World Resource Institute

Smallholder Farmers Are Key to Making the Palm Oil Industry Sustainable Comments|Add Comment|PrintA farmer harvests oil palm in Indonesia. Photo by Ridhwan Siregar/WRI Indonesia Indonesia’s palm oil has long earned the ire of conscious consumers—its production has been linked to child and forced labor, massive deforestation and the demise of iconic species like orangutans. Most point to large corporations to solve the problem, but that’s overlooking a key actor in palm oil production: small...

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ADVISORY: Gina McCarthy and Dr. Mae Jemison Headline Event “Open Data in a Closing World” The event will feature the launch of Resource Watch, a new global data platform from WRI and more than 30 partners WASHINGTON–WRI and the National Geographic Society host the event, “Open Data in a Closing World,” to shed light on how current trends in data, technology, media and human networks can inform decision-making around natural resources. The event features keynote speeches by Gina McCarthy,...

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To Supercharge Chinese Renewables, Fix Their Financing Comments|Add Comment|PrintWind turbines in Ningxia, China. 40 percent of the renewable energy installed last year was in China, which now receives about ten percent of its electricity from renewables. But despite their surge, renewables remain hard to finance in China. Existing financing mechanisms can hardly meet the thirst for investments in the sector. The average cost of capital for renewable projects remains 20-30 percent higher than...

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US 2018 Budget and Climate Finance: It's Bad, but Not As Bad As You Might Think Comments|Add Comment|PrintU.S. Capitol, where Congress' budget presents some complications for climate finance. Flickr/Adam Fagen Last year, we looked at the extreme cuts to international climate finance the Trump administration put forward in their fiscal year 2018 budget proposal. Based on Trump's announcements, one might assume that U.S. climate finance has fallen to zero. Luckily, this is not the case. It...

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Mulheres São Prejudicadas Em Negócios De Terras Comerciais — Apesar Dos Compromissos Nacionais Com A Igualdade De Gênero Comments|Add Comment|Print Kuluthum Mbwana recorda o dia em que os investidores de biocombustíveis chegaram à sua aldeia, Vilabwa, a apenas 70 quilômetros a oeste da capital da Tanzânia. Ela conta que em troca de mais de 8.000 hectares de terra em 11 vilarejos, incluindo Vilabwa, no distrito de Kisarawe, eles prometeram trazer empregos, escolas e clínicas de saúde para sua...

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Wanawake Hupunjwa Katika Biashara ya Ardhi — Licha ya Jitihada za Kitaifa kwa Usawa wa Kijinsia Comments|Add Comment|Print Read this blog in English. Kuluthum Mbwana anakumbuka siku ambapo wawekezaji wa bayofueli walifika kijijini mwake cha Vilabwa, takribani kilomita 70 magharibi mwa jiji kuu la Tanzania. Alisema wawekezaji hao waliahidi kuleta ajira zinazohitajika sana, shule na vituo vya afya katika jamii yake, kwa kubadilishana na zaidi ya hekta 8,000 (ekari 19,800 ) za ardhi katika...

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RELEASE: Cities Can Have Safer Roads; The Misperception That They Can’t Is Killing Us WRI-ODI study helps cities overcome political barriers to address escalating road safety problems WASHINGTON (March 23, 2018)—An estimated 1.25 million people are killed and a staggering 50 million are injured in traffic collisions each year. Yet, road safety remains a remarkably low political priority in cities around the world, a new study warns. In many cases, road safety is seen to be in direct conflict...

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RELEASE: New Initiative Calls for Urgent Action on Water and Security The Water, Peace and Security Initiative will address the complex relationship between water, migration and conflict BRASILIA, BRAZIL (March 22, 2018)–Europe is still reeling from a migration crisis that has sent over a million refugees to the continent. Some of these refugees were driven from their homes in part by an often-ignored threat: water scarcity. As droughts plague major cities from Cape Town to Tehran, the world...

