Search Climate Insights Directory
829 results
Integrating Green and Gray
The report argues that combining natural systems—such as forests, wetlands, and mangroves—with built infrastructure can lower costs and increase resilience against climate change. It provides a technical, social, and economic framework for project appraisal and highlights the need for enabling policies and innovative financing to mainstream these 'next generation' infrastructure solutions.
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Document type: Report
REVALUING ECOSYSTEMS: PATHWAYS FOR SCALING UP THE INCLUSION OF ECOSYSTEM VALUE IN DECISION MAKING
The document argues that ecosystems are often managed for short-term gain because their non-marketed services—such as climate and water regulation—are treated as having no value. To address this, it outlines six pathways: mainstreaming ecosystem values in national economic accounts, improving local decision-making through an 'ecosystem service corps', scaling up natural infrastructure for water and coastal defense, increasing corporate investments in the food and beverage sector, using 'restoration bonds' for agricultural landscapes, and utilizing strategic communication following natural disasters to highlight community resilience.
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Document type: Policy brief
Roots of Prosperity
The report argues that while land restoration offers high economic returns—estimated at $7 to $30 for every dollar invested—it remains severely underfunded with an annual gap of approximately $300 billion. It identifies seven systemic barriers to investment, including the lack of market value for public benefits and long investment horizons. The authors recommend a cross-sectoral government approach, the use of carbon taxes to fund restoration, and the implementation of risk-mitigation tools like first-loss guarantees and tax credits to attract private capital. The document also provides a framework for economic valuation to make the full suite of ecosystem services visible to decision-makers.
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Document type: Report
The Economic Case for Landscape Restoration in Latin America
The report argues that large-scale landscape restoration in Latin America and the Caribbean is economically attractive, estimating a net present value of $23 billion over 50 years for the restoration of 20 million hectares. The analysis identifies agricultural productivity gains and carbon sequestration as the primary drivers of economic value, though results vary significantly by biome and degree of degradation. The study emphasizes that such efforts are critical for the region to achieve a low-carbon development path and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from land-use change.
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Document type: Report
NATURAL INFRASTRUCTURE
The document argues that integrating natural infrastructure—such as forests and wetlands—with built infrastructure can reduce water treatment costs and enhance water security. It provides a framework for 'green-gray analysis' to compare these options, discusses the scientific links between forest cover and water quality, and outlines various finance mechanisms and stakeholder engagement strategies to scale these efforts across the U.S.
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Document type: Guide
THE RESTORATION DIAGNOSTIC
The Restoration Diagnostic is a three-step guide developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) to increase the success rate of forest landscape restoration (FLR). By analyzing 16 historical case studies and peer-reviewed literature, WRI identified a suite of 'key success factors' categorized into three themes: motivation, enabling conditions, and implementation capacity. The diagnostic allows users to define a geographic scope, assess the status of these factors (in place, partly in place, or missing), and develop targeted strategies to close identified gaps. The tool is designed for mid-level managers in government, NGOs, and the private sector and serves as a component of the broader Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM).
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Document type: Guide
World Resources 2010 Framing Paper: Decision Making in a Changing Climate
The document identifies the systemic challenges of integrating climate change risks into policy, such as uncertainty, non-linear impacts, and temporal lags. It proposes a research framework for the World Resources 2010 report to identify the conditions and hurdles for creating decision-making processes that are responsive, proactive, flexible, durable, and robust. The methodology includes sectoral case studies, commissioned expert papers, and scenario exercises focusing on developing nations.
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Document type: Research paper
Vultures: Nature’s influencers
Vultures act as essential waste management specialists that maintain ecosystem sanitation and human health by consuming carrion and neutralizing pathogens like anthrax. In Zimbabwe, WWF and partners are collaring white-backed vultures to track movement patterns, monitor environmental health, and detect poaching activities. The document highlights the global decline of vulture populations and the specific biological traits of species such as the bone-eating bearded vulture.
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Document type: Fact sheet
6 ways rangers help people and wildlife thrive together
Rangers serve as critical intermediaries between human needs and the natural world by protecting habitats from illegal activity, supporting sustainable livelihoods, and acting as first responders for both people and animals. They contribute to evidence-based conservation through data collection on wildlife populations and conflict hotspots, and they foster community trust by managing human-wildlife conflict and providing education. Despite their essential role in maintaining ecosystem services and safety, rangers are often underfunded and face significant danger, with 147 deaths reported on duty this year.
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Document type: Fact sheet
3 things you can do to help your local pollinators
The guide outlines three primary actions to support bee populations: planting native wildflowers to provide a balanced diet, maintaining 'messy' areas of land to provide nesting habitats for solitary bees, and eliminating the use of systemic pesticides like neonicotinoids. It highlights that while honey bees are well-known, there are over 20,000 bee species globally, many of which are threatened by habitat loss, climate change, and agricultural chemicals.
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Document type: Guide
How loud is a lion’s roar? And 4 other lion facts
The document outlines five facts about lions, including their communication via loud roars, their social structure in prides, and the hunting role of females. It highlights the ecological importance of lions in preventing habitat degradation by controlling herbivore populations and notes that their range has shrunk to 8% of its former extent due to climate change and human land use.
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Document type: Fact sheet
What is the sixth mass extinction and what can we do about it?
