Environment, Energy, and Climate Change
Climate change disproportionately affects people living in poverty and threatens to reverse decades of progress in global poverty alleviation. However, there is a critical lack of research on the real-world impacts of climate solutions. Leaders around the world need more evidence on the effectiveness of technological and policy innovations to implement solutions that address climate change and poverty.
In addition to supporting policymakers in applying evidence from randomized evaluations to their work, sector chairs and staff write policy insights that synthesize general lessons emerging from the research, condense results from evaluations in policy publications and evaluation summaries.
In 2020, in partnership with King Philanthropies, J-PAL launched the King Climate Action Initiative (K-CAI), our flagship program to vastly expand work on climate change across J-PAL worldwide. Through K-CAI, J-PAL innovates, tests, and scales high-impact solutions at the nexus of climate change and poverty alleviation with governments, NGOs, donors, and companies worldwide.
J-PAL has expanded K-CAI’s work through the Air and Water Labs with Community Jameel. Embedded in partner government agencies, the labs address water scarcity and worsening air and water quality in Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and South Asia.
In the news
Can the global air pollution crisis lead to effective climate action?
Is it safe to take a jog outside today? Should schools stay open? How do I protect myself and my family from extreme levels of air pollution affecting our health?
J-PAL updates
J-PAL and Community Jameel launch Air and Water Labs in Egypt, India, and South Africa
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) will launch the Air and Water Labs, with support from Community Jameel, to generate evidence-based solutions aimed at increasing access to clean air and water. Led by J-PAL’s Africa, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and South Asia regional offices, the labs will partner with government agencies to bring together researchers and policymakers in areas where impactful clean air and water solutions are most urgently needed.
Blog
Of satellites and surveys: How innovative data collection can speed up climate action
This Earth Day blog post discusses how we speed up the path from research to policy action at J-PAL through the King Climate Action Initiative (K-CAI), which prioritizes funding research and scaling that uses administrative and remote sensing data to generate results in a timely manner.
In the news
To Ease the Climate Crisis, First Figure Out What Works
The New York Times summarized Nobel Laureate and J-PAL co-founder Esther Duflo's interview about climate change and inequality at The New York Times Climate Forward event.
In the news
Punjab inks pact to launch emissions trading
In partnership with J-PAL and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, the Punjab government is developing an emissions trading scheme to reduce pollution in the state.
Policy insight
Encouraging residential energy efficiency
Programs that encouraged investments in residential energy efficiency had limited returns in several impact evaluations in real-world settings. Relatively small impacts on energy savings coupled with low take-up meant that encouraging these investments through information campaigns and subsidies was...
Case study
Strengthening third-party audits to reduce pollution
Evidence from a randomized evaluation informed the scale-up of a pollution audit policy in Gujarat, India.
In the news
Cash for Carbon: Paying People to Conserve Trees Works, Study Finds
In this article and video, J-PAL affiliate Seema Jayachandran discusses her randomized evaluation of a payments for ecosystems program in Uganda.
