Climate Proofers

It's a mantra all climate proofers are probably tired of repeating: adaptation needs are enormous, we need much more capital to flow into climate-proofing solutions, but investors are leery of jumping into a space they don't understand. This problem explains the current mania for adaptation and resilience taxonomies. These are systems for classifying activities and investments that support climate-proofing efforts. Nation-states have produced taxonomies that touch on adaptation in the past, but this year has seen a rush of tailor-made taxonomies from nonprofits and private entities alike enter the public domain. One new entrant, poised to make its official debut later this year, is the Climate Bonds Initiative's Resilience Taxonomy — which has been designed to help companies structure debt instruments that clearly support adaptation and resilience goals. In this episode, Ujala Qadir of the Climate Bonds Initiative joins to discuss the Taxonomy, why it's needed, and how it could reshape the adaptation and resilience investment landscape. Sign up to climateproof.news for a twice-weekly does of climate adaptation & resilience news and insights. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louie.woodall@loremedia.info

Climate adaptation technology is the hot investment theme that has in-the-know investors salivating. After all, we know the world is going to get hotter and witness ever-increasing extreme weather events even if we succeed in dramatically cutting fossil fuel emissions. This means products and services that protect against climate impacts will be in high demand. However, being new, the climate adaptation technology space faces challenges. For one, plenty in the venture market are yet to get their arms around the concept of adaptation. For another, working out what business models are viable remains a work in progress. In this episode, Seb Tranæus of Rally Cap VC, a venture fund focused on climate adaptation, discusses these challenges, riffs on some of his favorite startups in the space, and reflects on how the startup and policy ecosystems differ on either side of the Atlantic. Sign up to climateproof.news for a twice-weekly dose of climate adaptation & resilience news and insights. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louiewoodall@loremedia.info

Financial regulators are no strangers to climate change. Over the last decade, a large number of them have taken steps to enforce mandatory climate disclosures for companies and financial institutions. Some have also imposed rules on how so-called "green funds" should be labelled, and what investments they should be allowed to hold. However, adaptation and resilience have arguably been underrepresented in the blizzard of paper coming out of regulators' offices. Craig Davies, CEO at the climate consultancy Cadlas, joins Climate Proofers to talk about the state of financial regulation vis-a-vis adaptation, and what regulatory developments could help unlock the capital necessary to power the fledgling adaptation economy. Sign up to climateproof.news for a twice-weekly dose of climate adaptation & resilience news and insights. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louiewoodall@loremedia.info

A trillion here, a billion there... climate finance is a study in big numbers, but it's important to look beyond the top-line figures to really understand where the money's all going – and whether it's being put to good use. Morgan Richmond at the Climate Policy Initiative, an independent nonprofit, is a seasoned pro when it comes to tracking climate finance flows. She heads up the Initiative's adaptation finance agenda, and recently put together its State and Trends in Climate Adaptation Finance report. Louie and Morgan discuss the report's findings and the hard work of properly accounting for climate-proofing capital flows, plus the role of different financial organizations in constructing the adaptation finance ecosystem. Sign up to climateproof.news for a twice-weekly dose of climate adaptation & resilience news and insights. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louiewoodall@loremedia.info

In climate adaptation finance land, there are few experts as productive and well-connected as Dr Nicola Ranger, a director at the University of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute, the Resilient Planet Finance Lab, and Greening Finance for Nature Initiative. We get into the nitty-gritty of the projects she's working on right now and go over the data, education, and technical needs of financial institutions when it comes to embedding climate resilience in their lending and investing activities. Sign up to climateproof.news for a twice-weekly dose of climate adaptation & resilience news and insights. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louiewoodall@loremedia.info

Climate risks are coming for our coastal cities. It's a threat that demands a full bore response, marshalling technical, financial, and community resources from across disciplines. Eugene Montoya, a Miami native and climate finance expert, talks about how his career led to coastal resilience advocacy. He describes his work with the Waterfront Alliance, a non-profit engaging stakeholders on the use and protection of coastal regions, how waterfront resilience projects are and can be funded, and unpacks the burgeonining topic of blue finance. Sign up to climateproof.news for a twice-weekly dose of climate adaptation & resilience news and insights. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louiewoodall@loremedia.info

Climate adaptation & resilience investments have a public perception problem. Investors struggle to see the opportunities associated with climate-proofing projects, or simply don't know where to start looking for appropriate places to allocate their capital. Sabrina Nagel, Adaptation & Resilience Finance Lead with the UN High-Level Climate Champions and Global Policy & Finance Advisor at the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center, talks about shifting the financial industry's perceptions of adaptation investing and describes what policy and regulatory levers can be pulled to get more private capital into climate-proofing activities. Sign up to climateproof.news for a twice-weekly dose of climate adaptation & resilience news and insights. Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louiewoodall@loremedia.info