, and investors are gathering in LA this week to preview the initiative and marshal support for a new model of climate finance. The fund is being structured as a blended capital vehicle, incorporating public and private finance. Borrowers would have to meet a set of requirements to access loans from the fund, while low-income households may qualify for direct grants.

“Building wildfire-resilient communities requires reimagining nearly every part of how we fund, insure, and rebuild after disaster,” said Abby Ross, CEO at The Resiliency Company. “We know the risks are rising, but we also know there’s a groundswell of desire to do things differently,” she added.

Rich countries are lagging on climate finance commitments – particularly when it comes to adaptation – according to CARE Denmark’s report: “Hollow Commitments 2025.” The NGO’s analysis shows that only Denmark, New Zealand, and the Netherlands meet the Paris Agreement’s adaptation finance targets out of 27 rich countries assessed. The shortfall is forcing vulnerable countries into expensive loans that they may struggle to repay. (Care Justice Center)

A UN-led push to ramp up ocean protection drew US$10bn in investment pledges at the Ocean Conference in Nice earlier this month — far short of the US$175bn annually the UN says is needed. Most of the funding came from public development banks, while little private investment was promised. The Head of Nature at UK bank Standard Chartered, Oliver Withers, told Reuters that the absence of a clear governing framework and adequate ocean-related data is a blocker to further private sector engagement. (Reuters)

The UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF), and Sustainable Finance Institute Asia (SFIA) have joined forces to boost adaptation finance across ASEAN. The collaboration plans to enhance the ASEAN Taxonomy with a new regional adaptation guide, and introduces a new Adaptation for Resilience (mARs) Guide to steer both public and private capital into climate resilience investments. (UNEP FI)

The Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) has launched a Wildfire and Forest Resilience Directed Grant Program, using US$10mn from California’s recently authorized climate resilience bond to enhance wildfire protection in the Sierra-Cascade region. The program aims to fund risk mitigation projects like hazardous tree removal and strategic fuel breaks. Eligible applicants, including public agencies and nonprofits, must submit a Statement of Interest by January 2026, with projects expected to begin by October 2026. (Sierra Nevada Conservancy)

Adaptation consultancy Cadlas has released a new Sourcebook aimed at helping institutional investors integrate climate resilience into their stewardship practices. The guide offers a practical framework for investors to engage with vulnerable companies and their assets as physical risk exposures rise, complete with flexible strategies that can be rolled out across investor portfolio types and geographies. (Cadlas)

Current investment flows into resilient food systems are barely 5% of the annual US$1.1trn necessary over the next five years to ensure food security for the global population, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum. Much larger capital allocations are needed to gird the agriculture sector for escalating climate risks and put it on track to achieve Paris Agreement emissions targets. Those regions most in need of agrifood finance – Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin America – are particularly underfunded. (World Economic Forum).

After a rocky start, UN climate talks in Bonn shifted into high gear last week, with delegates locked in tense negotiations over how to track progress on climate adaptation and mobilize an ambitious US$1.3trn – all in the absence of any US delegation.

Discussions last Monday were delayed by a squabble over the agenda, with Bolivia – on behalf of the Like-Minded Group of Developing Countries (LMDC) – seeking to include items on rich nations’ contributions to the latest climate finance goal and “climate change-related trade-restrictive unilateral measures”. Thirty hours of “bitter exchanges” ultimately led to the agenda being adopted on Tuesday, after the chief negotiators agreed to hold “substantive discussion” on climate finance before COP30 in Brazil this November.

Following the commotion, Bonn attendees made progress on adaptation indicators – with technical experts and diplomats agreeing on the need to further refine and slim down the provisional list of 490 metrics unveiled in May to around 100. In addition, there was convergence on a two-tiered structure, where a smaller group of main indicators would be approved supported by a longer list of sub-indicators.

However, roadblocks remain. Certain negotiators say the current indicator list lacks coherence and is rife with duplicates. This is in part because the drafters did not have a chance to see the indicators crafted by other expert groups until after the final list was publicized. Debate also continues over how to make the indicators measurable across different national contexts.

The major area of disagreement, however, concerns the “means of implementation” indicators. Poor countries see these as essential to tracking the flow of adaptation finance from wealthy nations to their harder-up peers. At Bonn, a coalition of developing countries called out these indicators as badly designed and not fit for purpose under the Paris Agreement. Many also pushed back on indicators that would incorporate national budgets in adaptation finance, arguing that this sidelined the importance of rich nations providing bilateral aid. In contrast, the European Union and others said there was value tracking both domestic and international adaptation finance – and called for more indicators on “enabling conditions”, which are less cash-focused.

On the process going forward, most countries are pushing for groups of technical experts to further refine the indicators over the summer and present a refined list in October, when the decision-making over the final set will be taken up by countries in the run-up to COP30.

Bonn negotiators are also hashing out ways to meet the US$1.3trn-a-year climate finance target by 2035 settled on at COP29 and its associated “Baku to Belém Roadmap” – a guide for scaling up adaptation and mitigation finance over the next decade. One on-the-ground source told Climate Proof that there “are no concrete proposals or way forward to ensure adequate levels of adaptation finance” in the discussions.

