With more than half the world’s population now living in urban areas and with much of the world still urbanizing, there are concerns that urbanization is a key driver of unsustainable resource demands. Urbanization also appears to contribute to ever-growing levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Although informal settlements are proliferating in cities across low- and middle-income nations, there is 40 years of experience to draw on in upgrading these

It seems obvious that with more people on earth there will be greater pressure on planetary resources and larger emissions of greenhouse gases. But it is also well known that very poor households contribute little to greenhouse gas emissions.

This paper considers the implications of population growth and urbanization for climate change. It emphasizes that it is not the growth in (urban or rural) populations that drives the growth in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but rather, the growth in consumers and in their levels of consumption.

The Clinton Climate Initiative says that cities produce 80 percent of the world

This paper suggests that the contribution of cities to global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions is often overstated. Many sources suggest that cities are responsible for 75

This paper outlines a framework for adaptation to climate change for urban areas in low- and middle-income nations that is pro-poor and that enhances the capacity of low-income households and community organizations to contribute to such adaptation.

Local organisations have a major role in addressing these realities, helping poor groups access entitlements and engage with government. They may be local NGOs, grassroots organisations of the poor, or even local governments or branches of higher levels of government. But they function on a local level, have intimate knowledge of the local context and should be accountable to local people.

This paper discusses the possibilities and constraints for adaptation to climate change in urban areas in low and middle-income nations. These contain a third of the world's population and a large proportion of the people and economic activities most at risk from sea-level rise and from the heatwaves, storms and floods whose frequency and/or intensity climate change is likely to increase.

To clear the persistent ambiguity governing the concept of sustainable development of urban centres, attention must be paid to present and future human needs

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