Who funds climate adaptation research?

We count 341 funded climate adaptation projects, active between 2017 and 2032, from 6 funders. The most came from EU · MSCA (64 projects), Gates Foundation (62 projects) and EU · Climate, Energy and Mobility (51 projects). The median award is $2.1M, across the 334 of 341 projects that list an amount.

Funded projects

341

Funders

6

Median award

$2.1M

Open calls now

8

Top funders of climate adaptation research

Projects whose title or summary mentions climate adaptation. Median award: of the projects that list an amount, in US dollars; “—” when fewer than 3 do.

Open climate adaptation funding calls

8 open calls mention climate adaptation today.

• Tools and technologies to support health adaptation to climate change
  European Commission · Horizon Europe€4,000,000 – €5,000,000Deadline: February 17, 2027 ·
• Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation and Reversal
  National Science Foundation (SBIR/STTR)Not specifiedDeadline: July 7, 2027 ·
• What Works Centre for a climate resilient UK
  UK Research and Innovation (ESRC)Up to £21,100,000Deadline: December 15, 2026 ·
  Real odds: About 1 in 5 funded (22% · Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), all funding decisions, 2024-25)
• Demonstrating transformative solutions to increase cross-border climate resilience
  European Commission · Horizon Europe · EU Missions€10,000,000 – €15,000,000Deadline: September 21, 2027 ·
• Researching and applying the potential of Artificial Intelligence to foster climate resilience at the regional and local levels
  European Commission · Horizon Europe · EU MissionsUp to €3,000,000Deadline: September 21, 2027 ·
• Deploying innovative wastewater management, treatment and valorisation solutions in European cities and regions in the context of climate change
  European Commission · Horizon Europe · EU MissionsUp to €9,500,000Deadline: September 22, 2027 ·
• Urban nature: supporting restoration of urban ecosystems, along urban transport networks and in the built environment
  European Commission · Horizon Europe · EU MissionsUp to €10,000,000Deadline: September 22, 2027 ·
• Climate Program Office for FY 2012
  Department of Commerce$50,000 – $200,000Deadline: Not listed

Real odds

• About 1 in 5 funded · 22% · Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), all funding decisions, 2024-25 · UKRI investment and outputs data, table 2.1

Published success rates for the programs behind the open calls above: the share of applications the funder funded, program-wide, not for this topic.

Funded climate adaptation projects

A sample, latest start first, at most three per program.

• Blue Anthropocene Wellbeing: Coastal Dwelling Skills and Multispecies Disease Entanglements under Climate Change in the Pacific
  Wellcome · £1,437,952 · ends 2031
• Southern Africa Consortium for Climate Change and Health
  Wellcome · £20,815,899 · ends 2031
• Molecular mechanisms of thermotolerance in the major malaria vectors and its predicted impact on ecological adaption to climate change, fitness and insecticide-based control tools
  Wellcome · £1,040,692 · ends 2031
• WET-RISK: Basin-wide assessment of amazon wetland forests sensitivity to extreme climatic events and its ecological consequences
  UKRI · NERC · £1,077,319 · ends 2031
• Social Alpha — Agricultural Development
  Gates Foundation · $3,001,546 · ends 2030
• CAREER: Bridging the Gap: AI-Driven Antarctic Basal Temperature Mapping for Advancing Ice Sheet Modeling and Polar Education
  NSF · Office of the Director · $770,209 · ends 2030
• Testing the role of functional genomic variation in climate adaptation
  UKRI · UKRI FLF · £594,855 · ends 2029
• Aceli Africa Inc. — Agricultural Development
  Gates Foundation · $7,000,000 · ends 2029
• Climate Farm Demo
  UKRI · Horizon Europe Guarantee · £372,920 · ends 2029
• Sustainable Solutions for Africa (SSA) — Agricultural Development
  Gates Foundation · $2,400,000 · ends 2029

How we count

Funded projects come from public award records (NIH RePORTER, NSF, EU CORDIS, UKRI Gateway to Research, Wellcome, the Gates Foundation, DOE, NASA and USDA NIFA) whose title or summary matches “adaptation climate”. NIH lists each budget year separately; one project counts once. Amounts are as the funder lists them; medians use only projects that list one, in US dollars. Open calls and forecasts are from our listings of October 28, 2026. A project can mention a topic without being mainly about it, so treat the counts as a guide to who funds the area.