The Bonn talks are scheduled to close on Thursday.

The US House of Representatives introduced four bills to tackle extreme heat. The Heat Management Assistance Grant Act would help state and local governments respond to extreme heat events, the Extreme Heat Economic Study Act would launch a federal study on the financial costs of extreme heat, the Heat Mitigation Act would set up a federal grant program to support the implementation of local heat mitigation projects, and the Coordinated Federal Response to Extreme Heat Act would establish a federal framework for preparing for and responding to extreme heat. (Environmental and Energy Study Group)

Los Angeles’ Blue Ribbon Commission on Climate Action and Fire-Safe Recovery is urging California lawmakers to create a Resilient Rebuilding Authority to lead recovery from the Palisades and Eaton fires — the most destructive in LA County history. The proposed body would coordinate large-scale reconstruction, buy land, and prioritize displaced residents’ return, while working to avert land speculation. The authority would also streamline permitting, incentivize all-electric homes, and manage funding through tax-increment financing and a US$200mn philanthropic campaign. In addition, the Commission recommended creation of a  LA County Fire Control District, with responsibility for wildfire resilience activities, like the creation of vegetated greenspace buffer zones and effective retrofits for vulnerable neighborhoods. (Blue Ribbon Commission on Climate Action and Fire-Safe Recovery)

The Canadian government announced a CAD$6.8mn (US$5mn) investment in 20 flood mapping and adaptation projects, as part of its National Adaptation Strategy. Environment and Climate Change Canada will allocate CAD$3.3mn to advance flood mapping science, while Natural Resources Canada commits CAD$2.8mn to regional flood modeling and an additional CAD$750,000 for integrating Indigenous Traditional Knowledge. (Government of Canada)

Australia has published a final version of its sustainable finance taxonomy to enhance the transparency and flow of capital towards its climate objectives. Developed by the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute, this classification system, which is part of the nation’s 2023 Treasury Sustainable Finance Roadmap, targets key emissions-intensive sectors like mining and transport. Notably, the taxonomy will be piloted by major financial institutions, and its integration with the Climate Bonds Initiative seeks to bolster investor confidence and global standardization. (Australian Sustainable Finance Institute)

UK-based climate intelligence company Fathom has upgraded its Global Flood Catastrophe (‘Cat’) model to integrate future climate scenarios. The souped-up model allows users to assess flood risks from rivers, coasts, and heavy rains by location, year, and climate warming pathway through 2100.

Fathom, which was acquired by global reinsurer Swiss Re in 2023, claims the Global Cat model can be leveraged by financial institutions to assess portfolio-level flood risk, particularly those related to real estate assets. Engineering firms and federal planners will also be able to use the data for adaptation planning and crafting effective flood defenses. Moreover, insurers can apply the model to run stress tests, identify flood water hotspots and model long term shifts in exposure.

“Being able to quantify physical climate risk into the future is no longer a nice-to-have but a necessity for many of the risk professionals that we work with,” said Dr Malcolm Haylock, Head of Catastrophe Modeling at Fathom. “We are excited to offer clients a powerful tool that enables them to understand not just the potential losses associated with a particular climate scenario, but also to assess the uncertainty arising from variability across climate models.”

Preliminary analysis from Fathom underscores the stakes: absent adaptation, global average annual flood losses could double by 2100. Low-lying urban areas are especially vulnerable due to rising sea levels, with average country-level 200-year losses projected to rise 40%.

Pegasus Capital Advisors is set to invest up to US$20mn in Partanna, a pioneer in innovative coastal defenses. The company uses carbon-negative cement to bolster existing resilience efforts and support marine restoration. The financing is being facilitated via the Global Fund for Coral Reefs, and aims to expand Partanna’s presence in emerging markets and unlock further grant opportunities. (Pegasus Capital Advisors)

The global meteorological device market is projected to grow to US$11.5bn by 2034 – up 69% on 2024 – according to Exactitude Consultancy, driven by heightened climate volatility and growing demand for precise weather data. The analysis also anticipates that devices will increasingly integrate Internet of Things and AI technologies to enhance their utility to sectors like agriculture and disaster management. (Exactitude Consultancy)

Housing, Climate Risk, and Insurance (The Reporter – National Bureau of Economic Research)

Strategies for climate-resilient global wind and solar power systems (Nature)

Exploring the role of adaptation technologies and energy poverty on environmental quality: progress toward sustainable development goals (Nature)

Increased frequency of planetary wave resonance events over the past half-century (PNAS)

An evaluation of US cities’ efforts to further distributive justice in climate adaptation planning (npj Urban Sustainability)

Disparities of urban morphology effects on compound natural risks: a multiscale study across the USA (npj Urban Sustainability)

Global warming may increase the burden of obstructive sleep apnea (Nature Communications)

Impacts of climate change on global agriculture accounting for adaptation (Nature)

Thanks for reading!

Louie Woodall
Editor