Data-Driven Lab | Working at the intersection of data and policy

Bottom-up Initiatives and Participatory Approaches for Outlooks

Data-Driven Director Angel Hsu, Research Associate Amy Weinfurter, and Student Research Assistant Yaolin Zhang contributed to Chapter 23 of the sixth Global Environmental Outlook, which explores how bottom-up efforts can help reach the Sustainable Development Goals.

A research roadmap for quantifying non-state and subnational climate mitigation action

A new Nature Climate Change Perspectives piece outlines ways to better account for the greenhouse gas emissions reductions from climate action by local governments, the private sector, and civil society.

How cities are failing to be inclusive - and what they can do about it

On the World Economic Forum blog, Data-Driven director Angel Hsu and Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness founder Kim Samuel discuss the world’s progress towards its goal of fostering sustainable, inclusive cities.

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Unlocking Data to Track Progress Towards Inclusive, Sustainable Cities

On Thursday, Dec. 6 from 3-6 pm at the Courtyard Marriott Katowice, Data-Driven Yale convened an interactive discussion featuring policymakers and practitioners to discuss the role of data in meeting Sustainable Development Goal 11 for sustainable and inclusive urban growth. This event was part of the launch of the Urban Environment and Social Inclusion Index.

Global Climate Action Summit: How Does it Measure Up?

The Sept. 2018 Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, CA engaged more than 5,000 cities, states, regions, companies, investors and civil society organizations on climate change. Hundreds of commitments were made, but does it add up to something beyond action already pledged?

Read the blog here

Blockchain for Climate Action Tracking - Oxford Design Sprint

Can blockchains be used to tackle climate change? A ‘Design Sprint’ brought blockchain experts and enthusiasts together at the Alan Turing Institute in London, to brainstorm the possibilities.

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All Climate Politics Is Local

The emissions reduction pledges of private sector, civil society, city, and regional actors could deliver significant carbon mitigation on a global scale. Angel Hsu and Amy Weinfurter discuss the implications for global climate governance.

Read their piece in Foreign Affairs

Bridging the emissions gap - The role of non-state and subnational actors

Data-Driven Yale director Angel Hsu is a lead author and research associate Amy Weinfurter is a co-author on a new chapter reviewing global climate action research for the UN Environment’s Emissions Gap Report 2018.

Director Angel Hsu Speaks at TED 2018: The Age of Amazement

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Data 2.0: Hacking for Sustainability

Yale-NUS College’s Data Science Initiative partners with Data-Driven Yale and DBS Bank to host Sustainability-focused Hackathon in Singapore March 17.

Data-Driven Yale Wins UN Climate Contest

Data-Driven Yale won the Thematic Award linking Climate Change to other SDGs for research, “Air pollution-induced micro migrations: Impacts on Consumer Spending.”

Yearbook of Climate Actions launched

Data-Driven Yale researchers contribute to UN Framework Convention on Climate Change publication documenting growth of collaborative climate change initiatives.

View the Map Here

Mission 2020: The Climate Turning Point

Data-Driven Yale researchers contributing authors on new report specifying immediate next steps for global climate action.

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Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Developing Countries: Contributions to Reducing Global Emissions

Data-Driven Yale partners with UN Environment and REN-21 to produce the third 1 Gigaton Coalition Report: Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Developing Countries – Contributions to Reducing Global Emissions.

Aligning Sub-national Climate Actions for the Post-Paris Climate Regime

This paper explores the various alignment strategies used to initiate subnational climate actions that exceed national policies.

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From Citizens to Satellites: Third Wave Data Approaches in China

Data-Driven Yale authors a series of white papers exploring the potential of new and innovative data collection strategies to support environmental management in China.

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New Tool Comparing Countries' Environmental Performance Launched

Data-Driven Yale student researchers Udit Jain ’18, Zev Nicolai-Scanio (Choate-Rosemary Hall), and Shreya Shah (MArch ’18) – develop new tool that allows for comparison of environmental results between countries.

