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The report identifies 'climate equity hotspots' along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, where projected sea level rise and tidal flooding combine with socioeconomic risks such as poverty and minority population share. It argues that federal and state agencies must prioritize these vulnerable communities in funding and infrastructure investments to ensure an equitable response to climate change. The analysis evaluated thirty-five coastal counties across nine states and provides case studies for five specific locations, including Dorchester County, MD, and Plaquemines Parish, LA, to illustrate the challenges of environmental injustice and sinking lands.

The report identifies a significant gap in tracking private finance for climate adaptation, noting that less than 10% of publicly-mobilized private climate finance is directed toward adaptation. It proposes four methodological approaches—ranging from 'Direct' to 'Indirect Expanded'—to better capture how public interventions, including those providing enabling outputs like capacity building, trigger private investment. Through case studies in Northern Uganda and the African Risk Capacity, the authors demonstrate that relying solely on direct co-financing data leads to underestimations of mobilization. The report concludes that while indirect mobilization is harder to measure and carries higher risks of double counting, tracking it is essential to incentivize the upstream public support necessary for climate resilience.

The policy brief advocates for aligning the 2015 Paris climate negotiations with the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It proposes that the final treaty include a new article requiring parties to develop national zero-carbon climate-resilient strategies with decarbonization trajectories by 2050. The brief emphasizes that climate action must be integrated into broader national development portfolios—including energy, trade, and health—and that monitoring and accountability frameworks (MRV) should be aligned with the human rights and gender-sensitive principles of the 2030 Agenda.

The report argues that the global infrastructure gap persists despite available capital due to a mismatch between investment instruments and project phases. It proposes shifting from bank loans to bond financing during operation phases, mitigating construction risk through guarantees and first-loss protection, and leveraging Islamic finance. The authors advocate for long-term master plans to resolve fiscal mismatches between federal and local governments, reforming procurement to prioritize life-cycle value over the lowest bid, and using fiscal incentives like green accelerated depreciation to encourage sustainable assets.

The report examines community-based adaptation (CBA) in Vanuatu, specifically on the islands of Futuna, Motalava, and Vanua Lava. It argues that vulnerability is multidimensional and influenced by local power dynamics and cross-scale structural issues, such as global copra prices and national land laws. The author suggests that for CBA to be effective, NGOs must move beyond short-term technical fixes to support 'adaptive capacity' through equitable decision-making and rights-based approaches that empower marginalised groups, including women and people with disabilities.

The Union of Concerned Scientists developed a screening tool to identify coastal 'climate equity hotspots' where high climate risk overlaps with socioeconomic vulnerability. Applying this to 35 counties across the East and Gulf Coasts, the report finds that low-income and minority communities face disproportionate burdens from sea level rise and storm surges, often exacerbated by inadequate disaster recovery policies. It advocates for targeted federal funding, inclusive stakeholder engagement, and the use of actionable science to build resilience in frontline communities.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) report identifies coastal communities where socioeconomic vulnerability and climate risks overlap, creating 'climate equity hotspots.' Using a pilot study of 35 counties across nine U.S. states, the report demonstrates that African American, Latino, and Native American communities often face higher exposure to sea level rise and tidal flooding while possessing fewer resources to adapt. The authors propose a screening tool based on climate and socioeconomic indicators to guide more equitable distribution of federal and state resilience funding. The report concludes with policy recommendations to upgrade affordable housing, improve transportation for evacuations, and ensure inclusive stakeholder engagement in climate planning.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) identifies a critical need for equitable climate resilience planning in the United States, specifically for frontline coastal communities. The report introduces a screening tool that combines climate risk indicators (sea-level rise and tidal flooding) with socioeconomic data (income, poverty, race, and education) to identify 'climate equity hotspots'. Applying this tool to 35 counties across nine states, the analysis finds that the Gulf Coast and Mid-Atlantic regions face the highest risks, with Orleans Parish, Louisiana, identified as the most vulnerable hotspot. The report argues that current disaster aid often fails marginalized groups due to bureaucratic hurdles and a focus on homeowners over renters. It recommends that federal and state agencies direct funding to high-risk communities, integrate the best available climate science into planning, and increase overall funding for climate resilience.

