Posts tagged with 'vulnerable communities'
What Happens When Extreme Heat and Air Pollution Collide
What Happens When Extreme Heat and Air Pollution Collide
On July 22, the world experienced its hottest day in recorded history. The global average temperature reached 17.2 degrees C (62.9 degrees F), prompting UN Secretary-General António Guterres to issue a global call to action on extreme heat. The problem of extreme ...
Greening the Jukskei River: Scaling Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Resilience in Johannesburg, South Africa
Greening the Jukskei River: Scaling Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Resilience in Johannesburg, South Africa
Alexandra Township is a 20-square-block enclave in the heart of Johannesburg, South Africa’s northern suburbs. Established in 1902, the township was built to house 750,000 residents. Today, it is home to more than 1.2 million. Despite efforts to increase waste ...
A Community Program Is Transforming New York Schoolyards Into Climate-Resilient Spaces
A Community Program Is Transforming New York Schoolyards Into Climate-Resilient Spaces
In Brooklyn, one of New York City’s five boroughs, a new schoolyard features newly-planted native trees offering shade and bright playground equipment that sits adjacent to a track and turf field. Colorful murals celebrating the diversity of its Boreum Hill ...
Empowering Residents Helped Buenos Aires Transform Rodrigo Bueno Into a Climate-Resilient Community
Empowering Residents Helped Buenos Aires Transform Rodrigo Bueno Into a Climate-Resilient Community
On the eastern edge of Buenos Aires, residents of the Rodrigo Bueno neighborhood take a break from pick-up soccer games and stretch out on grassy knolls. Further down the road, a kitchen buzzes with locals testing new recipes to feature ...
Does Political Decentralization Improve Urban Governance? Balancing Efficacy and Representation in Rajasthan’s Small Towns
Does Political Decentralization Improve Urban Governance? Balancing Efficacy and Representation in Rajasthan’s Small Towns
“Hum faltu hai [in English, “We are useless”] …I don’t even know what the budget of the council is. Nobody tells me about the procurement process [or] the number of tenders that have gone public…I don’t have enough knowledge about ...
For Students With Disabilities, Electric School Buses Could Transform the School Commute
For Students With Disabilities, Electric School Buses Could Transform the School Commute
School buses, intended to provide safe and secure rides for all children, are largely failing kids with disabilities, prompting urgent calls for improvements. “I experienced accessibility problems at least three times a week,” one youth reflected in a student discussion. ...
6 Takeaways From Indore’s New Air Quality Monitoring Stations
6 Takeaways From Indore’s New Air Quality Monitoring Stations
Research around the world shows that pollution levels can vary enormously within the same city and even within the same neighborhood. Local monitoring data can thus prove essential to understanding air pollution sources, how they affect different communities and groups, ...
The Importance of Differential Vulnerability in Resilience Planning
The Importance of Differential Vulnerability in Resilience Planning
India is the seventh most climate-vulnerable country in the world, with nine of its states among the top 50 most vulnerable regions globally. The country’s cities are at the forefront of the climate crisis with more than 80% of the urban population living in ...
Grassroots Action Against Polluted Skies: How Jakarta's Urban Villages Tackle Air Pollution 
Grassroots Action Against Polluted Skies: How Jakarta’s Urban Villages Tackle Air Pollution 
On a Sunday afternoon in September 2023, a group of about 30 individuals, including a group of mostly female neighbors from nine kampungs (a common term for “urban villages” or “informal settlements” across multiple languages and nations in Southeast Asia) ...
Next-Generation Climate Targets: A 5-Point Plan for NDCs
Next-Generation Climate Targets: A 5-Point Plan for NDCs
By early 2025, countries are due to unveil new national climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs). These commitments form the foundation of international climate action, establishing emissions-reduction targets and other measures that countries promise ...
Zero-Emission Zones Are Helping Some Cities Fight Pollution
Zero-Emission Zones Are Helping Some Cities Fight Pollution
With growing urban populations and increases in cars, trucks and buses, cities are poised to experience more harmful pollution threatening people’s health and livelihoods. But some cities around the world are turning to an emerging solution called zero-emission zones (ZEZs). These are designated ...
How Improved Housing in Under-Served Communities Can Strengthen Climate Resilience
How Improved Housing in Under-Served Communities Can Strengthen Climate Resilience
In the crowded slums of Zambia, Africa, members of the Zambia Youth Federation, a social movement of the urban poor, conducted climate change research and presented it in an emotional spoken word poem. Their message let policymakers know how climate ...
Ramping Up Use of Electric Vehicles Across Africa
Ramping Up Use of Electric Vehicles Across Africa
At COP28, global climate leaders congregated in Dubai for the annual opportunity to review countries’ progress on emissions reductions and to increase climate ambition. One of the conference’s focal points was how to rapidly and equitably transition away from fossil ...
Despite Volatility, Micromobility Thrives in European Cities
Despite Volatility, Micromobility Thrives in European Cities
Since the mid-2010s, cities around the globe have witnessed the explosion of free-floating electric bikes, mopeds and scooters on their streets. NUMO, the New Urban Mobility alliance, began tracking this phenomenon in 2019 with the New Mobility Atlas. Between 2019 and ...
Optimizing Electric School Buses for Cold Weather Climates 
Optimizing Electric School Buses for Cold Weather Climates 
As electric school buses hit the road across the United States, it’s important for school districts and school transportation providers to prepare for how these clean-running buses will perform in different climates. The good news? Electric school buses are tested ...
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