Reducing carbon emissions in buildings will be critical to achieving the Paris climate goals and achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Buildings represent 39% of global greenhouse gas emissions, including 28% in operational emissions and 11% in building materials and construction. Global building floorspace ...
U.S. cities and corporations recognize that renewable energy is the future. More than 200 U.S. local governments have committed to power their communities with 100% renewable energy, and more than 300 leading U.S. corporations have become members of the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance, ...
Water for human consumption is increasingly inaccessible, due to poor management, degradation of water sources, the effects of climate change and more. Marginalized groups — such as minorities, rural communities and women — are disproportionately affected by water security issues, and women often play a key ...
When the world shut down last March, the urban housing conversation took on a radically different hue. Suddenly, housing was a public health concern – which, of course, it always had been. Where you live, and under what conditions, appeared ...
Headlines related to recent extreme weather appear to come out of a science fiction book: Even the richest countries in the world can’t control widespread fires — they’re even burning in the Arctic. Deadly flooding in Germany and Belgium in July 2021 completely washed away buildings ...
When shopping for a car, you’ll find numerous websites and guides that provide detailed information on their costs and performance, plus ratings and reviews. However, there is much less data about emerging transportation technologies and services that are poised to ...
Two years ago, I participated in the learning roundtable for the first cycle of the WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities. I confess that my expectations were rather moderate, but that, to my surprise, I found it truly refreshing and ...
A decade ago, the South African city of Durban was facing severe water shortages. Dam reservoirs were decreasing at alarming rates, and were 20% lower than average levels. At least one in four residents were already living in water-stressed informal settlements. ...
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing epidemic of air pollution continues around the world. The problem is particularly neglected in Brazil, where air pollution kills about 51,000 people every year, yet the country lacks strong policy for reducing pollutant emissions ...
As countries are raising their ambitions in advance of COP26 in Glasgow, more and more attention is turning to the role cities can play in addressing climate change. For urban residents, this is not an academic discussion. As the planet ...
