Overview: The American Sustainable Business Council represents more than 165,000 businesses nationwide and advocates for sustainability in the economic sector.
How to Use This Resource: Businesses suffer significant losses because of climate change, which inflates healthcare, energy and transportation costs. The organization has initiatives in Massachusetts and South Carolina to unite business owners around adaptation to rising seas.
#COP21 Images
Overview: The photo-sharing social media site Instagram uses hashtags to create on-the-fly collections of images, such as with #COP21 for the Paris climate talks.
How to Use This Resource: Scan the page to review and share from a collection of tens of thousands of images from the Paris summit. Use the search function to check for other Paris or climate-related hashtags.
Adapting to Change
Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal agency that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.
How to Use This Resource: This database includes a complete guide to agencies within United States’ federal government dedicated to climate adaptation, as well as providing a toolkit for policymakers. The site menu also provides access to information about climate impacts.
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
Overview: The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group is a network of international cities that share information and collaborate on climate change action. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a key funder.
How to Use This Resource: The site’s database allows journalists to search among participating cities for adaptation and other initiatives. Its research menu provides access to extensive reports, case studies and data, including on adaptation and on low carbon emissions in cities.
California Climate Change Assessments
Overview: The California Natural Resources Agency is the state governmental body designated to address climate change adaptation and resiliency.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a portfolio of projects for California’s climate change assessment plans. The state recently released a Climate Change Research Plan that spells out near-term research needed to keep the state on track with its climate goals.
Cambridge Climate Change Planning
Overview: The Community Development Department is the planning agency for the City of Cambridge in Massachusetts. Its climate adaptation mission is to assess the extent of Cambridge’s vulnerability and draft comprehensive policy to strengthen the city’s resiliency.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find the complete Cambridge plan to adapt to and prepare for climate change.
Climate Adaptation Publication Database
Overview: The San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association advocates for adaptation policy in the San Francisco Bay Area.
How to Use This Resource: Review an archive of research and policy recommendations to reduce carbon emissions and prepare the city for extreme weather and sea level rise.
Climate Change and Transportation Research and Activities
Overview: The Transportation Research Board is run through the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. It conducts research at the nexus of climate change and transportation.
How to Use This Resource: This website serves as a gateway to Transportation Research Board activites and products that address transportation infrastructure and the effort to reduce transportation-related emissions of carbon dioxide.
COP21 Paris Agreement
Overview: The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, and has near universal membership. The ultimate objective of both treaties is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.
How to Use This Resource: This document (in PDF form) is the final draft of the Paris Summit agreement, officially adopted on December 21, 2015, of the 21st Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC.
Data Distribution Centre
Overview: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific body within the United Nations that reviews scientific, technical and socio-economic information on climate change.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find the socio-economic and carbon emission data that supports IPCC publications and reports.
Data.gov
Overview: Data.gov is an online database that is managed by the U.S. General Services Administration.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find government-sponsored data on the projected impacts of climate change on the nation’s infrastructure, public health and natural resources.
Federal Action on Climate Change
Overview: Performance.gov provides the public with a view of the inner workings of the Federal Government.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a complete archive of the federal agencies concerned with climate change and the most up-to-date reports on their plans and progress.
Green Infrastructure for Climate Resiliency
Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal organization that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.
How to Use this Resource: This toolkit provides practical resources for improving and fortifying water supply and energy infrastructure.
Inside the Paris Climate Talks
Overview: Twitter collects tweets about major developing news events, such as the Paris climate summit, in a feature called Twitter Moments.
How to Use This Resource: Reporters can view, share and embed in their own sites these top “moments” from COP21, as selected by Twitter. Moments are also useful to identify key Twitter accounts to follow from the event.
Low Carbon Transformation Research
Overview: Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership is a University of Cambridge institution that publishes scholarly articles on issues of global concern with a strong focus on climate change.
How to Use This Resource: This archive of reports and scholarly articles focuses on the need to adapt to cleaner energy sources and details initiatives taking place in the financial sector.
Mitigation and Adaptation Policies
Overview: The Global Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet is a NASA-sponsored project that archives timely news and data on Earth’s changing climate.
How to Use This Resource: This database makes NASA-sponsered data available to the general public with a special focus on adaption and mitigation.
National Disaster Resilience Competition
Overview: The Department of Housing and Urban Development is the cabinet-level agency responsible for the development of quality and affordable housing in the United States.
How to Use This Resource: Forty states and communities are competing in the final phase of the challenge to develop disaster resilience strategies and projects. This site provides a comprehensive guide to what action those governments are taking.
Paris Climate Change Conference Information Hub
Overview: The Paris 2015 Climate Change Conference was the 21st meeting of parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, whose aim is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.
How to Use This Resource: The extensive conference information hub is a go-to site for reporters covering the Nov. 30-Dec. 11, 2015 summit, providing agendas, reports, schedules, research pertaining, and more. There’s also a web site on Understanding the UNFCC that includes a detailed discussion of adaptation initiatives.
