Search Climate Insights Directory

This guide by the World Resources Institute outlines five strategies for U.S. local governments to equitably expand electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, aiming to prevent 'charging deserts' in historically disadvantaged, rural, and low-income communities.

This policy brief outlines lessons for integrating climate information into urban adaptation planning in sub-Saharan Africa, based on the FRACTAL and FRACTAL-Plus projects conducted between 2015 and 2022.

This policy brief from the Southern African Resilience Academy (SARA) examines the interconnected policies shaping urban food systems in Southern Africa. It argues that resilient and equitable food systems—those capable of withstanding shocks while ensuring fair access to nutritious food—require an integrated approach to urban planning that incorporates food considerations, supports informal food actors, and ensures inclusive stakeholder representation.

This toolkit, published by the Global Resilience Partnership in July 2023, provides guidance for Zambian policymakers and urban planners to create resilient and equitable urban food systems. Based on household surveys conducted between 2019 and 2021 in 14 Zambian cities, the document identifies food insecurity drivers and suggests leveraging the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and various national and local policies to improve food access, support urban agriculture, and empower women in the food value chain.

An open letter from Jabu Hlatshwayo, an intern at the Public Affairs Research Institute, to President Ramaphosa, urging the South African government to prioritize urban land reform and the youth following the February 9, 2023, State of the Nation Address (SONA).

This guidance document describes the 'climate city contract' model developed by Viable Cities to accelerate the climate transition in urban areas through collaborative governance and integrated investment planning.

This research paper argues that traditional cost-benefit analyses (CBAs) for transport infrastructure are typically gender-blind and fail to account for the different ways genders use and experience transportation. Using a case study of a Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) plan in Coimbatore, India, the author demonstrates how integrating gender-disaggregated data and qualitative systems mapping can reveal specific benefits—such as reducing women's time poverty and increasing access to education—that are otherwise overlooked in standard economic assessments.

The SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities is a co-designed, living digital resource hosted on the weADAPT platform. It aggregates methodologies, frameworks, and applications developed by Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) researchers to help city officials, residents, and community groups implement more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable urban planning and governance.

This report by RMI examines how reforming urban land use policies in the United States can mitigate climate change, increase housing supply, and reduce ecological harm by moving away from car-centric, single-family zoning.

This policy brief summarizes a study on the relationship between socio-economic status, living and working conditions, and air-pollution exposure in Bangkok, proposing six policy recommendations to mitigate health impacts and reduce exposure inequality.

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the relationship between socio-economic status and exposure to PM2.5 air pollution in Bangkok. Based on a study of five districts and 400 participants, it finds that informal workers and low-income residents face higher exposure and more health symptoms, while public perception of air quality often contradicts government monitoring data.

This report describes a collaboration between Kalmar municipality and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) to evaluate a new mobility strategy using the 'Agenda 2030 Compass' tool. The strategy aims to shift the mode share to 60% walking, cycling, and public transport and 40% cars by 2035. Through a series of workshops, participants identified how the strategy aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighting benefits for public health and climate, while noting risks such as social polarization and urban-rural divides.

This briefing by RMI argues that integrating urban nature—such as forests, street trees, and bodies of water—into city planning reduces greenhouse gas emissions, lowers energy costs, and improves equity. The document highlights that the global value of urban nature's benefits is nine times the costs, and it calls for a significant increase in annual investment to reach a potential $2 trillion in annual net benefits by 2030.

This guide by RMI describes resilience hubs as community-serving facilities designed to support vulnerable populations during and after extreme weather events. It outlines five foundational areas of support—power, communication, facilities, operations, and services—and provides six strategic lessons for cities implementing these hubs, emphasizing community partnership, energy efficiency, and the integration of solar and battery storage.

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute examines the governance of the circular economy (CE) in urban settings. It identifies key barriers to implementation—such as administrative silos and a lack of holistic data—and provides four strategic recommendations for urban policymakers to accelerate the transition toward resource-efficient and resilient urban systems.

This policy brief, published by the Stockholm Environment Institute in June 2022, analyzes the environmental and socio-economic impacts of the global construction and buildings value chain. It emphasizes that decisions made during the early stages of planning and finance heavily dictate the sustainability outcomes of the entire chain. The document advocates for a multi-stakeholder approach involving regulations, green public procurement, and urban planning to transition toward net-zero emissions and higher material efficiency.

This briefing, published by the Global Climate and Health Alliance in May 2022, summarises health and wellbeing findings from the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) on Mitigation of Climate Change. It highlights the synergies between climate mitigation and public health, arguing that immediate action in sectors like energy, transport, and agriculture can deliver significant health co-benefits, such as improved air quality and reduced non-communicable diseases, while addressing systemic inequalities.

This report documents a Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) enforcement dialogue held on April 6, 2022, in Nairobi, Kenya. The forum brought together various departments of the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) to review gains, identify areas for improvement in NMT infrastructure and governance, and commit to a coordinated action plan for enhancing pedestrian and cycling pathways.

This executive summary of a report by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) details the adverse health impacts of transportation-related air pollution (TRAP), highlighting the vulnerability of specific populations and recommending policy and individual-level interventions to reduce exposure and improve health outcomes.

This guide by RMI provides strategic advice for municipalities to renegotiate franchise agreements with electric and gas utilities to advance climate, equity, and resilience goals. It emphasizes moving beyond narrow legal scopes to incorporate specific climate actions, equitable funding, and infrastructure resilience, while highlighting the importance of overcoming informational asymmetries during negotiations.