Navigating these past 4 weeks and staying abreast of the potential climate impacts has been quite the challenge. The impulse to hunker down and tune out is intense. I imagine you are feeling it as well. And yet, the climate emergency continues, and the need to find our way through it all with our sanity and our communities intact urges us to stay engaged, and to find ways to support ourselves and others, which is once again what we are striving for in this newsletter. We encourage you to link arms locally, and find support and sustenance in those around you who share your concerns. And, if you’re so moved, join us on the monthly Climate Leaders call sponsored by Minerva Ventures, for connection and inspiration.
Events
Climate Leaders Monthly Meeting
Thursday, February 20, 4:00 - 5:00 PM PT
Join the Climate Leaders Meeting to exchange resources and inspiration with others who are working to create a vibrant and healthy future.
All leaders are welcome.
This is a monthly on-line event hosted by Minerva Ventures.
This talk will cover the global consequences of the US stepping back from the Paris Agreement; the future of the IRA’s clean energy tax credits and its long-term viability; how federal policy changes impact the voluntary carbon market and corporate sustainability and the role of state and local governments in advancing climate action despite federal rollbacks.
on the brink explores the vicious cycles that have brought us to the brink of a climate catastrophe and the virtuous cycles that could still pull us back from the edge. Don’t miss experiencing this profound musical creation driven by scientific data Read all about it here.
Opportunities for Action
Help This Global Task Force Dream Up Climate Solutions
Set up after COP28 and due to report at COP30 in Brazil, the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force is an independent group of experts that has so far come up with 16 specific ideas that could raise hundreds of billions of dollars a year to fight climate change. Learn more about this prestigious group’s ideas and how you can add yours in The Guardian.
Domains for Climate Action
Food and Agriculture
Reducing Emissions From, and Addressing Demand For, Food
Accounting for both direct and indirect emissions, food and agriculture account for a striking 34% of GHGs globally. Reducing food waste is one strategy (Goodr.co in Atlanta, GA is a shining example) featured in this excellent, inspiring video from TED Coundown, along with new technologies, restoring ancient practices to enhance soils, and changing what we eat, both to slow climate change, and feed a growing population. Another example of rescuing edible food before it becomes waste is the Shrewsbury Food Hub, that collects surplus food from shops, manufacturers and farms and distributes it in the community. We need more organizations like this.
Energy
Fuel From Atmospheric CO2 With Only Solar Energy
A new technology developed at the University of Cambridge uses a special filters to soak up C)2 at night and solar energy to convert it to syngas during the day. “Instead of continuing to dig up and burn fossil fuels to produce the products we have come to rely on, we can get all the CO2 we need directly from the air and reuse it,” said Professor Erwin Reisner, who led the research.
Global Cost of Renewables Continues to Fall
Wind, solar and battery technology costs are expected to fall 2-11% in 2025, breaking last year’s record according to a report from BloombergNEF. Trade barriers could temporarily stall cost declines, but BNEF still expects the levelized cost of electricity for clean technologies to fall 22-49% by 2035. “New solar plants, even without subsidies, are within touching distance of new US gas plants,” according to one of the report’s authors.
Japan Bets $1.5B on Perovskite Solar
Sekisui is the company the forefront of Japan’s perovskite revolution, and a leader in climate change and water security. Perovskite solar cells are 20 times thinner, lighter, and flexible than conventional solar, allowing them to be installed on all types of buildings and more. Japan aims to install enough perovskite solar capacity by 2040 to match the output of 20 nuclear power plants.
Finance
Invest in Solar Projects, Get Local Projects Funded
Climatize connects local solar projects with individuals looking to invest according to their values. The minimum investment is just $10 and annual interest is up to 10%. Past projects have included solar for farms in Tennessee and South Carolina, a community theater in New Jersey, and many rural electrification projects. Have a project you’d like to get funded? Interested in investing? Check it out!
Circular Economy/Materials
Competition Focuses on Circularity in the Food Sector
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Big Food Redesign Challenge asked consumer goods companies and retailers to rethink their products applying circular principles. The recently concluded challenge resulted in 141 new products, from burgers made of beef and seaweed to a digestive biscuit from upcycled apple pulp.
Water/Natural Resources/Biodiversity
Built Environment
Climate Resilience in California Schools
To address the need for climate resilience in the schools, the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, in partnership with Ten Strands and UndauntedK12, has released a new policy brief, Climate Adaptation and Resilience at California’s K–12 Schools: Actions and Recommendations for State and District Leadership, and the Climate Resilience and Adaptation Toolkit. Between them, these organizations and their reports provide an action agenda, including success stories, for getting the schools in our communities prepared for climate impacts.
Transportation
Health
Climate Interventions:
Regeneration, Methane, Geoengineering, CCUS
Adaptation and Resilience
Innovations in Adaptation and Resilience Pay Off
While mitigation is a worthy goal, climate impacts are here, now, and adaptation efforts are lagging, as the increasing costs of climate disasters illustrates. And investing in resilience and adaptation have been proven to pay off, according to research by The US Chamber of Commerce and USAID that every $1 invested yields $13 in returns. According to the Global Commission on Adaptation, if the world invested $1.8 trillion in adaptation and resilience between 2020 and 2030, the environmental, social, and economic benefits it would gain and the losses it would avoid would add up to $7.1 trillion. Read more.
