Search Climate Insights Directory
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Climate Change FAQs
The document explains that human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels, have increased average global temperatures by approximately one degree Celsius since 1880. It details the resulting impacts, including more frequent extreme weather, rising sea levels, and ocean acidification. The text outlines strategies for addressing these challenges through climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience, while describing the roles of the U.S. government, corporations, and the United Nations in implementing these solutions.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Climate Change FAQ
The document explains that global warming, driven primarily by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and agriculture, has increased average global temperatures by approximately 1 degree Celsius since 1880. It details the resulting impacts, including more frequent extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and ocean acidification. The text outlines various responses, such as the transition to renewable energy, energy efficiency, and the roles of the United Nations and the U.S. government in international agreements like the Paris Agreement. It also defines key concepts such as climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience, and discusses the role of climate finance in supporting these efforts.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Private Equity, Public Harm
The report estimates that air pollution from a subset of private equity-backed fossil fuel infrastructure in the U.S. causes between $11.3 billion and $15.1 billion in annual health costs. Using the EPA's COBRA tool, the analysis finds these facilities are responsible for approximately 1,000 premature deaths and 1,500 emergency room visits each year. The document argues that private equity firms must disclose their fossil fuel exposure and health impacts, cease investments in fossil fuel expansion by 2030, and integrate environmental justice into their operations.
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Document type: Report
Urban Heat Hot Spots in 65 Cities
Climate Central's analysis of 65 major U.S. cities reveals that approximately 76% of the 6.2 million K-12 public school students in these areas attend school in 'extreme urban heat zones,' where the built environment adds at least 8°F of additional heat. The average student in these cities attends school in a neighborhood that is 8.3°F hotter due to the built environment, with the highest average additional heat found in New York City (9.6°F). The report highlights that children are particularly vulnerable to heat-related health risks, which can impair academic achievement and development, while noting that 41% of public school districts need to update or replace HVAC systems in at least half of their schools.
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Document type: Report
Protecting our comunidades: a statement from GreenLatinos
GreenLatinos condemns the use of military and law enforcement force during immigration raids in Los Angeles, asserting that such tactics are used to distract from the federal government's efforts to undermine California's air quality, public health, and public lands. The statement provides a comprehensive list of legal and emergency resources for impacted communities in Southern California, including rapid response hotlines and 'know-your-rights' guidance.
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Document type: Statement
Premiums on Fire
The brief analyzes rate hikes by State Farm in California, noting that an approved 17% increase will raise average premiums by $737 by 2025, and a requested further 11% increase could raise them by $1,015 by 2026 compared to 2023. It highlights extreme increases in high-risk zip codes, such as Calabasas, and argues that the fossil fuel industry is responsible for the climate-fueled disasters driving these costs.
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Document type: Policy brief
Golden Opportunity
The report argues that the Opportunity Zone program, created by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, serves as a subsidy for private equity firms rather than a tool for community redevelopment. PESP identified $16.2 billion raised for Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOFs) by approximately 200 firms, with Bridge Investment Group Holdings, CIM Group, and Griffin Capital Company among the top beneficiaries. The document details how firms profit via capital gains tax deferrals and annual management fees, often ranging from 1.25% to 2%. Case studies in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Arizona suggest the program encourages the development of luxury housing and the displacement of low-income residents through 'substantial improvement' requirements that necessitate evictions. The report also highlights political ties between major QOF investors and the Trump administration, and criticizes the lack of federal reporting requirements to track the program's actual impact on poverty.
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Document type: Report
City of Atlanta Partners with Controversial CIM Group
The report examines the 'Gulch' redevelopment project in downtown Atlanta, where the city provided significant tax breaks to the LA-based private equity firm CIM Group. It highlights that CIM Group reneged on its affordable housing commitments in October 2024, opting instead to pay an $8 million fee that advocates claim was based on outdated figures. The text frames this as part of a broader pattern of private equity infiltration in Atlanta's housing market and calls for greater city official accountability in vetting corporate partners.
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Document type: Report
Summer Weather Reporting Guide
The guide outlines the relationship between climate change and four types of summer extreme weather. It notes that heat is the deadliest weather event, killing nearly 500,000 people annually since 2000 globally, and that fossil fuel pollution drives these heat waves. It explains that oceans absorb nearly 90% of Earth's excess heat, which supercharges hurricanes by increasing intensity, rain rates, and storm surges. Regarding flooding, the guide states that a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, leading to more frequent and intense heavy rainfall since the 1950s. Finally, it attributes the increasing threat and length of wildfire seasons to rising temperatures and erratic rainfall patterns that make vegetation more flammable.
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Document type: Guide
Private Equity Detention and Surveillance Tracker
The Private Equity Detention and Surveillance Tracker details the involvement of private equity firms in the US mass incarceration system, covering facility management, healthcare, food services, telecommunications, and surveillance tools. It highlights how profit motives lead to cost-cutting in critical services, high markups on basic necessities, and the deployment of controversial surveillance technologies.