Portland and Multnomah County Climate Action Plan
Overview: The Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability develops practical policies to enhance Portland’s climate resiliency and decrease its carbon footprint.
How to Use This Resource: This report outlines the actions that Portland will take in the next five years to reduce carbon emissions and build up infrastructure to withstand extreme weather such as floods, heatwaves, and landslides.
President Obama’s Plan to Fight Climate Change
Overview: WhiteHouse.gov serves as an archive of news and information pertaining to the President of the United States. It regularly publishes policies, speeches, reports and briefs.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a structured explanation of federal government policies to reduce carbon pollution and encourage investment in clean energy. It also provides links to policy assessment reports, supporting research, and comprehensive fact sheets.
Risk and Adaptation News Database
Overview: Carbon Brief is a United Kingdom-based website that covers developments in climate science and policy.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find data-driven articles enhanced with graphics on a wide range of topics, such as science, energy, policy, and breaking climate news.
Special Initiatives
Overview: Eye on Earth is a coalition of global leaders, innovators and decision-makers working to unite policymakers, converge consensus, and foster further global collaboration toward climate adaptation.
How to Use This Resource: This database provides policymakers with an information-sharing platform to share their knowledge of fighting climate change. Sorted by topic, the site features extensive research on disaster response, water security, and emission reduction, among others.
Special Report: Paris Climate Talks
Overview: Environment & Energy Publishing (E&E) provides coverage of environmental and energy policy and markets through five daily online publications that focus on Washington policy and politics, as well as national and global news.
How to Use This Resource: E&E’s coverage of the Paris climate talks provides multiple reports daily, as well as a Paris Notebook, and video briefings. Coverage of climate change can also be found in a special series, “Greater Expectations.”
State of the Planet – Climate
Overview: The Columbia University Earth Institute unites scientific research, education and practical solutions to promote sustainability worldwide. It is comprised of more than 30 research centers and about 850 scientists, postdoctoral fellows, staff and students.
How to Use This Resource: In addition to its main section on climate, which includes latest blog posts from the center’s experts and menus to search by topic, researcher, research center and archives, this website also has an area dedicated to policy and science relevant to the Paris 2015 UN climate summit.
Sustainability DC: Sustainable DC Plan
Overview: Sustainable DC is the District of Columbia’s major planning effort to make the city a sustainable one. It is led by the Department of Energy and Environment and the Office of Planning with input and participation of thousands of D.C. community members.
How to Use This Resource: The Sustainability DC Plan details how the capital intends to improve its infrastructure and adapt to the changing climate.
The Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Program
Overview: Adaptation Scotland is a collaboration of businesses and policymakers funded by, and working for, the Scottish government.
How to Use This Resource: Adaption Scotland details how climate change has and will affect Scotland as well as the Scottish government’s plans to adapt its infrastructure and prepare its populace.
The Summit – Coverage of the 2015 Paris Climate Talks
Overview: The Christian Science Monitor is an international news organization based in Boston that regularly covers climate change in the United States and abroad.
How to Use This Resource: This site collects all coverage of the 2015 Paris Conference from the news site.
U.N. Climate Change Newsroom
Overview: The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, and has near universal membership. The ultimate objective of both treaties is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.
How to Use This Resource: At the Paris 2015 Climate Change Conference, convention members are attempting to reach a global agreement on climate action. This website posted regular updates from the Paris conference, including the latest information on negotiations, documents, and live feeds, as well as resources for those journalists covering the conference. You can also find a list of on-demand webcasts and a hashtag tracker.
U.S. Congress Bills on Climate Change Adaptation Database
Overview: The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to advance climate change and energy policy in the United States.
How to Use This Resource: This database provides a list of every climate change bill in the 113th Congress. It identifies the bill’s sponsor, summarizes its contents, and reports on its status. Bills are organized by topic, which include climate change adaptation, energy, transportation, renewable fuels, and carbon.
U.S. Energy Sector Vulnerabilities to Climate Change
Overview: The U.S. Department of Energy is a cabinet-level agency that develops policies on energy finance, infrastructure, and safety.
How to Use This Resource: This report examines current and potential future impacts of climate trends on the U.S. energy sector.
Ocean Acidification: From Knowledge to Action Summary Report
Overview: Washington State Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification is a research group convened by Washington States’s Office of the Governor.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a comprehensive overview of what causes ocean acidification, the negative impact it has on local economies, and what policies and practices might curtail it.
The Rotterdam Approach
Overview: The Rotterdam Climate Initiative offers a platform for companies, academies, citizens, and government bodies to work together on fortified water supply infrastructure.
How to Use This Resource: This website archives the numerous reports from the city of Rotterdam on how it plans to cut its CO2 emissions and promote sustainable business in the Netherlands.