World Bank Delivers $15 Billion for Adaptation, European Climate Resilience Framework Launches, Water Tech Fund Wins EU Backing, and More

The World Bank Group supplied US$48bn of climate finance from its own account in the year to end-June, of which US$15bn went towards adaptation, according to an annual update published last Wednesday.

The bank also mobilized a record US$48bn of private capital with climate co-benefits in fiscal 2026, for total climate-related financing of US$96bn — 21% higher than the year prior. Capital mobilization by the International Finance Corporation and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, the Group’s private-sector arms, rose about 50%.

Adaptation’s share made up some 31% of the bank’s own climate finance, but rose to 51% when counting contributions to the poorest, most vulnerable nations in isolation. Across all multilateral development banks (MDBs), adaptation finance to low- and middle-income countries reached US$34.6bn in 2025, short of a US$42bn goal for 2030.

The own-account climate finance figure is equal to 44% of the bank’s total commitments, a share just below the 45% climate-lending target the Bank retired in June under pressure from the Trump administration, which has since pushed other MDBs to drop their own goals. However, in September the bank restated an aim of 45% co-benefits by 2028, split equally between adaptation and mitigation, under an open-ended extension of its Climate Change Action Plan.

The bank expects its portfolio of climate investments to help 465 million people become more resilient to climate risks, up 45% on the prior year, and to cut net emissions by 345 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year. Both outcome figures are projections.

The Netherlands plans to commit up to US$500mn over 10 years to the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), the blended finance fund set up by Brazil to protect tropical forest ecosystems. The announcement lifts the total amount of fund pledges to US$7.8bn, and follows commitments from the UK and Luxembourg. The facility will pay results-based contributions for standing forests, earmarking at least 20% for Indigenous Peoples and local communities. (Tropical Forest Forever Facility)

Edison International had settled US$1.8bn of claims related to the 2025 Eaton Fire as of September 30 but still cannot estimate its total losses, the utility said in third-quarter results. An August report by the Los Angeles County Fire Department concluded that equipment operated by the company’s subsidiary, Southern California Edison, started the blaze, which consumed some 9,000 homes. Edison has recovered some US$917mn of losses from self-insurance and US$859mn from California’s Wildfire Fund. Chief Financial Officer Aaron Moss said higher borrowing costs — due to the company’s ongoing exposure to wildfire claims — could add about US$300mn over the life of bonds Southern California Edison expects to issue in 2027. (Utility Dive)

The European Union’s Climate Commissioner told Bloomberg that the bloc would make no new climate finance commitments at COP31, the UN climate summit, arguing that the “problem needs something much more fundamental” than “endless new rounds on financing.” High fuel and gas prices are straining public budgets and shrinking aid contributions from rich nations to poorer countries, and EU officials believe other wealthy donors are not pulling their weight. The EU and its member states provided €32.3bn (US$36bn) in public climate finance to developing countries in 2025, up about €600mn on 2024. At last year’s COP30, countries agreed to scale public climate finance to US$300bn annually by 2035, of which US$120bn should go to adaptation. (Bloomberg)

One in seven home loans in England is tied to a postcode carrying some degree of flood risk, according to a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) research paper. Mortgages exposed to surface-water risks cluster in and around London, while Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire lead on contracts most exposed to river and coastal flooding. Essex holds the highest share of high-risk postcodes at 6.5%. The regulator found no hard link between high loan-to-value mortgages, where a lender has more exposure to the borrower, and flood risk. (FCA)

The UK rebadged about £2.1bn (US$2.8bn) of existing spending to claim it met its £11.6bn (US$15.4bn) international climate finance pledge, accounting data analyzed by Carbon Brief shows. The government claimed £1.1bn (US$1.5bn) of “core” multilateral development bank investments contributed to the goal, and automatically tagged 30% of humanitarian aid to climate-vulnerable states as donations, too. Without these changes, cumulative spending would have reached about £10.7bn (US$14.3bn), a shortfall of roughly £924mn (US$1.2bn). The government says its methods follow internationally agreed rules. (Carbon Brief)

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Germany’s development bank — KfW — agreed to strengthen their partnership in support of the first phase of Indonesia’s Climate Adaptation and Green Resilient Program. AIIB will provide US$500mn and KfW €300mn (US$336mn). The memorandum, signed at the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok, backs a raft of measures including climate-smart agriculture and irrigation, mangrove protection, and climate-resilient subnational financing. Indonesia is crafting the reforms itself, with both lenders adding technical assistance. (AIIB)

Southeast Asian financial bodies released a voluntary guide to help banks, investors, and corporates shift capital into adaptation in line with the ASEAN Taxonomy’s climate adaptation objective. Its overarching purpose is to strengthen “clarity, consistency and confidence” in the distribution of adaptation finance and support sustainable finance development in ASEAN more generally. Future iterations of the guide look to expand sector coverage, add enhancements based on stakeholder feedback, and improve screening of investments for maladaptation. (UNEP FI)

The European Commission unveiled its long-awaited climate resilience framework last week, a package of legal proposals that would require European Union (EU) member states to plan for a world 2°C warmer by 2050.

