In 2025, communities navigated mounting environmental pressures amid a rapidly shifting development landscape. Floods, heat, water stress, and ecosystem degradation increasingly shaped daily life, while development funding tightened, and global attention became more fragmented.
These realities sharpened the Trafigura Foundation’s sense of purpose. During the year, we advanced our 2023–2027 strategy through a portfolio approach built around three interconnected levers: supporting resilience solutions designed with and for communities; strengthening organisations so they can sustainably deliver climate resilience; and mobilising resources through coalitions and blended approaches to help close the adaptation finance gap. Together, these levers link livelihoods, nature, and preparedness, allowing us to back coherent partnerships rather than isolated interventions.
Our ambition is clear: to help unlock USD 1 billion in resilience investment while scaling solutions that benefit millions of people across low- and middle-income countries. Progress towards this goal is grounded in a diverse portfolio active in 50 countries, with most of our partners’ work concentrated in 21 priority geographies and global initiatives that extend its impact across borders. Ecosystem-based adaptation, disaster risk management, green entrepreneurship, and climate-smart food systems form the backbone of this work.
Our decision to join Start Ready in 2025 illustrates how strategy translates into action. This partnership combines anticipatory risk monitoring and early action triggers with the strengthening of organisations, particularly the Start Network and its local partners, so they can act before disasters strike. By pooling our funding with other donors, we mobilise resources at a scale no single actor could achieve alone. The same approach underpins other programmes approved during the year, including coastal resilience through Blue Alliance, urban resilience in southern Africa through Slum Dwellers International, and work at the climate–conflict nexus with The HALO Trust in Angola.
A strong commitment to local organisations remains central to our approach. Nearly four-fifths of our portfolio directly supports local actors and locally grounded solutions. In 2025, as some development funders reduced or ended support, we provided targeted assistance to partners affected by these shifts, helping them sustain essential services. We also convened partners to share insights, strengthen peer support, and reinforce collaboration – reflecting our belief that lasting impact depends not only on funding, but on standing by organisations as conditions evolve.
Resilience is ultimately built through practical outcomes. In Indonesia, mobile clinics delivered basic healthcare to thousands of families in remote regions facing climate-related health risks. In Colombia, a new partnership with Beneficial Returns supported decentralised solar solutions in La Guajira and Vichada, improving access to reliable energy, supporting refrigeration for food and medicines, and boosting the productivity of small local businesses. These examples reflect our disciplined use of capital to deliver tangible results while strengthening partner self-reliance.
I am also proud of the work we are doing to support Trafigura Group employees engaged with important social causes in their communities. Through matching funds, Charity Committees, and staff-led initiatives, colleagues across the Group extend the Foundation’s reach and contribute directly to its mission.
As this report shows, the Trafigura Foundation enters the next phase of its strategy with momentum, clarity, and a robust coalition of both local and global partners – strengthening communities and ecosystems to navigate a changing climate in 2026 and beyond.
Dario Soto Abril
