Posts tagged with 'biodiversity'
African Cities Use Nature to Fight Floods and Climate Change
African Cities Use Nature to Fight Floods and Climate Change
When torrential rains hit Kinshasa in April 2025, the city of 20 million came to a standstill. Floodwaters submerged more than half the city as the Ndjili River and smaller streams overflowed, quickly overwhelming the city’s drainage capacity. Lives were ...
Urban Trees: An Underused Tool for Keeping People Cool
Urban Trees: An Underused Tool for Keeping People Cool
On a hot summer afternoon, the difference between one city block and the next can feel like a different world. On one street, the sun beats down from above while the pavement radiates heat from below. Just around the corner, ...
Rwanda’s Cities Turn to Green-Gray Infrastructure to Address Climate Risks
Rwanda’s Cities Turn to Green-Gray Infrastructure to Address Climate Risks
Over the next few decades, Rwanda is positioned to become one of the most competitive investment destinations in East Africa. National targets, such as achieving upper middle-income status by 2035 and high-income status by 2050 (Vision 2050)1, signal the government’s ...
Climate Action Can Be One of the World’s Biggest Job Creators
Climate Action Can Be One of the World’s Biggest Job Creators
We are in the midst of a great economic shift — one that will shape livelihoods and growth for decades to come.  The rise of AI and digitalization, geopolitical changes, uneven population growth, and the urgent need to cut emissions ...
This Hillside City in South America Rebuilt Itself Around Nature — and Got Healthier
This Hillside City in South America Rebuilt Itself Around Nature — and Got Healthier
On most mornings, Cati Ochoa walks the green corridor along the Zamora River near her home in Loja, Ecuador, before starting work. The moment she steps beneath the trees, she feels her shoulders drop. “Green areas give us peace,” she said. ...
Inside Colombia’s New 2035 Climate Plan: What You Need to Know
Inside Colombia’s New 2035 Climate Plan: What You Need to Know
The center of gravity for climate progress is shifting. Increasingly, many of the countries driving the global climate transition are those that have contributed the least to historical emissions yet are among the most vulnerable to climate impacts. Emerging economies are showing ...
3 Climate Stories That Will Shape the World in 2026
3 Climate Stories That Will Shape the World in 2026
As we enter a new year, people around the world are grappling with rising costs for housing, energy and food. Most worry about the state of the economy. Job prospects feel uncertain in the face of widespread AI, automation and other disruptions. These concerns ...
How Chennai Is Restoring Kadapakkam Lake With Nature-Based Solutions 
How Chennai Is Restoring Kadapakkam Lake With Nature-Based Solutions 
Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), India’s oldest municipal body, governs a sprawling and densely populated urban landscape where climate resilience is not just a goal, but a necessity. With much of the city lying barely two meters above sea level and ...
How Green Jobs in Dire Dawa Benefit Women and the Environment
How Green Jobs in Dire Dawa Benefit Women and the Environment
An ambitious reforestation program in Dire Dawa’s watershed is helping to restore hundreds of hectares of farmland and reduce flood risk, while providing 7,000 new jobs and economic opportunities, especially for women and young adults. Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, is known ...
How Multilevel Action Advances Colombia's Economic Transformation and Climate Goals
How Multilevel Action Advances Colombia’s Economic Transformation and Climate Goals
Cities are on the front line of climate impacts. They are home to most of the world’s population and economic activity and generate the majority of global emissions. Yet they’re also hubs of innovation and implementation, putting them at the center of ...
South Africa Is Fighting Back Against Invasive Plants
South Africa Is Fighting Back Against Invasive Plants
Every spring, Johannesburg’s streets are transformed by a sea of purple as thousands of jacaranda trees burst into bloom. The lavender canopy is a defining feature of the city, as well as of nearby Pretoria.   But few know this ...
Meet CityMetrics: An Open-Source, Interactive Tool for Analyzing Urban Risks and Opportunities
Meet CityMetrics: An Open-Source, Interactive Tool for Analyzing Urban Risks and Opportunities
Which neighborhoods are suffering the most from rising urban heat? Where is flooding the biggest challenge? What other cities around the world are struggling with air pollution, and what can we learn from those that have improved the quality of ...
Are Countries’ New Climate Plans Ambitious Enough? What We Know So Far
Are Countries’ New Climate Plans Ambitious Enough? What We Know So Far
2025 is a pivotal moment for climate action. Countries are submitting new national climate commitments, known as “nationally determined contributions” or “NDCs,” that will shape the trajectory of global climate progress through 2035. These new commitments will show how boldly ...
Breathing New Life Into 5 Kigali Wetlands to Enhance Climate Resilience and Quality of Life
Breathing New Life Into 5 Kigali Wetlands to Enhance Climate Resilience and Quality of Life
Walking through Nyandungu Eco-Park in Kigali, Rwanda, it’s difficult to imagine that just a few years ago, industrial machinery and bedraggled grasses stood where lush trees and flowers now grow. Like in many wetlands across the city, the incursion of polluting industry ...
New Tool Helps Cities Select and Scale Nature-Based Solutions
New Tool Helps Cities Select and Scale Nature-Based Solutions
As cities try to restore the benefits of natural systems by mimicking how ecosystems function, one option they can use is nature-based solutions (NBS). However, cities often struggle to determine which types of interventions best suit their local context, due ...
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