Investing in innovative climate solutions
UNICEF Climate Ventures – the five-year initiative set to catalyze impactful solutions improving health, education, and essential services for children
What if every child, no matter where they live, could count on safe water, healthcare and education, even in the face of droughts, floods, heatwaves, and storms? That future is within reach, as bold entrepreneurs are developing solutions that harness emerging technologies and offer unprecedented opportunities to reimagine the future.
For the one billion children growing up on the front lines of climate change, these solutions have the potential to be lifelines. But to make that happen, we need bold investments that back climate adaptation and resilience that will fuel a wave of possibility-driven breakthroughs. By backing these innovators today, we can protect children now while laying a strong foundation for generations to come.
Introducing Climate Ventures
The UNICEF Venture Fund has shown the potential of frontier tech to deliver global social impact. In just a decade, it has made 153 investments across about 70 countries, directly impacting the lives of nearly 17 million people.
Climate Ventures builds on that foundation. Over the next five years, the initiative will invest in both early and growth stage ventures, creating a pipeline of solutions ready to be embedded in national systems. It brings together early-stage innovation and scale-ready infrastructure, creating the conditions for solutions to succeed. From AI-powered hazard mapping to solar microgrids that keep clinics running, Climate Ventures is designed to deliver impact for children today while building resilience for tomorrow.
“For too many children, the climate crisis is a lived reality. Climate Ventures is about changing that reality through sound investments in transformative solutions. We’re excited to forge new partnerships that will build resilience and hope for children and young people everywhere.”
Heta Kosonen, Innovation Manager, Climate Ventures
Climate innovation: health care and early warning systems
What if every clinic had access to reliable energy? Vaccines wouldn’t spoil, emergency care would never stall, and children could count on the basic services they need the most. Reliable power doesn’t just light up clinics: it unlocks the digital tools that can transform education, health, and disaster preparedness.
The good news is that proven solutions such as solar microgrids, battery storage, small-scale biogas, and wind energy already exist, and Climate Ventures is working to make them accessible to benefit children and their communities. By backing later-stage companies alongside frontier technologies, Climate Ventures can rapidly electrify clinics, climate-proof water and sanitation systems, and keep services running during shocks. These investments also create the stable infrastructure needed for breakthroughs like AI-powered early warning systems, digital health platforms, and low-cost environmental sensors.
UNICEF-supported ventures are already applying these approaches:
In India, Equinoct trained youth volunteers and partnered with local Panchayats to integrate flood and environmental monitoring into grassroots planning.
In Timor-Leste, Similie built hyperlocal early warning systems that are affordable, scalable, and usable by non-experts, making climate intelligence accessible to remote communities.
In Trinidad and Tobago, Zed Labs created blockchain-based community currencies that reward climate-positive actions and fund local initiatives.
Financing resilience for children
Climate adaptation typically attracts less than three per cent of global climate finance, leaving a gap of more than US$200 billion annually for developing countries. Yet the shift to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy represents a US$6.2 trillion investment opportunity every year by 2030, with environmental, social and governance (ESG) assets projected to surpass USD 40 trillion in the same period.
Climate Ventures is designed to help close this gap by offering a portfolio that appeals to both public and private investors: public funds that can de-risk early-stage innovation, and private investors seeking scale-ready models with growth potential.
UNICEF’s presence in more than 190 countries ensures solutions are validated in real-world contexts and integrated into national systems. By aligning donors, philanthropies, and investors, Climate Ventures avoids duplication, directs funding where it is most needed, and reframes risk by elevating underrepresented founders whose work delivers tangible impact.
Adaptation in basic services is both an urgent public good and a viable market opportunity that Climate Ventures is ready for.
The way forward
Over the next five years, Climate Ventures will invest in and support at least 60 ventures through annual calls tailored to both early and growth-stage solutions. By combining frontier technologies with scale-ready infrastructure, it creates a platform for innovation to reach the most vulnerable, quickly and at scale.
This is the moment to act. By co-investing in Climate Ventures, partners can transform today’s risks into tomorrow’s opportunities for every child. Together, we can ensure children not only survive the climate crisis but thrive with the health, education, and opportunities they deserve.
