Search Climate Insights Directory
45 results
The Carbon-Free City Handbook
The Carbon-Free City Handbook outlines a strategic framework for cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through immediate, economically viable actions. It categorizes recommendations into buildings, transportation and mobility, electricity, industry, and biological resources, emphasizing the importance of setting bold 100% targets to drive transformational change rather than incremental progress.
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Document type: Guide
MPG for Homes—The Quest for the Best
RMI proposes a set of best practices for real estate portals to provide energy information for U.S. homes, emphasizing the need for estimated energy costs, visual comparisons, and clear methodology. The briefing argues that transparency in home energy performance increases market value and helps consumers address energy efficiency needs.
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Document type: Briefing
Risk-related resettlement and relocation in urban areas
The document argues that while resettlement and relocation can reduce hazard exposure, they often leave populations worse off socially and economically. It recommends that such measures be a last resort, preceded by exhaustive exploration of on-site upgrading and consensus-building with affected communities. The text highlights the risk of forced evictions under the guise of safety and calls for strengthened legal frameworks and adherence to international covenants to protect the rights of low-income urban populations.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Civic Approaches to Confronting Violent Extremism
The report argues that the traditional 'Countering Violent Extremism' (CVE) framework is flawed and 'toxic' because it relies on discredited theories of a linear path to radicalization. Instead, it advocates for a 'resilience' model led by civil society organizations (CSOs) and social services, with law enforcement acting only as a supporting partner focused on criminal behavior. Key findings emphasize that there is no causal link between religious ideology and violence, and that effective interventions require 'alternative narratives' that acknowledge the 'kernel of truth' in grievances. The document also highlights a significant 'trust gap' between governments and CSOs, suggesting that transparency and the protection of civil liberties are essential for effective collaboration.
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Document type: Report
Measuring the Benefits
The document discusses the 'Replenish' approach, developed by The Coca-Cola Company and WWF, which allows companies to quantify the amount of water they return to nature and communities. It argues that while replenishment targets can drive investment, they must be part of a comprehensive water stewardship strategy that includes internal efficiency, collective action, and alignment with local hydrology to be ecologically meaningful.
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Document type: Fact sheet
360 º PERSPECTIVE ON FEDERAL DEEP ENERGY RETROFITS
The GSA's National Deep Energy Retrofit (NDER) program demonstrated that deep energy retrofits can achieve significantly higher savings than typical federal projects, with Round 1 projects averaging 38% energy savings compared to 21% in other agencies. The report details a collaborative workshop held in April 2014 to identify process improvements, technical barriers, and economic strategies to reach the goal of 50% or more energy savings. Key recommendations include adopting integrative design, incorporating operations and maintenance (O&M) into performance contracts, and combining energy efficiency upgrades with appropriated renovation funds.
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Document type: Report
BUILDING ENERGY MODELING FOR OWNERS AND MANAGERS
The document outlines the value of Building Energy Modeling (BEM) in reducing first and operating costs while improving occupant satisfaction. It details the different purposes of BEM—comparison, compliance, and prediction—and provides a structured approach to the modeling process, software tools, and the contracting process, including a sample Request for Proposal (RFP).
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Document type: Guide
Deep Energy Retrofits in GSA Buildings
The report details a collaborative effort to increase energy savings in GSA buildings, noting that the National Deep Energy Retrofit (NDER) program has already increased average project savings from 18% to 39%. It proposes several strategies to achieve deeper retrofits, including the use of integrative design charrettes, expanding revenue streams to include tenant and O&M savings, and adopting 'Option C' measurement and verification for whole-building solutions. The document also emphasizes the need to shorten the preliminary audit phase and improve communication between GSA and energy service companies (ESCOs) to reduce project timelines, which typically stretch 18–24 months.
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Document type: Report
Best Practices for Collaborative Solar Purchasing
The document presents a structured 12-step framework for collaborative solar procurement, moving from early regional recruiting and site assessment through to procurement, installation, and long-term operation. The process emphasizes the importance of shared understanding among participants, competitive bidding to ensure best-value vendor selection, and the documentation of energy production and savings over a 25-year horizon.
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Document type: Fact sheet
What's Environmentally Responsible Building
The document provides a comprehensive framework for environmentally responsible building, emphasizing passive solar design, energy efficiency, and healthy material selection. It details how building orientation, window placement, and the use of thermal mass can significantly reduce heating and cooling costs. The guide also addresses the importance of indoor air quality, the role of landscaping in climate control, and the consideration of embodied energy in building materials. It argues that while some sustainable features may increase initial construction costs, they lead to long-term financial savings through reduced operation costs and increased property value.
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Document type: Guide
Engaging with Parliaments: Advice to Civil Society
The paper argues that civil society organisations (CSOs) should not dismiss parliaments as 'rubber stamps' but instead build strategic partnerships with individual members of parliament (MPs). It emphasizes the importance of understanding electoral systems to identify independent-minded MPs, providing high-quality non-partisan research to resource-poor legislators, and cultivating 'champions' within the governing party. The author highlights that credibility and public legitimacy—built through community rooting and financial transparency—are more valuable than funding when influencing policy. Practical guidance is provided on lobbying, media engagement, and monitoring MP performance through 'report cards' to drive accountability during elections.
