How to Tackle Climate Change and Inequality Jointly in Cities

Cities are made up of dynamic and complex social, political, economic and natural systems. Pursuing inclusive climate action in cities is critical, but not always easy or straightforward. WRI Ross Center, in collaboration with C40, has developed a set of comprehensive resources to support cities in their efforts to advance climate action through an inclusive engagement and planning process that results in more equitable outcomes for all. This Roadmap for Inclusive Planning Toolkit demonstrates the critical importance of inclusive climate action in cities.

The Executive Guidance provides an introduction to a set of tools for urban decision makers to create inclusive and equitable climate action plans. This includes a climate action database, with detailed descriptions of 17 climate actions as well as equity considerations and policy design recommendations associated with implementing each action; a comprehensive indicators database to help cities monitor and measure the impact of their selected climate actions; and guidance manuals on how to anchor inclusive climate action in a city’s local context and political economy. Together, these resources provide a roadmap for inclusive climate action planning for cities.

The core steps of inclusive climate action planning include assessing the needs of different communities across a city, analysing the benefits and barriers to action for certain climate policies, and measuring and tracking progress for climate actions implemented. The Inclusive Planning Playbook provides resources to help cities meet every step of this process. These resources include a Needs Assessment Module, Action Analysis Module, Action Analysis Database, Policy Recommendations Summaries, Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators Module, and an Indicators Database. Recognizing that cities are at varying stages of creating climate action plans, we provide multiple guidance manuals, workshop modules, and activities to help contextualize the resources for specific urban geographies. The Needs Assessment helps cities to identify the frontline communities most affected by inclusive climate action planning. The Climate Action Analysis provides guidance on how they can apply an equity lens and offers Policy Design Recommendations and city-level examples. The Indicators Database helps cities track and monitor their ICA journey.