Insights: WRI's Blog

There are plenty of reasons to be pessimistic about the course the oceans are on, but Peter Thomson, U.N. Special Envoy for the Ocean, is optimistic. He joins WRI's Lawrence MacDonald and Kristian Teleki to discuss why a 2017 conference marked a sea change.

Most news stories about the Democratic Republic of the Congo focus on ebola outbreaks and violence. But within the country's forests, positive changes are happening.

The Santa Clara de Uchunya community has lived in a remote section of the Peruvian Amazon for generations, relying on the forest for hunting, fishing and natural resources. But in 2014, someone started cutting down large sections of their ancestral lands. They've been struggling for their land rights ever since.

There's growing backlash against plastic waste polluting the world's oceans. The world's billion-plus tons of annual food waste gets less attention, but is just as damaging to the climate and economy.

The Niger Delta, lush with waters from Niger River, is a veritable oasis at the edge of the Sahara. It is remote, remarkable and a reminder of the complex interplay between some some of the biggest issues facing Europe and climate change.

Home is a place of stability and security. It is a place where families come together to work towards and celebrate mutual prosperity. But as the human and economic toll of climate change continues to rise, we face legitimate risk of this sense of home being uprooted.

Development banks committed record funds to climate finance in 2017, but key vulnerabilities in adaptation finance, finance to vulnerable countries and transparency persist.

Recognizing and highlighting the links between climate and security requires data and research. As Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Margot Wallstrom told a global forum, “We need a robust reporting system, from the field, on climate, water and security threats.”

In this conversation with Lawrence MacDonald, vice president for communications at WRI, a leading Indian economist discusses the country's prospects for transitioning to a low-carbon, high-efficiency economy, and what the world can learn from their successes.

Even though more and more companies are committing to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains, the tropics lost a Vietnam-sized area of forest in just the last two years. Why aren't forest protections working?