Search Climate Insights Directory

This technical note describes the methodology of a model developed by the World Resources Institute and the Compact of Mayors to estimate the collective greenhouse gas emission trajectories and impacts of participating cities.

This research paper presents a new method, co-developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), to quantify physical climate risks for power generation portfolios. The method utilizes machine-learning techniques and climate science to estimate electricity generation losses across different climate scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5), specifically pilot-testing the approach on EBRD's thermal and hydropower assets.

This research paper, part of the World Resources Report 2013-14 series, analyzes the economic and environmental impacts of global food loss and waste and proposes that halving these losses by 2050 could significantly bridge the gap in future global food requirements.

This briefing from the World Resources Institute outlines various policy tools for driving investment in renewable energy, matching specific instruments to the commercial maturity of the technology, from early-stage R&D to mature deployment.

This technical paper describes the methodology and updates for Version 2.0 of the Spatial Database of Planted Trees (SDPT), which aims to distinguish planted forests and tree crops from natural and seminatural forests globally to improve timber legality screening and carbon sequestration mapping.

This report provides a pilot analysis of global grassland ecosystems, evaluating their condition based on the capacity to provide essential goods and services. While current goods and services are rated as good to fair, the report warns of a decline in the overall capacity of these ecosystems to sustain human, plant, and animal life due to degradation, urbanization, and biodiversity loss.

This working paper by the Project for Advancing Climate Transparency (PACT) consortium maps the connections between the Paris Agreement's enhanced transparency framework and its other provisions to assist negotiators in developing the Agreement's 'rule book'.

This research paper by the World Resources Institute establishes the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions baseline and the 2030 reduction target for the Cool Food initiative, a global group of dining facilities.

This technical note describes the development of the China-specific baseline water stress indicator (BWS-China) by the World Resources Institute (WRI). BWS-China integrates prefecture-level water withdrawal data for over 300 cities into the Aqueduct global baseline water stress indicator to provide more granular and geographically specific results than aggregated country-level statistics.

This World Resources Institute working paper analyzes ninety-three intergovernmental climate change mitigation initiatives, finding that while overall participation seems broad, representation from the Global South is critically low in key sectors. The landscape is dominated by developed countries and the top ten emitters per sector, which limits the Global South's access to capacity-building and information sharing.

This report by the World Resources Institute examines dietary trends in China and proposes a behavioral science framework to increase adoption of the 2022 Chinese Dietary Guidelines to improve health, food security, and environmental sustainability.

This working paper from the World Resources Institute proposes a new expectations-based framework to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of government-led cooperative climate initiatives, addressing a gap in formalized transparency and accountability mechanisms.

This report by the World Resources Institute analyzes the availability of verifiable lower-emissions beef in the U.S. and Europe, providing guidance for food buyers in the hospitality and catering sectors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while balancing animal welfare and sustainability goals.

This case study examines the water-energy nexus in Qingdao, analyzing how different water source selections—ranging from local surface water to seawater desalination—impact the energy consumption and carbon emissions of the municipal water supply system.

The World Resources 1990-91 report provides economic, population, and natural resource data for 146 countries, featuring a specific focus on global climate change and environmental issues in Latin America.

The Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems (PAGE) reports that nearly 30% of global coastal land area has been altered or destroyed by human demand. Increasing coastal populations, rising nutrient pollution, overfishing, and the effects of global climate change—including rising sea levels and warmer oceans—threaten the capacity of these ecosystems to provide essential services such as food, biodiversity, and shoreline stabilization.

This report introduces an updated geospatial database for clean energy solution providers in Tanzania, delivered via the Energy Access Explorer (EAE) software. The publication demonstrates how standardized, open-access data and multi-criteria analysis (MCA) can be used to identify market expansion opportunities and target investments for mini-grids and other off-grid energy solutions in rural and last-mile communities.

This research paper by the World Resources Institute analyzes Japan's revised 2020 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target, known as the "Warsaw Target," in the context of the post-Fukushima energy policy shift. The paper evaluates the target's ambition compared to previous pledges, the current policy landscape, and the likelihood of achieving the goal through electricity-saving efforts and existing mitigation policies.

This research paper examines the barriers to impact investing in new mobility enterprises using case studies from Kampala, Uganda, and Hyderabad, India. It identifies key challenges such as regulatory risks, entrenched stakeholders, and the difficulty of measuring impact due to the sector's indirect links to other social and environmental goals. The paper argues that success requires stakeholders to understand market barriers and commit to supportive partnerships.

This research paper by the World Resources Institute provides guidance for city decision-makers on the financial mechanisms, procurement strategies, and business models required to implement electric and hybrid-electric bus fleets, noting that while capital costs are higher than conventional buses, total cost of ownership can be competitive.