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The global battle against climate change will take place in the world’s buildings. Buildings produce nearly 40% of global energy-related emissions. And while the latest research shows the world needs to reach net-zero-carbon emissions by 2050, the concept of a “zero-carbon building” ‒ one ...
In April 2019, Porto Alegre worked with WRI Brasil to implement the first segment of a tactical urbanism project that transformed a key intersection of busy João Alfredo Street, which runs through the heart of the Cidade Baixa neighborhood. The ...
“Acknowledgement, voice and the right to negotiate” – that’s what’s needed to bring the world’s urban poor back into the system and begin creating cities that work for everyone, said Sheela Patel, chair of Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI), at the 10th ...
International consensus on cross-border environmental issues has been difficult to achieve, but the 40-year-old Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (or LRTAP as it is known to development professionals) has enjoyed great, if largely unsung, success in the fight against air ...
More than 200 U.S. cities, townships and counties have adopted 100% clean energy targets. While some have already achieved them, many more are still trying to figure out how they will work with many stakeholders, most notably their electric utilities, to ...
Mérida, a city in Mexico’s lush Yucatán Peninsula, is home to 2.3 million trees, which cover more than 20% of the metropolitan area. Mérida’s officials know that these trees provide benefits to the residents, but until recently they didn’t know how ...
As thousands of urban leaders gather in Abu Dhabi for the World Urban Forum, the impacts of the climate crisis on cities have become more visible than ever. Severe floods tore through Jakarta last month. Heatwaves scorched cities from India to Europe last year. ...
Walking, as simple as it is, is key to many current urban issues. As car ownership grows, people are walking less and becoming less physically active generally, especially adolescents, more than 80% of whom are insufficiently active. The impacts are ...
The Trillion Trees Initiative has garnered support from business and political leaders around the world. U.S. President Trump highlighted the initiative as the cornerstone of his plan to protect the environment, a rare shift for an administration that has moved to withdraw ...
California is home to 7 of the 10 most polluted metropolitan areas in the United States, with transportation being the state’s leading source of greenhouse gases. While pollution from the transport sector is bad for everyone, it disproportionately impacts people ...
Climate actions have often fallen into one of two strategies: mitigation efforts to lower or remove greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere, and adaptation efforts to adjust systems and societies to withstand the impacts of climate change. The separation has led to ...
In the 21st century, a seemingly global prosperity masks an unequal distribution of benefits. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the world’s cities, where extreme wealth can exist next door to concentrated poverty. In some cities, like those in South Africa, ...
Global annual greenhouse gas emissions have grown 41% since 1990, and they are still climbing. While emissions dipped notably in 2016, recent data suggests that carbon dioxide emissions rose each year since then. Where are these emissions coming from, and who is ...
Transport is the world’s fastest growing source of energy-related carbon emissions. It accounted for 23% of energy-related GHG emissions in 2010, and, within that, urban transport was the largest single source. Depending on where you live, transport also contributes anywhere ...
Teenage activist Greta Thunberg has attracted global renown with her message to the world’s leaders that they must act now to address climate change. Time Magazine recently recognized her as the 2019 Person of the Year. But Thunberg’s recognition is ...
