WRI Insights

Setting an aspirational adaptation goal—and ratcheting efforts up over time to reach it—can catalyze the wide range of actions necessary for all communities, especially the poorest, to have the means to be more resilient.

With 10 months left until the Paris COP, several key issues bear watching this week as negotiators collaborate on a new climate agreement.

Connected, compact and coordinated cities can improve economic growth, traffic safety and quality of life through urban mobility systems, which move beyond cars and expand access to opportunity.

Reforming key socio-economic systems—*energy, agriculture and cities*—boost economic performance and improve well-being while tackling the costly side effects of India's growth.

Designing efficient, low-carbon cities and transport systems can improve health and the climate. A WRI study shows new bus rapid transit (BRT) projects in Mexico, Colombia, China, India, and South Africa have the potential to reduce GHG emissions by 31.4 million tons over the next 20 years. This amount is equivalent to the annual emissions of more than 6.5 million cars.

Biofuels and bioenergy take up finite land resources at the cost of food production and carbon storage and doesn’t guarantee carbon emissions cuts.

Today at the U.S.-China Symposium on Energy Performance Contracting in Beijing, the Chinese and U.S. governments [announced a new pilot program](http://www.globalchange.umd.edu/research-areas/energy-efficiency-and-mitigation/epc) that could reduce Chinese buildings' energy use. The program seeks to build momentum for energy performance contracting (EPC), a renovation model where a building owner can work with a private company to install efficient technologies, and then use the cost savings from reduced energy consumption to pay for the efficiency upgrades. While EPCs are already used regularly in the United States, the pilot project will help expand the model in China as a way to curb emissions and save money.

A [new WRI paper](http://www.wri.org/publication/avoiding-bioenergy-competition-food-crops-and-land) finds bioenergy can play a modest role using wastes and other niche fuelstocks, but recommends against dedicating land to produce bioenergy. The lesson: do not grow food or grass crops for ethanol or diesel or cut down trees for electricity.

Between 2004 and 2013, China’s overseas investments increased 13.7 times, from $45 billion to $613 billion. This level of investment can provide needed sources of capital for developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. As China plays a greater role in development finance, it can also embrace the opportunity to manage environmental and social risks associated with these investments.

The new U.S.-India agreement on climate change will help turn India’s bold renewable energy targets into reality. Rather than relying on one major plank, the collaboration is a comprehensive set of actions that represent a substantial step in advancing low-carbon development in India while also promoting economic growth and expanding energy access.