Explore the Tool

1 Gigaton Coalition Releases Second Report

Data-Driven Yale, partnering with UNEP, REN-21, and the New Climate Institute, co-authors report that finds renewable energy and energy efficiency projects implemented in developing countries from 2005 to 2015 will reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by almost half a gigatonne by 2020.

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Opinion: Big Data has big potential for applications to climate change adaptation

In this piece, Angel Hsu and co-authors examine how “big data” can inform adaptation research and decision-making and outline what’s needed from the adaptation community to maximize this opportunity.

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Data-Driven Yale Contributing Author to 2016 UNEP Emissions Gap Report

Director Angel Hsu contributing author to Chapter 4: Bridging the Gap – Role of Non-State Actors and Reviewer for the 2016 UNEP Emissions Gap Report.

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Data-Driven Yale releases CT Solar Scorecard, ranking 169 towns on residential solar PV performance

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Publication: Track climate pledges of cities and companies

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Angel Hsu Named #Grist50 People Working to Shape Green in 2016

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New Report Analyzes Global Extent of Sub-National and Non-State Climate Actions

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Publication: Reinvigorating International Climate Policy

Angel Hsu, PhD, co-authors article, “Reinvigorating International Climate Policy:A Comprehensive Framework for Effective Nonstate Action,” in the Nov. 2015 issue of Global Policy. The article is available free until February 2016. Click here to download a copy.

Correspondence: China Needs to Come Clean on Carbon Statistics

Angel Hsu, PhD, Kaiyang Xu, and Andrew Moffat argue that China’s lack of transparent carbon emissions data has global implications in a Nature correspondence.

Angel Hsu featured guest on Kojo Nnamdi Show

On Sept. 15, 2015, Angel Hsu, PhD, was a featured guest on the Washington, D.C.-based Kojo Nnamdi Show on National Public Radio. Click here to listen to a recording of the program. Photo by Diego Cambiaso on Flickr.com.

Listen to the Show

Paris climate talks need business to move beyond greenwashing

Angel Hsu, PhD, and Amy Weinfurter argue that we should welcome recent commitments by the business sector, but they now need to be converted into tangible progress.

Read the Op-ed in The Guardian

The Data-Driven Environmental Policy Lab (Data-Driven Lab) uses cutting edge data analytics to create solutions to the world’s environmental problems. Launched in 2015, the research group is an interdisciplinary collaboration of policy experts, data scientists, visual designers, and interactive programmers at Yale-NUS College in Singapore and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. The group was founded and is led by Dr. Angel Hsu.

Latest Insights

China’s vision for climate action: A New York Times and Conduit Club London Event

by Angel Hsu | May 1, 2019 | China, Featured, Presentations | 0 Comments

The New York Times and the Conduit Club in London invited me to participate in a panel discussion of China’s vision for climate action. I joined Jeremy Leggett, a social entrepreneur on clean energy, and moderator Max Strasser, international opinion editor for the...

Student project streamlines climate action database

by Amy Weinfurter | May 6, 2019 | Data | 0 Comments

On Thursday, May 2, 2019, Luke Hellum, a Yale College data science and statistics and energy studies major, shared the results of his senior capstone research project. Over the past 6 months, he built a statistical R software package that helps clean and organize the...

Workshop Explores Strategies to Track Progress on Climate Action

by Amy Weinfurter | Apr 29, 2019 | Climate | 0 Comments

This September, global leaders will gather in New York City for the 2019 UN Global Climate Action Summit, kicking off a year-long discussion about how countries will step up their efforts to combat climate change. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has already...

Learning across continents: Yale and Yale-NUS students engage China’s sustainability challenges

by Damon Lim | Apr 22, 2019 | China, China Sights | 0 Comments

From March 20 to 24, 2019, Data-Driven Lab Director Dr. Angel Hsu led 32 students from Yale-NUS College and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (F&ES) on a class trip to Beijing, China to experience China’s energy and sustainability challenges...

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Number of Climate Actions in Data-Driven Lab Database

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