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What we mean when we talk about 1.5 degrees C
The document explains that the 1.5-degree-C target, established under the 2015 Paris Agreement, is a critical threshold to limit cataclysmic climate impacts. While the Earth has already warmed by 1.2 degrees C since the Industrial Revolution, reaching the 1.5-degree-C limit requires cutting global carbon emissions in half by 2030 and achieving net-zero by 2050. This necessitates a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels—specifically leaving 90% of coal and 60% of oil and gas reserves in the ground—and ending deforestation. The guide warns that the world has already experienced temporary breaches of this threshold and faces a 66% chance of doing so for at least one year between now and 2027. It advises journalists to communicate both the current impacts of 1.2 degrees C and the available solutions to avoid public paralysis while emphasizing that every fraction of a degree of warming increases global risk.
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Document type: Guide
Strengthening NRSP and Pipeline development in Pakistan
The proposal seeks USD 396,803 to address post-accreditation capacity gaps in the NRSP and update Pakistan's outdated 2017 GCF Country Programme to better align climate investments with current national priorities.
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Document type: Report
NOAA National Sea Grant College Program
The National Sea Grant College Program, established in 1966 under NOAA, operates a network of 34 university programs to build resilience in coastal and Great Lakes regions. The program focuses on four key areas: healthy coastal ecosystems, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, resilient coastal communities and economies, and environmental literacy and workforce development. Between February 2019 and January 2020, the program protected over 1.8 million acres of habitat and generated $412.4 million in economic benefits from an $80 million investment. A specific example of its impact is seen in Tybee Island, Georgia, where Sea Grant research helped create the city's first sea level rise plan, resulting in over $700,000 in flood insurance savings for property owners. The program was reauthorized through Fiscal Year 2025 with approximately $483 million in funding.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Federal Resilience Programs: North American Wetlands Conservation Act
The North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), established in 1989, is a federal grant program dedicated to protecting and restoring wetland habitats for migratory birds in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Wetlands provide critical ecosystem services, including storm protection valued at $23.2 billion annually in the U.S., carbon sequestration, and wave energy absorption. Since its inception, NAWCA has funded over 3,000 projects, protecting more than 32 million acres of wetlands and leveraging $1.6 billion in federal funds into over $4.6 billion in matching grants. Recent funding was reauthorized through the America’s Conservation Enhancement Act of 2020, with annual funding of up to $60 million through Fiscal Year 2025.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Climate Security Risk Briefers
The report consists of several independent briefers analyzing how climate change acts as a threat multiplier across various domains. Key analyses include the evolution of 'environmental terrorism' from a tactical to a strategic threat, the need to integrate peacebuilding with climate adaptation in fragile regions like the Sahel, and the shifting geopolitics of energy security as the world transitions to renewables. It also assesses specific vulnerabilities of U.S. Space Force infrastructure to sea-level rise and wildfires, the role of digital Earth observation technologies in anticipatory intelligence, and the gendered impacts of climate-induced resource scarcity. Regional case studies focus on the Arctic's changing geopolitical landscape and the influence of media reporting on climate-induced farmer-herder conflicts in Nigeria.
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Document type: Report
BLUE ACCELERATION: AN OCEAN OF RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES
The report describes the 'Blue Acceleration,' a phenomenal increase in the diversity and scale of ocean-based industries since 2000. It argues that while the ocean is viewed as an economic frontier, the benefits flow disproportionately to a small number of powerful states and corporations, leaving SIDS and LDCs exposed to risks. The document details the environmental and social impacts of sectors like offshore wind, deep-sea mining, and industrial fishing, while highlighting the emergence of interconnected 'Anthropocene risks' including climate-driven regime shifts and stranded assets. It concludes by exploring the role of sustainable finance in redirecting the ocean economy toward equity and stewardship.
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Document type: Report
OCEAN RISKS IN SIDS AND LDCS
The report analyzes how SIDS and LDCs are disproportionately vulnerable to coupled ocean risks, including sea-level rise, ocean warming, and macroeconomic shocks. It emphasizes the need for context-specific resilience strategies, the integration of indigenous knowledge, and the deployment of novel financial tools to support a sustainable ocean economy.
