Search Climate Insights Directory

The WWF Australian Wildlife & Nature Recovery Fund raised $45 million to address the devastation of the 2019–2020 bushfire season, which burned approximately 47 million acres and impacted nearly 3 billion animals. The fund's strategy is divided into three phases: an initial emergency response providing medical supplies and shelter to over 40 frontline organizations; a second phase focused on landscape restoration and species protection; and a third phase aimed at building long-term resilience through regenerative economy shifts and climate adaptation.

The AquaHacking Lake Winnipeg 2020 Challenge, hosted by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and Aqua Forum, engaged 472 youth and 19 teams to address critical water issues. Five finalist teams were awarded seed funding and incubation spots at North Forge Technology Exchange for solutions targeting microplastics, agricultural runoff, eutrophication, and drinking water quality in remote communities.

The paper evaluates the first 14 applications for CORSIA eligibility, finding significant variation in how well applicants meet ICAO requirements, with some failing to meet almost any criteria or qualify as carbon-offsetting programs.

The document details the LA Safe program, which combined state-led data from the Coastal Master Plan with grassroots engagement to develop land-use strategies and fund resilience projects in coastal Louisiana. It emphasizes the importance of building trust through leadership programs like 'Lead the Coast' and the necessity of integrating long-term adaptation planning into state agency operations to address the 'existential emergency' of land loss.

The document examines the design, selection, implementation, and scaling of Challenge Funds (CFs) specifically for resilience building. It compares GRP's operational experience with a broader literature review of various international CFs, such as the African Enterprise Challenge Fund and the Global Innovation Fund. Key findings emphasize the need for clear definitions of resilience, the value of multi-stage application processes to support local innovators, and the necessity of long-term strategies to move innovations beyond the 'valley of death' toward sustainable scale. The report concludes with specific recommendations for future resilience-focused challenges, highlighting the importance of adaptive management and robust, long-term impact evaluations.

The report identifies five key intervention areas for building resilience: nature-based solutions, empowering marginalized groups, information and technology, inclusive financial services, and low-cost infrastructure. It argues that effective resilience programming must be systemic by design, utilize layered and linked interventions, create agile networks, promote equity and inclusion, and prioritize iterative learning and scaling. Evidence from GRP's USAID and Z Zurich Foundation challenges, as well as 42 partner programs, demonstrates that these approaches can protect development gains and improve well-being in the face of climate and economic shocks.

This report outlines the outcomes of the Climate Resilient Cities Initiative (CRC), a strategic alliance between the International Development Research Center (IDRC), the Climate Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), and the Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano (FFLA) aimed at fostering climate-resilient development in small and medium-sized cities in Latin America.

The report details the conclusion of the CRN3 program, which involved 17 projects across 15 IAI Parties, and the launch of the SGP-HW program, which selected six projects focused on ecosystem services and human well-being. It also outlines the planning for the fourth round of Cooperative Research Networks (CRN4), emphasizing transdisciplinary research, regional priorities, and the pursuit of co-financing through entities like the Belmont Forum.

The IAI Directorate reports on the completion of the Third Collaborative Research Network (CRN3) program, which involved 17 projects across 15 IAI Parties and leveraged US$ 15.36 million in additional funding. The report details the transition toward the SGP-HW small grants program, which emphasizes transdisciplinary co-design with stakeholders and the implementation of an Open Data Policy. It also outlines the preliminary planning for the fourth iteration of the Collaborative Research Network (CRN4), recommending alignment with the Belmont Forum to secure co-funding and a focus on Party-driven priorities.

The After School Game Changer (ASGC) is a strategic coordination model in the Western Cape, South Africa, designed to prevent youth violence by enhancing the quality and accessibility of afterschool care. Rather than a single program, it acts as a mechanism to align government departments, NGOs, and the City of Cape Town to provide academic, sporting, and cultural activities for learners in low- and no-fee schools. The report argues that the ASGC functions as a violence prevention tool by disrupting risky behaviors through the social ecological model, focusing on individual, relationship, and community-level interventions. Key achievements include increasing the number of registered learners to 134,380 in 2017/18, though the report notes a lack of budget transparency and a need for better reporting on how the intervention specifically addresses violence risk factors.

