USAID Administrator Samantha Power and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC) John Kerry announced today that 26 new companies have committed to invest in climate adaptation as part of the Call to Action to the Private Sector under the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE). Their efforts, in support of the objectives of PREPARE, will mobilize an estimated $2.3 billion in additional adaptation finance. Administrator Power also announced new USAID investments to mobilize finance for climate adaptation as part of the PREPARE Adaptation Finance Window.
PREPARE Private Sector Call to Action
Administrator Power and Secretary Kerry launched the PREPARE Call to Action to the Private Sector at COP27 with 10 founding companies. The PREPARE Call to Action invites businesses to make new, significant commitments to building climate resilience around the world. In one year, those voluntary corporate actions in support of the objectives of PREPARE are estimated to have mobilized more than $610 million and supported more than 9.3 million people in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America to better manage the impacts of climate change. Commitments responding to this Call to Action include expansions of climate information and early warning systems, introduction of new financial products and services, innovations for climate-smart food systems, and paradigm-shifting insurance solutions.
Today’s announcement means 31 companies and partners have responded to this Call to Action on adaptation since its launch. The 21 new commitments come from Aon, Arup, Boston Consulting Group, Blue Marble, Danone, Howden Group, IBM, Jupiter Intelligence, Milliman, Miyamoto International, Synoptic Data, Tomorrow.io, Visa, Xylem, as well as McCormick and Pula that joined during Vice President Harris’ visit to Africa in 2023. Partners joining this effort include ClimateWorks Foundation, Global Adaptation and Resilience Investment (GARI) Working Group, Lightsmith Group, MSCI Sustainability Institute, and Bezos Earth Fund. The founding companies of the PREPARE Call to Action from COP27 are Google, Gro Intelligence, Mastercard, Marsh McLennan, Meta, Microsoft, Pegasus Capital Advisors, PepsiCo., SAP, and WTW (formerly Willis Towers Watson).
More information about company commitments is here.
PREPARE Adaptation Finance Window
Administrator Power announced that USAID, in collaboration with the State Department, is awarding the first round winners of the PREPARE Adaptation Finance Window and launching a second round of financing for asset managers and funds. This Window, implemented through USAID’s Climate Finance Development Accelerator, aims to de-risk private-sector-led approaches to climate adaptation in developing countries.
These awards will support 7 local and international companies operating in Africa and Asia to scale parametric climate insurance coverage for farmers, enhance market-based water collection, storage, and use efficiency, and support businesses to be resilient themselves to climate hazards. This includes a $500,000 investment from USAID’s EDGE Fund to work with WTW (formerly Willis Towers Watson) on the Resilience Wrapper Facility, a pilot loan servicing insurance facility protecting the borrowers’ ability to repay a loan following disruption from climate events like a hurricane, reducing financial risk associated with climate exposure. This will also include grants to Blue Marble and Floodbase.
Administrator Power also announced that USAID will partner with the Governments of Denmark and Sweden and the U.S. Development Finance Corporation to open a second funding round under the Adaptation Window. This round will offer catalytic grant finance, guarantees, and technical assistance to mobilize private investment into climate adaptation.