WRI works to deliver impact for people, nature and climate — from the global decisions that set direction to the local actions that change lives. Our expertise, trusted data and global network give us a seat at the table when the world wrestles with the most pressing transnational challenges, including climate change, energy security, and protecting our nature and biodiversity.

But impact must also be felt in the places where people live and work. That is why WRI’s focus is also local, partnering with communities, cities, and countries to turn ambition into action. We help farmers and fishers, city leaders and entrepreneurs, and Indigenous stewards in places like the Amazon and the Congo basin access the tools, financing and evidence they need to shape their own futures.

WRI’s approach is to combine rigorous research with innovative cutting-edge data platforms that empower the people on the front line of environmental challenges. We build coalitions that align leaders across borders and levels of government, and communications that move ideas into mainstream decision-making.

Together, these capabilities help shift three people- centered systems: food, land and water; energy; and cities. When these systems fail, the human and planetary cost is enormous. When these systems change, the benefits show up locally — cleaner air, safer coastlines, stronger livelihoods and more resilient communities, now and for generations to come. Here are four examples of WRI’s impact in 2025 — where global progress translated into local results, and local solutions helped drive change at scale.

 

Making the Case for Climate Optimism

When the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015 the world demonstrated that we knew what was needed to save our planet from climate change. But the big challenge that the world still struggles with today is how we can get this done. This challenge of delivering results sits at the center of WRI’s mission, and it is this challenge that WRI’s President and CEO Ani Dasgupta tackles in his new, groundbreaking book, “The New Global Possible: Rebuilding Optimism in the Age of Climate Crisis”.

Ani drew on conversations with over one hundred leaders across the world for the book, utilizing the first-class network that WRI has built up over four decades. The result draws on their collected wisdom and experience to answer questions such as how countries can work together in a time of declining multilateralism. In the true spirit of WRI’s DNA, the book looks in detail at the evidence and the systems context of the issues.

The path that Ani outlines in "The New Global Possible" is narrow, and will require all of our collective focus and determination. But he shows that solutions for a fair and just future are within our grasp, and that there is real cause for optimism: a rapid transition to a clean, resilient global economy is possible, even in these fractured and testing times.