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317 results
INSIDE STORY: Future proofing of an Indian City – Lessons from Madurai (Tamil language version)
The document describes a project in Madurai, India, aimed at 'future proofing' the city by strengthening its blue-green infrastructure—comprising hydrological systems and land-based natural habitats. The project, implemented by Atkins in partnership with University College London and DFID, with the DHAN Foundation as the delivery partner, emphasizes the necessity of multi-stakeholder engagement and the role of intermediary organisations in bridging the gap between government and communities to ensure the sustainability of climate-resilient development plans.
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Document type: Case study
Climate and Development Outlook
The report details CDKN's work in India to integrate climate change adaptation and mitigation into development planning. Key initiatives include the use of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) for energy and building sectors, the development of Heat Action Plans in cities like Ahmedabad, and the promotion of rural electrification through micro-franchising. The document emphasizes the importance of co-benefits, private sector engagement, and gender sensitivity in achieving resilient growth.
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Document type: Report
Important interactions among the Sustainable Development Goals under review at the High-Level Political Forum 2017
The paper examines interactions between six specific SDGs (1, 2, 3, 5, 9, and 14) using a seven-point scale to categorize relationships as reinforcing, enabling, or constraining. It finds that positive interactions generally outweigh negative ones, particularly for gender equality, which acts as a lever for multiple other goals. However, it highlights significant institutional barriers to integrated implementation, as most governments operate through sectoral ministries that lack joint agendas. The author argues for the creation of an international open knowledge platform to systematize SDG interaction analysis and suggests that 'mission-oriented innovation' and strategic foresight mechanisms can help overcome short-termism in infrastructure and industrial policy.
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Document type: Research paper
Why We March
The document outlines the dual motivations of despair and hope behind the People's Climate March. Despair is driven by climate damage and government inaction, while hope is based on the potential for sustainable cities, reduced food waste, landscape restoration, and sustainable infrastructure investment.
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Document type: Statement
IISD Speech: IISD President and CEO Scott Vaughan at the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development for the UNECE Region, Geneva
In a speech at the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development for the UNECE Region, IISD President and CEO Scott Vaughan emphasizes that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are fragile and require a shift toward holistic measurement of national well-being. He argues that GDP fails to reflect the anxieties of citizens regarding wages, health, and the environment, and advocates for a framework based on human, natural, produced, and social capital. Vaughan calls for the alignment of green and climate finance with the SDGs to support sustainable infrastructure and highlights gender equality as a prerequisite for achieving all SDG targets.
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Document type: Statement
Building a Climate-Resilient City: Water supply and sanitation systems
The document outlines strategies for enhancing the resilience of urban water and sanitation infrastructure against climate shocks, emphasizing multi-barrier methods, redundancy, decentralization, and green infrastructure.
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Document type: Policy brief
Building a Climate-Resilient City: Disaster preparedness and emergency management
The document outlines strategies for Alberta's cities to improve disaster preparedness in the face of climate change, emphasizing the integration of extreme weather projections, the creation of system redundancies, and the use of green infrastructure and building codes to reduce long-term costs.
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Document type: Policy brief
Building a Climate-Resilient City: Economics and finance
The document outlines how economic and financial strategies, such as multiple-bottom-line accounting and ecosystem service valuation, can help cities manage the financial implications of climate change and improve investor confidence.
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Document type: Policy brief
Building a Climate-Resilient City: Urban ecosystems
The document argues that urban ecosystems and green infrastructure are economic assets that protect cities against climate shocks and natural disturbances. It suggests that investing in these ecosystems can offer lower-cost solutions to multiple urban challenges compared to traditional infrastructure. The brief emphasizes that healthy ecosystems provide critical environmental, social, and economic services while enhancing a city's adaptive capacity.
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Document type: Policy brief
Grüne Verbriefungen: Eröffnung von Finanzierungsmöglichkeiten für kleinere kohlenstoffsparende Projekte
The document examines the growth and potential of green asset-backed securities (ABS), which convert pools of non-liquid carbon-saving assets into tradable securities. It highlights that green ABS accounted for approximately USD 5 billion (6% market share) of green securities issued in 2016, growing from USD 1.9 billion in 2014. The OECD estimates that annual issuance for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and low-emission vehicles could reach USD 280-380 billion by 2035. The briefing identifies key benefits, such as the ability to bundle small projects to reach bond market volumes and the potential for lower capital costs compared to bank financing. It also addresses risks stemming from the 2008 financial crisis and recommends public sector interventions, including the development of uniform 'green' asset definitions, financial support for data collection, and guarantees for junior or mezzanine tranches to attract institutional investors.
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Document type: Briefing
Building a Climate-Resilient City
The document argues that proactive investment in climate resilience reduces long-term financial risks and liability costs for municipalities. It advocates for 'multiple-bottom-line' accounting and the valuation of ecosystem services (eco-asset accounting) to prioritize cost-effective natural infrastructure over expensive engineered solutions. The briefing details various financing mechanisms to enhance urban robustness, redundancy, and resourcefulness, including green bonds, public-private partnerships, user fees, and the use of Alberta's carbon levy. It concludes with strategic recommendations to embed resilience into zoning, permitting, and planning processes.
