Programmatic Achievements

FROM CLIMATE PLANS TO IMPLEMENTATION IN MUMBAI

Mumbai is on the front line of climate change impacts, as it grapples with air pollution, erratic monsoons, extreme heat and floods. But while it launched a pioneering climate action plan in 2022, moving from planning to action has proved hard. Over the last two years WRI has helped with the implementation of the climate action plan, including assisting Mumbai with allocating its first climate budget of around $1.2 billion (one- third of total expenditure). The funds will reduce emissions while building up necessary resilience in the face of growing challenges, including for some of the city’s most vulnerable communities.

CUTTING ENERGY BILLS AND EMISSIONS IN SHENZHEN

The doubling of household electricity consumption in China over the last decade has presented cities with real challenges to their low- carbon ambitions. WRI China has shown a path towards achieving these ambitions by partnering with local institutions in Shenzhen, home to 18 million people, to pioneer dozens of near-zero carbon demonstration projects. We analyzed low-carbon technologies and investments, surveyed community members about their needs and built capacity for local practitioners. Solar installations and building retrofits are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in one pilot community by 45% while lowering household electricity costs by 22%. Scaling up could reduce Shenzhen’s annual CO2 emissions by 1 million tons, cut the city’s electricity demand by 3.5% and save residents $280 million.

BRINGING CLEAN ENERGY TO UNDER-SERVED COMMUNITIES

Around the world, 675 million people still lack access to electricity, with serious implications for their ability to learn, earn and stay healthy. In 2019 WRI launched the Energy Access Explorer, an interactive platform that allows stakeholders to map existing and potential energy access. It’s now used by more than 100 governments in Africa and South Asia, helping them identify areas where clean energy can improve livelihoods and support sustainable economic development. In Kenya it provides local support for the National Energy Plan. In Nigeria it is used to boost agriculture. In Ethiopia the Energy Access Explorer helped the government prioritize distributed renewables for 19 million people.

ELECTRIFYING INDIA’S VEHICLES

Road transport is responsible for over 13% of India’s energy-related greenhouse gas emissions and a significant proportion of its deadly air pollution. India aims to combat this by having electric vehicles account for 30% of new vehicle sales by 2030, and WRI India is helping by bridging the relevant policy, infrastructure and knowledge gaps. There is already progress: More than 6% of India’s vehicles are now electric, reducing the country’s carbon emissions by 10 million tonnes of carbon emissions between 2020 and 2024. Significant steps are also being made to electrify the freight sector, with estimated industry demand for nearly 8,000 electric trucks by 2030.

SAFER ROADS REDUCE DEATHS IN BENGALURU

More than a million people die in road traffic accidents every year, many of them in rapidly growing cities in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Bengaluru, the sixth-most congested city in the world, has seen an average of 650 such deaths annually over recent years and has committed to reduce this number by half by 2030. WRI India is helping to guide this effort, including by using data to identify 75 critical road junctions that can be redesigned for pedestrian safety. Bengaluru has invested $128 million in sustainable road safety projects, and with WRI’s assistance is now making its busy streets safer for everybody.

EVERY TREE ON EARTH, MAPPED

The effectiveness of restoration projects relies heavily upon good data, but fully one-third of Earth’s trees have been missing from forest datasets. The absence of trees outside dense forests or in locations like cities is especially damaging for smaller, locally led restoration projects that focus on revitalizing small plots of land. A new AI model developed by WRI and Meta can map with a 1-meter resolution, capturing the trees missing from other datasets. This is 10 times cheaper than field-based monitoring and already supports nearly 30,000 restoration sites in Africa. These data can help small restoration projects better access finance and provide evidence of their effectiveness.

BETTER TRANSPORT FOR ISTANBUL’S MARGINALIZED RESIDENTS

More than half a million people use Istanbul’s rapid-ride bus system every single day, but access to the service is not equal. Some districts are under-served. Some people are deterred by obstacles like blocked sidewalks or a lack of facilities for those with disabilities. Many women report feeling unsafe. WRI Türkiye created the Sustainable Urban Transport Network to coordinate local efforts to address these challenges, bringing in input from Istanbul’s residents and helping to design a more effective and inclusive transport system. Already, one district in Istanbul is addressing its dark streets to address women’s safety concerns while investing in other improvements like benches, green space and a children’s play area.

PROTECTING GRASSLANDS WITH GLOBAL PASTURE WATCH

Though grasslands cover more of the Earth’s ice-free land than any other ecosystem, their role in both environmental challenges and their solutions is underappreciated. A lack of good data hampers governments, local communities and Indigenous Peoples from making the best land use decisions. WRI’s Land & Carbon Lab is leading efforts to fix this by convening the Global Pasture Watch consortium. The consortium has produced the first comprehensive high-resolution global datasets on grassland extent, productivity and management, to help monitor and protect critical grassland ecosystems. These data are also enabling other projects, including one to monitor soil health across Europe and another that predicts organic soil carbon density over time.

EMPOWERING CLIMATE ACTION AT COLOMBIA’S LOCAL LEVEL

Colombia has an ambitious “E2050” long-term climate strategy, which includes reaching net- zero emissions by 2050 and boosting climate resilience. But to achieve its goals, it needs to galvanize action at both the national and local level. WRI Colombia has designed and led a series of educational and capacity-building workshops aimed at local policymakers, public servants and teachers. The project has helped more than 100 public servants integrate E2050 into local development plans, and its climate education materials have taught thousands of students about climate challenges and solutions.