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The paper analyzes three case studies—water scarcity in Bhutan, landscape degradation in Ethiopia, and agricultural shifts in Costa Rica—to highlight the need for technical and financial support in transformative adaptation. It identifies community-led planning and change agents as drivers of success, while noting that a lack of systems data and M&E infrastructure limits scalability. Specific recommendations include investing in automated monitoring, integrating local knowledge, and providing targeted credit for farmers transitioning to new livelihoods.

The document argues for an integrated approach to Colombia's 2024 Energy Communities Strategy by linking energy production with water and food security. This 'Water-Energy-Food Nexus' aims to reduce the vulnerability of Colombia's hydroelectric-dependent energy system to extreme weather events like El Niño and La Niña, particularly in rural and disadvantaged areas. The proposed model focuses on three pillars: climate integration, community strengthening, and the development of community business models to ensure long-term energy, water, and food security.

The document argues that Ethiopia's current economic development targets, as outlined in the 10-Year Development Plan (10-YDP), may be unsustainable because they increase water stress and climate vulnerability. While climate action is increasingly integrated into economic planning, the paper finds that national planning fails to adequately account for water resource requirements and their vulnerability to climate shocks. The authors suggest that water use efficiency alone is insufficient and call for proactive, cross-sectoral, and multilevel water-sensitive governance to prevent water challenges from undermining development gains.

The paper introduces the Triple Dividend of Resilience (TDR) framework, which categorizes adaptation benefits into avoided losses (first dividend), induced economic/development benefits (second dividend), and social/environmental benefits (third dividend). It finds that the second and third dividends often exceed the value of avoided losses and can result in benefit-cost ratios greater than 1 independently of whether a disaster occurs. The author argues that fully quantifying these dividends can help mobilize public and private finance and suggests five strategies to standardize TDR analysis, including growing the evidence base and improving data collection.

The document addresses the challenge of unreliable or absent electricity for approximately one billion people in low- and middle-income countries accessing healthcare. It advocates for decentralized renewable energy (DRE), specifically solar photovoltaic (PV) systems with batteries, as a clean and climate-resilient alternative to costly and polluting diesel generators. The text highlights the need for streamlined tools and processes to achieve sustainable, large-scale implementation of these systems and introduces a project lifecycle approach developed by WRI based on work in India and Africa.

The paper analyzes 839 transport projects and 14 case studies to identify challenges in securing climate finance for low- and middle-income countries. It finds that road construction dominates funded projects, while resilience and electric mobility are underfunded. Key barriers include inadequate policy frameworks and limited project preparation capacity, with recommendations focusing on de-risking instruments and improved monitoring.

The paper examines 21 examples of locally led adaptation (LLA) across Africa, Asia-Pacific, and the Caribbean and Latin America to provide strategies for financing and implementing resilience efforts. It argues that LLA redresses power imbalances by prioritizing the agency of local organizations and Indigenous peoples, who are often best positioned to identify adaptation solutions. The document recommends that funders and governments increase the volume and flexibility of climate finance, integrate social equity into standard processes, and shift governance to center local priorities.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) has developed a cost-efficient MRV framework for land restoration that integrates local practitioner knowledge with high-resolution satellite imagery and artificial intelligence. Tested across more than 200 projects via the TerraFund partnership in Africa, the approach uses nine indicator categories to capture biophysical, socioeconomic, and financial data. By utilizing the DINOv3 AI model and satellite data, WRI estimates that independent verification costs can be reduced by up to 98% compared to traditional field inventories. The framework is designed for replication across various ecosystems and has already been adapted for use in India and Brazil to support outcome-based finance mechanisms.

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) provides an analysis of global adaptation finance based on the Global Landscape of Climate Finance. It examines the sources, instruments, and sectoral distribution of adaptation funding for 2015-2016, identifies significant data gaps in private and domestic public sector reporting, and offers recommendations to improve tracking methodologies to better align investments with climate vulnerabilities.

The document argues that the COVID-19 crisis is a critical window to shift from 'snapshot to transition thinking,' urging governments to use stimulus packages to accelerate future technologies like renewable energy while phasing out fossil fuels. It highlights a concerning trend where approximately 30% of global fiscal stimulus is directed toward high-environmental-impact sectors, often without sustainability conditions. The report advocates for a 'One Health' approach to prevent future zoonotic pandemics by protecting biodiversity, and calls for the integration of informal workers and urban poor into city-level recovery planning. Key recommendations include the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies, the implementation of 'do no harm' standards for bailouts, and increased financial support and debt restructuring for developing countries to facilitate a just transition.

