WRI Insights

GIS maps are one of the most accurate ways to share geographic data. For local communities in Indonesia, it can be an invaluable tool to stake out traditional boundaries and resolve land conflicts with governments. WRI's *Forest and Landscapes in Indonesia* project reveals four ways GIS mapping can empower forest communities in Indonesia.

As the struggle continues to protect forests around the world, REDD+ implementers should look to cultivate and strengthen institutions and mechanisms of accountability. Though REDD+ includes an international accountability mechanism, case studies in Brazil and Indonesia, where civil society participated in and challenged land-use decisions, demonstrate that this will probably be insufficient for achieving REDD+ goals.

How is the price of electricity set and what exactly are consumers paying for? Are today’s electricity tariffs too high or too low? WRI's [Electricity Governance Initiative](http://www.wri.org/our-work/project/electricity-governance-initiative) program explains the details behind electric tariffs in a new working paper, [*10 Questions to Ask about Electricity Tariffs*](http://www.wri.org/publication/10-questions-electricity-tariffs), which offers a tool that stakeholders involved in tariff-setting processes can use to increase their knowledge and capacity in decision-making processes.

Sarah Forbes testified before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, discussing U.S.-China cooperation on clean energy and its global impact on climate change.

Investors worldwide spent less on renewable energy and related technologies last year than in previous years, making it appear as if the cleantech sector is on the decline. Taking a deeper dive tells a more complex story—in reality, renewable energy is on a strong growth path—and tools are emerging to push the sector even further.

Globally, we are learning lessons on how to close the climate finance gap by tapping into the private sector’s vast resources. In a recent WRI working paper, [*Unlocking Private Climate Investment: Focus on OPIC and Ex-Im Bank’s Use of Financial Instruments*](http://www.wri.org/publication/unlocking-private-climate-investment-focus-on-opic-and-ex-im-bank), research reveals that through smart and innovative financial tools, public institutions can play a key role in shifting private capital away from business-as-usual investments and into climate-friendly ones.

As coastal communities across the United States continue to fall victim to drought, coastal flooding, and other impacts of extreme weather and climate change, leaders at the metropolitan and federal levels are beginning to take action. Yet, Congressional action is an essential but missing piece to comprehensively addressing climate change. However, Florida's continuing sea-level rise vulnerability suggests Congress may shift its attention to climate impacts.

While some companies are stepping forward on climate change policy, many others have remained quiet. WRI worked with the UN and several esteemed partners on a [Caring for Climate](http://caringforclimate.org/) report to create a common standard for engaging corporate responsibly in [climate policy debates](http://www.wri.org/publication/guide-responsible-corporate-engagement-climate-policy). The guide represents a baseline for action and transparent reporting.

Regional water concerns are creating significant financial risks due to advanced global commodity trading and energy industries’ high dependence on water. Our Aqueduct project explores how water risks are already impacting the world’s coal industry, and how risks will change over time.

*Years of Living Dangerously*, a new Showtime series about climate change, turned its lens on how drought devastated the small town of Plainview, Texas [in its first episode](http://yearsoflivingdangerously.com/where-to-watch/). In Plainview—and every other drought-stricken place across the United States—a precipitous drop in rainfall is only part of a much broader story. Underlying water stress is one important piece of that complicated puzzle. When drought strikes where baseline water stress is high, it exacerbates regions’ water woes.