Decentralized renewable energy (DRE) projects have the potential to contribute to climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, and sustainable development objectives. DRE systems are considered for emissions reduction or poverty alleviation purposes while their role for climate change adaptation has hardly been analysed. In terms of adaptation, DRE provides electricity that can be used both to prepare for and recover from disasters, and to provide additional income and livelihood opportunities, thus reducing dependency on natural resources. For example, DRE can power early warning systems, telecommunication systems, health clinics and potable water systems. Although it might be said that climate change adaptation applications of DRE systems have already been implemented, the vulnerability of these systems towards climate impacts, and the robustness of these systems to climatic impacts are oftentimes not even considered. The assessment of 15 community-owned renewable energy projects in Guatemala and Nicaragua show that, under certain conditions, renewable energy projects can simultaneously meet the triple objective of sustainable development and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Research also points to specific drivers which can facilitate or hinder projects meeting their own stated objectives and, consequently, the triple objective, and their long-term functioning. These drivers include the specific background of the beneficiary community, the financing and implementing entities and the local governance structures in place.

This study aims to exploit the abundance of solar energy resources for socioeconomic development in the semi -arid Northeastern Brazil as a potent adaptation tool to global climate change. It points out a set of conjuncture factors that allow us to foresee a new paradigm of sustainable development for the region by transforming the sun’s radiant energy into electricity through distributed photovoltaic generation. The new paradigm, as presented in this essay, has the transformative potential to free the region from past regional development dogma, which was dependent on the scarce water resource, and the marginal and predatory use of its Caatinga Biome. The research uses a pre ante design, following the procedures of scenario building, as an adaptation mechanism to climate change in the sector of energy generation and socioeconomic inclusion. The scenarios of socioeconomic resilience to climate change based on the abundance of solar radiation, rather than the scarcity of water, demonstrates its potential as a global adaptation paradigm to climate change. The developments proposed are dependent on federal legislation changes, allowing the small producer to be remunerated by the energy produced. The proposed smart grid photovoltaic generation program increases the country's resiliency to the effect of droughts and climate change. As proposed, the program allows for the reversion of a pattern of long term poverty in semi-arid Northeast Brazil. The exploitation of the characteristics of abundance of the semiarid climate, i.e. its very condition of semi-aridity with abundant solar radiation, is itself an advantage factor toward adaption to unforeseen drought events. Extensive previous research has focused on weighting and monitoring drought i.e. the paradigm of scarcity. The interplay between exploiting Northeast Brazil’s abundant factors and climate change adaptation, especially at the small farmer levels constitutes a discovery never before contemplated.

Guatemala faces acute disaster vulnerability due to the combined effects of geological hazards, climatic variability, and socio-economic inequality. This study applies a mixed-method design, combining descriptive interpretation of disaster trends with quantitative statistical modeling to analyze disaster patterns and socio-economic drivers at national and municipal levels. National-scale disaster events (n = 171, 1902–2024) were obtained from EM-DAT, while municipal records (n = 11,256, 1988–2015) came from DesInventar. The analysis employed multiple linear regression, Poisson regression, and Random Forest models to identify predictors of disaster occurrence. Results indicate that total population (β = 0.00084, p < 0.001), road distance (β = −0.037, p < 0.001 in linear; β = 0.0016, p < 0.001 in Poisson), and Human Development Index (β = 118.2, p < 0.001) were consistently significant. Municipalities with higher population density and infrastructure, mostly urban areas, report more disasters, reflecting both greater exposure and improved reporting. Earthquakes and floods are the most lethal hazards, while hydrometeorological events show strong links to El Niño–Southern Oscillation variability, aggravating food insecurity and economic losses, particularly in rural and indigenous communities dependent on rainfed subsistence agriculture. The findings highlight the need for differentiated data-driven disaster risk reduction strategies that address both urban exposure and rural vulnerability. Key recommendations include strengthening early warning systems, improving infrastructure resilience, incorporating traditional knowledge into risk assessments, and integrating socio-economic indicators into national DRR planning to enhance Guatemala’s preparedness and resilience.

In this essay, we reflect on what it means for the scientific community to collaborate effectively in global scientific assessments, drawing on our experience within the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and with relevance beyond the IPCC to many other scientific collaborations. We amplify IPCC author voices through lived-experience narratives that reveal how systemic barriers limited participation of Global South authors, people of colour, non-native English speakers, early-career scientists, women, and those outside academia during the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), particularly in Working Group II. These experiences expose the "meritocracy myth" in academia, where privileged individuals claim recognition while ignoring structural advantages, thereby perpetuating power imbalances and limiting equity. We focus on overarching issues that perpetuate exclusion within global scientific assessment reports, some costs if these remain unaddressed, and key considerations toward more inclusive future collaborations. We stress that an effective collaborative culture requires moving beyond diversity metrics: the scientific community must actively dismantle colonial knowledge hierarchies that are silencing diverse perspectives and instead embody the very transformations that we call for in our reports. Alternative forms of knowledge are often only accepted when verified through reductionist, positivist methods of Western science, and are therefore downplayed. Unless these deeper dynamics—and the value systems that sustain them—are confronted and addressed, well-intentioned reforms risk sliding into tokenism, treating symptoms rather than causes. We cannot continue with business as usual, celebrating diversity statistics while power structures remain unchanged.