US Cancels US$4bn For Green Climate Fund, NOAA Under Siege, Canada Invests in Wildfire Satellites, and More

Finance:

• Trump Cancels US$4bn For UN Climate Fund

• UN Climate Funds Team Up

• Connecticut Explores Climate Resilience Bonds

Policy:

• NOAA Under Siege

• Lawsuits Take Aim At New York Climate Superfund 

Tech:

• Canada Invests In Wildfire-Detecting Satellites

• Fugro Acquires Earth Observation Pioneer

Research:

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

Trump Cancels US$4bn for UN Climate Funds

The Trump administration has torn up US$4bn in outstanding US pledges to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the largest UN-backed financing pool for climate adaptation and clean energy projects, according to Politico.

A January 27 note from Secretary of State Marco Rubio to UN Secretary-General António Guterres seen by the publication said all outstanding pledges to the fund had been rescinded.

Under President Biden, the US committed US$3bn to the GCF in 2023, matching an earlier pledge made under President Obama. The US has delivered US$2bn of the promised amounts to date, making US$4bn outstanding — money that the GCF will now have to go without. 

The GCF was set up in 2010, and has approved US$16bn in projects to date. By design, the fund has to commit 50% of its financing to adaptation projects. Through its readiness program, the GCF provides millions to developing countries working on their National Adaptation Plans and other adaptation planning processes.

UN Climate Funds Team Up

The UN-backed Adaptation Fund and Loss and Damage Fund are joining forces to better finance solutions to climate shocks.

In a letter of intent signed January 31, the two funds pledged to collaborate across five themes: readiness, knowledge sharing, resource mobilization, support to countries, and advocacy. 

“Adaptation and loss and damage are two sides of the same coin,” said Mikko Ollikainen, Head of the Adaptation Fund, announcing the tie-up. He added that the agreement “sets a broad framework” for collaboration on climate-proofing and disaster response efforts.

The Adaptation Fund, set up in 2001, supports communities in developing countries adapt to climate risks. At last year’s COP29, it raised US$133mn from donor countries. Since 2010, it has committed US$1.25bn in grants across more than 180 projects. The Fund for responding to Loss and Damage, established in 2022, pays out to countries dealing with climate shocks in the short term. Last year, it raised US$85mn in pledges.

Connecticut Explores Climate Resilience Bonds

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont laid out a sweeping plan to enhance the state’s climate resiliency last Wednesday, and wants to pay for it using a new kind of public financing mechanism.

Lamont’s Resilient Connecticut Strategy would authorize municipalities to create Resiliency Improvement Districts (RIDs), allowing them to buy, build, improve, maintain, or redevelop land and buildings so they can better withstand climate impacts. RIDs would be able to raise finance for these measures by issuing bonds to investors. Towns and cities with RIDs would also be able to reinvest increased property tax revenues into climate-proofing projects and affordable housing.

Lamont’s resiliency plan comes in the wake of major floods and extreme weather shocks that caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages in the Constitution State last year. Unprecedented rainfall last August unleashed flash floods that cost some US$300mn, according to the governor’s office. 

Other aspects of the Resilient Connecticut Strategy include forcing financial institutions to alert homeowners about available flood insurance, mandating property-level flood risk disclosures, and curbing state investments in residential developments in high-risk flood zones.

Lamont’s strategy is now being scrutinized by state lawmakers as part of biennial budget negotiations.

In Brief

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has announced £100mn (US$124mn) in seed funding for climate and poverty-reduction projects overseas, including those focused on adaptation and resilience. The financing is intended to support businesses focused on delivering the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and help them get listed on stock exchanges around the world, including in London. (UK Government)

Canada has announced over CAD$87mn (US$61mn) in climate adaptation and economic resilience financing for developing countries as part of International Development Week (February 2-8). The funding will support Canadian-led initiatives around the world, including women’s socio-economic empowerment in Morocco, biodiversity conservation in Ghana and Honduras, and climate adaptation in Mongolia, Chad, and Sri Lanka. (Government of Canada)

Investors are sounding the alarm over the EU Commission’s planned overhaul of sustainable finance regulations, which is expected to be formally announced on February 26. A coalition of over 200 financial sector actors, managing €6.6trn ($6.8trn) in assets, has urged policymakers to preserve the integrity of the EU sustainable finance framework, warning that reopening these regulations as part of the so-called Omnibus Package could undermine Europe’s economic competitiveness and the bloc’s Green Deal. Instead, investors advocate for targeted improvements, such as streamlined technical standards, clearer implementation guidance, and improved data harmonization. (IIGCC)

The EU’s proposed public-private reinsurance scheme for climate-related losses could strengthen the insurance sector’s resilience, according to Fitch Ratings. By pooling risks across member states, the scheme aims to improve affordability and availability of coverage for natural catastrophes. The proposal also includes an EU disaster fund to support public infrastructure recovery, with payouts contingent on national risk mitigation efforts. (Fitch)

NOAA Under Siege

America’s weather and climate agency is the latest target of President Trump and Elon Musk’s ransacking of the federal government.

Multiple reports say the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which oversees a wealth of climate data and bankrolls dozens of adaptation and resilience projects, has been thrown into turmoil by a barrage of often confusing presidential directives and the infiltration of its systems by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a task force of Musk protégées that has run rampant through US agencies.

Last Tuesday, The Guardian said DOGE staffers had gained entry to NOAA headquarters and the offices of its parent agency, the Department of Commerce, in order to access key IT systems. This sparked concerns that the DOGE unit, which has no clear authority under the law to intervene with real government departments, was preparing to dismantle or take control of NOAA as it has attempted to do so with USAID and the US Treasury.

On Friday, Democratic Congressman Jared Huffman wrote to the Republican Chair of the Natural Resources Committee, which considers legislation touching NOAA, urging him to “thoroughly investigate the illegal actions taken by Elon Musk” and his DOGE team “to intimidate … employees, reportedly threatening mass layoffs of 50 percent of the workforce and 30 percent of the budget.”

Trump orders also threaten to hamstring NOAA’s international collaborations. Bloomberg reports that early last week, NOAA employees were told to log and delete all international contacts and communications. This would have constrained the agency’s ability to track extreme weather events and exchange satellite data. The order was partially reversed on Friday, allowing some cross-border partnerships to continue.

Then on Sunday, Axios reported that agency staffers had been instructed to identify and list grant programs with “climate” and other related keywords in their documentation. Though it was not immediately clear to Axios what the Trump administration planned to do with this list, it is possible they will be targeted for suspension or elimination in line with the president’s executive orders on freezing federal funds for climate-related projects. This could affect a grant program offering some US$575mn for coastal climate resilience across the US introduced under President Biden, though some funds have already been disbursed to award winners.

Project 2025 — a blueprint for a Republican administration published by right-wing group the Heritage Foundation — calls for NOAA to be “dismantled” and for many of its functions to be “eliminated, sent to other agencies, privatized, or placed under the control of states and territories.” A full-scale commercialization of NOAA’s weather forecasting and warning products would likely force extreme weather alerts behind paywalls, and potentially out of reach of millions of Americans in lower-income communities. 

On Thursday, Russell Vought — a Project 2025 author — was confirmed as White House budget director.

Lawsuits Take Aim at New York Climate Superfund 

New York is being sued by 22 other states over its Climate Superfund Act, which would force fossil fuel companies to pay into a pool for financing adaptation and resilience projects.

The Act was signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul in December. Starting in 2028, it would charge oil and gas majors up to US$3bn a year to finance infrastructure and projects that enhance the climate resilience of the Empire State.  The law could raise some US$75bn over 25 years. In 2023, New York taxpayers spent US$2.2bn, or about US$300 per household, for infrastructure repairs and resilience projects, according to nonprofit groups.

The states suing New York, led by West Virginia, allege the Superfund Act exceeds the state’s authority by forcing payments from energy companies no matter where they are based. “In an unprecedented effort, New York has set out to impose tens of billions of dollars of liability on traditional energy producers disfavored by certain New York politicians,” the complaint reads. “These energy producers needn’t operate in New York before becoming a target. And New York consumers won’t bear the brunt of these crushing new costs once they’re imposed. Rather, New York intends to wring funds from producers and consumers in other States to subsidize certain New-York-based “infrastructure” projects, such as a new sewer system in New York City.”

West Virginia is the leading coal producer in the US, and shipped over 86 million tons of the fossil fuel last year. The West Virginia Coal Association and the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia are among the plaintiffs in the suit.

The complaint further argues that New York is usurping the federal government’s role in regulating emissions. However, the Superfund Act does not place constraints on companies’ emissions — instead, it charges oil and gas majors based on historical pollution. 

New York is prepared to defend the new law. “Governor Hochul proudly signed the Climate Superfund Act because she believes corporate polluters should pay for the wreckage caused by the climate crisis — not everyday New Yorkers,” said Paul DeMichele, the governor’s deputy communications director for energy and environment, to the New York Times.

In Brief

The US Defense Department’s Climate Resilience Portal, an online tool for informing Pentagon personnel of climate risks to military planning, was scrubbed from its website at some point after January 21, according to Internet Archive data. The portal provided scientifically credible, actionable climate risk information, including geospatial tools and flood inundation maps for military bases. (KPBS)

The UK government’s push to build 1.5 million homes by the end of the current parliament could see over 100,000 new properties constructed in the highest-risk flood zones, according to analysis by The Guardian. Experts warn that continued development in flood-prone areas will not only expose new homeowners to severe flood risks but also strain existing flood defenses and insurance markets. (The Guardian)

The UK Climate Change Committee (CCC), together with the Met Office, has launched a second Call for Evidence to support the Fourth Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA4). The input will inform both the Technical Report, assessing 45 climate risks and opportunities, and the new Well-Adapted UK Report, which will outline necessary adaptation responses. The CCC seeks quantitative evidence on climate risks, adaptation effectiveness, investment needs, and resilience targets. Submissions are open until March 31, 2025. (UK Met Office)