At the heart of the framework is a Climate Resilience Law, which would institute a single national strategic plan on climate resilience for each member state together with an EU-wide strategy. Member states would have to name which authorities own climate risks in each policy area, with the Commission reviewing national progress every two years.

“We are ensuring that climate resilience will be included in policies across the continent, supporting investment, innovation and long-term growth,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The framework sets a reference warming trajectory of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2030, 2°C by 2050 and 3°C by 2100. Member states would use these scenarios to anchor their climate adaptation policy, asset and investment decisions. The 2100 benchmark falls within the 2.8°C to 3.3°C range the EU’s own scientific advisers recommended in February, though this body also urged a stress-test pathway of up to 4°C.

The proposal creates no dedicated fund to aid member states’ climate-proofing efforts. The European Investment Bank will commit at least €30bn (US$33.5bn) to adaptation through 2030, and Brussels plans to promote tax credits and accelerated depreciation for resilience investments to boost public and private spending. The Commission also wants to make it easier for governments to grant state aid for resilient infrastructure from early 2027. Spain had pressed for an EU adaptation fund financed by a levy on oil and gas profits and common debt.

The Commission is also looking to recruit the insurance industry for its climate resilience financing mission. A new Climate Insurance Alliance of insurers, reinsurers, investors and regulators, which von der Leyen announced in September, will propose its first measures by the end of 2027.

Trade body Insurance Europe welcomed the plan, with Director General Thea Utoft Høj Jensen calling it “a great opportunity…to develop actionable measures that build on what is already working.” In response to the Commission’s consultation on the climate resilience framework earlier this year, Insurance Europe had argued for adaptation investments and strategies tailored to local regions, downplaying the utility of an EU-wide catastrophe insurance pool to cover climate damages beyond those insured by private carriers.

EU losses from climate extremes averaged about €50bn (US$56bn) a year over the past four years, up from €8.6bn (US$9.6bn) in the 1980s. The Commission estimates adaptation investment needs at roughly €70bn (US$78.3bn) a year, against current spending of about €29bn (US$32.5bn).

The publication of the framework now kicks off a formal consultation process with the European Parliament and Council to turn the legislative proposals into binding law.

Eighty-one developing countries had filed National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) with the UN as of October 20, up from 67 a year earlier, but most struggle to turn those plans into fundable projects, a UNFCCC report shows. While nearly all plans list adaptation priorities, few cost individual measures and investments, while many Least Developed Countries lack the technical assistance from partner organizations to turn concept notes into climate fund proposals. (UNFCCC)

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has asked the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to exempt national banks and federal savings associations from the state’s incoming climate disclosure laws. The federal banking regulator warned that the laws — SB 253 and SB 261 — could depress competition, raise prices, and cut off Californians’ access to financial services by incentivizing smaller banks to leave the state to avoid compliance. SB 261, which requires firms with more than US$500mn in revenue to report climate-related financial risks every two years, remains blocked by a federal appeals court. SB 253, mandating disclosure of company-level greenhouse gas emissions, remains in force while litigation continues. (OCC)

Florida’s water management districts stand to lose US$89.5mn in property tax revenue in 2027, rising to US$218mn by 2031, if voters approve Amendment 3 in November, state economists estimate. The proposal would raise the homestead exemption from US$50,000 to US$250,000 by 2028, taking tens of thousands of households out of the tax base. The districts carry responsibility for flood control alongside water supply. Local governments in the state face a recurring hit of roughly US$12bn a year, according to a legislative analysis. The amendment needs 60% voter support to pass. (Inside Climate News)

New York and New Jersey have around 49,300 fewer National Flood Insurance Program policies than in 2012, a 12% drop over a period when their population grew roughly 4%, according to Moody’s. New Jersey accounts for the bulk of the decline after losing 18.4% of its policies. While private flood insurance has made up for some of this decline, it still only accounts for some 10% of policies in force. (Moody's)

UK public bodies most often named flooding and overheating as their main climate risks in the first year HM Treasury required larger central government bodies to disclose them, but few explained the consequences for services, plans or budgets, the National Audit Office (NAO) found. Its review of 31 bodies’ 2025-26 reports showed 89% of prisons rated high risk for flooding and 71% for overheating. In a worst-case scenario, some rail routes could become financially unviable or inoperable later this century. Most disclosures lacked targets or measures for managing the risks. (NAO)

