WRI Insights

A good home gives families a base to build the foundations of society, but in urbanizing areas, good housing can be difficult to find. People like Jussara and her family in Porte Alegre, Brazil, face a trio of critical challenges to locating affordable housing that apply in many growing cities worldwide.

When delegates gather in Quito for Habitat III to adopt the New Urban Agenda for sustainable cities, they should keep in mind people like Adelaida, a banker and mother in Accra, Ghana, where unreliable, expensive electricity is a challenge. As a forthcoming paper of the World Resources Report shows, ensuring access to affordable energy and the economic opportunity it brings will be essential for a sustainable, prosperous urban future.

Indigenous Peoples and other communities hold and manage 50 to 60 percent of the world's land, yet governments recognize only 10 percent as legally belonging to these groups. That's bad economic policy, shows a new WRI report.

Once every 20 years, the world's urban leaders gather to determine the best course of action for the world's cities. This year, at Habitat III, the 21st century challenges for cities are clear. WRI's World Resources Report examines whether providing equitable access to services can make cities more economically productive and environmentally sustainable.

Today the global community has jumped over the final hurdle to bring the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change into full effect. This marks an historic moment in the global transformation to a safer and more prosperous planet.

Rosewood is prized for use in guitar fretboards, but widespread trafficking demands stricter attention to protection.

WRI is engaging in Habitat III -- the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development in Quito, Ecuador, October 17-20 -- to help create the sustainable, equitable, prosperous cities of the future. Ani Dasgupta, Global Director of WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, answers key questions to explain what's at stake.

Hundreds of cities are starting to get serious about curbing climate change. Fast-growing Chengdu, China, is putting evidence-based low-carbon planning into action.

In the fight to avert runaway climate change, no country is more important than China, and nowhere in China is more important than its booming cities. A recent visit to China offered a first-hand look at how WRI China is working with partners in Beijing, Chengdu, Qingdao and other cities to advance solutions that cut emissions while improving people's lives.

Letha Tawney, director of utility innovation at WRI, discusses how Kentucky can seize a business opportunity by providing clean, cheap power.