Climate-Informed Decisions

Global trajectories for reducing carbon
emissions depend on the local adoption of alternatives to
conventional energy sources, technologies, and urban
development. Yet, decisions on which type of capital
investments to make, made by local governments as part of
the normal budget cycle, typically do not incorporate
climate considerations. Furthermore, current academic and
professional literature specific to climate change draws
attention to decision-making tools that would require access
to technical expertise, data, and financial support that may
not be practical for cities in low- and middle-income
countries. Arguably, the methodologies most able to effect
this transformation will be those that are convenient and
affordable to administer, and that offer straight-forward
low carbon alternatives to traditional forms of
infrastructure investment. Current methodologies for capital
investment planning that do not take climate change into
consideration can result in prioritization of investments
that diverge from a low carbon path and a potential missed
opportunity to reap financial benefits from efficiency
gains. This paper concludes that relatively minor
alterations to common procedures can reveal the trade-offs
and local benefits of low carbon alternatives in the capital
investment planning process. This paper was written as an
input to the preparation of the Climate-Informed Capital
Investment Planning Guidebook, a how-to guide for local
government staff, which will be published in 2015.