Pollution threatens the lives and livelihoods of billions of people around the world, particularly low-income communities and communities of color. Working with civil society organizations across six countries, WRI created new toolkit to support locally led efforts to secure the basic human right to a clean, healthy and safe environment.
The coronavirus pandemic has compounded highly unequal development in Latin America's cities. Investing in infrastructure and public services for marginalized areas can help the region build back better.
As countries consider how to step up climate ambition while dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, Chile leads by example with a new national climate commitment, or NDC.
The Trillion Trees initiative and major corporations are looking to invest in tree-planting. TerraMatch connects these investors with trusted local experts who grow trees responsibly and at scale.
This event presents lessons learned from the environmental sector and perspectives for environmental policy towards economic recovery in Latin American countries.
Accelerating the transition to a global circular economy
Zoleka 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.
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.
Coffee 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.
This 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.
UN 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.
This 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.
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.
For 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.
The Escazú Agreement was signed by 12 countries during the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Four 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.
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.