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Document type: Research paper
Helping Knowledge Networks Work
This guide by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) examines the challenges of coordinating virtual teams across international knowledge networks, such as the Climate Change Knowledge Network (CCKN). It argues that cultural and organizational boundaries—including national differences, varying institutional norms, and functional clashes—pose greater obstacles to success than technology. The author advocates for a 'fast prototyping' approach to project development and provides practical advice on selecting communication tools based on 'social presence' and 'information richness' to maintain network health and project momentum.
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Document type: Guide
Communicating Sustainable Development on the Web
This guide outlines a strategic approach to Web communications for sustainable development organizations, emphasizing that a website should be an extension of the organization rather than a separate project. It provides a framework for information architecture, content categorization, and the management of technical and human resources. The document details specific guidelines for writing, meta-data, and visual design to ensure usability and search engine optimization. Additionally, it analyzes four models for joint module development—gateways, working sites, hub-and-spokes, and integrated modules—to facilitate collaboration between international partners.
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Document type: Guide
Green Offices Toolkit
The Green Offices Toolkit offers a comprehensive framework for Canadian health care providers to implement sustainable office practices. It outlines a phased approach to 'greening' a clinic, starting with the establishment of a 'Green Team' and the definition of a vision and mission. The document provides specific technical advice on reducing energy and water consumption, managing toxic substances like mercury and pharmaceuticals, and minimizing waste through recycling and composting. It also emphasizes the role of physicians as community leaders who can influence patient health and environmental behavior through education and by modeling sustainable lifestyles.
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Document type: Guide
Six Best in the Southwest: Outstanding Solar Ordinances
The Clean Air Task Force highlights six counties in the Southwest—Mesa and Weld in Colorado, Summit and Iron in Utah, Mineral in Nevada, and Maricopa in Arizona—that have implemented outstanding solar ordinances. These ordinances are noted for balancing growth with protections, streamlining permitting for federal lands, and clarifying project scale through acreage thresholds rather than production capacity.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Taxonomía 101
The document outlines a four-phase framework for sustainable finance taxonomies: governance, design, implementation, and expansion/revision. It emphasizes 'interoperability' to facilitate cross-border financial flows, recommending a science-based approach aligned with the Paris Agreement. Key design elements include the definition of environmental and social objectives, sector selection based on the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), and the use of Technical Screening Criteria (TSC). The guide details how to handle transition activities through binary or 'traffic-light' archetypes and provides a step-by-step alignment process for activities, entities, and portfolios. It also addresses the specific needs of SMEs and the necessity of periodic reviews every three to five years to maintain scientific and technological relevance.
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Document type: Guide
Taxonomie 101
The document outlines a four-phase framework for sustainable finance taxonomies: governance, design, implementation, and expansion/revision. It emphasizes 'interoperability'—the ability of different taxonomies to share common principles and scientific bases, such as the Paris Agreement, to facilitate cross-border financial flows. The guide details the creation of technical selection criteria (TSC), the integration of transition activities using 'binary' or 'traffic-light' approaches, and the application of 'Do No Significant Harm' (DNSH) and Minimum Social Safeguards (MSS) principles. It also provides a step-by-step alignment guide for activities, entities, and portfolios, while offering strategies to make taxonomies accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
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Document type: Guide
Just Transition Planning Masterclass Summary Report
The Just Transition Planning Masterclass provided a platform for stakeholders from Kenya, Ghana, Namibia, and Uganda to explore how to manage the socio-economic disruptions of sustainable development transitions. The program combined webinars and an in-person workshop in Nairobi to discuss the definition of a 'just transition', the role of standalone frameworks versus integrated policies, and the impact of colonial resource extraction on current fiscal and governance capacities. Key findings highlight significant barriers to implementation, including a lack of disaggregated data for impact analysis, difficulties in accounting for the informal economy, and limited funding for the social components of transition, such as stakeholder dialogue and re-skilling. The report concludes with a set of best practices for developing holistic impact understandings, enabling participatory decision-making, and ensuring policy cohesion through co-created justice indicators.
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Document type: Report
Afiche UVG_Path
This fact sheet outlines the adoption of good agricultural practices in coffee plantations to mitigate the impacts of climate change, market price volatility, and pests like coffee leaf rust (Roya), specifically within Mesoamerica.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Faser
The guide outlines NRK's ambition to integrate environmental considerations into all production decisions, drawing on international experience from organizations like Albert. It identifies transport, energy consumption, and material use as primary areas for reduction, offering specific tactics such as choosing local locations, using LED lighting, and implementing reuse plans for sets and props. The document emphasizes the need for a designated environmental lead for each production and suggests using carbon calculators to identify the most significant impacts.
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Document type: Guide