Multilevel Action for Community-Led Climate Resilience in Informal Settlements

This expert note from the World Resources Institute argues that the transformation of informal settlements is critical for achieving global and national climate goals. It advocates for the integration of these settlements into climate and development strategies, emphasizing the need for meaningful community participation and a significant increase in climate finance directed toward the urban poor to foster just, low-carbon, and resilient urban development.

• Informal settlements house more than one billion people and face extreme exposure to climate change impacts, yet they are frequently excluded from climate planning and funding. Specifically, only 3.5 percent of global climate finance has reached the urban poor over the last twenty years, which increases their vulnerability and hinders low-carbon development.
• To ensure climate action is effective and just, the transformation of informal settlements must be embedded in urban development and climate strategies. This includes prioritizing municipal infrastructure for neglected areas, reducing carbon lock-in, coordinating government actions across vertical and horizontal levels, and engaging residents to shape solutions.
• The document identifies several international frameworks and processes as opportunities for action, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the COP30 Agenda, the Urban 20, the World Urban Forum, and the successor to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

APA

World Resources Institute (2017). Multilevel Action for Community-Led Climate Resilience in Informal Settlements. https://www.wri.org/research/multilevel-action-community-led-climate-resilience-informal-settlements

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Multilevel Action for Community-Led Climate Resilience in Informal Settlements. 2017. https://www.wri.org/research/multilevel-action-community-led-climate-resilience-informal-settlements.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Multilevel Action for Community-Led Climate Resilience in Informal Settlements |date=31 October 2017 |url=https://www.wri.org/research/multilevel-action-community-led-climate-resilience-informal-settlements |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2017multilevel, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Multilevel Action for Community-Led Climate Resilience in Informal Settlements}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2017}, month = oct, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/multilevel-action-community-led-climate-resilience-informal-settlements}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }