Robert Henson, The Thinking Person’s Guide to Climate Change (Boston: American Meteorological Society, 2014)
This book is an introduction to the science of climate change that is appropriate for citizens and public officials. In addition to the science, it includes a section on what individuals can do to reduce their carbon footprints.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
The IPCC website provides the organization’s various assessment reports covering physical science; impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability; and mitigation. The most recent reports are the 2014 Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) series. The most accessible of these is the AR5 Synthesis Report.
U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)
The USGCRP website contains numerous reports on the science of climate change, including the National Climate Assessment, a key report for understanding the expected impacts of climate change.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate.gov
NOAA provides timely and authoritative information about climate. They promote public understanding of climate science and climate-related events through videos, stories, images, and data visualizations; they make common data products and services easy to access and use; and they provide tools and resources that help people make informed decisions about climate risks, vulnerability, and resilience.
Peter Newman, Timothy Beatley, and Heather Boyer, Resilient Cities: Overcoming Fossil Fuel Dependence, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2017)
Resilient Cities shows that climate change will force cities to become more resilient or face the potential for collapse. It describes creating cities that are not only resilient but striving to become regenerative, and it is organized around the characteristics of a resilient city.
Stephen Wheeler, Planning for Sustainability: Creating Livable, Equitable and Ecological Communities, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2013)
Planning for Sustainability defines and makes the argument for sustainability as a key component of city planning. It is primarily a resource book for ideas on implementing sustainability in planning at several different levels of governance.
ICLEI USA–Local Governments of Sustainability
This site provides members with tools and resources for climate action, including ClearPath.
C40 Cities
C40 is a network of the world’s megacities committed to addressing climate change. C40 supports cities to collaborate effectively, share knowledge, and drive meaningful, measurable, and sustainable action on climate change.
Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance
https://carbonneutralcities.org
Member cities collaborate to share lessons in planning for and implementing deep carbon reductions, as well as opportunities to accelerate best practices in deep decarbonization.
Center for Climate and Energy Solution (C2ES)
C2ES’s mission is to advance strong policy and action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote clean energy, and strengthen resilience to climate impacts.
Global Covenant of Mayors
https://www.globalcovenantofmayors.org
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy is an international alliance of cities and local governments with a shared long-term vision of promoting and supporting voluntary action to combat climate change and move to a low-emission, resilient society.
Urban Sustainability Directors Network
The Urban Sustainability Directors Network supports peer exchange and collaboration between local government sustainability leaders to catalyze the creation and implementation of urban sustainability solutions.
United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Guiding Principles for City Climate Action Planning, Version 1.0 (Nairobi, Kenya: Author, 2015)
https://unhabitat.org/books/guiding-principles-for-climate-city-planning-action/
This guidance document reviews typical steps in the city-level climate action planning process in light of a proposed set of globally applicable principles.
ecoAmerica, Let’s Talk Communities and Climate: Communication Guidance for City and Community Leaders (Washington, DC: Path to Positive Communities, 2016)
http://icleiusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/EcoAmerica-Lets-Talk-Communities-and-Climate.pdf
This guide features research-proven practices for successful climate communication. It includes talking points, counterpoints, dos and don’ts, proven steps to create custom messages, and a model speech.
Don Knapp and Amruta Sudhalkar, Climate Extremes Communications Guidebook (ICLEI–Local Governments for Sustainability USA and World Wildlife Fund, 2014)
http://icleiusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ExtremeWeatherGuidebook-0109.pdf
This is a resource to help local governments communicate about weather and climate extremes in the context of climate change.
Center for Research on Environmental Decisions, The Psychology of Climate Change Communication: A Guide for Scientists, Journalists, Educators, Political Aides, and the Interested Public (New York: Columbia University, 2009)
http://guide.cred.columbia.edu
This guide provides information on how to communicate with the general public about climate change. It also addresses small-group participation and behavior change and is useful in communities where understanding of climate change may be low.
International Association for Public Participation (IAP2)
IAP2 is an international membership-based association that promotes and improves the practice of public participation. It provides numerous tools for developing and implementing public participation as well as training and access to the latest research on public participation.
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/climate-lab
ClimateLab provides short videos appropriate for the general public on sustainability, green living, and climate change.
Local Government Operations Protocol for the Quantification and Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories, Version 1.1 (May 2010)
The LGO Protocol was developed with the collaboration of the California Climate Action Registry, the California Air Resources Board, ICLEI–Local Governments for Sustainability, and The Climate Registry.
U.S. Community Protocol for Accounting and Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Version 1.1 (July 2013)
http://icleiusa.org/ghg-protocols/
ICLEI–Local Governments for Sustainability developed the U.S. Community Protocol.
Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories
https://ghgprotocol.org/greenhouse-gas-protocol-accounting-reporting-standard-cities
The Global Protocol was developed by the World Resources Institute, the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, and ICLEI–Local Governments for Sustainability. The Global Protocol is available in both English and Spanish.
