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The WRI Europe Strategy (2023-2027) positions the Europe office as a strategic hub to accelerate the global energy and nature transition. It focuses on three primary roles: driving positive change through leadership in sectors like food and energy efficiency, reducing Europe's own ecological footprint as a consumer, and acting as a partner for funding and knowledge. Key priorities include implementing the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), reducing the carbon footprint of meals via the Coolfood initiative, and developing a Distributional Impact Assessment Tool to ensure equitable transitions. The strategy also emphasizes leveraging Europe's circular economy leadership to improve mineral recycling for the clean energy transition and supporting sustainable ocean management through the Ocean Panel.

WRI's 2023-2027 Strategic Plan shifts the organization from a focus on commitments to delivering tangible impact on the ground. The strategy centers on three interconnected global goals: improving human well-being (People), protecting ecosystem health (Nature), and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C (Climate). To achieve these, WRI targets transitions in three 'Human-Centered Systems'—food, land and water; energy; and cities—supported by shifts in 'Enabling Systems' including economics, finance, and governance. The plan prioritizes 12 focus countries and a network of 25 priority cities, utilizing a new results framework based on theories of change to measure progress toward 2027 and 2030 targets.

The 2023 Year in Review for the Corporate Consultative Group (CCG) outlines how WRI partners with the private sector to accelerate the energy transition and protect nature. The report details member benefits such as 'Tailored Advice' and 'MindShare' events, while aligning corporate engagement with WRI's 2023–2027 Strategic Plan. It highlights specific goals for decarbonizing energy, halting deforestation, and shifting finance, noting that CCG members provide critical unrestricted funds and practical input to ensure WRI's research is fit for corporate application.

The report highlights that community-held lands, covering approximately 50% of the world's land, often exhibit higher species richness and lower deforestation rates than state-managed protected areas (PAs). It argues that tenure security is fundamental to these positive outcomes, citing significant reductions in forest clearing in the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazons following land titling. Despite this, the document notes a severe funding gap, with only a small fraction of global biodiversity finance reaching community organizations. It also warns that 'fortress conservation' has led to mass evictions and human rights violations, calling for a shift toward rights-based conservation and the use of Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) to meet global targets like the 30x30 goal.

WRI Brasil's 2023–2027 strategy focuses on transforming cities and food, land, and water systems to reduce inequality and protect ecosystems. Key goals include achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, expanding green urban infrastructure, and promoting a 'bioeconomy' in the Amazon. The strategy emphasizes a 'count it, change it, scale it' approach, leveraging research and partnerships to implement nature-based climate solutions and sustainable agriculture.

Fundación WRI Colombia submitted a request for its 2023 special tax regime update, reporting its mission to protect the environment and sustain natural resources. The entity reported receiving 3,749,179,091 pesos in donations and spending 765,537,756 pesos on salary payments to governing bodies.

The WRI 2023-2027 Strategic Plan aims to facilitate a 'great transition' by addressing the systemic links between human needs, ecosystem health, and climate stability. The strategy focuses on transforming three primary human systems—food, land and water; energy; and cities—while reforming the underlying economic, financial, and governance 'enabling systems.' WRI intends to implement these strategies through global initiatives and deep engagement in 12 focus countries, utilizing evidence-based theories of change and multi-year flexible funding to achieve measurable impact aligned with international targets like the Paris Agreement.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) have provided unprecedented funding for both technological and natural carbon dioxide removal (CDR) in the U.S. The BIL focuses on infrastructure, including $3.5 billion for four regional Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hubs and billions for CO2 transport and storage. The IRA enhances these efforts through an expanded 45Q tax credit, offering up to $180/tCO2 for geologically sequestered DAC, and allocates billions for climate-smart agriculture and forestry, such as $8.45 billion for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Together, these laws support the full lifecycle of carbon capture and ecosystem restoration to help the U.S. reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

The 'Todos al Parque' program in Barranquilla, Colombia, has transformed 258 public spaces since 2011, focusing on the city's most deprived neighborhoods through a co-design process with residents. By increasing green space from 0.86m² to a level where 93% of households are within an 8-minute walk of a park, the initiative has reduced crime, improved public health, and increased tax compliance. The program's success led to the creation of a regional network of 'biodivercities' involving eight Latin American cities and inspired a similar state-level program in the Atlántico Department.

Uruguay employs a sectoral and regional approach to climate adaptation, coordinated by the National Climate Change Response System (SNRCC). The country has implemented sectoral National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) for agriculture, cities and infrastructure, and coastal areas, with additional plans for public health and energy under development. A key priority is reducing vulnerability in coastal zones, where 70% of the population resides, through high-resolution risk mapping and projects like the Adaptation Fund-supported disaster risk reduction in the Uruguay River watershed. The government is currently developing a GIS mapping system to track over 481 climate adaptation projects and an information system to monitor NDC progress using indicators such as gender sensitivity.

