WRI is committed to producing high-quality research, including reports, issue briefs, working papers, and technical notes. Our publications are subject to peer review, and are held to traditional "academic" standards of excellence, such as objectivity and rigor. We also ensure that all of our publications are timely, fit for audience, and rooted in a strategic plan for achieving positive change in the world. If you notice an error in one of our publications or have concerns about the quality of our research, please contact the authors and copy Vice President for Science and Research Janet Ranganathan.
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This paper focuses on what should be included in a new financial agreement under the UNFCCC; more specifically it proposes five specific components of a “new deal” to address technology barriers in developing countries. The paper reflects on ideas on technology and finance as put forth by...
Enacting a global climate change agreement hinges on finding common ground among countries on a set of interconnected questions: who should mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, who should bear the cost of mitigation, and how and under what circumstances the international community can...
This discussion paper describes the state of play in the international
negotiations at Poznan, Poland as Parties work
to ensure an agreement on technology and financial support
that enables mitigation in developing countries. It unpacks
and analyzes Parties’ submissions...
As the United States, the European Union and other Annex I Parties prepare legislation to cap greenhouse gas emissions post-2012, their policymakers are under increasing pressure from domestic constituencies to include trade measures as part of domestic climate policy. This paper analyzes the...
Note: This paper will be published as a chapter in the forthcoming book Climate Change and Global Poverty: A Billion Lives in the Balance?, by the Brookings Institution Press in 2009.
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) provide businesses a means to support renewable energy generation and meet clean energy goals. This fact sheet answers some basic questions about RECs and REC purchasing.
This report was prepared by Rabobank in collaboration with the World Resources Institute.
This study evaluated the average annual contribution of reef- and mangrove-associated tourism, fisheries, and shoreline protection services to the economy of Belize.
This report develops a future scenario---named "Ecoflation"---in which policies and natural resource constraints force firms to add environmental costs to the costs of doing business. It estimates a 13-31 percent reduction in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) by 2013 and 19-47...
This policy brief provides natural resource policy makers and practitioners with an approach for evaluating how their policies and projects can support the emergence and consolidation of local democracy.
Energy savings certificates (ESCs) are used in some states as a mechanism through which third parties, such as commercial and industrial companies, can help utilities comply with energy efficiency targets. This issue explains ESCs and discusses their role in compliance markets.
The World Resources Institute (WRI) convened a diverse group of over 80 stakeholders to develop Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) Guidelines to ensure CCS projects are conducted safely and effectively.
This paper describes how social and environmental objectives have been undermined when past U.S. administrations have failed to respect the basic principles of participatory democracy and informed decision-making.
This policy brief presents the competing arguments for state-led and federal-led climate legislation, and argues for a third—“hybrid”—approach that maximizes the strengths of each level of government.
This report presents the findings of research on critical incentives and disincentives to legislative representation in Africa and provides a number of policy and program recommendations.
This periodic working paper series presents new research on democratic decentralization and legislative representation concerning the management, control, and use of natural resources. The objective is to provide researches working at the intersection fo governance and natural resource...
By encouraging clean technology deployment and imposing new costs on commonly traded commodities, climate policy would have significant impacts on international trade flows. This document answers basic questions about climate policy and its implications for the international trade of goods.
As different statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction policies continue to emerge in the United States, more and more businesses are calling on the federal government to enact a single, uniform policy. The prospect of complementary policies between different levels of government—as well as the...
