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1,869 documents from World Resources Institute
Corporate GPM Guide 6
The document outlines three specific green power products for corporate users: nationally sourced RECs, long-term fixed-price green power, and green contracts for differences (CFD). It examines these products within the U.S. market—covering both regulated and deregulated states—and assesses their use in Canada and Mexico.
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Document type: Guide
Understanding Future Projections
The document details the technical framework of Aqueduct's future projections, which utilize the HYPFLOWSCI6 dataset and five General Circulation Models (GCMs) to estimate water supply, use, stress, depletion, and variability. It describes three socioeconomic and climate scenarios (SSP1-RCP2.6, SSP3-RCP7.0, and SSP5-RCP8.5) with temperature projections ranging from 1.3°C to 5.7°C by 2100. The guide emphasizes that these scenarios represent different development pathways rather than simple best- or worst-case outcomes, noting that higher economic activity in optimistic scenarios can actually increase water stress. Technical processing includes spatial aggregation at the HydroBASINS Level 6 sub-basin level and temporal aggregation using 10-year trailing moving averages for the years 2030, 2050, and 2080. Limitations are noted regarding irrigation data (projected only to 2050) and livestock water demand (held constant after 2014).
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Document type: Guide
Counting the Cash
The document examines the critical role of financial support for developing countries in the post-2012 climate regime, focusing on the measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of these funds. It specifically addresses two core challenges: defining which types of financial contributions from developed countries qualify as climate finance and establishing a framework to track these contributions to ensure the success of international negotiations.
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Document type: Research paper
Unpacking Green Targets: A Framework for Interpreting Private Sector Banks’ Sustainable Finance Commitments
The document addresses the difficulty of comparing private sector banks' sustainable finance commitments due to wide variations in structure and limited transparency. It proposes a technical framework to standardize the interpretation of these commitments by focusing on design, accountability, transparency, and the banks' portfolio contexts to enable better comparison between different institutions.
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Document type: Briefing
Bridging the Information Gap
The briefing addresses the challenge of illegal logging in Indonesia, noting that deforestation rates rose from 0.2 million hectares in 2000/2001 to 1.2 million hectares in 2004/2005. It highlights a significant information gap, where data on forest cover, concession boundaries, and timber sources are scattered or outdated. To combat this, the World Resources Institute introduces a matrix designed to guide stakeholders in using existing data to monitor the physical status of forests, the logging sector, and the milling sector, building on a 2006 gap analysis conducted under the East Asia and Pacific Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (EAP-FLEG) initiative.
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Document type: Briefing
Enhancing Climate Finance Access for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities: Insights From Payments for Ecosystem Services
The report reviews 129 PES programs across 36 countries to assess how Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPs and LCs) benefit from and are excluded from these mechanisms. While PES can help preserve ecosystems and strengthen land rights, many IPs and LCs face systemic barriers, including lack of formal land tenure and top-down governance. The report argues that direct payments often fail to compensate efforts fairly, with some payments as low as US$0.33 per household annually. It proposes a multi-tiered strategy involving rights recognition, co-creation in program design, and long-term legal reforms to improve financial flows and leadership for IPs and LCs.
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Document type: Report
Repurposing Agricultural Subsidies to Restore Degraded Farmland and Grow Rural Prosperity
The report advocates for the reinvestment of global agricultural subsidies—which have grown to $619 billion annually—into land restoration practices such as agroforestry and silvopasture. It argues that current subsidy misallocation drives deforestation and ecosystem degradation, threatening the ability to feed a projected global population of 10 billion by 2050. By shifting these funds, governments can achieve returns of $7-30 for every $1 invested, supporting the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030).
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Document type: Report
Supply and Demand Scenarios for Tamil Nadu’s Electricity Mix to 2030: Implications for the State’s Energy Transition
The paper presents 12 combinations of three demand and four supply scenarios to help Tamil Nadu plan its energy mix through 2030-31, emphasizing the need for storage integration in ambitious renewable pathways and careful power purchase planning given the financial state of TANGEDCO.
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Document type: Research paper
Water Stress Analysis and Recommendations for Water Resources Management in Ningxia
The report identifies Ningxia as one of China's most water-stressed regions, noting that an industrial structure dominated by energy production creates a high burden due to high water consumption. It recommends improving agricultural water efficiency, integrating water resources as a restrictive factor in coal industry planning, establishing water right trading mechanisms, raising water prices and fees, and creating ecological compensation systems for mine exploitation.
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Document type: Report
A Seven-Country Assessment of National Capacities to Track Forest Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Removal
The document outlines technical requirements for improving forest carbon monitoring in Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Thailand, emphasizing the need for more frequent data updates, consistent methods, and better spatial resolution to evaluate the effectiveness of national forest policies.
