How to Prep a City for Climate Change

Cities around the world already have begun responding to climate change, and a new report from the Earth Institute provides a deep analysis about the risks they face and a detailed look at what some cities are doing about it.

The 880-page report is the result of three years of work by 350 contributors and was produced by the Urban Climate Change Research Network, based at Columbia University’s Earth Institute. Network representatives last month presented the second UCCRN Assessment Report on Climate Change and Cities (ARC3.2) at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Development (Habitat III) in Quito, Ecuador.

The work is part of a larger effort by the network to produce a resource for guiding cities in their response to climate change. The report, updated from the first version in 2011, provides expanded coverage of cutting-edge scientific research on climate change and cities. It presents climate projections and catalogues urban disasters and risks, along with the effects on Habitat III in cities.

It also gives concrete solutions for cities looking to reduce their impact on climate change and adapt to changes already underway; urban planning and design; equity and environmental justice; economics, finance and the private sector; critical urban and social sectors such as energy, water, transportation, housing and informal settlements, and solid waste management; and governing carbon and climate in

Read State of the Planet story - “How to Prep a City for Climate Change.”