Climate change and rapid urbanization are central challenges to sustainable development in cities of low and middle-income countries. Nature-based Solutions can address these challenges and offer environmental and social benefits over traditional engineered solutions, and in practice co-exist and positively complement engineered solutions. However, the uptake of NbS in urban planning remains limited and implementation faces several barriers. The need […]

Floods, flash floods and droughts are central climate impacts in urban areas in Zambia according to the scientific literature. This is underscored by recent examples of flash floods in Lusaka during the 2024/25 rainy season and increasing stress on Lusaka’s water supply. These impacts are likely to further aggravate as climate change intensifies. Urban Nature-based Solutions (NbS) like bio-retention basins, […]

This publication serves as a comprehensive guide to financing and developing business models for Nature-based Solutions (NbS) addressing climate challenges in urban areas. The publication is designed as a knowledge resource for NbS project developers in the public and private sectors and other stakeholders involved in NbS planning and implementation. Its primary intention is to support the adoption of NBS […]

Climate change and rapid urbanization challenge sustainable development and human well-being in the growing cities of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Asia, Africa, and Latin America, in particular, are at the forefront of the world’s urbanization today, with several low- and middle-income cities in these regions poised to become the most populous in the following decades. However, the rapid pace […]

The report highlights the critical role of electrification, renewable energy, and green hydrogen in decarbonizing key sectors such as industry, transport, and urban development. It underscores Gujarat’s leadership in integrating advanced technologies into its energy ecosystem while addressing challenges like variable renewable energy integration, demand-side management, and infrastructure scaling. By focusing on pragmatic and actionable strategies, the report demonstrates how […]

Belize’s updated NDC (2021) sets ambitious targets for both adaptation and mitigation aimed at achieving 5,647 KtCO2e of emission reductions between 2021 and 2030 compared to a business-as-usual scenario, while building resilience, adapting and minimizing loss and damage due to the impacts of climate change. To achieve this, a wide range of mitigation and adaptation measures have been identified. The […]

The challenges of climate change and rapid urbanization present central obstacles to sustainable development in cities of low- and middle-income countries. Urban Nature-based Solutions (NbS) receive growing attention as potential remedies for these challenges because they offer environmental and social co-benefits in comparison to conventional grey or engineered solutions. In practice, NbS co-exist and positively complement conventional grey or engineered […]

In the pursuit of sustainable development and climate resilience, off-grid solar electric cooking (e-cooking) technologies is a dual solution encompassing both climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Globally, cooking with biomass amounts for as much as 2% of CO2 emissions. Given the rapid advances and price reductions in solar e-cooking technologies, there is an opportunity to scale these solutions to […]

In this third edition of “Regulatory Barriers for ESCOs”, 25 ESCO associations have provided comprehensive answers to 15 questions that illuminate different aspects of regulatory barriers for ESCOs. The formulation of the questions was informed and inspired by interviews that were conducted in 2021 for the first edition of this publication, where focused interviews with 10 ESCO associations served as […]

This report was developed in support of the 2024 Emissions Gap Report (EGR) of UNEP. It provides the analysis and findings that are used as background for the development of Chapter 6 of the EGR 2024: “Bridging the gap: Sectoral transformations, benchmarks, potentials, and needed investments”. The report addresses two critical questions: can the emissions gap identified for 2030 and […]