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

This document introduces a series of commissioned papers for the 2010 World Resources Report, focusing on the tension between addressing immediate development needs—such as poverty and hunger—and preparing for long-term climate risks. It highlights the projected decline in water availability and crop yields in Asia and calls for new planning tools to manage the trade-offs between short-term relief and long-term resilience.

• Global development challenges are pervasive, with 2.6 billion people living on less than US$2 a day, and many countries in Asia and Africa are expected to miss the 2015 anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals.
• 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 is projected to severely impact Asia, with freshwater availability decreasing for over 1 billion people in the next 40 years and cereal yields in South Asia potentially dropping by 30% by mid-century.
• Governments face a critical challenge in balancing limited resources between immediate needs, such as disaster relief and basic services, and long-term preparation for unpredictable climate risks.

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} }