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Revisiting the Rising Rift Valley Lakes: A Glimpse into Kihoto's Struggles
The document examines the devastating impact of the 2020 floods in Naivasha, Kenya, specifically within the Kihoto informal settlement. It details how rising lake levels, attributed to climate change, displaced over 1,400 residents, destroyed livelihoods in agriculture and fishing, and coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic to exacerbate vulnerability. The study highlights the specific struggles of women, youth, and persons with disabilities, while documenting the community's calls for permanent resettlement schemes, infrastructural improvements, and inclusive social support.
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Document type: Case study
Multi-Country Climate Resilient Urban Development Initiative
The Multi-Country Climate Resilient Urban Development Initiative is a 36-month project requesting USD 1,961,539 to address systemic barriers to urban climate resilience in four CARICOM states. The initiative focuses on overcoming gaps in geospatial data, outdated planning legislation, and limited technical capacity at the municipal level. Key planned outputs include a regional gap analysis, the development of climate-resilient National Urban Policies (cr-NUP), a technical toolkit for urban planners, and the creation of four project concept notes to secure further GCF funding. The project is implemented by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) with technical support from the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF).
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Document type: Report
In Iloilo City, Philippines, an Inclusive Housing Program Protects Vulnerable Communities from Flood Risks
In Iloilo City, Philippines, a long-term partnership between the local government and the Homeless People’s Federation of the Philippines Inc. (HPFPI) has transitioned vulnerable residents from informal settlements in flood-prone waterways to secure, centrally located housing. This participatory approach replaced previous forced evictions and underdeveloped relocation sites with community-driven planning and innovative financing. The program has supported 1,250 households in resettlement and established over 560 collective savings groups to provide low-interest loans for land and construction, bypassing traditional finance schemes that often exclude the lowest income segments. The initiative has integrated urban poor representatives into city government boards for resettlement, disaster risk, and land use planning.
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Document type: Case study
COMMENTS ON WESTERN CAPE CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) critiques the Western Cape's draft climate plan, arguing for greater urgency, transparency, and meaningful public participation. The CER strongly opposes the use of fossil gas as a transition fuel due to methane leakage and warns against the potential misuse of 'Net Zero' targets. They propose a comprehensive set of 27 guiding principles for the plan's implementation, emphasizing climate justice, the phase-out of fossil fuels, and the protection of vulnerable groups, particularly those in informal settlements.
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Document type: Statement
Chilling Prospects 2022: Urban land-use and heat analysis in major cities of the Critical 9 countries
The analysis examines how the expansion of built-up areas at the expense of natural heat sinks like green spaces and water bodies increases urban heat risks in major cities across the Critical 9 countries. Using Copernicus Land Monitoring Service data and the IPCC's SSP1-1.9 scenario, the report details specific land-use losses in cities such as Shanghai, Karachi, and Dhaka, linking these changes to increased vulnerability to dangerous heat days (above 35°C) and rising energy demands for active cooling.
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Document type: Report
Waste is Wealth: The Untold Story of Esther Mirembe
The document profiles Esther Mirembe and the Namungona Women Empowerment Initiative, a savings group in a Kampala informal settlement. It details how the group provides pro-poor loans to women, converts waste from blocked drains into charcoal, and diversified into soap and mask production during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case study highlights the role of the National Slum Dwellers Federation of Uganda and Slum Dwellers International in promoting locally-led adaptation and resilience against climate change and disasters.
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Document type: Case study
Access to cooling and risk scenarios in 2030: Forecasting methodology
The methodology identifies four risk profiles based on income and electricity access: rural poor, urban poor, lower-middle income, and middle-income. It utilizes three forecasting scenarios—Current trends, SDG7.1 (universal electricity access), and a combined SDG7.1 and SDG1.1 (universal electricity and extreme poverty reduction to 3% or less)—to analyze vulnerability to heat. The analysis covers 54 high-impact countries and 22 additional countries with extreme heat hazards, incorporating data on population growth, urbanization, and informal settlements.
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Document type: Report
Smartphones and micro-entrepreneurs in Nairobi’s informal settlements
The Youth Enterprise Grant (YEG) was a two-year pilot project starting in late 2018 that provided 1,000 youth in Mathare, Nairobi, with smartphones and enterprise grants totaling $1,200. Implemented by GiveDirectly for FSD Africa, the project aimed to determine if digital tools—including M-PESA for payments, Touch Doh for budgeting, and the Hustle Fiti Facebook group for business advice—could enhance financial literacy, money management, and business skills among micro-entrepreneurs in informal settlements.
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Document type: Case study
การสรา ้งการมสีว ่ นรว่ม พัฒนาเมืองอัจฉริยะ: คู่มือ เชง ิ นโยบาย
The document argues that smart city developments often prioritize technology and business interests, risking the exclusion of marginalized groups, the urban poor, and women. It proposes a participatory approach to urban planning that utilizes stakeholder mapping, gender-sensitive data collection, and social equity impact assessments to ensure that digital and infrastructural transformations do not exacerbate existing social inequalities or displace vulnerable populations.
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Document type: Guide
In Nairobi, Residents Redesign Public Spaces to Build Flood Resilience
The Kibera Public Space Project, led by the Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI), transforms dumpsites and wastelands into a network of multifunctional public spaces to build flood resilience in Nairobi's largest informal settlement. By integrating drainage, gabions, and early-warning systems, the project protects vulnerable households from increasing rainfall risks exacerbated by climate change. The initiative emphasizes community co-design and has successfully advocated for the integration of Kibera into formal city planning through a Special Planning Area approved in 2020.