The Land Back Movement as Climate Solution
Returning lands to native tribes to restore them with indigenous practices, restoring wetlands and planting native species for example, can replenish water reserves in drought stricken regions, sequester carbon, and provide other long term benefits. Read more in this feature from Vox.
Policy
Climate News
The 2ºC Target Is Dead
A new analysis by Prof James Hansen and colleagues concludes that it is likely that the climate average will remain at or above 1.5ºC of warming for the next several years, and continue up from there, crossing the 2ºC threshold by 2045 without the deployment of geo-engineering solutions. As a result they predict increasing and more severe climate extremes. Perhaps most dramatic, their analysis foresees shutdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) within the next 20-30 years, locking in major problems, including sea level rise of several meters. They see the AMOC shutdown as the “point of no return.” Read the report here.
Trump Changes US Climate Adaptation Policies
Agencies from the Defense Department to the Smithsonian will no longer be required to account for potential impacts of climate change in their planning. Treasury will no longer be tracking the impact of climate change on homeowners insurance, increasing the likelihood that costs and difficulty obtaining insurance will drive down property values. Federal infrastructure projects are no longer required to account for flood risks. And Federal funds won’t prioritize supporting vulnerable communities at risk from climate impacts. Read more.
Water is Scarce in California, and Getting Scarcer
California needs water to support it’s population, it’s agricultural sector, and to fight the ever increasing incidents of wildfire. The state is getting drier. There are more dry years than wet ones, dry years are ever drier, and more and more water is being used to fight fires. The LA fires are just one manifestation of the issue. This recent article in Vox outlines the problem. More creativity on the solutions is urgently needed.
VC Funding For Climate Tech is Down
Total VC funding for climate-tech startups fell more than 17% in 2024, the third annual decline in a row, as AI siphons venture dollars away from other sectors. And now the hostility from the incoming administration makes investments in climate-tech even riskier.
Court Victory Against Oil Development in UK
A court case against the approval of the Rosebank oil field, the biggest undeveloped oil field in the UK, decided that the significant emissions caused by burning Rosebank’s oil should have been taken into account during its approval. To resume, the developers will need to resubmit for approval and account for the significant harm that would be caused by emissions resulting from this project.
One Example of The Damage from Trump’s USAID Shut Down
The Pachamama Alliance's largest project, The SACHA (Sustainable Activities for Conservation of a Healthy Amazon) Project, had a $12 million AID grant to improve the conservation and sustainable use of Amazon forest ecosystems across four provinces supporting over 276,000 Indigenous people from seven different nationalities, sustaining 50 bioenterprises, while also enhancing the livelihoods of 6,000 individuals—70% of whom are Indigenous and 45% are women. The future of the project is now uncertain.
The Decision Tree for Data Removal From NSF Websites
How To Find “Lost” Climate Data on the Internet
As of Feb. 13, 2025, the Trump administration had limited or eliminated access to a lot of data. Fortunately, the End of Term Web Archive has made archives of millions of government websites accessible through the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. The Public Environmental Data Partners website and others have also archived climate related materials. You can find more information here.
Red States Panic Over Solar Funding Freeze
One quarter of a trillion dollars – 80% of the total funding for green energy manufacturing and other initiatives – was to go to projects in Republican-leaning congressional districts across the US, and is supported by Republican representatives. Will it make a difference in getting the funding reinstated?
Two-Thirds of Americans Acknowledge Climate Change Impacts
The key findings of a survey of Americans conducted in December 2024 include: 73% think global warming is happening, vs. 14% who do not; 60% understand it is mostly human-caused; 64% are at least somewhat worried and 48% think it is harming people in the US right now. Read more of the results here.
About Minerva Ventures:
Are you concerned about climate change and seeking ways to take action? Business survival depends on addressing competitive challenges every day. Leaders attend to urgent business matters while counting on tomorrow’s weather and operating conditions to be similar to yesterday’s. What happens when underlying conditions change as climate consequences become more severe? It is hard to adjust to a disruptive future while you are focused on competing today.
Minerva advises clean tech companies on strategic and business development. We help you find customers, new markets, and new investors to build your momentum and success. Minerva helps established companies create strategies to identify and contend with climate risks to your business. Discover how you can protect your operations, assets, products, and services. Understand how climate risk will affect your suppliers, customers, and partners. Determine how you can strengthen your company to navigate change and seize opportunities as markets reconfigure in the face of the coming changes. Find innovative ways to change your operations, products, and services to help address climate change. Consider policy measures that your industry can pursue that will help address shared risks.
Minerva can help you find new solutions that will make your business more resilient and adaptable to change. Your company will be advancing climate solutions rather than just reacting to disruptions to your industry and markets.
Visit Minerva Ventures’ website at MinervaVentures.com!
Newsletter Editor: Dinyah Rein, Consultant, Minerva Ventures, LLC
Managing Partner: Marianna Grossman, Minerva Ventures, LLC
Copyright (C) 2024 Minerva Ventures. All rights reserved.
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