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Document type: Report
Gender and Human Rights Analysis
The report assesses the integration of gender equality and human rights into the climate adaptation strategies of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). While RMI has a strong policy framework—including the 2050 Tile Til Eo Climate Strategy and the 2019 Gender Equality Act—the report identifies significant gaps in operationalizing these goals. Key barriers include limited technical capacity, high staff turnover, a reliance on external consultants, and persistent social norms that frame women as passive victims rather than agents of change. The document provides a detailed roadmap of recommendations across four phases of the NAP process, emphasizing the need for sex-disaggregated data, inclusive community consultations, and the establishment of monitoring and evaluation protocols that track women's rights as markers of climate adaptation success.
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Document type: Report
Third Time’s a Charm? Reflections on the First and Second APRM Reports of Kenya, Mozambique and Uganda
The report examines the governance trajectories of Kenya, Mozambique, and Uganda, the only three African countries to have completed the APRM review process twice. It finds that while all three made legislative and constitutional strides in democracy and political governance, they remain vulnerable to ethnic conflict and struggle with persistent issues of corruption, poverty, and gender inequality.
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Document type: Report
BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE ROBERT BRULLE, CENTER FOR CLIMATE INTEGRITY, JUSTIN FARRELL, BENJAMIN FRANTA, STEPHAN LEWANDOWSKY, NAOMI ORESKES, GEOFFREY SUPRAN, and the UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS-APPELLEES AND AFFIRMANCE
The document provides evidence that major fossil-fuel companies had internal knowledge of anthropogenic climate change as early as the 1950s and 1960s, yet spent decades funding disinformation to manufacture public doubt. It details how these companies protected their own infrastructure from sea-level rise while publicly denying the science, and argues that current 'greenwashing' and 'carbon footprint' narratives continue this pattern of deception.
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Document type: Legal commentary
CoastalDEM v2.1 A New, High-Accuracy and High-Resolution Global Coastal Elevation Model Trained on ICESat-2 Satellite Lidar
CoastalDEM v2.1 is a near-global digital elevation model (DEM) developed by Climate Central to provide more accurate land elevation data for coastal flood risk assessments. By utilizing a sophisticated convolutional neural network trained on NASA's ICESat-2 satellite lidar data, the model corrects the positive vertical bias common in satellite radar-derived DEMs, which often mistake building rooftops for ground level. Testing shows that CoastalDEM v2.1 virtually eliminates global median bias in the critical 0 to 5 m elevation band, significantly outperforming other publicly available global DEMs such as NASADEM, TanDEM-X, MERIT, and AW3D30, particularly in densely populated urban areas.
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Document type: Research paper
CoastalDEM v2.1: A high-accuracy and high-resolution global coastal elevation model trained on ICESat-2 satellite lidar
CoastalDEM v2.1 is a high-resolution global digital elevation model (DEM) designed to improve the accuracy of coastal flood and sea level rise assessments. By employing a convolutional neural network (CNN) trained on NASA's ICESat-2 satellite lidar data and using NASADEM as a base, it significantly reduces the positive vertical bias common in satellite radar DEMs, particularly in densely populated urban areas where buildings often distort elevation readings. Validation against ICESat-2 and airborne lidar data from the US and Australia indicates that CoastalDEM v2.1 outperforms other leading global models like TanDEM-X and MERIT, especially in the critical elevation band below 5 meters.
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Document type: Research paper
Enhancing climate change adaptation in the North Coast and Nile Delta Regions in Egypt
The project aims to reduce coastal flooding risks in Egypt's North Coast and Nile Delta through the installation of 69 km of sand dune dikes and the development of an integrated coastal zone management plan. Co-financed by the Green Climate Fund (USD 31.4 million) and the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (USD 73.8 million), the initiative targets direct benefits for 768,164 people. Implementation involves multiple Egyptian ministries and the UNDP as the Accredited Entity, while the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency serves as the National Designated Authority.
