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.