Search Climate Insights Directory

The Executive Guide to Carbon Pricing Leadership provides a framework for corporate leaders conducting due diligence on internal carbon pricing and government policy advocacy.

This World Resources Institute working paper provides guidance for Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on designing national mitigation commitments for the post-2020 period. The document focuses on maximizing the 'measurability' of emissions reductions to enhance transparency, accountability, and the tracking of global progress toward limiting warming to 2°C.

This fact sheet from the World Resources Institute outlines recommended legislative and implementation actions for the 2007 Farm Bill to better integrate greenhouse gas mitigation within the U.S. agricultural sector.

This policy brief advocates for a mandatory federal greenhouse gas emissions registry in the United States as a prerequisite for effective climate policy. It details eight design requirements for such a registry—including facility-level mandatory reporting and public data access—and notes that the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 already directs the EPA to implement mandatory reporting across all economic sectors.

This research paper, prepared for the OECD Climate Forum, analyzes the institutional design of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), focusing on the tension between different implementation models and the necessity of a common regulatory framework to ensure environmental integrity and investor confidence.

This briefing introduces forest carbon offsets in the southern United States, explaining the process of carbon sequestration, the types of offset projects available, and the quality criteria required for market credibility. It notes that while offset income may not currently outcompete real estate development, it can help cover incremental costs of forest sustainability.

This research paper from the World Resources Institute proposes a framework to limit new cropland expansion to lands with "low environmental opportunity costs" to avoid the conversion of natural ecosystems. It defines specific biophysical and non-biophysical criteria for identifying such lands and suggests a three-part policy approach to direct expansion away from high-impact areas.

This case study examines the processes of accessing, processing, and applying climate information to support low-risk agricultural adaptation in the Bundelkhand region of central India. It analyzes two projects implemented by Development Alternatives to understand how various data sources inform decision-making and the challenges associated with this process.

The Renewable Energy Procurement Guidebook for Colombia, produced by the Clean Energy Investment Accelerator (CEIA), provides commercial and industrial buyers in Colombia with an overview of renewable energy procurement options, relevant policies, and implementation steps.

This guide from the World Resources Institute explains the importance and methodologies of estimating the costs of implementing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). It outlines how costing helps governments identify financing gaps, select financial instruments, and integrate climate commitments into national fiscal policies, while highlighting the challenges of data gaps and uncertainty.

This research paper argues for the necessity of Indonesia developing a long-term strategy (LTS) for climate action to secure economic growth and mitigate risks beyond 2030, suggesting that the existing low-carbon development initiative (LCDI) could serve as a foundation.

This research paper introduces the City Climate Policy Assessment Framework, a tool designed to evaluate the comprehensiveness of climate policies across 12 cities in China and internationally across seven key sectors.

This World Resources Institute fact sheet explains cap-and-trade programs, which limit greenhouse gas emissions by creating a market for emission allowances. It details the difference between upstream and downstream regulation, contrasts cap-and-trade with carbon taxes, and highlights existing examples such as the EU-ETS and the U.S. Northeast Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The document notes that the U.S. EPA is the proposed administrator for most federal U.S. legislative proposals.

This research paper by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Climate Analytics evaluates how the climate commitments of G20 countries influence the global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C, concluding that while current pledges are insufficient, ambitious G20 action could limit warming to 1.7°C.

This research paper examines the role of local governments in locally led adaptation (LLA), focusing on the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) mechanism. Using case studies from Niger, Lesotho, and Cambodia, the paper argues that local governments are underutilized actors capable of mediating between national authorities and communities to manage climate finance and institutionalize adaptation within existing government structures.

The report 'Awakening the Dead Zone' evaluates policy options to reduce agricultural nutrient runoff in the Mississippi River Basin to mitigate hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico, identifying market-based mechanisms as the most cost-effective approach.

This paper analyzes five finalists from the 2023–2024 WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities to explore how climate-readiness initiatives can serve as entry points for broader urban transformation and systemic change.

This research paper evaluates 320 climate adaptation investments across 12 countries using the Triple Dividend of Resilience framework to demonstrate that adaptation provides significant economic, social, and environmental returns beyond simple loss avoidance.

The document describes a guide published by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to assist practitioners in structuring and strengthening their countries' enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

This working paper from the Project for Advancing Climate Transparency examines the enhanced transparency framework of the Paris Agreement, focusing on the capacity-building support required for developing countries to meet more stringent reporting requirements.