This research paper by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) outlines methodological approaches for assessing the additionality of climate investments, specifically drawing from the evaluation of the Climate Public Private Partnership (CP3) program. The paper proposes both a qualitative multi-criteria assessment (MCA) framework and a quantitative composite index to determine if investments represent a deviation from business-as-usual scenarios.

The report introduces a framework for measuring 'additionality' in climate finance, focusing on whether public investments catalyze activity that would not have occurred under a business-as-usual scenario. It details a qualitative multi-criteria assessment (MCA) for individual projects and a quantitative 'additionality modifier' based on the IESE VCPE Index for portfolio-level analysis. The findings suggest that private equity is a viable instrument for additionality as it often targets high-risk markets where commercial investment is otherwise lacking.

The report details CDKN's work in India to integrate climate change adaptation and mitigation into development planning. Key initiatives include the use of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) for energy and building sectors, the development of Heat Action Plans in cities like Ahmedabad, and the promotion of rural electrification through micro-franchising. The document emphasizes the importance of co-benefits, private sector engagement, and gender sensitivity in achieving resilient growth.

The NAP Global Network provides a framework for developing countries to accelerate national adaptation planning (NAP) through peer learning, technical support, and donor coordination. The Network facilitates Targeted Topics Forums (TTFs) and South-South exchanges to share best practices on issues such as financing and sectoral integration. It also operates a Country Support Hub for expert advice and works to align bilateral donor investments with national priorities to avoid duplication of efforts.

The report evaluates the "Salt Marsh Stories" program's impact on four focal audiences: Audubon members, higher education students/faculty, and business and faith communities in Maryland's Eastern Shore. Baseline data shows that salt marshes and sea level rise are generally non-salient issues, with significant uncertainty regarding sea level rise. However, the experiential program—specifically the planting of native grasses—successfully increased place attachment, knowledge, and emotional engagement. The study identifies place attachment and affinity for nature as the strongest predictors of a participant's intent to communicate about these issues to others.

The report details the technical specifications, deployment history, and systemic failures of the US Ground Based Interceptor (GBI) and its associated kill vehicles. It highlights a pattern of deploying hardware and software before adequate flight testing, resulting in numerous design flaws, manufacturing errors, and failed intercept tests across multiple versions of the kill vehicle (CE-I, CE-II, and CE-II Block 1). The document also outlines future development plans for the Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) and Multi-Object Kill Vehicles (MOKV), while discussing the kinematics of SM-3 interceptors as potential alternatives.

The Union of Concerned Scientists reports that the US Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, costing over $40 billion, lacks demonstrated real-world capability because it was exempted from standard military acquisition and oversight rules. The report finds that most interceptors were fielded before successful testing and that current tests are overly simplified, leading to a system that is not on a credible path to operational utility.

The report details the conclusion of the Small Grants Program for Cooperative Research in the Americas (SGP-CRA) and the ongoing progress of the Third Cooperative Research Networks Program (CRN3). It highlights the mobilization of US$ 26 million from an initial US$ 2.75 million investment in SGP-CRA and the implementation of 17 multidisciplinary networks under CRN3. Key achievements include the influence of research on legislation in Argentina, the development of hurricane forecasting for Baja California, and the creation of a coastal risk decision tool for 25 Caribbean countries. The report also notes the start of the CONICET-IAI partnership and the development of the Inter-American Forum for Global Change Research Cooperation to expand multilateral funding.

The report analyzes India's high climate sensitivity, driven by its geography and agrarian economy. It details the transition from stand-alone sectoral actions to integrated development planning, centered on the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). While progress is noted in water and agriculture, the document identifies critical gaps in adaptation for the northeast, Indian Ocean islands, the Sundarbans, and regarding gender and health. It also highlights a significant imbalance in international climate finance, which heavily favors mitigation over adaptation.

The document defines on-bill financing (OBF) as a mechanism where energy improvement costs are repaid via monthly utility bills. It argues that OBF reduces high up-front costs and expands access to financing by using utility payment history instead of traditional credit scores. The guide provides four case studies from Kansas, South Carolina, Florida, and Oregon, demonstrating that OBF can support a range of upgrades from weatherization to solar PV with very low default rates (typically under 3%).