The document describes a comparative study of carbon and water footprints in La Paz, Quito, and Lima, highlighting how these measurements informed urban planning and the creation of municipal action plans. It identifies high-level political will, stakeholder buy-in, and the transition from planning to implementation as critical factors for successful urban climate resilience.

The We Mean Business Coalition, representing over 6 million companies, argues that climate action is beneficial for business and essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. They urge governments to establish an ambitious agreement at COP21 in Paris that focuses on global decarbonization, transparency, carbon pricing, and climate resilience.

The We Mean Business coalition asserts that the economic case for climate action is now clear, with 200 international companies and over 100 investors already making ambitious commitments. The coalition calls for a Paris Agreement that ensures global decarbonization by the end of the century, establishes five-year update cycles for government commitments, and provides clear policy signals like carbon pricing to shift investment toward low-carbon assets.

The document analyzes Brazil's Cooperation and Investment Facilitation Agreements (CIFAs), contrasting them with traditional bilateral investment treaties by emphasizing cooperation and state-state dispute settlement over investor-state arbitration.

The We Mean Business coalition asserts that the Paris Agreement must establish a collective long-term goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions well before the end of the century to keep warming below 2°C. The authors call for mechanisms to regularly strengthen country commitments every five years, implement transparent government accountability rules, and shift trillions of dollars toward low-carbon investment through policy signals like carbon pricing.

The document outlines barriers to climate finance for MSMEs in developing countries and proposes solutions focused on improving the enabling environment, increasing awareness, and tailoring financial products. It specifically recommends that the GCF's MSME Program target the informal sector and high-impact sectors like agriculture and manufacturing, using the pilot phase to test efficiency and reach.

The report analyzes Costa Rica's transition from an agricultural to an export-led economy, highlighting successes in biodiversity and renewable energy alongside critical failures in wastewater management and public transport. It argues that a lack of sustainable public infrastructure and a mismatch in workforce skills hinder the country's goal of carbon neutrality by 2021. The authors recommend streamlining public procurement, diversifying the energy mix beyond hydropower, and implementing a green industrial policy to reduce economic vulnerability to external shocks.

The document outlines the implementation of President Obama's Climate Action Plan (CAP), focusing on three primary goals: cutting U.S. carbon pollution, preparing for climate impacts, and leading international efforts. Key achievements include the finalization of the Clean Power Plan to reduce power sector emissions by 32% by 2030, the establishment of the State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, and the formation of bilateral climate agreements with China, India, and Brazil. The report details a series of executive orders, agency regulations, and budget requests aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing national infrastructure resilience.

The Energy Retrofit Guide for Caribbean Hospitals outlines a three-step process—Find, Finance, and Follow-through—to help healthcare facilities reduce energy consumption. It highlights the high cost of electricity in the Caribbean (averaging $0.38/kWh) as a primary driver for deep energy retrofits, which can reduce energy costs by over 50%. The guide introduces a free online tool for benchmarking and identifying energy efficiency measures (EEMs), and provides a framework for securing financing and managing the technical implementation of retrofit projects.

A joint statement from free-market and taxpayer organizations advocating for the PREPARE Act of 2015 to streamline federal agency coordination and risk management during extreme weather events.

The Technical guidelines for the national adaptation plan process, developed by the Least Developed Countries Experts Group (LEG) for the UNFCCC COP, provide comprehensive, non-prescriptive guidance for developing countries. The NAP process is designed to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience to climate change impacts while integrating adaptation into existing and new policies.

The document expresses disappointment over the Green Climate Fund's (GCF) accreditation of Deutsche Bank, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The signatories argue that accrediting entities with poor human rights records and heavy investments in coal and fossil fuels contradicts the GCF's goal of supporting low-carbon, climate-resilient societies. They further criticize the accreditation process as non-transparent, alleging that the Board approved applicants in blocs, which encouraged 'political horse-trading' and ignored critical information about the track records of the institutions involved.