Weekly Climate Solutions Digest
Welcome
Late October light sits lower on the day, turning sidewalks to amber and orchard leaves to copper. Across marshes, geese draw their careful V, a moving stitch that makes the sky feel hand sewn.
This week carries the same feeling of stitching things together. Power systems link up across borders as China targets vast new wind capacity and regional plans for an ASEAN grid gather real funding. Finance moves with intent, from the World Bank and ADB to EIB Global backing India’s transition, and the World Bank preparing a home for Tropical Forests Forever. On the ground, the work is practical and local. Spain brings agrivoltaics into farm policy. The world’s biggest industrial heat battery switches on with its own solar. Fortescue says the quiet part out loud. This is about economics, not just climate change. And in Kenya, a women’s group restores mangroves, root by root, where tide meets village.
The thread is clear. We are learning to build at scale and tend with care, so that wires, winds, and wetlands can all belong to the same future. Here is how that showed up this week.
Top Climate Solutions Of The Week
- China set a target to install 120 GW of wind per year by 2030, with a national plan driving massive clean power builds and supply chain scaling to displace coal.
- The ADB and World Bank committed $12.5 billion to the ASEAN Power Grid plan, accelerating cross-border lines that move surplus renewables across Southeast Asia and reduce fossil backup.
- Spain made agrivoltaic projects eligible for farm subsidies, enabling farmers to co-produce food and solar and get paid for dual-use systems that boost resilience in drought.
- EIB Global invested $60 million in the India Energy Transition Fund, mobilizing blended capital for distributed solar and storage that cut grid emissions and peak diesel use.
- The world's biggest industrial heat battery began operations, using an on-site solar array to charge thermal storage that delivers fossil-free process heat to the plant.
- Fortescue says rapid cost drops in renewables, storage, and electrified mining equipment keep its real zero plan on track, signaling large-scale demand for clean power and technology in heavy industry.
- The World Bank agreed to host the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, creating a long-term financing mechanism to pay for verified forest protection and reduce deforestation ahead of COP30.
- In coastal Kenya, the Munje Tunusuru Women's Group is restoring mangroves, boosting blue carbon storage and fish habitat while creating local income.
Taken together, these moves stitch regional grids, local livelihoods, and industrial heat into one fabric.
Progress is real, and so are hard days. If the news feels heavy, this next note is for you.
If you are struggling...
Hey there. If you feel tired, angry, anxious, hopeless, or frustrated by the state of the world, I want you to know your feelings make sense. You are paying attention.
When everything feels impossible, it can help to notice the kind of problem you are facing. Some things are complicated. They yield to expertise and steady work. Others are truly complex and shift as we act. Learning to tell the difference softens paralysis. Here is a clear frame on the illusion of complexity.
Part of the heaviness comes from how issues braid together. Racism, climate, housing, grief, and power are not separate. You are not imagining the weight. Still, connection can also be a comfort. Small moves can ripple outward. This reflection on the giant tangled knot of connection offers language for both the ache and the hope.
If you are waiting for the perfect fix, you do not need one. Change in living systems comes from many small efforts that add up. Think silver buckshot instead of a silver bullet.
So choose one inch of ground you can tend this week. Send the email. Attend the meeting. Share a meal. Rest your body. Ask for help and offer some. Your piece matters, and you do not carry it alone.
For people and planet,
Bri Chapman
brichapman.com