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Document type: Briefing
Building a Climate-Resilient City: Transportation infrastructure
The document outlines how urban transportation infrastructure in Alberta is vulnerable to rising temperatures and extreme weather, such as flooding and heat waves. It argues that resilience can be achieved through 'robustness' (using tools like the PIEVC protocol and green infrastructure), 'redundancy' (diversifying transportation modes and fuel sources), and 'resourcefulness' (engaging citizens via mobile apps and supporting shared mobility). The briefing recommends that Calgary and Edmonton undertake full vulnerability assessments, promote compact urban forms, and implement multi-modal networks to mitigate climate risks.
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Document type: Briefing
Building a Climate-Resilient City
The document argues that urban water and sanitation systems in Alberta face significant risks from increasing temperatures, precipitation shifts, and extreme weather events. To build resilience, it advocates for a 'multi-barrier' approach to robustness, the integration of redundancy through source water diversity and decentralized treatment, and the promotion of resourcefulness via low-impact development (LID) and green infrastructure. Specific recommendations for Calgary and Edmonton include conducting stochastic hydrology analysis on source watersheds, reviewing regulatory obstacles to decentralized water technologies, and exploring economic instruments like stormwater levies and water trading systems.
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Document type: Briefing
ATELIER DE FORMATION DES CADRES DES ADMINISTRATIONS DES ÉTATS MEMBRES DE L’UEMOA SUR L’OPTIMISATION DE LA PARTICIPATION DES ÉCONOMIES NATIONALES À LA CHAINE DE VALEUR DANS LE SECTEUR MINIER
The document details a training workshop for UEMOA member state officials on maximizing the socio-economic benefits of the mining sector. Key themes included the development of effective local content legal frameworks, the impact of increasing mechanization on employment, the transition from enclave to sustainable infrastructure, and the challenges of local mineral processing. The workshop emphasized the need for regional cooperation in training and industrialization, as well as caution regarding bilateral investment treaties that might limit a state's ability to impose local content requirements.
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Document type: Report
Building a Climate-Resilient City: Transformational adaptation
The document distinguishes between incremental adaptation, which improves existing practices, and transformational adaptation, which involves systemic structural changes to address the root causes of vulnerability. It argues that as climate risks in Alberta increase—including rising temperatures and more variable precipitation—cities like Calgary and Edmonton may need to adopt transformational approaches to avoid unsustainable development paths. The text outlines qualities of a resilient city, such as flexibility and integration, and uses the Netherlands' Delta Programme as a case study of a proactive, systems-based approach to flood management. It concludes with strategic, regulatory, and community recommendations to enable transformational change.
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Document type: Briefing
Building a Climate-Resilient City: Urban ecosystems
The document examines how urban ecosystems and green infrastructure provide critical environmental, social, and economic services that protect cities from climate shocks. It highlights projected temperature increases in Alberta and advocates for a resilience framework based on robustness, redundancy, and resourcefulness. The brief provides recommendations for municipal governments to integrate biodiversity into planning, use asset management for natural spaces, and engage citizens in environmental stewardship.
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Document type: Policy brief
Building a Climate-Resilient City
The document argues that Alberta's cities must move beyond historical climatic patterns to build resilience against more frequent and intense extreme weather events. It emphasizes integrating climate projections into emergency planning, investing in robust and redundant infrastructure, and fostering community resourcefulness through participatory engagement.
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Document type: Briefing
Adaptation Futures 2016: Practices and Solutions
The Adaptation Futures 2016 conference, held in Rotterdam, convened over 1,700 experts to address the urgency of climate adaptation. The synthesis highlights a critical gap where risks are being created faster than they are reduced, calling for more radical and experimental adaptation strategies. Key findings emphasize the necessity of diverse partnerships, the integration of the private sector, and a shift in monitoring from measuring process to measuring progress. The report details thematic outcomes across ten areas, including urban infrastructure, food security, public health, and the Arctic, while advocating for a reinforcing relationship between research 'on' and 'for' adaptation.
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Document type: Report
Lessons from Latin America on implementing the 2030 Agenda
The document outlines the challenges and best practices for implementing the 2030 Agenda in Latin America, emphasizing the need for cross-sectoral institutional structures, subnational engagement, and improved data disaggregation. It highlights the vulnerability of SDG implementation to political cycles and the difficulty of aligning the 2030 Agenda with the Paris Agreement. Key recommendations include incorporating medium-term goals to bridge government cycles and mobilizing private sector resources to fill funding gaps caused by regional recessions.
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Document type: Policy brief
Lecciones de América Latina en la implementación de la Agenda 2030
The document outlines the challenges and best practices for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Latin America, focusing on institutional harmonization, inter-sectoral cooperation, local ownership, and financing. It highlights the risk of political instability affecting long-term goals and the need for better data disaggregation and multi-stakeholder dialogue to move beyond central government control.
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Document type: Policy brief