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Document type: Case study
West Africa Coastal Areas Resilience Investment Project (WACA 2)
The WACA program aims to strengthen coastal resilience in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, and Togo by mainstreaming climate risks into national policies and investing in transport, urban, and natural resource sectors. Supported by a USD 222 million package approved by the World Bank in 2018, the initiative utilizes a 'WACA Marketplace' to match investment demand with partner financing. As of June 2021, 17% of committed funds were disbursed, with specific outcomes in Benin including the securing of 3,500 households from erosion and flooding. The document highlights that the success of such regional instruments depends on strong regional cooperation, political stability, a pipeline of bankable projects, and currency stability.
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Document type: Case study
Arctic sea ice minimum
The document reports a rapid decline in Arctic sea ice, noting that the 15 lowest sea ice extents in the 42-year satellite record have all occurred in the last 15 years. It highlights the loss of multiyear ice and unprecedented melting events on the Greenland ice sheet in 2021. These changes are linked to global temperature rises and are projected to result in an effectively ice-free Arctic summer minimum at least once before 2050. The report details how this loss accelerates global warming via reduced reflectivity, disrupts jetstream-driven weather patterns, opens new shipping routes, and threatens the livelihoods of Indigenous communities.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Climate impacts in southern Africa during the 21st Century
The report identifies southern Africa as a climate change 'hotspot' where warming in the interior is occurring at approximately twice the global average rate. It warns that global warming of 3 °C could lead to the collapse of key crops and the livestock sector. Freshwater availability is projected to decline due to reduced rainfall and increased evaporation, while the risk of multi-year droughts and intense heat waves is expected to rise. These changes threaten food security, increase human mortality in urban areas, and place thousands of unique species at risk of premature extinction. The document emphasizes that the severity of these impacts depends on global mitigation efforts, with 'low mitigation futures' posing significantly higher risks than those limiting warming to 1.5 °C or 2 °C.
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Document type: Report
Climate Change in the American Mind
The September 2021 report 'Climate Change in the American Mind' provides a comprehensive data set tracking US public opinion on global warming. Key findings include a rise in the percentage of Americans who believe global warming is happening (76% in September 2021) and an increase in those who are 'Very worried' about it (35%). The data also shows a growing consensus that global warming is caused by human activities (60%) and is affecting US weather (70%), specifically impacting wildfires (50% 'A lot') and extreme heat (49% 'A lot').
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Document type: Report
Climate Change in the American Mind
The September 2021 'Climate Change in the American Mind' report reveals that 76% of Americans believe global warming is happening, with 60% attributing it primarily to human activity. While 70% express worry and a majority perceive risks to their local communities from extreme weather, there is a significant gap in understanding the strength of scientific consensus, with only 24% aware that over 90% of climate scientists agree on human-caused warming. The report also highlights that most Americans conceptualize global warming as an environmental and scientific issue, though a growing number view it through the lenses of morality and social justice.
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Document type: Report
Climate Change Implications for SA’s Youth
The report warns that South Africa is on a 'worst-case' climate trajectory (RCP 8.5), which will lead to extreme heat, water scarcity, and food insecurity, disproportionately harming youth. It details regional collapses in agriculture and tourism, the expansion of informal settlements due to climate-induced migration, and the severe mental health trauma facing children. The author argues that without a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, large parts of the country may become uninhabitable, leading to systemic social conflict and economic collapse.
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Document type: Report
PROJECT PREPARATION FOR ENHANCING RESILIENCE OF RURAL COMMUNITIES BY IMPROVING WATER SECURITY IN VANUATU
The document outlines a request for GCF support to prepare a project that will improve water security for rural communities in Vanuatu. It details a plan to enhance community-based planning through Drinking Water Safety and Security Plans (DWSSPs), develop climate-resilient water infrastructure, and strengthen national and provincial institutional capacities. The preparation phase includes technical studies, feasibility assessments, and gender and environmental impact studies to justify a total indicative project cost of USD 18,777,930.
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Document type: Report