Welcome to another edition of Climatebase Weekly.

Editor’s note (Minneapolis): Before we jump into this week’s edition, we want to acknowledge the tragic news out of south Minneapolis today. An ICE agent fatally shot a woman during federal immigration enforcement activity, and investigations are underway as more information emerges. As our team continues to support the inaugural Minneapolis Climate Week next month, our thoughts are with everyone impacted in Minneapolis, particularly immigrant families and neighbors navigating fear and uncertainty right now.


In today’s edition…

🌎 This Week In Climate: Iceland’s Hottest Christmas Ever, CBAM Goes Into Force and More. We’re covering:

❄️ Minneapolis Climate Week (Feb. 3 - Feb. 6) — Event submission is open!

🏗️ Climatebase is hiring! — We’re excited to add three new roles to our growing team.

🌟 Featured climate jobs at 15+ new employers — Scroll down to view them all.

🚀 Fellowship Applications are officially open — Apply today

Quick reminders:

The event submission guide is now live, and organizers can officially begin adding events to the Minneapolis Climate Week calendar, taking place February 3–6.

Minneapolis Climate Week is a community-led series of events bringing together climate leaders, builders, and advocates from across the region. If you’re hosting a panel, workshop, meetup, or community gathering during the week, now’s the time to get it on the calendar.

Applications are now open for Cohort 9 of the Climatebase Fellowship, our climate career accelerator designed to help ambitious, mission-driven professionals supercharge their careers in climate—whether that means landing your next role, pivoting into the sector, or launching your own climate projects and ventures.

The priority application deadline is in five days (January 12), and the program officially kicks off on March 16.

Over 12 weeks, Fellows gain access to expert-led programming, a powerful peer community, and hands-on support to accelerate their impact in climate.

👉 Apply to the Climatebase Fellowship

Yesterday, we published a new blog highlighting some of the recent standout wins from graduates of the Climatebase Fellowship — from career breakthroughs and startup launches to powerful personal journeys across the climate ecosystem.

If you’re curious what’s possible inside the Fellowship community, this is a great place to start.

👉 Read the latest Fellowship wins

By Julian Moore

The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) takes effect this week, requiring importers of high-carbon goods—like steel, cement, and fertilizers—to match EU carbon prices or face fines. The policy aims to prevent "carbon leakage" and ensure a level playing field for European industries already subject to strict emissions regulations.

Despite opposition from major trade partners like China and the U.S., the EU is proceeding. While experts expect a mild initial economic impact, concerns exist regarding potential price hikes and the risk of high-carbon products being "dumped" into markets with laxer rules, such as the UK.

British firms currently face uncertainty as the UK and EU have yet to link their carbon markets, potentially drawing UK exporters into the regulatory net. However, officials hope a future agreement will minimize paperwork and costs, specifically regarding clean energy exports.

Developers of five East Coast offshore wind farms are suing the Trump administration after the Interior Department ordered a construction halt on December 22, citing unspecified "national security" concerns. Orsted, Equinor, and Dominion Energy have filed lawsuits seeking injunctions, arguing the suspensions are illegal and cause "irreparable harm," with Dominion reporting losses of $5 million daily.

The projects represent a $25 billion investment intended to power 2.5 million homes. Developers note these farms previously passed rigorous federal reviews. While the administration claims classified security threats, critics and officials like Senator Jack Reed suggest the move is pretextual, noting the President's long-standing vocal opposition to wind energy.

Currently, Revolution Wind is nearly 90% complete, while Vineyard Wind 1 is already partially operational. The legal battles intensify as the administration continues to use social media to highlight disputed claims regarding wind turbines' impact on wildlife.

Congressional appropriators have released a bipartisan spending package to avert a government shutdown, funding key agencies like the EPA and Department of Energy through September 30. The bill allocates $8.8 billion to the EPA—a 4% reduction from last year, but a significant rejection of the 55% cut proposed by the Trump administration.

While Democrats and some Republicans hailed the lack of "poison pill" policy riders, environmental advocates remain concerned. Despite the funding, the EPA has already lost over 3,700 employees this term, and the Office of Research and Development has been decimated, dropping from 1,500 staff to just 140.

The package represents a compromise between the House's initial 23% cut and the Senate’s 5% proposal. However, uncertainty persists regarding support from Colorado senators following administration threats to local scientific centers and infrastructure.

Iceland shattered winter records on Christmas Eve as the town of Seyðisfjörður reached an unprecedented 19.8°C (67.6°F). This nearly 70-degree surge was driven by tropical air masses combined with "foehn winds"—warm, dry air that heats up as it descends mountain slopes. Meteorologists noted that these temperatures are incredibly rare for an Icelandic winter, where averages typically hover near freezing.

This event is part of a broader, alarming trend; earlier in the year, May temperatures peaked at 26.6°C (79.9°F). Scientists link these extremes to Arctic amplification, a phenomenon where the Arctic warms nearly four times faster than the rest of the planet. According to NOAA’s 2025 Arctic Report Card, this rapid heating is triggering permafrost thaw and "borealization" of marine ecosystems. While local winds played a role, the scientific consensus emphasizes that human-driven climate change is making such record-breaking events more frequent and intense.

A Swiss court in Zug has admitted a landmark climate lawsuit against cement giant Holcim, marking the first time such a case against a corporation has proceeded in Switzerland. The complaint was filed by four residents of Pari, an Indonesian island suffering from frequent flooding caused by rising sea levels.

The plaintiffs are seeking financial compensation for climate damages, funding for flood protection, and a rapid reduction in Holcim’s CO2 emissions. They targeted Holcim as a "carbon major," noting that cement production accounts for roughly 7% of global emissions.

Holcim intends to appeal, arguing that climate policy should be handled by lawmakers rather than civil courts. While the company claims it has halved direct emissions since 2015 and is committed to net zero by 2050, the plaintiffs view the court’s decision as a vital step in holding major emitters accountable for global warming.

Check out some of the latest featured jobs below. If you don't see anything that speaks to you, you can always go to Climatebase to explore over 50,000 new climate jobs.

Climatebase

“The world's leading platform for climate careers. Accelerating climate solutions by building products, programs, and community to support the climate workforce.”

Muir AI

“Muir AI delivers the product intelligence you need to navigate tariffs, reduce emissions, and strengthen your bottom line”

Atmos Financial, PBC

“We make slow capital fast in order to accelerate distributed solar, storage, and electrification.”

Piq Energy

“Connect to the grid faster with Piq”

Mendria

“We work with the world’s largest REITs, insurers, family offices, and institutional investors detect and price the fastest-growing financial risks no model accounts for.”

RMP Global

“Transforming waste into sustainable and cost-effective infrastructure.”

Reflective

“Reflective is a philanthropically-funded initiative focused on sunlight reflection research and technology development.”

LabStart

“Empowering diverse entrepreneurs to bring climate tech innovations from lab to market.”

Amply

“Revolutionizing heat pump design and sales to accelerate residential decarbonization”

Molecule Ventures

“Investing in decarbonization solutions and environmental markets for a sustainable, low-carbon future.”

Ascend Analytics

“Driving renewable energy transition with cutting-edge decision analytics for the power sector.”

Derapi, Inc.

“Simplifying secure access to distributed energy resources for a greener future.”

MUUS Climate Partners

“"Empowering innovations to drive future decarbonization and combat climate change."”

TeraWatt Infrastructure

“Scaling EV charging solutions to accelerate fleet electrification and reduce carbon emissions.”

Arable

“At Arable, our mission is to connect all the world’s farms and provide the highest-quality data to power predictive analytics, optimizing the global food system.”