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3 Reasons City Dwellers Should Care About Forests Comments|Add Comment|PrintRestored and conserved forests outside Extrema, Brazil, protect Sao Paulo’s water supply. Photo by James Anderson/WRI A version of this post initially appeared in Revolve Magazine If you’re reading this, you are probably a city dweller. More than half of humanity lives in cities, and the percentage continues to grow. As more and more of us move from the rural landscapes our ancestors called home, we are particularly...

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3 Ways Forests Can Solve the World's Water Crises Comments|Add Comment|PrintForest upstream of Portland, OR. Flickr/BLM For some of the world's most pressing water questions, the answer is in nature. Clean, plentiful water depends on healthy surrounding natural systems such as forests. Much of the world's water is filtered through forested watersheds, which improve water quality and protect water supply. Large forests like the Amazon even help control the "rivers of the sky," which...

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Women Get Shortchanged in Commercial Land Deals—Despite National Commitments to Gender Equality Comments|Add Comment|PrintWoman in Tanzania. Flickr/Cecilia Schubert Soma blogi hii kwa Kiswahili. Leia este post em português. Kuluthum Mbwana remembers the day that biofuel investors arrived in her village Vilabwa, just 70 kilometers west of Tanzania's capital. In exchange for more than 8,000 hectares (19,800 acres) of land across 11 villages, including Vilabwa in Kisarawe District, she said...

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Places to Watch: 3 Forest Regions at Risk Right Now Comments|Add Comment|PrintDeforestation from Palm Oil Plantations in Papua. Photo by Mighty/Flickr Places to Watch is an initiative that uses weekly GLAD alerts on Global Forest Watch to spot changes in forests around the globe and identify the most consequential cases of recent deforestation. By pairing deforestation alerts with expert interpretation of satellite imagery, credible descriptions of what is happening on the ground and resources...

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REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL: Travel Management Company Proposals Requested World Resources Institute’s mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations. WRI’s more than 700 experts and staff work in more than 60 countries, with our Global Office in Washington, DC and international offices in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico; in addition to a program office for our...

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Forests Will Protect Brazil, but Only If Brazil Protects Them Comments|Add Comment|PrintSede do Projeto Conservador das Aguas in Brazil, part of the Sao Paulo watershed. Photo by James Anderson/WRI Brazil faces a multi-dimensional water challenge. Severe water crises- such as floods and droughts- have hit a quarter of Brazil’s municipalities in the last year, including major cities such as Brasilia, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Vitória. These same communities have also suffered from  threats...

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Taking Greenhouse Gases from the Sky: 7 Things to Know About Carbon Removal Comments|Add Comment|PrintRestoring degraded landscapes like this one in Costa Rica is a natural way of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Photo by Luciana Gallardo Lomeli/WRI With greenhouse gas emissions climbing and climate impacts becoming increasingly severe, the urgency to address climate change has never been greater. Many of the solutions to date have focused on mitigation—ways to slash emissions as...

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Redefining Business with Environmental Restoration Comments|Add Comment|PrintA tree-planting project in Patagonia at high elevation. Photo by Reforestemos Patagonia A version of this post initially appeared on the website of Conservation Finance Network For environmentalists, the word “business” often raises the specter of pollution. High-profile incidents such as the Volkswagen emissions scandal and the BP oil spill remind us how businesses often profit from pollution, causing a total...

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For a Better Climate and Economic Growth, the Future Must Be Female Comments|Add Comment|PrintWomen in Mityana, Uganda, part of the Solar Sister initiative aimed at empowering women with clean energy technology. Photo by Solar Sister From International Women’s Day on March 8th to Women’s History Month in the United States, the month of March is a good moment to focus on gender equality. Nearly 5 million individuals across the world participated in the Women’s March just over a year ago; in the...

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5 Things Companies Can Do to Grow in a Water-Stressed World Comments|Add Comment|PrintFord's River Rouge factory. Flickr/Thomas Hawk This post originally appeared on Water Deeply. In a water-stressed world, there's a powerful business case for companies to manage this essential resource sustainably, engage in water stewardship and drive collective action. As a shared resource, water provides diminished benefits to all if each user acts only in their own self-interest. Addressing today's...

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