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The Land Accelerator South Asia program, launched by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in 2020, supports entrepreneurs developing business models to restore degraded lands. The 2021 cohort grew to 58 entrepreneurs, with women's participation increasing from 13% in 2020 to 31% in 2021. The program provides mentorship, grants, and connections to impact investors to scale solutions in sustainable agriculture, agroforestry, and agritech. This booklet highlights eleven specific startups, detailing their technological solutions—such as AI-based weeding robots, drone-based precision agriculture, and bio-economic waste conversion—and their reported socio-economic and environmental impacts, including increased farmer incomes and carbon sequestration.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) reported total revenue of $193,968,394 and total expenses of $183,476,237 for the 2021 tax year. The organization operates several global programs focused on food, forests, water, ocean, cities, climate, and energy, with significant grantmaking and operational activities across North America, South America, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and Africa.

The report argues that a significant 'urban services divide' exists in the global South, where over 1.2 billion people lack reliable access to housing, water, sanitation, energy, and transport. This divide creates a cycle of poverty and environmental degradation. To break this cycle, the authors propose seven transformations: prioritizing the vulnerable in infrastructure design, partnering with alternative service providers, improving local data through community engagement, supporting informal workers, innovating financing and subsidies, promoting transparent land management, and creating diverse governance coalitions. The report emphasizes that these shifts can yield cascading economic and environmental benefits, including reduced GHG emissions and improved public health.

The document argues that while renewable energy technology is cost-competitive, private investment is hindered by inadequate policy frameworks, community opposition, and outdated grid infrastructure. It recommends that governments establish binding long-term targets, streamline permitting through inclusive planning, and invest in grid flexibility and storage to unlock the $131 trillion needed by 2050 for a clean energy transition.

The World Resources Institute supports the Storing CO2 and Lowering Emissions (SCALE) Act, which aims to reduce obstacles to CO2 infrastructure by funding transport, geological storage, and permitting. The act would establish a testing center for utilizing captured CO2 in products and provide funds for low-carbon procurement. According to the statement, the deployment of carbon capture and storage plants necessary for climate goals could create more than 61,000 American jobs by 2035.

The World Resources Institute acknowledges a growing momentum toward net-zero transformations following the Climate Ambition Summit, noting new targets from the EU, UK, Colombia, and China. However, it emphasizes that too few major economies provided bold 2030 emission cuts or the financial mobilization necessary for developing nations, specifically noting the failure of developed countries to provide clear signals on meeting the $100 billion annual climate finance commitment.

The briefing outlines four priority areas for climate negotiations leading up to COP26: finalizing the Paris Agreement rulebook (specifically common timeframes for NDCs, transparency frameworks, and Article 6 carbon markets), establishing metrics for adaptation and loss and damage, addressing the shortfall in public climate finance for developing nations, and bridging implementation gaps for the 'decade of ambition'. It highlights the role of the 2020 Climate Dialogues in maintaining momentum and warns that a lack of public funding and transparency from developed nations threatens trust and the success of future negotiations.

The document argues that while many countries have submitted long-term climate strategies, a formal decision at COP26 is necessary to provide a new timeframe for submissions, encourage regular updates, and align these strategies with short-term Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). It outlines six functions for such a decision, including welcoming existing strategies and facilitating continuous improvement based on science and national developments. The author emphasizes that long-term strategies are critical for guiding structural economic shifts, sparking innovation, and ensuring a just transition for workforces.

The World Resources Institute expresses support for President-elect Joe Biden's foreign policy nominees, specifically highlighting the appointment of John Kerry as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and the decision to elevate that role to the National Security Council. The statement asserts that the selected team, including Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan, will prioritize science-based diplomatic strategies and multilateral cooperation to address climate change as a national security and humanitarian threat.

The briefing argues that the Biden administration can reclaim U.S. climate leadership by submitting a robust national climate commitment (NDC) of 45-50% emissions reductions by 2030, increasing financial support for developing countries through the Green Climate Fund and other mechanisms, and integrating climate change as a core foreign policy issue through strategic bilateral and multilateral diplomacy.

