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This spring, J-PAL North America — a regional division of MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) — inaugurated its inaugural Learning Lab, focused on climate initiatives. The Learning Lab gathered a group of governmental leaders who are implementing a diverse array of policies and programs to facilitate the shift towards a low-carbon economy. Through the Learning Lab, participants examined how to integrate randomized evaluation into effective solutions to ascertain how to optimize behavioral changes — a methodology that can aid in promoting decarbonization in the most economical ways to benefit all communities. The initial cohort included over 25 participants from state agencies and cities, encompassing the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, and the cities of Lincoln, Nebraska; Newport News, Virginia; Orlando, Florida; and Philadelphia.
“State and local administrations have exhibited remarkable leadership in crafting and executing decarbonization strategies and climate action frameworks over the past few years,” stated Peter Christensen, scientific advisor of the J-PAL North America Environment, Energy, and Climate Change Sector. “While these efforts are guided by scientific forecasts regarding which programs and technologies may effectively and fairly diminish emissions, the forecasting methods involve numerous assumptions. It can be difficult for governments to ascertain whether their programs are genuinely achieving the necessary emissions reductions. The Climate Action Learning Lab was established to assist state and local governments in fulfilling this need — helping them to thoroughly assess their programs to uncover their genuine impact.”
From May to July, the Learning Lab provided an array of resources for participants to utilize rigorous evaluation to pinpoint effective and equitable climate mitigation strategies. The offerings included educational lectures, individualized strategy sessions, peer learning interactions, and researcher collaboration. State and local leaders developed skills and expertise in evidence generation and application, reviewed and applied research insights to their own programmatic areas, and outlined key research questions to steer evidence-building and decision-making efforts. Topics prioritized for evaluation included adherence to building energy benchmarking policies, participation rates of energy-efficient home improvement initiatives such as heat pumps and Solar for All, and scoring criteria for affordable housing development initiatives.
“We valued the opportunity to learn about randomized evaluation techniques, and how this impact assessment tool could be applied in our ongoing climate action strategies. With so many possible initiatives to explore, this methodology will assist us in focusing our time and resources on the most impactful solutions,” remarked Anna Shugoll, program manager at the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Sustainability.
This phase of the Learning Lab was made possible through grant support from J-PAL North America’s long-term supporter and collaborator Arnold Ventures. The efforts culminated in an in-person summit in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on July 23, where Learning Lab participants presented their jurisdiction’s priority research questions and strategic evaluation frameworks. They also connected with researchers in the J-PAL network to further investigate impact evaluation prospects for promising decarbonization programs.
“The Climate Action Learning Lab has assisted us in identifying research questions for some of the City of Orlando’s ambitious decarbonization objectives. J-PAL staff, along with researchers in the J-PAL network, worked diligently to bridge the divide between behavior change theory and the practical, tangible benefits we achieve through rigorous evaluations of our initiatives,” said Brittany Sellers, assistant director for sustainability, resilience, and future-readiness for Orlando. “Whether we’re discussing energy-efficiency policies for some of the largest buildings in the City of Orlando or enhancing [electric vehicle] adoption throughout the city, it’s been quite straightforward to convey some of these high-level research concepts and how they can aid us in actually realizing our decarbonization objectives.”
The next stage of the Climate Action Learning Lab will concentrate on fostering partnerships between jurisdictions and researchers in the J-PAL network to examine the initiation of randomized evaluations, enhancing the community of practice among current cohort members, and nurturing a widespread culture of evidence generation and usage in the climate sector.
“The Climate Action Learning Lab provided a vital platform for our city to collaborate with other municipalities and states attempting to implement similar decarbonization initiatives, as well as with researchers in the J-PAL network to help rigorously assess these programs,” remarked Daniel Collins, innovation team director at the City of Newport News. “We eagerly anticipate further collaboration and opportunities to learn from evaluations of our mitigation efforts so we, as a city, can allocate resources more effectively to the best solutions.”
The Climate Action Learning Lab is one of several initiatives under the J-PAL North America Evidence for Climate Action Project. The project aims to assemble a significant network of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to generate rigorous evidence in identifying and advancing equitable, high-impact policy solutions to climate change in the United States. Besides the Learning Lab, J-PAL North America will launch a climate special topic request for proposals this autumn to fund research on climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. J-PAL will welcome applications from both research partnerships formed through the Learning Lab as well as other eligible participants.
Local government leaders, researchers, potential collaborators, or funders dedicated to advancing effective climate solutions, and who wish to learn more about the Evidence for Climate Action Project, may email [email protected] or subscribe to the J-PAL North America Climate Action newsletter.
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