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This report by GreenCape evaluates the financial and operational feasibility of installing solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on agricultural packhouses, using a modelled apple packhouse to demonstrate the business case. It highlights that the primary value of these systems comes from replacing expensive grid electricity during peak daytime demand—driven by cooling and packing activities—rather than selling excess power back to the grid. The analysis concludes that while large-scale systems are consistently profitable, smaller installations require favorable financing to be viable.

This case study by GreenCape examines how the Victoria & Alfred (V&A) Waterfront in Cape Town built water resilience over a ten-year period through a phased investment in green technologies and behavioral changes. By following a systematic 'Water Resilience Journey'—moving from low-cost efficiency measures to complex alternative water sources—the V&A reduced its annual water consumption by approximately 65% despite expanding its development.

This case study examines how the Southern Sun Newlands hotel in Cape Town improved its water resilience following a severe drought between 2015 and 2018. The hotel implemented a combination of behavioral changes, water-efficiency technologies, and the installation of a groundwater treatment plant to reduce municipal water reliance and operational costs.

This case study describes an industrial symbiosis project facilitated by the Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme (WISP) between Pallet Cycle, a recycled timber manufacturer, and Cabrico, a clay brick manufacturer. The partnership diverted wood waste from landfills to be used as a sustainable fuel and raw material in brick production.

This case study examines how the City of Cape Town, in partnership with GreenCape’s Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme (WISP), uses industrial symbiosis to improve wood recycling and build economic resilience. The initiative focuses on diverting wood waste from landfills and reducing reliance on virgin materials and imported coal by integrating waste streams back into the manufacturing economy.

This policy brief describes a transdisciplinary project in Chile that examines the intersection of urban heat, building energy efficiency, and public health. Using a case study from the municipality of Quilpué, the project identifies correlations between high temperatures and hospital visits, highlighting the need to integrate health criteria into building codes and housing policies to mitigate climate vulnerability and energy poverty.

This policy brief describes a project focused on integrating health criteria into the energy-environmental assessment of buildings to reduce urban heat exposure in Chile, specifically examining the commune of Quilpué.

This policy brief describes the development of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for a digital platform (PladCAS) designed to integrate climate, environment, and health (CAS) data in Argentina using FAIR principles to improve evidence-based decision-making.

This policy brief describes Project SG-CEH-03, which uses satellite data and water sampling in Chile to analyze how climate change affects water quality and the risk of waterborne infectious diseases like salmonellosis.

This policy brief describes project SG-CEH-03, which investigates the relationship between climate factors, water quality, and infectious diseases in Chile using satellite data and environmental monitoring.

This policy brief describes a transdisciplinary project in Micaya, Bolivia, aimed at strengthening climate, food, and health resilience through the 'Ayllu resilience mechanism.' The project integrated ancestral knowledge with agroecological technologies and biomedical evaluations to address the impacts of climate change, such as frosts and droughts, which have led to severe nutritional deficiencies and health risks from pesticide exposure in the high Andean community.

This case study describes a project supported by the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) and led by Bioversity International to improve the response of Guatemala's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) to droughts. Through two emergency simulations conducted in 2014 and 2015 in the Chiquimula department, the project evaluated the effectiveness of the Institutional Response Plan (PIR) and identified critical gaps in communication and data collection within the public sector.

This fact sheet describes a co-funded research project led by the Universidad de Buenos Aires and the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) aimed at providing usable climate services for the agriculture and water sectors in southeastern South America. The project focuses on the co-production of knowledge between scientists and stakeholders to create reliable, accessible, and timely climate data to inform decision-making and reduce losses from extreme events like floods and droughts.

This report examines the necessity and challenges of interdisciplinary research to address climate change and biodiversity loss in the Tropical Andes. It argues that traditional, fragmented scientific approaches are insufficient for creating effective adaptation strategies and proposes a holistic model integrating natural sciences, social sciences, and traditional indigenous knowledge to support national policy decisions in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

This report by the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research examines the application of the Ecosystem Approach (EA) and Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) to biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation in Latin America, with a focus on the tropical Andes. It argues that current public policies are often sector-based and fragmented, and proposes that integrating the EA into territorial planning—specifically at the municipal level—can build systemic resilience and reduce vulnerability for both ecosystems and human populations.

This report examines the environmental impacts of land use change (LUC) in the La Plata Basin, with a specific focus on the Brazilian Cerrado. It analyzes how the expansion of international commodities, forestry, cattle ranching, and biofuel crops—particularly sugarcane—affects soil carbon stocks and overall soil quality. The document highlights the role of agricultural technology in enabling this expansion and evaluates different management practices, such as no-tillage and the elimination of pre-harvest burning, to mitigate carbon loss and soil degradation.

This case study describes how the University of Alberta's Centre for Earth Observation Sciences (CEOS) uses IBM InfoSphere Streams software and a network of sensors to monitor climate change impacts on boreal and tropical dry forests in Canada and Latin America in real time.

This policy brief evaluates the institutional capacities of three coastal communities in Latin America—Teacapan (Mexico), Bayahibe (Dominican Republic), and Brava de Almada (Brazil)—to respond to extreme rainfall events. The research focuses on economies dependent on artisanal fishing and tourism, analyzing risk perception, legal frameworks, and citizen participation to identify gaps in disaster management and adaptation.

This project brief describes the #SeAdapta research initiative, supported by the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), which examines the adaptive capacity of small-scale fisheries and marine ecosystem services in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and Ecuador to ensure human well-being amidst anthropogenic climate change.

This project report describes a transdisciplinary research initiative supported by the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) aimed at integrating local and traditional knowledge systems into biodiversity conservation governance across the Americas.