Climate Action

Transforming Climate Awareness into Action

Overview

The climate crisis is intensifying, and while awareness is rising, there is a persistent gap between understanding and action. To address this, we are developing two key services:

Spatial Climate Action Indicators

A dashboard displaying high-resolution spatial climate action indicators, designed to support communities, organizations, and decision-makers with tailored data and information.

High-Resolution Greenhouse Gas Inventory

A high-resolution greenhouse gas inventory built on Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), offering precise, actionable data for targeted mitigation efforts.

Together, these tools aim to drive effective climate action across all levels.

Taking Climate Action: The Climate Action Navigator

The Climate Action Navigator delivers climate action indicators tailored to specific cities. Using a framework of high-resolution spatial indicators, it provides actionable insights through data, maps, and reports co-developed with our partners. The dashboard integrates multiple data sources, including OpenStreetMap (OSM), openrouteservice (ORS), satellite imagery, and scientific research, ensuring comprehensive and reliable insights for decision-makers.

The full functionality of the dashboard is available to our partners.

Launch Date: May 2025

Actionable Data

We cooperate closely with stakeholders to develop assessment tools, which are displayed on the Climate Action Navigator Dashboard. Each assessment tool on the dashboard is typically composed of several indicators that provide high-resolution insights into specific climate-related aspects of an area. From assessing CO2 emissions from residential heating to evaluating urban active mobility infrastructure, the Climate Action Navigator helps pinpoint areas where targeted action is most urgently needed.

GHG Emissions from Land Use and Land Cover Change

Estimate carbon emissions from land use and land cover (LULC) change, given a selected area of interest and observation period.

hiWalk (Walkability)

A collection of indicators related to different aspects that determine the perceived quality (safety, comfort, practicality) of walking along street or within an area of interest.

hiBike (Bikeability)

A collection of indicators related to different aspects that determine the perceived quality (safety, comfort, practicality) of cycling along street or within an area of interest.

High Resolution Greenhouse Gas Inventory

The High-Resolution Greenhouse Gas Inventory with VGI (Volunteered Geographic Information) is a research initiative aimed at creating detailed, localized greenhouse gas emissions on a neighborhood level. By integrating data from various sources, including VGI, this project seeks to provide a more accurate and granular understanding of GHG emissions at the neighborhood level. Currently in the research phase, the project focuses on harnessing the power of open data to fill data gaps and enhance the precision of climate action planning.

Minimizing Our Own Footprint

Lazy Computing

We see lazy computing — an approach that optimizes workflows by avoiding redundant data processing and minimizing energy use — as vital to climate action. By streamlining computation, we reduce our carbon footprint while delivering actionable data. Acting responsibly in our computational practices is a key part of our mission, ensuring that our tools for driving climate solutions are as sustainable as the outcomes we aim to achieve.

Measuring Our Own Footprint

In a first step towards minimizing our footprint, we measured electricity consumption during machine learning model training for our Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) utility, to understand and reduce our carbon footprint. By adopting sustainable practices at every level, we can ensure that our technological advancements align with our commitment to climate action and environmental responsibility.