External Review of WRI Technical Annexes

This document is an inception report and technical annexes for an external review of the World Resources Institute's (WRI) progress in implementing its 2018-2022 Strategic Plan. Conducted by Agulhas Applied Knowledge and Open Cities, the review assesses WRI's effectiveness, relevance, and efficiency across seven global challenges, its core functions, and a specific deep-dive into its Africa strategy. The report details a mixed-methods methodology involving document reviews, 132 interviews, 16 focus group discussions, and an all-staff survey to triangulate programmatic results and the integration of gender and social equity.

• The WRI Cities program is judged as 'Mostly On Track', achieving 58.6% of its targets as of October 2021. When excluding 12 'non-Verifiable' indicators, the achievement rate rises to 93.7%.
• The WRI Forests program is the highest performing program, achieving 95.9% of its targets as of October 2021, with no non-verifiable indicators in its results framework.
• The WRI Climate program is 'Mostly on Track' with a 63.6% achievement rate. While successful in measuring progress—facilitating emissions reduction tools in 69 countries, 398 cities, and 2,689 corporations—it has struggled to turn commitments into action, with only six of ten deeply engaged countries on track to implement their NDCs.
• The WRI Energy program is 'Mostly on Track' with 71.9% achievement. The Renewable Energy workstream is the strongest, supporting renewable energy options in over 20 US states and contracting 42 GWh of renewable energy through the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance.
• The WRI Food program is 'On Track' with 76.8% achievement. It has successfully influenced 35 of the world's 50 largest companies to adopt food loss and waste (FLW) targets in line with SDG 12.3, though it has seen less success with national governments.
• The WRI Oceans program is 'On Track' with 77.0% achievement. A key success is the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, which led 14 Heads of State to commit to sustainably managing 100% of their Exclusive Economic Zones by 2025.
• The WRI Water program is 'Mostly on Track' with 60.1% achievement. It has successfully supported four cities in India and six globally in planning water needs using Aqueduct, but has failed significantly in directing development aid to vulnerable countries, achieving only 1% of its US$1 billion target.
• The WRI Business Center is 'Mostly on Track' with 72.8% achievement. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) significantly outperformed expectations, with 1,878 companies adopting an SBT compared to the initial target of 300.
• The WRI Governance Center is 'Partially on Track' with 44.0% achievement, largely due to a high number of non-verifiable indicators. However, its Climate Resilience Practice was fully achieved, influencing Costa Rica and India to commit to transformative adaptation.
• The WRI Africa office is 'Mostly on Track' with 62.7% achievement. If 12 non-verifiable indicators are excluded, the achievement rate is 84.8%. Successes include expanding the Energy Access Explorer to Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Zambia.
• WRI China is 'On Track' with 82.4% achievement. It successfully influenced the Chinese government to commit to carbon neutrality by 2060, but is 'Off Track' in sustainable investment, achieving only 22.0% of its targets regarding renewable energy installation in Belt and Road Initiative countries.
• WRI India is 'On Track' with 90.3% achievement. It fully achieved its Landscape & Restoration targets and nearly fully achieved its Cities targets (99.3%), supporting 14 cities in achieving safer and more resilient transport.
• WRI Brasil is 'On Track' with 86.0% achievement, focusing primarily on Forests. Despite federal government inaction on the National Plan to Restore Native Vegetation (PLANAVEG), WRI Brasil shifted focus to state and municipal levels to implement restoration.
• WRI Indonesia is 'On Track' with 82.2% achievement. A major outcome was the Low Carbon Development Initiative (LCDI), which influenced Indonesia's five-year development plan to include GHG emissions reductions alongside GDP growth.
• WRI Mexico is 'Mostly on Track' with 68.5% achievement. It has been successful in air quality and energy systems, but its Climate workstream is 'Partially on Track' (44.4%) due to difficulties in convincing states to adopt strategies aligned with NDCs.
• WRI U.S. is 'On Track' with 85.4% achievement, particularly in engaging corporations and states on renewable energy. It influenced 19 states to adopt 100% clean energy targets, including five 'red' or politically divided states.
• WRI's annual spending grew rapidly during the 2018-2022 Strategic Plan period, increasing from US$110 million in FY18 to a projected US$174 million in FY21.
• Core funding from Sida, the Netherlands MFA, Danish MFA, and IrishAid (totaling US$ 44.6 million between FY18-FY21) is critical for WRI's ability to innovate, maintain data platforms like Resource Watch, and respond to crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic through 'Build Back Better' initiatives.

APA

World Resources Institute (2021). External Review of WRI Technical Annexes. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-02/2021-external-review-report-technical-annexes.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. External Review of WRI Technical Annexes. 2021. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-02/2021-external-review-report-technical-annexes.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=External Review of WRI Technical Annexes |date=13 December 2021 |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-02/2021-external-review-report-technical-annexes.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2021external, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{External Review of WRI Technical Annexes}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2021}, month = dec, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-02/2021-external-review-report-technical-annexes.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }