Posts tagged with 'emissions'
Building for People: Towards an Equitable Transition in the Built Environment
Building for People: Towards an Equitable Transition in the Built Environment
The built environment is not on track globally to achieve its sectoral climate targets. Accounting for over a third of total energy system emissions already, the continued use of carbon-intensive materials paired with inefficient energy use throughout the built environment ...
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 ...
Lessons from China’s Growing Adoption of Zero-Emission Trucks
Lessons from China’s Growing Adoption of Zero-Emission Trucks
Getting more zero-emission trucks on the road is an important transportation shift that is needed to reduce air pollution, protect public health and curb climate-harming emissions. But transforming the entire trucking industry is a challenging feat that will require the ...
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, ...
Oslo’s ‘Climate Budget’ Is Building a Cleaner City
Oslo’s ‘Climate Budget’ Is Building a Cleaner City
In the stylish Grünerløkka neighborhood in Oslo, construction workers are busy rehabilitating Sophies Minde, an old medical clinic, into a new nursery school and maternal health center. Tidy piles of building materials along the perimeter of the construction site wait ...
Equity in Action: Shaping Local Climate Solutions for All
Equity in Action: Shaping Local Climate Solutions for All
Every three years, ICLEI hosts the ICLEI World Congress to showcase how subnational actors advance sustainable urban development worldwide. The most recent installment, ICLEI World Congress 2024, held June 18-21 in São Paulo, Brazil, converged over 1,500 global attendees to ...
Advancing Just Transitions in the Built Environment
Advancing Just Transitions in the Built Environment
Climate change and social inequality are two of the most pressing challenges of our time. But, in the race to net zero, a narrow focus on decarbonization risks exacerbating inequality and results in a rising tide of “greenlash” (backlash against ...
Better Buildings Are Taking on the Climate Challenge 
Better Buildings Are Taking on the Climate Challenge 
In March 2024, the inaugural Buildings and Climate Global Forum convened more than 1,000 participants to spur action towards built environment decarbonization and resilience. The first-of-its-kind forum was welcome, as the sector needs a shakeup.   The big issue on the table was ...
Local Climate Action at the Forefront: How the UNEA-6 Cities & Regions Summit Elevated Subnational Governments
Local Climate Action at the Forefront: How the UNEA-6 Cities & Regions Summit Elevated Subnational Governments
“What you do in your cities resonates across the world. When you make your cities green and sustainable, you are not just local heroes, you are global heroes.” Those were the inspiring words that Inger Anderson, Director of the UN ...
The Impacts of El Niño Go Far Beyond Water
The Impacts of El Niño Go Far Beyond Water
Over the past several months, the climate pattern El Niño has disrupted different regions and sectors across the world. Zimbabwe recently declared a state of disaster, due largely to El Niño-induced drought. The city government in Bogotá, Colombia, announced water rationing as reservoir levels ...
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 ...
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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