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Document type: Briefing
Bridging the Gap Between Energy and Climate Policies in Brazil
The report argues that Brazil must expand its climate mitigation efforts beyond forestry to include the energy sector, as emissions from energy and land use change are now roughly equal. It identifies the transport, industry, and power-generation sectors as the primary areas for abatement, specifically suggesting the expansion of wind and solar energy and the electrification and hybridization of the transport fleet.
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Document type: Report
Faces of Restoration Patrick Assumpção: Using Agroforestry to Restore Paraíba Valley to Glory
Patrick Assumpção is implementing agroforestry systems in the Paraíba Valley, Brazil, to reverse centuries of soil degradation caused by unsustainable agriculture. By combining native hardwoods like guanandi with food crops and unconventional food plants (PANCs), he aims to restore 40,000 hectares of land. Supported by a 2018 study using the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM), the initiative suggests that full restoration could increase the region's agricultural GDP by 32% and reduce soil erosion by 19%. To ensure economic viability, Assumpção is developing markets for these sustainable products by partnering with chefs and processing perishable native fruits into value-added goods.
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Document type: Case study
Insights from the Field: Forests for Species and Habitat
The document describes a market-based 'pre-compliance conservation' pilot initiative targeting the gopher tortoise in the southern United States. This voluntary marketplace allows landowners to receive payments for managing forests to support the species, while project developers can buy conservation credits to mitigate habitat disturbance and reduce regulatory risks associated with the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
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Document type: Policy brief
From Doing Better to Doing Enough: Anchoring Corporate Sustainability Targets in Science
The document argues that corporate environmental targets often focus on feasibility or competitiveness rather than ecological necessity. Drawing on work conducted with Mars Incorporated in 2016, it discusses the considerations managers must address when setting science-based targets for their impact on climate, land, and water to preserve resources for future generations.
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Document type: Research paper
Rethinking Biofuels in the US Midwest
The research finds that first-generation biofuels in the US Midwest result in a disproportionate use of land and resources, with 30–40% of U.S. corn producing only 6% of national transportation energy. The document argues that these fuels drive land use change, increase global greenhouse gas emissions, and cause water degradation, while economic benefits remain concentrated among a small group of stakeholders. It warns that expanding these fuels for aviation could intensify these burdens and undermine long-term climate resilience and equity in Midwestern agriculture.
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Document type: Research paper
Banking Beyond Climate Commitments: Transforming Client Engagement and Products & Services for a Net-Zero Emissions Future
The paper examines the transition of private sector banks toward net-zero emissions, emphasizing the need to move beyond high-level commitments to operational changes in client engagement and product design. It identifies five critical elements for a Paris-aligned strategy: GHG data management, emissions targets, client benchmarking, clear engagement policies, and the training of relationship managers. The document notes that while momentum is growing through initiatives like the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, many banks are only in the early stages of integrating Paris alignment into their core business strategies.
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Document type: Research paper
Bottom Line on GHG Emissions Registries
The document defines GHG emissions registries as databases for tracking emissions from individual emitters, distinguishing them from top-down national inventories. It details the legal mandate for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop a national registry by mid-2008, funded by a December 2007 appropriations bill. The text outlines the role of registries in cap-and-trade programs—specifically for ensuring compliance and market efficiency—and describes the technical requirements for data collection, quantification, and verification to ensure consistency and transparency.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Emissions and Environmental Surveys With Faith Actors: A Pilot Project With the Episcopal Church in the Philippines
The document details a pilot project involving the Episcopal Church in the Philippines (ECP) to measure GHG emissions across various assets. The survey categorized assets into five types—including churches and schools—and analyzed emissions from energy, water, waste, and refrigerants. Findings revealed that schools have the highest per-individual-asset emissions (153.78t), primarily from refrigerants, while churches have the lowest (6.31t), primarily from energy. The ECP intends to repeat the survey annually to track emission reduction targets. The paper also offers a step-by-step guide for other faith actors to adapt the model, recommending the use of asset inventories, internal communications, and coordinator training.
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Document type: Research paper
Implementation Strategies for Renewable Energy Services in Low-Income, Rural Areas
The document outlines four common business strategies employed by 25 socially oriented energy enterprises, organizations, and financiers to expand renewable energy access for underserved rural populations in developing countries. These strategies include understanding consumer needs and payment capacities, demonstrating technology value, building consumer trust, and designing flexible financing schemes. The brief asserts that while scaling obstacles remain, these delivery and financing mechanisms can enable low-income consumers to access cleaner energy services.
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Document type: Briefing
Aqueduct Global Maps 2.1: Constructing Decision-Relevant Global Water Risk Indicators
The document describes the construction of the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, which uses a composite index approach to map 12 water-risk indicators globally. Six indicators were generated using a combination of time series estimators, spatial regression, and a sparse hydrological model, while the other six were adapted from existing publications. The authors note that model accuracy is primarily constrained by the lack of public data on major infrastructure, in-situ water quality, and river gauge measurements, and that overall index scores cannot be validated due to a lack of public datasets on water-related losses.
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Document type: Research paper