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1,869 documents from World Resources Institute
Corporate Greenhouse Gas Inventories for the Agricultural Sector
The document assesses the application of the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard to the agricultural sector, identifying that while mechanical emissions are easy to track, non-mechanical sources like soils and livestock present significant accounting challenges due to variability and long timescales.
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Document type: Research paper
Keeping the Lights on in the State Laboratory
The document argues that for a federal cap-and-trade program in the United States to maintain state-level climate innovation, it must account for state-achieved emission reductions by retiring federal greenhouse gas emission allowances. Without this mechanism, state actions would simply free up allowances for use in other states, creating a 'leakage' effect that results in no net environmental benefit.
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Document type: Briefing
Transition’s Harvest: The Economics of Green Hydrogen Use for Fertilizer Production in Kenya
The report examines the viability of green fertilizer in Kenya, noting that it is currently about 20% more expensive than conventional options, largely due to high capital costs. It warns that without policy and financial interventions, these costs could negatively impact farmer productivity and livelihoods.
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Document type: Report
Mobilizing Private Investment in Climate Solutions: De-risking Strategies of Multilateral Development Banks
The paper examines the role of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) in bridging the climate investment gap in developing countries by utilizing de-risking strategies. It argues that MDBs can mobilize private capital by transferring risk at the portfolio level or sharing risk at the project level, specifically by managing political and regulatory risks. The analysis identifies barriers to scaling these efforts, such as insufficient data accessibility regarding credit history and default probabilities in emerging markets. Based on case studies including Room2Run and the Pacific Renewable Energy Program, the paper proposes four strategies for MDBs: expanding financial innovation, treating de-risking as a tool for sector-wide transformation, fostering internal institutional collaboration, and increasing data transparency to facilitate investor decision-making.
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Document type: Research paper
Dataset of U.S. School Bus Depots
The document details the creation of a dataset identifying 11,309 school bus depots in the U.S. using remote sensing and aerial imagery from the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP). The dataset is intended to support environmental justice analysis regarding air pollution hotspots in underserved communities, as well as electricity grid planning for school bus electrification and climate hazard risk assessment. Findings show that 51% of depots are located within 350 meters of a school, with North Carolina having the highest number of depots (841).
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Document type: Research paper
Urban Blue-Green Conundrum: A 10-City Study on the Impacts of Urbanization on Natural Infrastructure in India
The study analyzes the impact of urbanization on natural infrastructure in 10 major Indian cities from 2000 to 2015, finding significant increases in built-up areas and a corresponding loss of surface water and groundwater recharge potential. It advocates for an integrated urban blue-green approach to planning to mitigate risks like urban flooding and water scarcity.
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Document type: Research paper
Ending Tropical Deforestation: Jurisdictional Approaches to REDD+ and Low Emissions Development
The jurisdictional approach (JA) is defined as a government-led, comprehensive strategy for forest and land use within legally defined territories, typically implemented at state or provincial levels. Experience from over a decade of implementation in the tropics indicates that success depends on multi-stakeholder processes, cross-sectoral policies aligned with implementation capacity, and strong political leadership.
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Document type: Research paper
U.S.- China Clean Energy Collaboration: Lessons from the Advanced Coal Technology Consortium
The paper evaluates Phase I (2011–2015) of the CERC Advanced Coal Technology Consortium, noting that while it helped build mutual trust between the U.S. and China, administrative and technical differences across borders hinder effective cooperation. It recommends increasing private sector engagement, focusing on CCS demonstration projects, and consolidating resources to improve the performance of Phase II (2016–2020).
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Document type: Research paper
Consideration of Climate Change in World Bank Energy Sector Lending, 2000-2006
A review of World Bank energy sector lending documents from 2000 to 2006 found a lack of systematic integration of climate change issues, specifically regarding GHG emissions, alternative low-emission approaches, incremental costs, and climate-related indicators.