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Document type: Case study
Dryland NBS Upgrading
The document argues that integrating nature-based solutions (NBS) and flexible tenure systems into urban upgrading schemes can improve living conditions and climate resilience for marginalized populations in African dryland cities. It highlights a pioneering approach in Namibia across three pilot cities and draws on research from the 'Peri-Urban Resilient Ecosystems' partnership involving Namibia, Kenya, and Tanzania.
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Document type: Policy brief
Policy-making in dryland Africa
The document argues that urban climate resilience in dryland Africa requires alternative models of knowledge production and decision-making that prioritize social inclusivity and innovation. It highlights that rapid, expansive population growth in African cities increases land use change and leaves residents of informal settlements vulnerable to climate risks such as flooding and landslides due to a lack of basic services and secure tenure. Based on stakeholder interviews from the "Peri-Urban Resilient Ecosystems" partnership, the brief emphasizes democratic accountability, transparent decision-making, and community co-production as essential themes for scalable and replicable urban policy.
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Document type: Policy brief
Ecosystem-based Flood Management
The report examines urban flooding in five cities across Ghana, South Africa, and Kenya, highlighting the vulnerability of informal settlements to climate-exacerbated rainfall and poor urban planning. It compares the maturity of South African cities in integrating EbA into policy against the more response-oriented, 'grey' infrastructure bias in Kenyan cities. Key findings emphasize that collaborative, whole-of-society governance and the integration of green and grey infrastructure are most effective for long-term resilience.
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Document type: Report
Seven Transformations for More Equitable and Sustainable Cities
The report argues that a significant 'urban services divide' exists in the global South, where over 1.2 billion people lack reliable access to housing, water, sanitation, energy, and transport. This divide creates a cycle of poverty and environmental degradation. To break this cycle, the authors propose seven transformations: prioritizing the vulnerable in infrastructure design, partnering with alternative service providers, improving local data through community engagement, supporting informal workers, innovating financing and subsidies, promoting transparent land management, and creating diverse governance coalitions. The report emphasizes that these shifts can yield cascading economic and environmental benefits, including reduced GHG emissions and improved public health.
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Document type: Report
Latin America’s Uncoordinated Response in Tackling COVID-19
The document argues that Latin American countries failed to coordinate their COVID-19 responses, contrasting this with the coordinated efforts seen in Africa. It highlights how the dismantling of regional health mechanisms, political denialism in Brazil and Mexico, and the instrumentalisation of multilateral organisations like PAHO hampered the region's ability to manage the crisis. The author notes that this lack of coordination, combined with underfunded healthcare systems and pre-existing economic vulnerabilities, led to high death rates and severe economic contractions, disproportionately affecting women and those in informal settlements.
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Document type: Briefing
Building Climate-Resilient and Equitable Cities During COVID-19
The document examines the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and urban inequality, proposing six priority solutions to build climate-resilient and equitable cities. It highlights how the pandemic exposed systemic vulnerabilities, particularly for the urban poor in informal settlements, and argues that adaptation investments offer high benefit-cost ratios (2:1 to 10:1) and local job creation. Proposed solutions include upgrading poor settlements, building water resilience, advancing nature-based solutions, creating knowledge networks, enhancing devolved funding, and fostering peer-to-peer city collaboration.
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Document type: Briefing
Co-producing climate information for Windhoek decision making
The FRACTAL project developed three Climate Risk Narratives (CRNs) for Windhoek to translate complex climate projections into non-technical, actionable scenarios for the 2040s. These narratives—ranging from 'much hotter and drier' to 'warmer with similar rainfall'—were co-produced through 'Learning Labs' involving scientists, city officials, and stakeholders. The CRNs served as 'boundary objects' to facilitate dialogue and inform the City of Windhoek's Integrated Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (ICCSAP). Findings highlight critical vulnerabilities in water security due to increased evaporation and the disproportionate impact of flooding on informal settlements.
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Document type: Research paper
Faced with Forced Relocation, the People of One Philippine City Designed Their Own Climate-resilient Neighborhood
The Manggahan Low Rise Building Project in Pasig City, Philippines, serves as a model for locally led climate resilience. Following the devastation of Typhoon Ondoy in 2009, residents of informal settlements along the Manggahan Floodway formed the Alliance of Peoples Organizations Along Manggahan Floodway (APOAMF) to oppose government plans for forced relocation up to 60 miles away. Through the 2010 "People Plan," residents collaborated with architects and government officials to design a flood- and typhoon-resistant apartment complex on an embankment. The project aims for 15 buildings with 900 units, with 480 families already moved into rent-to-own apartments. The case highlights the importance of co-creating adaptation solutions with marginalized urban populations to build city-wide resilience and avoid climate-induced migration.
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Document type: Case study
Witsand Informal Settlement: Building resilient urban communities though innovation and partnership
The document details a resilience-building project in the Witsand informal settlement, where GreenCape, ThinkWifi, and community leaders co-designed solar street lights that provide both area lighting and internet connectivity. This initiative utilizes an Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) approach to provide interim services in an area characterized by a lack of formal tenure and inadequate basic services. The project aims to improve safety, close the digital divide, and foster local economic empowerment, particularly in the context of South Africa's load shedding challenges.
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Document type: Case study
Social-ecological transformation in cities in Asia
The report advocates for social-ecological transformations in Asian cities to meet global climate and development goals. It focuses on three key sectors: the built environment, transport, and public participation, arguing that environmental protection must be integrated with social justice to avoid further marginalizing vulnerable populations. The authors highlight that while Asian cities are major GHG emitters, their density offers opportunities for efficiency. The report emphasizes the need for nature-based solutions, active transport, and inclusive governance, while noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has both exposed urban inequalities and provided a catalyst for rethinking unsustainable consumption and urban design.
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Document type: Report