ClearPath Basic and ClearPath Pro
http://icleiusa.org/clearpath/
ClearPath is an online software platform for GHG inventories and related climate action planning activities developed by ICLEI–Local Governments for Sustainability. ClearPath is free to ICLEI members, regional affiliates such as the Statewide Energy Efficiency Collaborative (SEEC), and their consultants. Local governments in California can use ClearPath at no cost through the SEEC program. Nonmembers can purchase ClearPath Pro annual subscriptions.
CURB—Climate Action for Sustainability
CURB is an Microsoft Excel–based interactive tool for quantifying emissions reduction measures and assessing their cost and feasibility. CURB was developed through collaboration among the World Bank Group, the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and AECOM Consulting.
California Air Pollution Control Officers Association (CAPCOA), Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions Measures: A Resource for Local Government to Assess Emission Reductions from Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Measures (Sacramento, CA: Author, August 2010)
This guide provides detailed quantification methods that can be used throughout California and adapted for use outside of the state. It contains a series of fact sheets on particular types of reduction strategies and accompanying guides on how to use the fact sheets.
Rocky Mountain Institute, The Carbon-Free City Handbook (Aspen, CO, 2017)
https://www.rmi.org/insight/the-carbon-free-city-handbook/
The handbook describes 22 actions—and associated resources—for cities globally to move toward climate neutrality and see results within a year.
Project Drawdown gathers and facilitates a broad coalition of researchers, scientists, graduate students, PhDs, postdocs, policy makers, business leaders, and activists to assemble and present the best available information on climate solutions in order to describe their beneficial financial, social, and environmental impact over the next 30 years.
ICLEI–Local Governments for Sustainability USA Localizing the Paris Agreement (2017)
http://icleiusa.org/localizing-the-paris-agreement/
This guide is intended to help local governments go beyond pledges and move toward action on implementing the Paris Agreement.
California Climate Action Portal Map (CAP-Map)
https://webmaps.arb.ca.gov/capmap/
CAP-Map is an open data tool developed by the California Air Resources Board to promote the sharing of creative ideas to tackle climate change. Users—including those outside of California—can quickly access the climate action planning details of local jurisdictions, including an inventory of climate plans created, greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory information and reduction targets, the local strategies planned to meet these targets, and more. CAP-Map consists of both an interactive web map and a GHG reduction strategy search tool.
Funding Wizard (CCI + CARB)
https://fundingwizard.arb.ca.gov/
The Funding Wizard is a searchable database of grants, rebates, and incentives to help pay for sustainable projects. Non-California communities can filter for federal grants that are available nationwide.
U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit
The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit is a website that provides tools, information, and subject matter expertise to build climate resilience.
U.S. Climate Explorer
https://toolkit.climate.gov/tool/climate-explorer
The Climate Explorer offers downloadable maps, graphs, and data tables of observed and projected temperature, precipitation, and climate-related variables dating back to 1950 and projected out to 2100. Built to accompany the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit, the Climate Explorer helps community leaders, business owners, municipal planners, and utility and resource managers understand how environmental conditions may change over the next several decades.
Adaptation Clearinghouse
https://www.adaptationclearinghouse.org/
Content in the Adaptation Clearinghouse is focused on the resources that help policy makers at all levels of government reduce or avoid the impacts of climate change for communities in the United States. The Clearinghouse was developed by the Georgetown Climate Center through the support of the MacArthur Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Federal Highway Administration, and other funders. The Georgetown Climate Center works with several organizations, including the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, the U.S. Society of Adaptation Professionals, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to ensure that the content of the Adaptation Clearinghouse is relevant and that the site is user-friendly for practitioners working in the field of adaptation.
California Adaptation Planning Guide
http://resources.ca.gov/climate/safeguarding/local-action/
The Adaptation Planning Guide (APG) provides guidance to support regional and local communities in proactively addressing the unavoidable consequences of climate change. It was developed cooperatively by the California Natural Resources Agency and the California Emergency Management Agency, with support from California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo, and with funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the California Energy Commission. The APG provides a step-by-step process for local and regional climate vulnerability assessment and adaptation strategy development. Usage of the APG is meant to allow for flexibility in the commitment of time, money, and effort to suit the needs of the community.
Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange (CAKE)
CAKE, managed by EcoAdapt, provides case studies, a virtual library, tools, and community forums.
ICLEI Canada—Local Governments for Sustainability “Adaptation Methodology”
http://www.icleicanada.org/resources/item/79-adaptation-methodology
ICLEI provides a straightforward approach to adaptation planning using a five-milestone framework.
California Adaptation Clearinghouse
The California Adaptation Clearinghouse allows users to navigate a searchable database of adaptation and resilience resources that have been organized by climate impact, topic, and region. The types of resources in the Clearinghouse include, but are not limited to, assessments; plans or strategies; communication or educational materials; planning and/or policy guidance; data, tools, and research; and case studies, projects, or examples. These can be helpful resources to users inside and outside of California.
Eugene Bardach, A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2015)
The book provides a basic, straightforward approach to evaluating proposed public policies. It can be used to inform the development and application of evaluation criteria to emissions reduction and climate adaptation policies.