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Document type: Report
The U.S. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets
The United States proposed greenhouse gas reduction targets of 17% by 2020 and 26-28% by 2025 relative to 2005 levels. WRI analysis suggests these targets are achievable through the aggressive implementation of federal and state policies, including President Obama's Climate Action Plan. However, further significant action is required to align the U.S. trajectory with a 2°C long-term goal.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Accelerating Building Decarbonization: Eight Attainable Policy Pathways to Net Zero Carbon Buildings For All
The document argues that zero carbon buildings (ZCBs) are attainable globally through various policy pathways focused on operational carbon emissions. It emphasizes the leadership role of cities and suggests that ZCB goals are more achievable when definitions expand beyond individual building boundaries to include off-site clean energy or portfolio-wide considerations. The research utilizes policy reviews and stakeholder consultations from India, China, Mexico, and Kenya to demonstrate that feasible ZCB pathways exist across diverse national and subnational policy contexts.
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Document type: Research paper
Our Ocean Conference Commitment Implementation Progress Update: 2025 – 2026
The report tracks the status of 2,900 commitments from the Our Ocean Conference, noting that as of May 2026, 41% are complete and 41% are in progress. While $26.5 billion has been delivered through completed commitments, the paper argues that implementation urgency must increase to meet 2030 global ocean conservation goals, specifically highlighting the need to address gaps in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
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Document type: Research paper
Technical Note: Climate Finance Calculator - Data and Methodology
The World Resources Institute (WRI) has developed the Climate Finance Calculator to help users determine indicative minimum climate finance contributions for countries based on their historical emissions and economic status. The tool is intended to inform UNFCCC negotiations, including the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and the loss and damage fund. This comes amid a widening global finance gap; Climate Policy Initiative data indicates annual climate finance needs will rise from $8.1 trillion to $9 trillion by 2030, and exceed $10 trillion annually between 2031 and 2050, significantly surpassing the $1.3 trillion annual flows recorded between 2021 and 2022.
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Document type: Research paper
Environmental Messages Promote Plant-Based Food Choices: An Online Restaurant Menu Study
The study demonstrates that specific environmental messaging on restaurant menus can double the likelihood of customers choosing vegetarian items, suggesting a cost-effective method for food businesses to reduce emissions by shifting consumer diets.
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Document type: Research paper
Mainstreaming Climate Change Considerations at the Multilateral Development Banks
The brief finds that over 80 percent of World Bank energy sector lending in the last five years ignored climate change. It recommends that the World Bank and other multilateral development banks revise strategy guidelines, develop a GHG accounting framework, and initiate sector-level emission reduction pilots.
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Document type: Policy brief
Our Journey with the City: Deciphering WRI India Ross Center’s Influence in Bengaluru
The document assesses WRI India Ross Center's role as a change agent in Bengaluru since 2010, focusing on its transition from mobility to broader urban development, energy, water, and climate resilience. It identifies a data-led approach and sustained physical presence as key success factors, while noting that governance complexities and short funding timeframes present significant challenges.
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Document type: Research paper
The UK Fast-Start Finance Contribution
The UK committed GBP 1.06 billion in Fast-Start Finance (FSF) as of November 2011, primarily through multilateral institutions and the Climate Investment Funds. While the UK has increased climate-targeted international finance and adopted transparency standards like the International Aid Transparency Initiative, the report questions whether the FSF contribution is truly "new and additional" and notes a gap between transparency commitments and the actual public availability of project business cases.
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Document type: Report
Examples of How BESCOM’s Net-Metering Program Works
The document details the net-metering tariffs for rooftop solar PV systems under BESCOM, distinguishing between subsidized and non-subsidized systems and noting a rate change for systems smaller than 10kW commissioned after May 2, 2016.
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Document type: Guide
Implementing Open Data Strategies for Climate Action: Suggestions And Lessons Learned for Government and Civil Society Stakeholders
The document argues that open data—datasets freely available for use and redistribution—is essential for a coordinated, whole-of-society response to climate change. It identifies five primary benefits of open data: improved data coordination and quality, more informed decision-making, the creation of novel partnerships, the democratization of climate modeling, and enhanced monitoring of policies and programs. The paper draws on a literature review, expert consultations, and pilot projects in Chile and Uruguay (conducted between August 2019 and August 2020) to provide a methodology for stakeholders to assess and improve the openness of climate-relevant datasets.
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Document type: Research paper
Federalism in the Greenhouse
The document examines the tension between state-led and federal-led climate legislation, proposing a hybrid model for a federal cap-and-trade program. It argues that explicitly providing a mechanism for state action in federal law is necessary to maintain incentives for state-level innovation and emissions reductions while avoiding the business challenges associated with fragmented state-by-state regulation.
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Document type: Policy brief