Climate change is reshaping daily life in American cities. Rising heat, more frequent disasters, and shifting economic opportunities are changing how people live, work, and build community.

But not everyone endures the risks posed by climate change equally. Low-income neighborhoods and communities of color often bear higher costs from climate impacts and receive fewer benefits when cities invest in climate resilience. Transformative climate action is an approach that addresses the root causes of these climate inequities to create safer, more prosperous, and sustainable communities.

The community and economic development sector already focuses on systemic change in many climate-vulnerable neighborhoods by deploying capital, building wealth and collective ownership, and giving greater power to local voices in decisionmaking processes. This work makes community and economic development an essential and often overlooked component of transformative climate action.

The Climate Capacity Initiative at Urban helps mobilize the community and economic development sector for climate action through place-based partnerships, action-oriented research, technical assistance, and network building.

Transformative climate action asks why some communities are so disproportionately vulnerable and works to change the conditions that produce those disparities: who makes decisions, who benefits from these decisions, and how resources flow.

How We Work

• Partnerships with community and economic development organizations and leaders in climate-vulnerable neighborhoods and citiesare at the core of our work. We help these leaders incorporate climate into their existing portfolios rather than building additional processes.
• We believe that transformation is a continuum, from incremental steps that protect vulnerable communities to transformative action that changes underlying systems. We support activities across this spectrum that help community and economic development organizations advance their climate work.
• We equip community-based organizations with data, insights, and strategies and facilitate convenings that bridge climate and community and economic development perspectives to strengthen collaboration and program-delivery capacity.
• We understand that scale is an essential feature of transformative climate action. We look to support efforts that are designed to scale, and we incorporate impact evaluation, peer learning, and technical assistance into our work so successful approaches can be adapted across places.

To learn more about the Climate Capacity Initiative, email us at [email protected].