Proposed fuel efficiency standards in both the U.S. and EU will not reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks over the long term, according to a report released today by the World Resources Institute.

“Total emissions from this part of the transport sector are dependent on how many people drive, what they drive, and how they drive,” said the report’s author Lee Schipper, director of research at EMBARQ: The WRI Center for Sustainable Transport. “Fuel efficiency standards only address what they drive, and they don’t even do that very well.”

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The World Resources Institute (WRI) will hold a briefing on critical environmental issues and trends journalists should look for in 2008.

Promotion of biofuels should focus on ensuring environmental performance and deploying new technologies, rather than on high-volume production of the biofuels in use today. 

A new report entitled Weathering the Storm: Options for Framing Adaptation and Development, released today by the World Resources Institute, reviews ways that adapting to climate change intersects with economic development. 

As 190 nations gather in Bali, Indonesia to work toward a new global agreement on climate change, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has taken a key vote signaling that the U.S. Congress is serious about addressing climate change.

In a move that will bolster confidence among the growing number of companies seeking to understand and manage their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, three organizations today announced that they will work together to promote their GHG accounting and reporting standards.

WRI President Jonathan Lash has been named to the 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics listing by Ethisphere Magazine, a new “global publication dedicated to illuminating the important correlation between ethics and profit.” The list, which will appear in the Q4 issue available in December, recognized individuals for “inspiring change in business ethics.”

The World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute are joining forces to train professionals on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the most widely used international accounting tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify, and manage greenhouse gas emissions.