India’s latest budget, unveiled on February 1, includes millions for the country’s green energy transition but little to finance climate adaptation, despite the pressing needs of vulnerable populations across the country. Experts had anticipated increased funds for adaptation following an economic review that highlighted India’s climate vulnerability. The budget does include 100 crores (US$11.39mn) for a National Mission on High Yielding Seeds intended to produce high-yielding crops that are resistant to climate change and pests. (The Telegraph India)

Extreme heat could reduce Australian students’ academic performance by up to 7%, potentially costing them AUD$73,000 (US$46,000) in lifetime earnings, according to a new analysis using the Zurich-Mandala Climate Risk Index. By 2060, 84% of schools will face high climate risk, with students in Queensland and the Northern Territory particularly affected. Disadvantaged schools are likely to be hardest hit, compounding existing inequalities. (Zurich Australia)

Luxembourg is set to triple its climate adaptation measures, expanding from 42 to 131 initiatives across 16 sectors, according to Environment Minister Serge Wilmes. The updated strategy — an “adaptation of the adaptation strategy”, in the minister’s words — aims to better prepare for rising temperatures, increased heavy rainfall, and extreme weather by implementing measures such as urban greening and river renaturation. A public consultation phase will run from February to March. (Luxembourg Times)

Canada Invests In Wildfire-Detecting Satellites

Canada is investing CAD$72mn (US$50mn) in new microsatellites to upgrade the country’s wildfire tracking capabilities. 

Spire Global Canada has been tapped to construct the seven devices that will make up the ‘WildFireSat’ constellation. The company will work with OroraTech, a space-based thermal intelligence startup, to develop the wildfire detection payloads attached to the satellites.

“The WildFireSat mission will provide near real-time wildfire data to be used in smoke and air quality forecasts, ensuring Canadians have the information they need to protect their health,” said Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announcing the investment last Friday.

The WildFireSat constellation is slated to launch in 2029 and will be operated by the Canadian Space Agency for a minimum of five years.

Fugro Acquires Earth Observation Pioneer

EOMAP, a German earth observation company that specializes in aquatic environments, has been acquired by the Dutch geo-data giant Fugro for an undisclosed amount.

EOMAP leverages satellite data and remote sensing tech to map coastlines and wetlands. Fugro has used EOMAP for a range of climate adaptation and nature conservation projects, including the ISPRA Seagrass Coastal Restoration project, which involves mapping the entire Italian coastline. The project is due to be completed by June 2026.

Announcing the deal, Fugro said that the market for Earth Observation (EO) solutions is growing due to a pile-on of environmental regulations, growing climate risks, and increasing recognition of marine ecosystems’ importance to planetary health.

EOMAP reported €5mn (US$5.2mn) of revenue for 2024.

In Brief

The EU-backed FAIR2Adapt project has launched to address the fragmentation of climate adaptation data. The project aims to create a collaborative framework that enhances data accessibility, interoperability, and reuse. Leveraging the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and FAIR Digital Objects (FDOs), the initiative hopes to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and practical adaptation strategies. (SEI)

BiocSol, a UCLouvain spin-off specializing in sustainable crop protection, has secured €4.4mn (US$4.5mn) in new funding. The financing, which includes investment from Dutch impact investor Pymwymic and non-dilutive support from the Walloon Region, will help advance BiocSol’s biofungicide development and global proof-of-concept efforts. (BiocSol)

KOA Biotech, a Barcelona-based startup, has secured €2mn (US$2.1mn) to advance its biosensor technology for early detection of waterborne infections in fish farms. By combining biotechnology, data engineering, and hardware, KOA’s autonomous device detects pathogens 10 times more frequently than existing methods, reducing fish mortality, antibiotic use, and environmental impact. With aquaculture supplying over half of global fish consumption and disease losses exceeding US$6bn annually, KOA’s innovation aims to enhance sustainability and resilience in the sector. (EU Startups)

RESEARCH

Mortality impacts of the most extreme heat events (Nature Reviews Earth & Environment)

Climate Change set to drive down school results and job prospects: Zurich-Mandala Climate Risk Index (Zurich Australia)

Weather-related losses, firms’ fixed asset management, and the role of government support (Vox EU)

Climate change, migration and justice: SEI’s research and pathways for overcoming challenges (SEI)

Representing gender inequality in scenarios improves understanding of climate challenges (Nature Climate Change)

Increasing rat numbers in cities are linked to climate warming, urbanization, and human population (Science Advances)

Indigenous knowledge in climate adaptation planning: reflections from initial efforts (Frontiers)

Valuing the benefits of climate adaptation measures to reduce urban flooding: Community preferences for nature-based solutions (Water Resources and Economics)

Addressing the health impacts of climate change in older adults (Climate Change and Health)

Climate change impacts on cocoa production in the major producing countries of West and Central Africa by mid-century (Agricultural and Forest Meteorology)

Thanks for reading!

Louie Woodall
Editor