Topic: climate change

Forest carbon monitoring systems are necessary for tracking the effectiveness of national forest policies aiming to mitigate GHG emissions. This issue brief highlights the broad, fundamental technical capacity needs for forest carbon monitoring based on an assessment of current capacity gaps in seven countries.

Case Study: Applying Information for Adapting the Agriculture Sector in Bundelkhand, India

This case study documents the issues related to accessing, processing, and applying climate information in order to help farming communities take robust, low-risk agricultural adaptation measures. The study focuses on central India’s Bundelkhand region, which straddles the provinces of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The Nepalese government lacks crucial information and evidence necessary for climate change adaptation decision making. Despite this challenge, there has been significant movement around climate change adaptation in the country, most notably the successful development of the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) in September 2010 by the Ministry of Environment. This case study examines how Nepal’s NAPA process identified urgent and immediate priorities in a situation of significant data gaps and uncertainty.

Case Study: Communicating Modeled Information for Adaptation Decision Making

By examining the HighNoon project in north India, this case study explores how adaptation-relevant information can best be packaged and disseminated to different users and audiences at the state, district, and block levels. It also explores what kinds of information are of most interest to various stakeholders and how different types of information can contribute to adaptation decision making.

The Obama Administration announced the finalized historic fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards for light-duty vehicles.

RELEASE: WRI Welcomes Andrew Steer as New President

Today, WRI welcomes its new president Dr. Andrew Steer. Steer is a visionary and dynamic leader who brings a wealth of international experience to the Institute.

WRI has calculated the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from our own operations since 1999. This report provides a comprehensive description of WRI’s 2010 greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory and introduces our new GHG reduction targets.

The United States has been experiencing ongoing extreme heat, droughts, and wildfires. This fact sheet examines the connection between climate change and these recent extreme weather events.

Governments, businesses, and citizens in South Asia all need access to good information to make decisions in a changing climate. However, the uncertainty of climate change’s impacts, complexity associated with climate vulnerability, and the lengthy time-frame along which global warming will unfold make the “adaptation information agenda” unclear. This paper, which served as background for a South Asian regional workshop on information use in climate adaptation decision-making, aims to identify barriers to information use for climate adaptation in South Asia and proposes four areas of further inquiry, which were discussed at the workshop. Read more

“Energy and GHG reporting scheme for enterprises” refers to a series of policies, regulations, and measures of data collection and calculation related to energy consumption and GHG emissions that aim to support government decision-making on energy management and low-carbon development. After examining both domestic and international policies and practices, this working paper recommends a three-step policy roadmap to develop an enterprise Energy and GHG reporting scheme in China’s Guangdong Province. Read more

Reefs at Risk Revisited in the Coral Triangle

This report is a map-based analysis of threats to coral reefs around the world, with particular focus on the countries of the Coral Triangle—Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. It examines present pressures on coral reefs, including overfishing and destructive fishing, coastal development, and pollution from land and sea, as well as projected threats from climate-related ocean warming and acidification. It also studies the social and economic vulnerability of countries to reef loss and examines existing management efforts. Read more

STATEMENT: DC Court Supports EPA on Climate Change

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today upheld key actions taken by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gases, including the endangerment finding, vehicle emission standards, and the tailoring rule for stationary sources.

The UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) comes to a close today. In total, more than 100 heads of state and tens of thousands of representatives from government, business, and civil society came together over two weeks to advance solutions on sustainable development in Rio de Janeiro.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) and the British Embassy are launching a two year partnership to measure corporate and farm-level emissions in Brazil. Agricultural emissions account for nearly 20 percent of Brazil’s emissions, with agricultural production on the rise.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) will host a series of panel discussions, featuring leaders in business, government and civil society, that will focus on how businesses can advance low-carbon and climate goals in the context of Rio+20.