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West Africa has experienced warming of 1–3°C since the mid-1970s, leading to increased heatwaves, variable rainfall, and widespread losses in GDP and food productivity. Future projections indicate severe risks, including a potential 30% decline in marine fisheries catch and significant population exposure to sea level rise, particularly in coastal cities like Lagos and Abidjan. Adaptation requires transformative, ecosystem-based approaches and a significant increase in climate finance, as current funding is insufficient and heavily skewed toward non-African institutions.

Central Africa has experienced warming between 0.75°C and 1.2°C since 1960, leading to widespread losses in health, food security, and economic growth. Future risks include lethal heat exposure, severe biodiversity loss above 2°C, and significant GDP reductions. Adaptation requires increased finance, nature-based solutions, and improved climate services, though the region faces severe data constraints and funding gaps.

The document details the disproportionate impact of climate change on Central Africa, highlighting significant temperature increases, biodiversity loss, and economic decline. It emphasizes the critical need for transformative adaptation and increased climate finance to mitigate future risks to health, food security, and infrastructure.

Southern Africa has experienced warming exceeding the global average, leading to increased heatwaves, droughts, and economic losses. Future projections indicate severe risks to food systems, human health, and biodiversity, with significant GDP losses if warming reaches 2°C. Adaptation requires transformative, equity-based approaches and a substantial increase in climate finance and research funding for African institutions.

The study examines the relationship between political institutions, support coalition identity, and deforestation. Using satellite data and expert-coded regime data, the author finds that while democratization is generally associated with forest loss, this effect is moderated by the support base: democracies with rural supporters are associated with reforestation. Conversely, regimes relying on urban supporters are linked to higher-than-average forest loss globally and in the tropics, potentially reflecting the consumption demands of urbanizing populations.

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.

This report section analyzes the increasing vulnerability of the urban poor to extreme heat across 54 high-impact countries in 2022, highlighting a rise in the population at high risk due to lack of access to cooling.

India's buildings sector is a major source of CO2 emissions, with indirect 'embodied carbon' (EC) from material procurement and construction nearly tripling between 2000 and 2017. With India's total building space projected to more than double and its urbanization rate expected to reach 40% by 2030–31, the demand for energy-intensive materials like steel, cement, and bricks is set to rise sharply. The document highlights that while operational emissions are being addressed, EC emissions risk locking in high energy use for decades. It advocates for a whole-building life-cycle assessment approach and a national roadmap to transition toward low-carbon materials, suggesting that India could lead other developing economies in compatible economic expansion and emissions reduction.

This report examines the landscape of urban green finance in Hyderabad and Kolkata, India, mapping the flow of public and private funds toward climate change mitigation and adaptation across six key sectors, including clean energy, sustainable transportation, and waste and water management.

The document asserts that the period until 2030 is critical for limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C and that failure to meet Paris Agreement goals would permanently obstruct just and sustainable global development. It argues for the integration of cross-cutting solutions, increased international climate finance, and the finalization of Article 6 market mechanisms to incentivize transformation in developing countries and emerging economies. Key priority action areas identified include modernising global energy production, climate-friendly urbanisation, low-emission food security, ecosystem conservation, and sustainable water use.

Climate Central's analysis of weather station data from 225 locations across 17 U.S. states reveals a significant increase in fire weather days since the 1970s, driven primarily by warming and decreasing relative humidity. The report highlights that interior regions have seen higher increases than coastal areas, with some parts of New Mexico experiencing two additional months of fire weather compared to nearly 50 years ago. Beyond increasing wildfire risk, these conditions have led utilities like PG&E to implement public safety power shutoffs (PSPSs) to prevent equipment-related ignitions, resulting in significant economic impacts and health risks. The document argues that while land management and localized grids can mitigate risk, long-term stabilization requires reducing carbon pollution to net zero by 2050.

The document argues that transport is a critical driver of development but a major source of emissions, accounting for 23% of energy-related CO2. It defines sustainable transport as safe, affordable, and efficient mobility that minimizes environmental impacts. The report details the evolution of international policy from the 1972 Stockholm Conference to the Sustainable Development Goals, and provides examples of successful interventions, such as Jakarta's BRT system and various cities' shifts toward active mobility (cycling and walking). It specifically notes the COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst for structural changes in urban transit, though it warns that 30 major economies continue to provide significant subsidies to fossil fuels over clean energy.