In 2021, MDB climate finance to developing countries reached a record $58.9 billion (UNFCCC definition), hitting a collective 2025 target of $50 billion four years early. However, the report highlights significant failures: private sector co-financing rates fell to 25 cents per dollar of public finance, and the share of funding for the most vulnerable countries (SIDS and LDCs) dropped to 19% from 22% in 2020. Additionally, MDBs provided $4.6 billion in fossil fuel financing in 2021, including a $4.5 billion loan for oil and LNG imports from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan. The author urges MDBs to increase adaptation finance, which reached $17.6 billion but remains far below estimated annual costs of $70 billion, and calls for independent verification of self-reported data to improve transparency.

The document outlines how U.S. local governments can use aggregated procurement—forming buyers' groups to pool demand—to lower costs and accelerate clean energy deployment. It identifies key benefits such as economies of scale and shared expertise, while noting barriers like lack of staff expertise and complex legal requirements. The guide provides five strategies for success, including appointing dedicated project managers and targeting a minimum aggregated demand of 20MW for optimal pricing, and suggests ways to integrate equity and community benefits into these contracts.

The document outlines the shift from static school bus business models to new arrangements necessitated by the different cost structures of electric school buses (ESBs). While ESBs have higher upfront capital costs, they offer lower operating costs and a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) over time, with TCO parity with diesel buses projected by 2029. The guide identifies six key roles in the ESB ecosystem—bus owner, charger owner, bus operator, bus maintenance provider, energy/fuel manager, and electricity customer—and provides examples of various business models, including Charging-as-a-Service and Transportation-as-a-Service, implemented by districts in California, Quebec, Virginia, Illinois, and Maryland.

The report argues that current climate finance is woefully inadequate to meet Paris Agreement goals, with developing countries alone requiring $4.3 trillion for 2030 commitments. It outlines a three-stage framework—planning, implementation, and monitoring—and details a variety of fiscal and policy instruments to align public spending, increase public funding, and mobilize private capital.

The report evaluates seven ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies: coastal blue carbon restoration, seaweed cultivation, ocean fertilization, artificial upwelling, alkalinity enhancement, electrochemical techniques, and artificial downwelling. It finds that most of these methods are in early development with significant scientific gaps and environmental risks. The authors argue that current international legal frameworks, such as UNCLOS and the CBD, are insufficient to proactively regulate these technologies. To address this, the report recommends increasing funding for collaborative research, establishing an international code of conduct for at-sea trials, and developing a comprehensive global governance regime to manage transboundary impacts and ensure equitable benefit sharing.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 represents the largest congressional action to date on climate change, allocating nearly $370 billion toward disadvantaged communities and clean energy. It introduces technology-neutral tax credits starting in 2025, a 10-year runway for energy incentives, and significant funding for domestic manufacturing of solar, wind, and batteries. Rhodium Group modeling suggests the IRA could increase U.S. greenhouse gas reductions to 31%-44% by 2030, potentially meeting the U.S. nationally determined contribution when combined with other agency and local actions. The law also establishes the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and provides incentives for electric vehicle adoption, though domestic content requirements may affect the scale of EV growth.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) scheduled a press call for November 1, 2022, to preview key themes for COP27. The event aimed to outline how world leaders can make progress on adaptation finance, loss and damage financial arrangements, and accountability for climate and nature commitments, while addressing food, water, and energy crises in vulnerable regions.

One year after COP26, progress on climate pledges is described as "mixed at best," with some advancements in renewable energy and net-zero targets countered by a resurgence in fossil fuel reliance due to the Russia-Ukraine war. While 24 countries updated their emissions targets and renewable capacity reached new heights, global fossil fuel subsidies nearly doubled in 2021. Financial commitments remain unmet, with developed nations still $17 billion short of the $100 billion annual goal for 2020. Efforts to curb methane and deforestation have seen expanded participation, but accountability for city-level net-zero pledges remains low due to a lack of reported emissions data.

WRI identifies six critical objectives for COP27: establishing a loss and damage financing mechanism, scaling adaptation support, strengthening national emissions targets (NDCs), ensuring the $100 billion climate finance goal is met, advancing the Global Stocktake, and converting previous Glasgow commitments into tangible actions.

The paper examines how multilateral development banks (MDBs) use policy-based operations (PBOs)—unearmarked budget support provided in exchange for policy reforms—and finds that current risk screening is insufficient to prevent these operations from undermining climate goals. Through an analysis of 126 PBOs and six case studies, the authors argue that policy actions can create path dependence in fossil-fuel-reliant activities and delay urgent climate spending. The document recommends that MDBs integrate long-term climate risks into macro-fiscal assessments, include at least one climate results indicator in every PBO, and provide more concessional finance, such as grants, to support ambitious climate action in vulnerable countries.