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This report by the World Resources Institute argues that current carbon credit systems systematically undervalue tropical forests by focusing exclusively on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and ignoring non-carbon biophysical effects that contribute to global cooling and climate stability.

This briefing by the World Resources Institute (WRI) argues that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) must account for the non-carbon biophysical effects of forests to effectively address climate stability. The authors explain how forests influence temperature and rainfall through albedo, evapotranspiration, surface roughness, and aerosols, noting that tropical deforestation contributes significantly more to global warming than carbon-only metrics suggest. The document proposes six specific pathways for UNFCCC Parties to integrate these biophysical impacts into national reporting, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), REDD+ finance, adaptation planning, the Global Stocktake, and the IPCC's 7th Assessment Report cycle.

This briefing by the World Resources Institute explains how forests influence the climate through non-carbon biophysical processes and argues that the UNFCCC should integrate these effects into its policies, reporting, and financing to better support climate mitigation and adaptation.

This briefing by the World Resources Institute (WRI) explains how forests influence climate stability through non-carbon biophysical processes and argues that the UNFCCC should integrate these effects into its policies. The document details four primary biophysical processes—albedo, evapotranspiration, surface roughness, and aerosols—and proposes six specific pathways for UNFCCC parties to account for these effects in national reports, NDCs, REDD+ financing, adaptation planning, the Global Stocktake, and IPCC assessment reports.

This executive summary, authored by Alice Gerow and Frances Seymour for the World Resources Institute, outlines the material risks that non-carbon biophysical effects of tropical deforestation pose to the private sector. It argues that while many companies focus on carbon emissions and reputational risks, the loss of forests directly threatens agricultural productivity and worker health through changes in local temperature and regional precipitation, thereby destabilizing global supply chains.

The WRI Results Framework is a strategic document that maps the organization's goals, intervention targets, and impact indicators across three primary human systems: food, land & water; energy; and cities. It establishes a hierarchy of results from global targets (by 2030) to WRI intervention targets (by 2027) and specific country-level targets, all designed to improve human well-being, protect nature, and tackle climate change.