Posts tagged with 'buildings'
It’s Not Enough to Electrify More. We Must Electrify Better.
It’s Not Enough to Electrify More. We Must Electrify Better.
At 5 a.m., an electric bus glides out of its depot after charging overnight, ready to carry children to school without spewing diesel fumes. As the city stirs, heat pumps have already brought homes and offices to a comfortable temperature, ...
Shenzhen, China Pioneers ‘Near-Zero Carbon Communities’
Shenzhen, China Pioneers ‘Near-Zero Carbon Communities’
In Shenzhen’s Houhai Central District, summer temperatures climb higher each year. Last summer, the city recorded a blistering 37.5 degrees C (99.5 degrees F), one of its hottest days in decades. For residents in dense, aging apartment blocks, staying cool ...
Data Centers in Land-Scarce Cities: Who Decides, Who Benefits and Who Pays?
Data Centers in Land-Scarce Cities: Who Decides, Who Benefits and Who Pays?
Cities have always been shaped by the infrastructure they choose to host. Railways defined the industrial city. Highways reorganized post-war suburbs. Metro systems and airports rewired the geography of globalized urban economies. Today, another form of infrastructure is expanding rapidly ...
City Governments, Experts and Communities Unite to Address Heat and Health Challenges in Belo Horizonte and Campinas
City Governments, Experts and Communities Unite to Address Heat and Health Challenges in Belo Horizonte and Campinas
When the weather heats up in Belo Horizonte, residents of Morro do Papagaio get creative. “A lot of people put their blankets in the refrigerator,” said Amanda Lima, a 24-year-old university student, activist and resident of the south-central region of ...
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 ...
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 ...
Multilevel Collaboration Advances Zero Emission and Resilient Buildings in Colombia, Kenya and the Philippines
Multilevel Collaboration Advances Zero Emission and Resilient Buildings in Colombia, Kenya and the Philippines
Launched at COP29 under the Subnational Climate Action Leadership Exchange Partnership, the Zero Emission and Resilient Buildings (ZERB) Accelerator brings national and subnational governments together to rapidly decarbonize and climate-proof the buildings and construction sector. Implemented by C40 Cities, World Resources Institute (WRI) and ...
The Paris Agreement at 10: A Celebration and a Call to Action
The Paris Agreement at 10: A Celebration and a Call to Action
Ten years ago, we witnessed something akin to a miracle. Hundreds of leaders came together for the UN’s annual climate summit (COP21) in Paris. There, they forged what many thought impossible: a global agreement to curb climate change — one where virtually ...
The State of Climate Action in 2025: 10 Key Findings
The State of Climate Action in 2025: 10 Key Findings
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, a watershed moment on climate action when more than 190 countries agreed to pursue efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) above pre-industrial levels. Achieving ...
Europe’s Soaring Heat and the Great Air Conditioning Dilemma
Europe’s Soaring Heat and the Great Air Conditioning Dilemma
Much of Europe sweltered in August 2025 as a heat dome spread across the continent, pushing peak afternoon temperatures to over 40 degrees C (104 degrees F) in France and Spain. Meanwhile, parts of Greece, Turkey and Albania battled historic and devastating ...
Cities Are Heating Up. Better Infrastructure Can Cool Them Down.
Cities Are Heating Up. Better Infrastructure Can Cool Them Down.
In a city, a grassy park might be a place to stretch out with a book, an asphalt road your route to work, a building wall a canvas for a mural. But beyond their familiar roles, each of these surfaces ...
Beyond the Thermometer: 5 Heat Metrics That Drive Better Decision-Making
Beyond the Thermometer: 5 Heat Metrics That Drive Better Decision-Making
The way scientists and policymakers measure heat as they seek to combat rising temperatures across the world’s cities requires more nuance than just looking at the daily outdoor temperature. There are a variety of tools that can help show a ...
6 Opportunities to Accelerate the Global Energy Transition
6 Opportunities to Accelerate the Global Energy Transition
The way we make and use energy is changing. With prices falling and technology more widely available, clean energy uptake is growing rapidly. Investment in new clean power now outpaces investment in fossil fuels. This represents tremendous progress — but affordable technology ...
Europe’s Cities Should Prepare for Hotter, More Hazardous Days Ahead
Europe’s Cities Should Prepare for Hotter, More Hazardous Days Ahead
Europe is the world’s fastest warming continent, which is severely impacting cities and leading to tens of thousands of deaths, rising hospitalizations, school closures and people adjusting their lives to avoid inhospitable outdoor conditions.  The oppressive heat is being felt across the ...
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