The document outlines how the Paris Rulebook transforms the Paris Agreement into an operational system by defining rules for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), transparency reporting, and progress reviews. It details the 'ambition mechanism'—a five-year cycle of planning, implementation, and review—and highlights key negotiation points for COP24, including common timeframes for NDCs, accounting for mitigation measures, and the operationalization of flexibility for developing countries in reporting.

The Joint Benefits Authority (JBA) is a framework for municipal governments to move away from siloed agency funding toward integrated capital planning. By creating an independent entity for collaboration, the JBA allows multiple city departments to pool resources, issue bonds, and leverage new investments to scale natural infrastructure. This approach aims to quantify undervalued co-benefits, such as reduced heat island effects and improved mental wellbeing, while advancing social equity by integrating community leadership directly into the project team for decision-making and long-term stewardship.

The Joint Benefits Authority (JBA) is a proposed governance and finance model based on the Joint Powers Authority (JPA) structure. It aims to overcome the challenges of siloed city departments and tight budgets by pooling resources and using advanced capital planning to deliver multi-purpose, nature-based infrastructure. The JBA focuses on capturing co-benefits, pioneering creative municipal financing, and advancing social equity by prioritizing underserved neighborhoods. The concept is currently being piloted in San Francisco through a partnership between the World Resources Institute, Encourage Capital, the Liquid Assets Project, and the San Francisco Public Utility Commission, with funding from the Kresge Foundation, Spring Point Partners, and the Moore Foundation.

The PJM Cities and Communities Coalition (PJMCCC) Charter outlines the governance, membership, and strategic goals of a coalition of local governments and communities within the PJM territory. The coalition aims to remove barriers to decarbonization in the regional wholesale electricity market through capacity building, partnerships, and collective action.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) is implementing a three-year initiative (2022-2024) in the Tana Subbasin of Ethiopia, specifically within the North Mecha, Farta, and Dera woredas of the Amhara Region. The project aims to reduce water stress and increase climate resilience by strengthening data systems, analytical capacities, and cross-sectoral coordination. It employs an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approach to balance water demand with available supplies and protect the watersheds that support water provision. The project is structured around four objectives: building capacity for water-and climate-wise decisions, institutionalizing IWRM, implementing watershed restoration in the Koga micro-watershed, and advocating for these solutions nationally and internationally.

The report outlines seven key transformations—infrastructure design, service provision, data collection, urban employment, financing, land management, and governance—to close the urban services divide. It assigns specific roles to city governments, national governments, civil society, the private sector, and the international community to ensure that urban growth is inclusive, climate-resilient, and sustainable.

The document outlines the importance of long-term strategies (LTS) as a link between shorter-term Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the Paris Agreement goals. It details six core elements of an LTS: a long-term vision, quantified mitigation goals, adaptation and resilience plans, pathways with interim milestones, monitoring and revision processes, and transparent communication. The guide emphasizes the role of civil society in holding governments accountable and ensuring a just transition, particularly in the context of economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

WRI Indonesia's 2025-2032 strategy focuses on three core systems: energy, cities, and food, land and water. The organization aims to support Indonesia's goal of 8% GDP growth and a 43% emissions reduction by 2030 through industrial decarbonization, urban redesign, and ecosystem restoration. Key initiatives include promoting responsible critical mineral extraction, expanding green urban spaces, and securing land rights for Indigenous Peoples to enhance forest protection. WRI Indonesia employs a "count it, change it, scale it" methodology to integrate data-driven research with policy implementation across national and local government levels.

The WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities employs an integrated approach combining data-driven research and long-term city partnerships to address urban challenges in land use, mobility, and energy efficiency. The organization focuses on the global south, implementing projects such as low-emission zones in Beijing, sustainable housing standards in Brazil, and last-mile mobility solutions in Bengaluru. Its strategy emphasizes scaling road-tested solutions through national policy guidance and global coalitions to help cities decarbonize and improve equitable access to core services.

WRI is implementing a climate change investment strategy to transition its portfolio to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050, aiming for alignment with a 1.5°C future. The strategy is based on five objectives: identifying material climate issues, reducing climate-related risk, increasing investments in a low-carbon transition, conducting climate-focused engagement, and disclosing progress. Key actions include maintaining 0% exposure to fossil fuel companies and increasing private equity commitments to sustainable investments to 15% of the portfolio by 2022.