WUDAPT: an urban weather, climate and environmental modeling infrastructure for the Anthropocene

WUDAPT is an international community-based initiative to acquire and disseminate climate relevant data on the physical geographies of cities for modeling and analyses purposes. The current lacuna of globally consistent information on cities is a major impediment to urban climate science towards informing and developing climate mitigation and adaptation strategies at urban scales. WUDAPT consists of a database and a portal system; its database is structured into a hierarchy representing different levels of detail and the data are acquired using innovative protocols that utilize crowdsourcing approaches, Geowiki tools, freely accessible data, and building typology archetypes. The base level of information (L0) consists of Local Climate Zones (LCZ) maps of cities; each LCZ category is associated with range of values for model relevant surface descriptors (e.g. roughness, impervious surface cover, roof area, building heights, etc.). Levels 1 (L1) and 2 (L2) will provide specific intraurban values for other relevant descriptors at greater precision, such as data morphological forms, material composition data and energy usage. This article describes the status of the WUDAPT project and demonstrates its potential value using observations and models. As a community-based project, other researchers are encouraged to participate to help create a global urban database of value to urban climate scientists

A study of corporate social responsibility practices of the top Bombay Stock Exchange 500 companies in India and their alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals

This paper highlights the organic link that exists between the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities undertaken by the Indian corporate sector and their alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from 2014–2016; the period after mandatory CSR came into existence as per Indian Companies Act. In this study, we identify critical areas pertaining to SDG goals neglected by corporate sector as far as CSR investments are concerned. We find that more CSR investments must be drawn towards climate change, biodiversity, Sustainable consumption and production, marine life and conserving flora and fauna. The sectoral analysis reveals that the companies falling under sectors that have a higher environmental footprint and impact are more concerned about taking up initiatives through CSR. The geographic analysis revealed that efforts need to be made to increase CSR expenditure in seven north‐eastern states, Jammu and Kashmir, and Union Territories. This paper recommends that the system needs to be further reviewed in light of the current observations