Question Seven: Thought Leaders Explore How to Meet Both Today's Development Challenges and Tomorrow's Climate Risks

The document outlines the tension between addressing current global development challenges—such as hunger and water scarcity—and preparing for future climate-related disruptions. It highlights projected temperature increases and specific risks to Asia's water and food security, posing a central policy question on how to allocate limited resources between present needs and future resilience.

• Global average temperatures have already increased by 0.8˚C over pre-industrial levels, and the IPCC projects a further increase between 1.6˚C and 6.9˚C by the end of the century.
• Climate change and other stressors are expected to significantly reduce freshwater availability in Asia, affecting over 1 billion people over the next 40 years, while cereal yields in South Asia could drop by 30% by mid-century.
• Governments face a critical challenge in balancing limited resources between immediate needs, such as disaster relief and basic human services, and long-term planning for unpredictable climate risks like the inundation of low-lying islands and deltas.

APA

World Resources Institute (2010). Question Seven: Thought Leaders Explore How to Meet Both Today's Development Challenges and Tomorrow's Climate Risks. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2023-02/wrr-2010-11-question-7.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Question Seven: Thought Leaders Explore How to Meet Both Today's Development Challenges and Tomorrow's Climate Risks. 2010. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2023-02/wrr-2010-11-question-7.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Question Seven: Thought Leaders Explore How to Meet Both Today's Development Challenges and Tomorrow's Climate Risks |date=2010 |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2023-02/wrr-2010-11-question-7.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2010question, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Question Seven: Thought Leaders Explore How to Meet Both Today's Development Challenges and Tomorrow's Climate Risks}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2010}, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2023-02/wrr-2010-11-question-7.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }