Search Climate Insights Directory

The 2015 Climate Knowledge Brokers (CKB) Group workshop, held in Copenhagen, aimed to refine the CKB Manifesto and explore how to better meet the diverse needs of climate information users. Participants identified five user categories—unaware, ignored, without access, without time, and overwhelmed—and discussed tailored brokering strategies for each. The workshop also featured 'Knowledge Sharing Clinics' for peer-to-peer problem solving and proposed the creation of 'nodes' (working groups) to advance specific themes like monitoring and evaluation (M&E). Future goals include expanding the network's geographic diversity, particularly in Africa and Asia, and developing a 'Climate Knowledge Grid' to reduce information duplication and improve decision-making support.

The document argues that developing countries can increase their accessibility to climate finance by demonstrating fund management capabilities and project impact. Using Rwanda as a case study, it highlights the importance of cross-institutional learning, local inclusivity, and the establishment of dedicated climate funds to strengthen project development capacity.

The document argues that climate change impacts will make the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) "almost impossibly challenging" for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) unless there is an urgent increase in the ambition of climate and development actions. The analysis is based primarily on evidence from the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) and aims to inform negotiations regarding the post-2015 agenda, development financing, and a new climate change agreement.

The document argues that failing to integrate gender equality into climate change mitigation projects can reinforce existing inequalities and reduce project efficacy. It highlights that women are often viewed as victims rather than active leaders in climate solutions. Drawing from case studies in Nepal, Mali, and Colombia, the report emphasizes that gender mainstreaming, the use of socially disaggregated data, and gender-sensitive institutional policies are essential for the success and long-term viability of mitigation initiatives, ranging from large-scale transport to small-scale off-grid energy projects.

The document argues that a high-ambition global climate agreement, defined as limiting global warming to 2°C by 2100, is essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It asserts that a low-ambition agreement would undermine efforts to eradicate extreme poverty, equalise gender relations, and provide access to water and energy over the next 15 years. The brief calls for the SDGs and their associated financing to support climate-compatible development, particularly in the poorest and most climate-vulnerable countries.

The report examines the relationship between the 2015 climate agreement and the post-2015 sustainable development goals (SDGs), arguing that a high-ambition agreement is essential for achieving the SDGs by 2030. It analyzes two scenarios—high-ambition and low-ambition—focusing on policies and investment in mitigation and adaptation, with the high-ambition scenario aligned with the UNFCCC goal of limiting global warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

The document offers a comprehensive framework for LDCs and SIDS to develop INDCs, emphasizing that these countries may communicate strategies and plans for low greenhouse gas emission development reflecting their special circumstances. It provides detailed templates for national context, mitigation contributions (both action-based and outcome-based), adaptation plans, planning processes, and means of implementation. The guide highlights the importance of identifying conditional contributions dependent on international finance, technology transfer, and capacity-building, while encouraging the capture of synergies between mitigation and adaptation to build political momentum and attract international support.

The document serves as a practical toolkit for LDCs and SIDS to formulate INDCs, offering a modular template that covers national context, mitigation, adaptation, planning processes, and implementation means. It emphasizes the flexibility allowed for these nations under the Lima Call for Climate Action, suggesting both measure-based and outcome-based approaches to mitigation. The guide highlights the importance of identifying synergies between adaptation and mitigation to attract international support and demonstrate political ambition ahead of the 2015 Paris COP.

The document offers a structured approach for LDCs and SIDS to develop INDCs, emphasizing that these countries may use strategies, plans, or specific projects rather than absolute emission reductions. It provides templates for mitigation (action-based or result-based), adaptation, planning processes, and means of implementation, while highlighting the importance of transparency, national circumstances, and the pursuit of co-benefits such as poverty reduction and energy access.