The World Resources Institute outlines ten priorities for President Biden to address the climate crisis, centered on the principles of inclusive prosperity, focusing on carbon-heavy sectors, and supporting subnational action. Key recommendations include committing to a 45-50% emissions reduction by 2030, passing a $2 trillion climate-smart stimulus package, and phasing out new passenger vehicle sales of polluting cars by 2035. The plan emphasizes a 'whole-of-government' approach combining standards, investments, carbon pricing, and environmental justice to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

The policy brief argues that the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the critical link between ecosystem health and human health, asserting that ecological degradation and wildlife trade are root causes of zoonotic spillover. It proposes a five-part framework for policymakers: halting ecosystem loss, reforming livestock production, regulating commercial wildlife trade, safeguarding existing conservation investments, and implementing cross-cutting 'nature-positive' economic recovery strategies. The authors emphasize that protecting nature is a cost-effective tool for both public health and financial recovery, potentially creating millions of jobs by 2030.

The document argues that the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the critical link between ecosystem health and human health, urging a recovery strategy that prioritizes the protection and restoration of nature to mitigate the risk of future zoonotic diseases.

The document argues that the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the critical link between ecosystem health and human health, urging policymakers to adopt nature-based solutions for both pandemic prevention and economic recovery. It recommends ending ecosystem degradation, reforming livestock production, regulating wildlife trade, and ensuring that economic stimulus packages include green conditionalities to avoid further environmental damage.

The paper evaluates the 2008–09 green stimulus, finding that while it supported GDP and job creation in economies like the US, China, South Korea, and the EU, it failed to create a long-term low-carbon trajectory due to a lack of structural reforms and the persistence of fossil fuel subsidies.

The document examines the critical interdependencies between water, energy, and food security, illustrating how failures in one sector trigger crises in others. Using case studies from India, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, and Pakistan, it demonstrates how climate-driven droughts and poor governance exacerbate resource scarcity and political instability. The author advocates for a systemic shift in international aid, moving away from siloed management toward a nexus approach based on three pillars: enhanced knowledge through data, strengthened institutional governance, and cross-sectoral regional cooperation.

The World Bank has significantly increased its use of development policy finance (DPF) to provide fast budget support to countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. While many of these loans contain prior actions with positive environmental co-benefits, few have climate change as their overarching objective. The author argues that the Bank must update its outdated 2004/2008 guidance for assessing environmental impacts, improve the reporting of negative effects, and actively promote climate-focused policy reforms to ensure long-term sustainable recovery.

The document examines the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and urban inequality, proposing six priority solutions to build climate-resilient and equitable cities. It highlights how the pandemic exposed systemic vulnerabilities, particularly for the urban poor in informal settlements, and argues that adaptation investments offer high benefit-cost ratios (2:1 to 10:1) and local job creation. Proposed solutions include upgrading poor settlements, building water resilience, advancing nature-based solutions, creating knowledge networks, enhancing devolved funding, and fostering peer-to-peer city collaboration.

The guide outlines a framework for land restoration consisting of understanding the land's state through social and physical mapping, setting inclusive goals, and establishing tracking systems. It emphasizes that restoration must integrate local expertise and marginalized voices to avoid pitfalls such as planting trees in incorrect locations or violating land rights. Case studies from Kenya, India, Ethiopia, and El Salvador illustrate how data-driven planning and community engagement can maximize carbon sequestration, water quality, and economic benefits.

The document examines the vulnerability of coffee farming in Coto Brus, Costa Rica, where climate change threatens arabica coffee production. It highlights the role of farmer cooperatives, peer-to-peer learning, and cross-sectoral alliances in scaling adaptation. The brief provides six recommendations, including diversifying incomes through alternative crops like vanilla and cacao, and establishing monitoring baselines for adaptation measures. It also notes similar regional efforts in Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico.