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The document outlines a comprehensive grant management regime for Norwegian-funded NGO projects, focusing on financial reporting, auditing, and procurement transparency. It includes a detailed five-year budget and results framework for the Global Forest Watch (GFW) initiative, which aims to reduce tropical forest loss through data-driven monitoring, accountability for global commitments, and the empowerment of forest defenders.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus Program (CSBP) has funded over 8,000 electric school buses across 48 states, four territories, Washington, DC, and 65 Tribal school districts, with over 2,000 already delivered. Electric school buses are presented as a viable alternative to diesel-powered buses, offering health benefits by eliminating tailpipe emissions and saving districts an average of $100,000 in lifetime fuel and maintenance costs per bus. Additionally, the CSBP is credited with spurring a manufacturing boom, supporting 21 facilities across 13 states and creating thousands of jobs, with an estimate that each electric vehicle manufacturing job can create three additional local third-party jobs.

The document presents a flow chart of global greenhouse gas emissions for 2000, totaling 41,755 MtCO2 equivalent. It identifies Electricity & Heat (24.6%) and Land Use Change (18.2%) as the largest contributing sectors, while Carbon Dioxide (77%) is the dominant gas species.

The document identifies over two billion hectares of global land suitable for restoration, primarily in tropical and temperate regions. It categorizes these opportunities into wide-scale, mosaic, and remote restoration, emphasizing that restoration is a complementary strategy to avoiding deforestation for sequestering carbon and improving ecosystem services.

The WRI Results Framework establishes a structured system to plan and evaluate programmatic progress across three primary human systems: food, land & water; energy; and cities. It sets specific global targets for 2030 and WRI intervention targets for 2027, focusing on outcomes such as reducing agricultural land demand by 100 Mha, increasing the share of zero-carbon electricity by 9% in target geographies, and improving urban climate resilience. The framework integrates Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and utilizes a tiered approach of global, intervention, and country-specific targets, supported by impact indicators for people, nature, and climate.

The WRI Water Program in Ethiopia focuses on three strategic areas: analyzing water risk through modeling and mapping, promoting healthy watersheds via nature-based solutions, and enhancing urban water resilience in cities like Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. The program collaborates with Ethiopian government entities, including the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy, to integrate water and climate constraints into national development planning and to protect ecosystems that secure long-term water supplies.

WRI's 2026–2032 strategy for Ethiopia focuses on three interconnected systems—cities, energy, and food, land, and water—to drive a low-carbon transition. The plan targets specific river basins and cities to implement nature-based solutions, expand renewable energy access, and promote regenerative agriculture, supported by improvements in national governance and finance.

WRI Indonesia's 2025-2032 strategy focuses on three core systems: energy, cities, and food, land and water. The organization aims to support Indonesia's goal of 8% GDP growth and a 43% emissions reduction by 2030 through industrial decarbonization, urban redesign, and ecosystem restoration. Key initiatives include promoting responsible critical mineral extraction, expanding green urban spaces, and securing land rights for Indigenous Peoples to enhance forest protection. WRI Indonesia employs a "count it, change it, scale it" methodology to integrate data-driven research with policy implementation across national and local government levels.

WRI management acknowledges the 2012 external review's finding that the institute made important progress on its 2008-2012 Strategic Plan, particularly in establishing in-country presences in China, India, and Brazil. The response outlines achievements in communications, cross-program synergies, and staff diversity, while addressing the need for better integration and visibility for its forest work. Looking forward, WRI aims to balance its role as a 'think tank' and 'do tank,' strengthen its presence in Africa, and more consistently integrate development and poverty concerns into its environmental work.

The WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities employs an integrated approach combining data-driven research and long-term city partnerships to address urban challenges in land use, mobility, and energy efficiency. The organization focuses on the global south, implementing projects such as low-emission zones in Beijing, sustainable housing standards in Brazil, and last-mile mobility solutions in Bengaluru. Its strategy emphasizes scaling road-tested solutions through national policy guidance and global coalitions to help cities decarbonize and improve equitable access to core services.

The document reports that over 60% of the world's coral reefs are currently threatened by local human activities, with projections suggesting this could rise to nearly 100% by 2050 if left unchecked. It identifies key local stressors as overfishing, destructive fishing, coastal development, and pollution, alongside global threats like coral bleaching and ocean acidification caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The text emphasizes that countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Tanzania, and Haiti are very highly vulnerable to reef loss due to high dependence on reef services and low adaptive capacity.

This World Resources Institute working paper reports on three workshops held in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to identify challenges developing countries face in monitoring and tracking climate finance. It details nine primary technical, political, and capacity barriers, ranging from inconsistent definitions and lack of institutional coordination to the limited transparency of development partners and the difficulty of tracking private financial data.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) analysis reveals that a significant portion of the world's shale resources are located in water-stressed or arid regions, posing risks to energy development and local water security. The report highlights that 38% of shale resources are in areas of high water stress or aridity, and 386 million people live above these plays. It provides specific assessments for 11 countries and recommends that companies and governments implement water risk assessments, increase transparency, and adopt corporate water stewardship to mitigate conflicts with other water users, particularly in irrigated agriculture.

The Humbo project in Ethiopia restored 2,700 hectares of land from 2006 onwards using Farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR), a low-cost method where farmers prune native tree stumps and root systems. Supported by World Vision and the World Bank's BioCarbon Fund, the project integrated carbon sequestration payments with community-led land management. Key success factors included secure land rights, the use of endemic species, and the creation of community cooperatives. While the project improved soil health, reduced erosion, and increased firewood availability, it faced challenges regarding the high transaction costs of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) compliance and delays in carbon payments.

The document analyzes the restoration of approximately 4 million hectares of forest in New England between 1880 and 2000, which occurred largely through the passive abandonment of agricultural land. It identifies market shifts toward Midwestern agriculture and the subsequent decline of small-scale regional farming as primary drivers. While ecological conditions and policy measures like the Weeks Act of 1911 supported this recovery, the report warns that current trends are reversing due to residential development, population growth, and ecological pressures such as deer browsing.

South Korea successfully increased its forest cover from approximately 3.5 million hectares in the mid-1950s to 6.4 million hectares by 2007, primarily through active restoration. This recovery was driven by strong government leadership, national awareness campaigns, and a series of multi-year Forest Development Plans. While the restoration provided significant ecosystem services valued at over US$92 billion as of 2013, the study notes caveats including a historical reliance on authoritarian labor practices, low species diversity due to a focus on coniferous trees, and a high dependence on imported wood, including illegally sourced timber.

The American Power Act (APA) proposes a comprehensive US framework to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a mandatory cap-and-trade system, targeted emission reduction goals, and strategic investments in clean energy. The bill establishes a phased-in cap on covered gases, starting in 2013 and reaching an 83 percent reduction below 2005 levels by 2050. It includes specific provisions to expedite nuclear power development, deploy carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), and provide financial assistance to consumers and workers during the transition to a low-carbon economy. The APA also addresses international climate activities, including the use of international offsets and border adjustments to prevent carbon leakage.

WRI is implementing a climate change investment strategy to transition its portfolio to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050, aiming for alignment with a 1.5°C future. The strategy is based on five objectives: identifying material climate issues, reducing climate-related risk, increasing investments in a low-carbon transition, conducting climate-focused engagement, and disclosing progress. Key actions include maintaining 0% exposure to fossil fuel companies and increasing private equity commitments to sustainable investments to 15% of the portfolio by 2022.

The World Resources Report (WRR) is being developed around seven working papers focusing on urban issues in the global south, specifically targeting the needs of the lower half of the income distribution to achieve economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, and social equity. The report's framing emphasizes preventing "unsustainable urban lock-in" and addressing the "urbanization of poverty." Key thematic areas include urban expansion, affordable shelter, urban energy services, regional water risk, and sustainable transportation, with a proposed "40:40:40 strategy" for transport mode split by 2040. The project involves a core team and lead authors conducting literature reviews and stakeholder engagement, with planned city-level case studies in Medellín, Surat, and a city in Africa.

This case study examines the response of the state of Acre, Brazil, to severe droughts and wildfires in 2005 and 2010. It details the implementation of a centralized 'situation room' to coordinate fire-fighting efforts using satellite data and technical expertise, while analyzing the environmental impacts, policy interventions, and systemic barriers to fire control in the western Amazon.