It builds just, livable, happy, and inclusive urban communities, addressing the root causes of poverty and inequality while safeguarding natural support systems essential for human life.
This blog examines the interdependence between equity and resilience, exploring how climate-related risks are experienced across different regions and how ICLEI’s work around the world integrates both in responding to these risks.
When climate risk assessments leave gender out, the inequality that follows goes unmeasured, and unmeasured inequality never becomes a reason to change course.
Where people live often determines the opportunities and risks they face – albeit often resulting from economic pressures, planning decisions, environmental conditions, and historical policies.
In Izmir, four departments stopped working in silos and built one shared curriculum, with results none of them expected.
Across Africa, rapid urbanization, affordability gaps, and climate risks are pushing low-income households into informal settlements. Explore how housing inequities deepen poverty and vulnerability, and why housing must be treated as a structural equity issue.
Participation is critical for urban planning but often uneven. To foster inclusive engagement, cities within the Malmö Commitment are experimenting with accessible formats, community partnerships, and linking participation to daily life.
The impacts of climate hazards are not gender-neutral; women are often among those most affected. As cities make critical decisions on climate policy and resilience investments, Recife, Brazil, is showing how empowering women leaders in vulnerable communities can strengthen climate resilience for all.
Identifying equity challenges creates better opportunities to build communities where benefits and burdens are fairly shared. Indicators that reflect geographic, social, and economic realities highlight where injustices exist so local governments can focus their efforts effectively.
Through several projects, ICLEI supports cities in applying the Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) approach to climate action by providing capacity-building, technical guidance, and multi-stakeholder engagement to help address inequalities and ensure climate planning and policies are inclusive by design.
As more people settle in urban areas, mobility and urban governance become increasingly interconnected. Cities in the Malmö Commitment are integrating mobility into long-term planning for social inclusion, economic vitality and demographic sustainability.
From rural mobility services to neighborhood climate hubs, these cities — on the island of Taiwan and in Germany — show how climate action designed with local organizations can improve daily life, deliver social benefits, and advance climate goals.
While climate resilience assessment tools help cities understand their risks, adaptation projects often need a final push to become a viable investment opportunity.