Climate Proofers

Amid the heat, humidity, and high political drama of COP30 in Belém, adaptation finance and policy expert Sabrina Bachrach returns to the Climate Proofers podcast for a frank, inside-the-venue debrief on the summit so far. She walks us through the fast-moving state of play on the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), and the ongoing debate over a proposed set of indicators that could help countries speak the same language on climate resilience. While the indicators — and the negotiations around them — are technical and complex, their purpose is clear: to give the adaptation process its equivalent of the 1.5°C temperature rise target for mitigation. Sabrina talks us through the obstacles in the way of a final agreement, and explains why these last few days of crunch talks are likely to make or break the adaptation agenda. Sabrina also shares what she's been working on at COP30 — from helping launch nine "Resilience Must-Knows," a new qualitative framework for decision-makers, to unveiling FINI (Fostering Investable National Planning and Implementation) a major initiative aimed at making national adaptation plans genuinely investable. There's also insights on private sector engagement at this year's summit, particularly from insurers keen to protect their business models from runaway climate risks. If you're eager to get up to speed on all things adaptation at this year's COP, this is the episode for you. Sign up to climateproof.news for more news and insights on climate adaptation finance, tech, and policy. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louie@climateproof.news

What policy ideas could help catalyze the adaptation economy? How can markets be coaxed into supporting climate-proofing innovations? And what does a new, Swiss-based start-up have to do with all this? On today's episode, Climate Proofers sits down with Simon Zadek, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner of Morphosis, a new company stocked with sustainable finance and business veterans looking to bring about an economy fit for a 1.5°C-plus world. Simon traces his career from early work on labor rights and social auditing through to his leadership in green finance and nature-based investment, culminating with the insight that sparked Morphosis: that climate change is advancing faster than policy and markets can mitigate, demanding a wholesale rethink of how economies adapt. He then unpacks the company's debut report, "The Rise of the Adaptation Economy", which sketches out a broad policy framework designed to help adaptation markets scale — much like how feed-in tariffs and offtake agreements propelled the renewable energy boom. Zadek argues that governments must learn to apply a "transversal lens" to policy areas like financial regulation, R&D strategy, and trade policy in order to make adaptation profitable and attractive to private capital. Without this, he warns, adaptation will remain stuck in pilot mode, dependent on dwindling public subsidies. For those in the weeds of adaptation policy who want to understand how markets are being reimagined to support climate resilience, this is the pod for you. 🔗 Read "The Rise of the Adaptation Economy" report from Morphosis HERE Sign up to climateproof.news for more news and insights on climate adaptation finance, tech, and policy. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louie@climateproof.news

The Super Bowl of climate politics is almost upon us. COP30, the UN Climate Change Conference, is about to kick off in Brazil — and expectations are running high for adaptation advocates. Brazilian leaders are fueling that momentum, with COP30 CEO Ana Toni calling the summit a "turning point" for adaptation and resilience. Once again, the question of finance hangs heavy over the talks. This time around, it's focused on whether rich countries will commit to a dedicated adaptation finance target, one that would channel much-needed resources to poor nations struggling under a barrage of compounding climate shocks. Which country groups are pushing for this target? What are the arguments against? And how has the adaptation finance landscape shifted over the last year between COPs? On today's episode, Ben Abraham, Senior Consultant at Instituto Talanoa, a leading Brazilian climate policy think tank, provides the answers. Ben explains why adaptation finance risks "falling off a cliff" without a new collective target, and unpacks the push by Least Developed Countries to triple current commitments to US$120bn a year by 2030. He outlines the political headwinds from donor nations, the tension between grant-based and loan-based finance, and the technical challenges of tracking whether countries are really delivering what they promise. The interview also ranges into the debate on the role of blended finance and multilateral development banks in driving adaptation, and explores whether private capital will ever become a meaningful contributor to the cause. Ben closes by sharing his and Instituto Talanoa's hopes for the summit, along with his vision of what a successful negotiated outcome on adaptation would look like. Sign up to climateproof.news for more news and insights on climate adaptation finance, tech, and policy. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louie@climateproof.news.

There's no two ways about it: the US power grid is in poor shape. Wildfires, floods, and hurricanes continue to harry electric utilities and take down grid infrastructure, all while the country is rushing frantically to build out additional capacity to meet the energy demands of the AI craze. How can power providers expand and build resilience against extreme weather shocks at the same time — without blowing the bank? Getting access to better data and risk modeling would be a good start. Rhizome is a pioneer in the buzzy grid resilience tech market, and is already working with a clutch of big-name utilities to help them analyze and guard against climate-related risk. On this episode, the company's CEO and Co-Founder — Mishal Thadani — takes us through his journey from wind and solar energy to the resilience space, and offers his perspectives on one of the hottest niches in adaptation tech today. He also shares stories from the field: from Texas utilities swapping wooden poles for steel to Northeast operators raising substations above floodwaters. He also reveals what's driving utilities to finally treat resilience as a core business function, and how his company is helping them stretch billions in adaptation spending further. 🔗 Learn more about Rhizome HERE 🔗 Check out Rhizome's 2025 Wildfire Investment Snapshot HERE Sign up to climateproof.news for more news and insights on climate adaptation finance, tech, and policy. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louie@climateproof.news.

Old-school insulation is no match for our climate-adjusted world. With temperatures rising, we need a new wave of materials and technologies to meet the moment. Enter NANOPLUME, a start-up working on super-insulating, super-thin, and super-light materials using bio-aerogels — free from petrochemicals and 100% biocompatible (meaning they don't harm those living around them). Theresa Hoffmann, CEO at NANOPLUME, joins the pod to share the magic of bio-aerogels, and explain how they can transform the way we insulate our homes and transport goods around the world. She also describes her personal journey to launching an adaptation start-up after stints at a top-flight consultancy and a deep-tech investment house, and offers insights on how to position adaptation hardware to cost-conscious consumers. 🔗Learn more about NANOPLUME's bio-aerogel tech HERE Sign up to climateproof.news for more news and insights on climate adaptation finance, tech, and policy. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louie@climateproof.news.

Could understanding the value of resilience be the route to riches in a climate-changed world? Hunter Maats is betting his career on it. In this final episode of our New York Climate Week interview series, the CEO of Resilience Investments — a real estate asset manager — digs into the climate and affordability factors causing people (and capital) to flee the Sunbelt for the Great Lakes, and what this means for US housing markets. He also lays out the case for forward-looking, climate-informed investing in real assets, and why a resilience-first approach should replace the uncomfortable duality of ESG analysis and traditional financial modeling If you want to understand the next big shift in real estate and investment markets, this is the episode for you. 🔗 Learn about Resilience Investments HERE Sign up to climateproof.news for more news and insights on climate adaptation finance, tech, and policy. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louie@climateproof.news.

At New York Climate Week, two letters were heard again and again: AI. It's the world's hottest technology, with humongous potential to augment and accelerate a whole host of climate-positive actions. No wonder it was popular among the panelists and networkers crisscrossing Manhattan last month. One proponent of AI in the climate space is today's guest, Krista Tukiainen, the Co-Founder of ClimateAligned — an AI-powered start-up that's democratizing sustainability data and climate assessments at a fraction of the price of the big incumbents. She shares her thoughts on Climate Week and the changing language around climate investment, before drawing back the curtain on ClimateAligned — and explaining how tools like brief.green are lowering the cost of high-quality climate assessments and enabling the credible tracking of adaptation investments at scale. Then she and Louie discuss why smaller AI-first teams may be the future of climate tech — and what business models can win in this new age. 🔗Learn more about ClimateAligned HERE 🔗Check out Brief.Green HERE Sign up to climateproof.news for more news and insights on climate adaptation finance, tech, and policy. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louie@climateproof.news.

What does climate change mean for America's workforce? In this fourth installment of our New York Climate Week interview series, David Leathers takes the mic to explain why employers need to treat climate risk as a health and productivity issue — not just an environmental one. As Program Director of the National Commission on Climate and Workforce Health, David is helping companies connect the dots between extreme heat, worker well-being, and business performance. But as he explains, employers still have a long way to go to understand climate impacts, and to scale the necessary solutions. 🔗Learn more about the National Commission on Climate and Workforce Health HERE Sign up to climateproof.news for more news and insights on climate adaptation finance, tech, and policy. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louie@climateproof.news.

Welcome to the third edition of our Climate Week NYC interview series! Today, we have something for all the finance- and tech-heads among you. In this episode, Louie sits down with Michael (Mike) Gulla, CEO and Co-Founder of Adaptive Insurance, to discuss how his company is bringing power outage insurance payouts to small businesses — fast. Mike shares his insights from two decades in the insurance industry and explains why grid reliability is rapidly becoming a first-order financial risk for businesses. He also unpacks the explosion of interest in distributed energy, and why it reflects a fortress mentality among large companies eager to stay online no matter the weather. Along the way, he makes the case for why parametric insurance isn't just a financial product, but a critical safety net amidst ongoing failures to harden our infrastructure for a climate-adjusted world. If you're interested in how technology is shaping the future of climate risk insurance, this episode's for you. Sign up to climateproof.news for more news and insights on climate adaptation finance, tech, and policy. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louie@climateproof.news.

For the next installment of our New York Climate Week interview series we have a double-header: Abby Ross, Founder & CEO of The Resiliency Company, and Joe Rozza, Chief Sustainability Officer at Ryan Companies. Together, they share their reflections on Climate Week and the evolution of "resilience" as a theme with the corporate and investor crowd. Then, they unpack their collaboration on the new Commercial Real Estate Playbook — a first-of-its-kind, industry-driven blueprint for integrating resilience across the entire building value chain, from investors to insurers. Abby also offers a lowdown on The Resiliency Company's pathbreaking Resilient Delta Fund — designed to help Los Angeles build back better and stronger against wildfire risks. Whether you're in real estate, finance, or policy, there's something for everyone in this conversation. 🔗Learn about The Resiliency Company HERE 🔗 Learn about Ryan Companies HERE Sign up to climateproof.news for more news and insights on climate adaptation finance, tech, and policy. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louie@climateproof.news.