The document outlines a framework for institutional learning to address the climate crisis, emphasizing that traditional reports are insufficient to drive change. It presents findings from the ICF Learning for Change Dialogues, including the tension between monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and learning, the need for institutional incentives, and the challenge of aggregating micro-level project learning to the portfolio level. The guide proposes ten emerging principles for effective learning—such as framing learning as a strategic path to impact and 'failing fast'—and provides a set of dimensions (e.g., supply vs. demand, top-down vs. bottom-up) to help organisations design and evaluate their learning interventions.

The report finds that Uganda faces a critical biomass deficit by 2020, which climate change will likely exacerbate. While the government's current electricity expansion plan can cover potential hydropower losses from reduced precipitation, it requires significant investment. Adaptation focuses on reducing biomass dependence through fuel switching and energy efficiency.

The report argues that a high-ambition climate agreement aiming to limit global warming to 2°C is essential for achieving the SDGs by 2030, particularly those related to poverty, inequality, and energy. Using Integrated Assessment Modelling (IAM), the study compares a high-ambition scenario (RCP4.5/SSP1) with a low-ambition scenario (RCP8.5/SSP3). Findings indicate that under a low-ambition agreement, poverty levels in 2030 could be 80–140% higher in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa compared to the high-ambition scenario. Case studies in Dominica, Jamaica, Pakistan, and Uganda highlight that while the specific sensitivity of SDGs varies by country, poverty and energy goals are consistently most at risk under low-ambition climate policies. The report emphasizes a reciprocal relationship: ambitious SDGs are necessary to implement a high-ambition climate deal, and a high-ambition deal is necessary to realize the SDGs.

This report provides an overview of the water-energy-food nexus in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), focusing on the interdependencies between these sectors and the challenges posed by climate change, population growth, and resource distribution.

The publication examines 24 REDD projects or programmes, concluding that their structural characteristics often harm forest communities and fail to reduce overall global emissions because they function as offsets.

The report posits that unchecked climate change threatens to undo development gains and make poverty eradication unsustainable. It argues that the global economy must reach zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2100 to limit temperature increases to 2°C, requiring emissions to peak by approximately 2030. The text maintains that low-emission development is consistent with the moderate growth and reduced inequality required to eliminate extreme poverty, noting that some low-emission interventions can actually enhance growth.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is positioned to be the world's largest multilateral adaptation finance institution, with donor governments committing US$10.2 billion by the end of 2014, half of which is earmarked for adaptation. To ensure effectiveness, the GCF must address cross-cutting parameters including its investment framework, gender policies, stakeholder involvement, and country ownership. Specific recommendations for 2015 include leveraging National Implementing Entities, piloting 'small grants' via enhanced direct access, and integrating adaptation aspects into accountability frameworks. Additionally, the future effectiveness of the GCF's Private Sector Facility remains uncertain pending operational decisions in 2015.

This case study examines climate resilience efforts in Valenzuela City, Metro Manila, focusing on its vulnerability to flooding and its participation in the Partners for Resilience (PfR) programme to integrate climate change adaptation and ecosystem management into disaster risk reduction.

The document details the creation of the first comprehensive Heat Action Plan in South Asia, implemented by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) in 2013. The plan focuses on an early warning system, public awareness, and healthcare capacity building to protect vulnerable populations from heat-related morbidity and mortality.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is positioned to become the largest multilateral institution for climate adaptation finance, with donor governments committing US$10.2 billion by the end of 2014. To ensure effectiveness, the document argues that the GCF must prioritize country ownership through direct access modalities, develop robust investment and accountability frameworks that avoid maladaptation, and clarify the role of its Private Sector Facility. It specifically suggests piloting small grants facilities under 'enhanced direct access' to reach local organizations and leveraging the experience of existing National Implementing Entities already accredited by the Adaptation Fund.

The report estimates that making Uganda's infrastructure climate-resilient will cost between US$52-66 million annually by 2020, rising to US$638-1,157 million by 2050. Residential buildings are the most affected sector, accounting for approximately half of all adaptation costs. The study also projects that annual damages from extreme events, if frequency doubles every 25 years, could reach US$738-3,294 million by 2050. Key adaptation priorities include climate-proofing public buildings and developing resilient transport standards.