The document examines the social, economic, and environmental challenges of urbanization in Sweden and highlights specific municipal projects focused on energy efficiency, low-carbon transport, and nature-based solutions. It emphasizes the role of cities in achieving net-zero emissions by 2045 and the use of green bonds to finance these transitions.

The document argues that peri-urban ecosystems in India are critical for the resilience of both urban and peri-urban populations but are frequently neglected due to ambiguous administrative boundaries and rapid urbanisation. It highlights the essential services these areas provide, such as flood control, food security, and microclimate regulation, while warning that unplanned infrastructure leads to environmental degradation. The brief recommends integrated, flexible planning at the district level, the revival of District and Metropolitan Planning Committees, and the adoption of participatory, community-led governance to balance development with ecological preservation.

The project focuses on the Katari watershed in Bolivia, where high-altitude wetlands known as "bofedales" are critical for regulating water balance and supplying drinking water to La Paz and El Alto. These ecosystems are currently deteriorating due to climate change, glacier retreat, rapid urbanization, overgrazing, and mining-related groundwater extraction. To address this, the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) is using multi-temporal remote sensing data from 1984-2020 and the WEAP modelling platform to establish eco-hydrological baselines and evaluate potential conflicts between urban water demands and the preservation of these wetlands.

The research argues that while food insecurity provides the motivation for urban unrest, the actual occurrence of collective action is contingent on the presence of organizational networks and the level of state repression. Using a combination of cross-national data from urban Africa (1990–2014) and individual-level survey data from Johannesburg, the author finds that food insecurity increases the likelihood of unrest, particularly demonstrations and strikes. However, the study challenges the notion that food is a uniquely potent driver of unrest compared to other living expenses and finds no evidence that food insecurity leads specifically to more violent behavior.

The report examines the transition from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to e-mobility in Southern Africa, identifying key drivers such as rapid urbanisation and falling renewable energy costs. Through four sets of scenarios, it analyses the tensions between inclusive and exclusive transitions and the role of proactive versus reactive government policy. The findings highlight a risk of increased inequality if EVs remain accessible only to the wealthy and warn of a 'brain drain' if the region fails to pivot from protecting the declining ICE manufacturing sector toward developing regional EV value chains and renewable energy infrastructure.

Colombia faces challenges from rapid urbanisation and hydroelectric uncertainty while attempting to decarbonise its building sector. Current policies, including building codes and energy efficiency measures, are insufficient to achieve this goal. The document proposes using Article 6 of the Paris Agreement to launch a Net Zero Energy Buildings pilot in social housing, which could reduce emissions, energy poverty, and subsidy payments. While the building sector is not a major emitter, the author suggests that international cooperation and climate finance are necessary to mobilise private capital and align the sector with the Paris Agreement's temperature goals.

The document examines the challenges of implementing climate-resilient development in the peri-urban areas of Uttar Pradesh, India, where rapid urbanisation and climate change are impacting small-scale farmers. It argues that current urban policies, such as the Smart Cities Mission, treat populations as homogeneous and fail to address the specific vulnerabilities of women and low-income groups. The text identifies structural governance failures, a lack of gender-disaggregated data, and the siloed management of urban and rural areas as key barriers. To foster resilience, it recommends targeted interventions for women, the strengthening of community institutions to overcome governance constraints, and the sensitisation of urban local bodies to gender issues.

The report contends that mainstream development models, which predict growth through a shift from agriculture to industrial manufacturing, have failed in Africa. It identifies five dynamic trends—climate change, rapid urbanisation, infrastructure deficits, epidemics/pandemics, and lawlessness—that interact to increase instability. These trends are exacerbated by three structural realities: pervasive informality, weak land management, and the proliferation of organised crime, often led by state actors. The authors argue that because the state is frequently compromised by criminal networks, development strategies should move away from state-centric models and instead focus on enhancing the resilience and resource control of local neighbourhoods and communities.