The document asserts that Earth is experiencing a sixth mass extinction driven by human activities, specifically unsustainable land, water, and energy use, and climate change. It highlights that the current extinction rate is 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than natural rates, threatening essential ecological functions like climate stability and food production. To combat this, the text advocates for adhering to the Paris Agreement, the Kunming-Montreal Agreement, and the America the Beautiful initiative, alongside grassroots consumer and political pressure.
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Document type: Guide
5 myths about bees: The truth about these remarkable insects
The document dispels five myths about bees, emphasizing that while honey bees are well-known, they are a non-native domesticated species in North America and are not the only, nor necessarily the most efficient, pollinators. It highlights that over 20,000 bee species exist globally, with many native species in North America declining due to climate change, habitat loss, and pesticides. The text explains that bees are critical for ecosystem stability, as their extinction would lead to plant loss, soil erosion, and increased atmospheric carbon. It also details specific biological traits, such as 'buzz-pollination' used by bumble bees and the existence of stingless honey bees in regions like Australia and Mexico.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Road Impact Study on Ecosystem Services in RIMBA Ecosystem Corridors
The report investigates how the expansion of toll and national roads in the RIMBA Ecosystem Corridor (spanning Riau, Jambi, and West Sumatra) fragments wildlife habitats and degrades ecosystem services. It highlights the critical risk to Sumatran tigers and elephants, noting that road infrastructure acts as a driver for land-use change, including conversion to oil palm and rubber plantations. The study finds that while nature-based solutions like animal underpasses have been implemented, they are often insufficient or fail during rainy seasons. It predicts a decline in carbon storage and water reserves by 2030 and recommends strategic habitat corridors and improved governance of animal crossing facilities to mitigate extinction risks and environmental degradation.
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Document type: Executive summary
BUILDING BACK SAFER AND GREENER
The document outlines a 'build back safer and greener' framework for Nepal, focusing on minimizing environmental damage during post-disaster recovery. It provides sector-specific guidance on settlements, building construction, waste management, energy, infrastructure, WASH, agriculture, and education. Key strategies include the use of soil bioengineering for landslide stabilization, integrated settlement planning, and the promotion of renewable energy to reduce pressure on forests. The guide emphasizes cross-cutting issues such as gender equality, social inclusion (GESI), and climate change adaptation to enhance long-term community resilience.
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Document type: Guide
Key Barriers to Advancing Climate Change Adaptation through Nature-based Solutions: Challenges in Accessing Finance
The document identifies a significant funding gap for nature-based solutions (NbS), noting that current annual investments of USD 200 billion must increase to USD 542 billion by 2030 to meet global goals. Key barriers include a heavy reliance on public finance (over 80%), a lack of bankable models for ecosystem services, and a dearth of business cases for the private sector. To address these, the brief suggests blended finance to mitigate risk, innovative instruments like green and blue bonds, and the use of natural capital accounting to assign economic value to nature's benefits.
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Document type: Briefing
Key Barriers to Advancing Climate Change Adaptation through Nature-based Solutions
The document outlines four critical barriers to the adoption of nature-based solutions (NbS) for climate adaptation: lack of awareness, policy and governance gaps, knowledge and capacity deficits, and financial challenges. It argues that NbS, also known as Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), are underutilized despite their ability to reduce disaster risk and enhance resilience. To address these issues, WWF and partners are developing a global NbS platform to provide tailored technical assistance to governments, particularly in the Global South, to help them mainstream NbS into national strategies like NDCs and NAPs.
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Document type: Briefing
Key Barriers to Advancing Climate Change Adaptation through Nature-based Solutions: Awareness and Understanding
The document argues that Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are underutilized for climate change adaptation because policy makers and practitioners often perceive them only as biodiversity measures rather than critical tools for flood control, drought mitigation, and coastal protection. It identifies several barriers, including institutional silos, a lack of robust performance metrics, and the prioritization of familiar engineered solutions. To address these, the briefing recommends cross-sectoral communication, the use of participatory and inclusive approaches, and the integration of NbS into educational curricula. It highlights successful initiatives such as the Nature-based Solutions Initiative (NBSI) and specific projects in Grenada, Peru, and Sub-Saharan Africa as models for increasing awareness and mainstreaming NbS.
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Document type: Briefing
GUIDELINES FOR LINEAR INFRASTRUCTURE IN SNOW LEOPARD LANDSCAPES
The executive summary outlines guidelines for linear infrastructure—such as roads, railways, and power lines—in snow leopard habitats. It argues that such infrastructure causes habitat fragmentation and increases human-wildlife conflict, risks which are further exacerbated by climate change. The guidelines advocate for a mitigation hierarchy to avoid, manage, and reduce environmental impacts across a project's entire life cycle, emphasizing environmental sustainability, stakeholder engagement, and the restoration of fragile high-elevation landscapes.
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Document type: Executive summary
A Practical Guide for Business & Nature
The document argues that traditional sustainability practices are insufficient for managing the 'risk multiplier' effect of climate change. It advocates for a shift toward 'socio-ecological resilience,' where businesses protect the natural systems and communities they depend on to ensure long-term viability. WWF proposes a four-step methodology: assessing risk through a landscape lens, developing strategies for change using scenario planning, implementing nature-friendly local solutions, and employing adaptive management. Central to this approach are three principles: avoiding harm to nature, using nature to help people, and building resilience for nature itself.
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Document type: Guide