Switzerland’s Federal Council adopted an updated climate adaptation strategy and action plan for 2026–2031, defining 30 areas for action backed by 56 measures. Limiting heatwave risk is a central aim. Measures include those aimed at protecting vulnerable populations from extreme heat, safeguarding water supplies, and upgrading forest defenses. The plan builds on the Federal Office for the Environment's 2025 climate risk analysis and new scenarios from ETH Zurich and MeteoSwiss. (Swiss Federal Authorities)

Nepal and Bhutan have formally requested a dedicated “1.5°C Warming in Mountains” agenda item at COP31 in Antalya, which opens November 9. The joint submission seeks to institutionalize an annual high-level dialogue on climate risks to mountain ecosystems and explicit recognition of mountain needs in adaptation, climate finance, and loss and damage arrangements. It follows August floods on Nepal’s Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers that caused about US$2.7bn in losses and left US$4.7bn in reconstruction needs, roughly 10% of GDP. Bhutan suffered a glacial lake outburst flood in October.(Government of Nepal)

The European Investment Fund (EIF) committed €30mn (US$33.6mn) to PureTerra II, a Dutch early-stage venture fund that backs water-saving and reuse technologies ready to move from pilot to industrial scale. This follows an €10mn (US$11.2mn) from Dutch state investor Invest-NL in January, when PureTerra set a €150mn (US$168mn) target for the fund.

Those two public commitments cover about a quarter of that goal. PureTerra’s first fund, which the EIF backed with €30mn in 2021, closed at €73mn (US$81.17mn) and built a portfolio of 14 companies. “The constraint is capital and adoption, not ideas,” said Job van Schelven, a partner at PureTerra.

The investment aligns with EU policy priorities around water conservation and reuse. The recast Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive and EU restrictions on PFAS chemicals require utilities and industrial companies to install advanced treatment facilities within fixed periods. The Commission estimates that compliance with existing water rules needs an additional €23bn (US$25.8bn) of investment a year.

Specialist water investors remain scarce. US-based Burnt Island Ventures closed a US$50mn second fund anchored by Xylem last October. Climate tech venture fundraising overall has fallen sharply this year, according to PitchBook.

The EU and Canada agreed to pool climate data and high-resolution modeling to enhance Destination Earth, the European Commission’s digital twin of the Earth system, which is used to generate climate risk assessments and gauge the effectiveness of adaptation measures. The arrangement, signed at the EU-Canada Summit in Montreal last Friday, seeks to empower Destination Earth to anticipate wildfire ignition and spread patterns, strengthen Arctic sea ice and permafrost simulations, and improve regional risk modeling. (European Commission)

Wildfire defense start-up Madronus and non-profit lender NPHS launched loans of up to US$50,000 to help California homeowners pay for fire risk mitigation upgrades that can unlock insurance discounts. Rates are 5.99% for households earning up to 120% of area median income and 6.99% above that, with terms of up to 15 years. Borrowers use Madronus’s app-based system to earn a Wildfire Prepared Home designation recognized by participating insurers. (Wuui)

Canadian climate data firm AISIX Solutions launched property-level flood risk scores that are being integrated into due-diligence reports for strata and condominium properties across Canada. Flood is the fifth hazard layer to feature on AISIX’s platform after wildfire, heat, precipitation, and wind. The scores’ first user is OctoAI Technologies, which is including them in its Eli Report, an automated due-diligence tool. AISIX plans to extend the scores to insurers, infrastructure operators, and municipalities through its API. (AISIX)

The University of Chicago’s Climate Impact Lab launched a tracker projecting about 857,000 deaths from the current El Niño’s extreme heat, including roughly 373,000 between this October and March 2027. The tool maps estimated mortality at state and provincial level worldwide six months in advance, with the aim of informing funders and policymakers of the most at-risk regions so they can better target resources. Nigeria faces about 56,000 projected deaths over the next six months, India 55,000 and Indonesia 29,000. (Climate Impact Lab)

The 2026 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change (The Lancet)

Research priorities for robust climate assessments in the United States (Earth’s Future / BAMS)

Adapting to the risk of Atlantic circulation change (Nature Sustainability)

Inequality between cooling demand and electricity use is projected to widen through 2100 (Communications Sustainability)

Populations, exposures and outcomes: How social media data is poised to advance climate-demography research (PNAS)

Decoding climate anomalies—From scientifically sound to societally relevant (PNAS)

How grids are navigating rising wildfire risk (International Energy Agency)

Thanks for reading!

Louie Woodall
Editor