project
Accelerating the transition to a global circular economy
Latin America
blog post
by Hayden Higgins - January 30, 2020Zoleka Mandela draws on her grandfather's legacy in speaking out against the injustice of the hidden epidemic that threatens children, especially in the developing world. In this podcast, she is joined by Claudia Adriazola-Steil, director for health & road safety at the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, as they discuss the unimaginable toll—emotional and economic—taken by road deaths, and what we can do to turn this loss into action.
news item
At the 74th United Nations General Assembly, five countries — Bolivia, Jamaica, Uruguay, Saint Kitts and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines — ratified the Escazú Agreement, an historic treaty that guarantees environmental rights in the region, provides special protections for environmental human rights defenders and ensures people can play a part in the decision-making necessary to address climate change.
blog post
by Stefanie Tye and Delfina Grinspan - September 11, 2019Coffee farmers face a double threat from climate change and dropping prices. But a group of Costa Rican farmers are finding solutions and transforming their corner of the industry.
publication
by Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, Lauren Sidner and Jack McClamrock - September 2019This paper analyzes the three sovereign parametric disaster risk insurance pools serving developing countries: CCRIF SPC, the African Risk Capacity, and the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company. It provides detailed recommendations for each of the pools and their stakeholders and broader recommendations to improve the availability of disaster risk finance for developing countries.
blog post
by Andrés Flores, Beth Elliott and Chantal Davis - August 20, 2019UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for "bold action and much greater ambition" in fighting climate change. Latin American and Caribbean nations can heed the call by strengthening their national climate plans by 2020 and setting net-zero emissions targets for 2050.
publication
by Diana Mitlin, Victoria A. Beard, David Satterthwaite and Jillian Du - August 2019This working paper describes water access challenges in cities of the global south that have been hitherto largely invisible in global indicators. In analyzing 15 cities, we found that piped utility water is the most affordable option, yet, on average, almost half of all households lack access, and most of those that do have access receive intermittent service. This paper highlights four key action areas for cities to improve water access: extending the formal piped water network, addressing context-specific causes of intermittent water service, pursuing diverse strategies to make water affordable, and supporting informal settlement upgrading.
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17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean reinforced today their commitment to restore degraded landscapes that are key for sustained economic growth, with less carbon emissions and better agriculture productivity.
blog post
by Suzanne Ozment and Rafael Feltran-Barbieri - December 18, 2018For the cash-strapped government of Rio de Janeiro, restoring forests around the city is a smart investment. New research shows that forests can provide Rio with better water quality at lower cost.
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The Escazú Agreement was signed by 12 countries during the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.
blog post
by Carole Excell - September 27, 2018Four environmental defenders are murdered every week in Latin America and the Caribbean. A new regional agreement aims to protect them and provide all citizens with environmental rights.
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More than a quarter of global tree cover loss between 2001 and 2015 was associated with commodity-driven deforestation, not likely to be forested again, finds a new study published in Science.
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The Colombian Government – alongside Colombia's leading cocoa company, Casa Luker, and the National Cocoa Federation – pledges to produce deforestation-free and 'peace-friendly' cocoa
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A new report from World Resources Institute finds that in many countries, the process to formalize land rights is extremely complex, costly and slow, taking up to 30 years or more but companies can typically secure long-term rights to land in just 30 days to five years.
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Un nuevo informe del World Resources Institute (WRI) muestra que en muchos países, el proceso para formalizar los derechos de la tierra es extremadamente complejo, costoso y lento, y tarda hasta 30 años o más, pero las compañías normalmente pueden asegurarse derechos a largo plazo sobre la tierra desde un plazo de tan solo 30 días a cinco años.
data visualization
This infographic allows you to navigate the process for a community seeking formal land rights in Indonesia, versus for a company securing an oil palm concession.
publication
by Rebecca Abers, Robin King, Daniely Votto and Igor Brandão - June 2018This case study in the World Resources Report, “Towards a More Equal City,” examines transformative urban change in Porto Alegre, Brazil, through the lens of participatory budgeting. The research focuses on whether and how transformative change has taken place in the city between 1990 and the present, as well examining the recent decline and suspension of participatory budgeting in the city of its birth.
publication
by Martha Chen and Victoria A. Beard - May 2018The fourth working paper of WRI’s flagship World Resources Report (WRR), "Towards a More Equal City”, examines different approaches that cities have taken towards the informal self-employed workers and their livelihood activities. After presenting recent data on the size, composition, and contribution of the informal economy, the paper highlights a series of actionable areas for urban change agents to make cities more inclusive and productive.