Mission: To move human society in ways that protect Earth's environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.

Our goals

For over 20 years, the World Resources Institute has demonstrated its commitment to helping find solutions to global environmental challenges. WRI’s work is concentrated on making progress toward four goals:

• Healthy Ecosystems. Reverse rapid degradation of ecosystems and assure their capacity to provide humans with needed goods and services
  
• Stable Climate. Protect the global climate system from further harm due to emissions of greenhouse gases and help humanity and the natural world adapt to unavoidable climate change
  
• Sustainable Enterprise. Harness markets and enterprise to expand economic opportunity and protect the environment
  
• Access to Environmental Information and Decisions. Guarantee public access to information and decisions regarding natural resources and the environment

How we work

WRI’s strength is our ability to catalyze change through partnerships that implement innovative, incentive-based solutions that are founded upon hard, objective data. And we know that harnessing the power of markets will ensure real, not cosmetic change. Therefore, WRI’s strategy rests on three pillars:

• Research. WRI provides the scientific and analytical underpinning so necessary to move people and their institutions, both public and private, to the difficult decisions that lead to change.

• Partners. WRI works closely with governments, the private sector, and civil society groups around the world to enhance our collective ability to catalyze change.

• Results. Providing authoritative research, getting it to those who need it, and engaging a broad spectrum of stakeholders in decision-making are all means to the ultimate end: changes that protect the planet and improve people’s lives.

This report highlights ways in which our research, partnerships, and results have contributed to our goals in 2004.