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Document type: Report
CITY OF ATLANTA PARTNERS WITH CONTROVERSIAL CIM GROUP
The report examines the 'Centennial Yards' (formerly the Gulch) redevelopment project in Atlanta, where the City provided nearly $2 billion in tax breaks to the LA-based private equity firm CIM Group. It highlights CIM's decision in October 2024 to renege on affordable housing promises by paying an $8.5 million 'in-lieu' fee, which critics argue is based on outdated 2017 data. The document further details CIM's controversial track record in other cities, including allegations of predatory behavior at Southern Towers in Alexandria, Virginia, and driving gentrification in the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles.
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Document type: Report
Public Letter to University of California Chief Investment Officer and Vice President of Investments
The Private Equity Stakeholder Project argues against the University of California (UC) potentially reversing its 2020 decision to divest from fossil fuels. The letter asserts that fossil fuel investments are financially risky, citing the underperformance of fossil-fuel-heavy portfolios and the volatility of the LNG market. It further highlights the material threats of climate change to California, including astronomical wildfire costs, and warns that demand forecasts for data center power may be overstated, potentially misleading investors.
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Document type: Statement
LA CAISSE DES DÉPÔTS ET CONSIGNATIONS UN INVESTISSEUR PUBLIC QUI MANQUE À SON DEVOIR CLIMATIQUE
The Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), a major French public investor managing 323 billion euros, is criticized for a lack of transparency regarding its portfolio composition and voting records. Despite claiming alignment with a 1.5°C trajectory, the CDC holds 9.2 billion euros in fossil fuel-related investments and lacks a strict ban on companies developing new oil and gas projects. Furthermore, the CDC delegates approximately 10 billion euros to external asset managers without applying robust climate selection criteria, potentially exposing public savings to climate-harmful strategies.
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Document type: Briefing
Beyond the Thermometer: 5 Heat Metrics That Drive Better Decision-Making
The briefing outlines five key heat metrics—land surface temperature, air temperature, heat index, wet bulb globe temperature, and thermal comfort indices—detailing their specific uses and limitations. It argues that while traditional metrics are useful for regional analysis and safety limits, thermal comfort modeling is essential for understanding human-scale heat exposure and designing local interventions like shade and wind corridors. The document provides a framework for matching these metrics to goals such as protecting pedestrians, reducing energy use, or lowering citywide temperatures.
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Document type: Briefing
No Immunity for the Fossil Fuel Industry
A coalition of organizations calls on Democratic leadership to reject efforts by the Trump administration and the fossil fuel industry to secure blanket waivers of liability for climate-related damages and deception.
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Document type: Statement
The media needs to show how the climate crisis is fueling the LA wildfires
The authors critique the media's failure to link the Los Angeles mega-fires to the climate crisis, noting that coverage often ignores scientific links, repeats disinformation, or focuses on political disputes rather than the role of fossil fuel companies. While citing a few positive examples from outlets like Time and the Los Angeles Times, the piece asserts that accurate climate reporting is an essential solution to generate the public pressure needed for government action.
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Document type: Statement
Insurers Dodge Climate Costs; Fossil Fuel Should Pay
The report examines the insurance crisis in California following devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, highlighting how private insurers like State Farm have restricted coverage or exited the market, pushing risk onto the state-supported FAIR Plan. It contends that insurers are complicit in the climate crisis due to over $500 billion in fossil fuel-related assets and argues for the adoption of legislation, such as SB222, to force fossil fuel companies to pay for climate-driven losses through the right of subrogation.
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Document type: Research paper
Premiums on Fire
The report examines how a 21.8% rate hike for State Farm homeowners insurance in California, approved in March 2025 following devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, disproportionately affects policyholders in high-risk areas. It projects that the average State Farm policyholder in California will pay $841 more in 2025 than in 2023, with some communities seeing premiums more than double. The analysis highlights that 280,000 policyholders across 122 communities will face annual premium increases of $1,000 or more. The document argues that these escalating costs are a direct result of climate change and suggests that the financial burden should shift from policyholders to the oil and gas companies responsible for fossil fuel pollution.
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Document type: Report
TRANSITIONING AWAY FROM FOSSIL FUELS TO CURB AIR POLLUTION HEALTH HARMS
The document details the severe health impacts of the fossil fuel lifecycle, emphasizing that air pollution linked to fossil fuels causes over 80% of pollution-related deaths. It highlights the disproportionate burden on vulnerable groups—including children, women, the elderly, and racialized communities—and advocates for a managed phase-out of oil, gas, and coal to save millions of lives and reduce healthcare costs. The brief provides case studies from Argentina, India, the USA, and China to illustrate these harms and the benefits of decommissioning coal plants. It concludes with specific policy recommendations for city and national governments to transition toward renewable energy and protect public health.
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Document type: Policy brief
Blackrock et Vanguard arrêtent leurs activités d’engagement : leurs clients doivent réagir
The document criticizes Blackrock and Vanguard for temporarily halting engagement activities with companies after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced new reporting requirements for investors holding more than 5% of a US company. Reclaim Finance asserts that these transparency rules are not a legal barrier to engagement and that the asset managers' reactions reflect a broader retreat from ESG commitments. The text highlights the firms' continued investment in fossil fuels and their withdrawal from international climate alliances, urging clients to demand stronger climate engagement or switch managers to protect their portfolios from systemic climate risks.
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Document type: Statement