WRI brings to the table essential strengths that enable us to be an influential adaptation solutions provider:
Action-Oriented Analysis WRI has nearly thirty years of deep expertise in developing and applying practical, policy-relevant information products and analytic tools, including on adaptation issues.
In-Country Partnerships WRI brings to V&A decades of proven partnership with government and civil society organizations in developing countries.
Interdisciplinary Approach WRI can uniquely leverage long-standing streams of work on ecosystems, governance, and markets – all critical to addressing a cross-cutting challenge such as adaptation.
Intellectual Leadership WRI’s past and present work on climate change and development – including climate finance – provides a foundation for cutting through the complexity of adaptation to identify practical solutions.
Our Strategy
In pursuit of our vision, WRI seeks deep engagement in 2–3 Asian and African countries. With government and civil society partners, as well as through engagement with the business community, we will focus on three sets of activities through 2016:
- Providing Decision-Relevant Information What information can best support effective decision-making under climate uncertainty? How should information be “packaged” so that governments and citizens can use it effectively? WRI will answer these questions through collaborative research, as a basis for crafting new, decision-relevant analytic products and information tools that help decision-makers take action.
- Promoting Adaptive Institutions We anticipate a need for change in the structure and function of many national institutions if policies are to address the decision-making challenges posed by climate change, and to meet the needs of poor and vulnerable populations. We will focus on helping institutions shift incentives, take on new mandates, and build capacity to support the process of integrating climate risks into day-to-day activities.
- Creating Efficient and Accountable Financial Systems We aim to help national governments and their domestic stakeholders develop systems through which they can wisely generate, access, disperse, and track finances. Our work will focus on building the capacity of national governments to manage and channel scarce funds to those who need them most – and on building the capacity of civil society organizations to hold governments accountable for this spending. We will also explore how to improve the ability of governments to mobilize domestic funding sources, and use innovative financial instruments to support adaptation initiatives.
In all three areas, WRI aims to demonstrate innovative, practical, and replicable approaches to reducing vulnerability and enhancing adaptive responses to climate change. Lessons learned will be shared and successful approaches scaled up through regional platforms in both Asia and Africa.
Our Work
As we seek to ramp up our efforts in Asia and Africa, we will draw on the substantial expertise gained from our existing work. Highlights of WRI’s recent V&A activities include:
Strengthening Institutions to Prepare for Adaptation Our National Adaptive Capacity (NAC) Framework articulates a set of fundamental national-level functions – assessment, prioritization, information management, coordination, and risk reduction – that underpin successful adaptation. Decision-makers and their constituents can use the NAC Framework to identify opportunities for building adaptive capacity and implementing key activities. WRI is synthesizing lessons from pilot uses of the NAC in Bolivia, Nepal, and Ireland to produce recommendations for national adaptation planning.
Helping Civil Society Advocate for Adaptation WRI’s Rapid Institutional Analysis for Adaptation (ARIA) tool aims to help civil society organizations build capacity to advocate for action by national governments in responding to climate change. Drawing on the NAC Framework, ARIA helps national coalitions of civil society organizations evaluate key aspects of their governments’ performance on adaptation policy-making. This tool for evidence-based advocacy has been piloted in Ghana and Bolivia.
Improving Decision Making Under Uncertainty As countries move forward with adaptation planning, sound policymaking will require improvements in both information availability and decision-making practice. WRI is working in South Asia to improve the information base for innovative decision-making strategies within a context of climatic uncertainty. This requires better understanding user needs and options for climate-relevant information in the region. The project entails research and convening to support the development of a regional “Information Action Agenda.”
Tracking Progress on Adaptation Action Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) will play an important role in ensuring that adaptation funds are used as effectively as possible, and that lessons from early action inform the continual improvement of adaptation interventions. Recent WRI work in this area provides adaptation and development practitioners with a practical framework for developing M&E systems to track the progress of adaptation initiatives. Ongoing work supports a major new regional project in the Mekong River Basin.
Engaging with Business The short-term thinking that guides much corporate decision-making today will not withstand the long-term demands of a world characterized by depleted resources, a growing population, and major climate disruptions. Through the Next Practice Collaborative, WRI and a group of its corporate partners are pioneering new, innovative approaches to move beyond today’s leadership standards on climate change. We expect to transform business models and realize new markets to build climate-resilient economies.
World Resources Report 2010–2011 The latest in WRI’s flagship report series, Decision Making in a Changing Climate focuses on adaptation in developing countries. The report combines a dynamic online presence with expert perspectives, case studies, roundtables, participatory simulations, and online discussions. The World Resources Report is the product of a unique 20-year partnership among UNEP, UNDP, the World Bank, and WRI.
