WRI Insights

The [India Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Program](http://indiaghgp.org/), launched in July 2013, aims to offer a meaningful starting place by providing a standardized method for companies to measure and manage their greenhouse gas emissions. Conceived in partnership with [WRI](http://www.wri.org/), [The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)](http://www.teriin.org/index.php), and the [Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)](http://www.cii.in/), the program provides Indian businesses with tools and technical assistance to measure their emissions, identify reduction opportunities, establish short and long-term reduction goals, and track their progress based on the [GHG Protocol](http://www.ghgprotocol.org/), the most widely used emissions accounting and reporting standard in the world.

[More than 70 percent](http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/01/17/the-woe-samarinda.html) of Samarinda’s land (the capital of Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province) is allocated to mining concessions, and little information is provided to citizens on companies’ compliance to safety and environmental health rules. In the hopes of preventing mining fatalities, the Mining Advocacy Network ([JATAM](http://english.jatam.org/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/)), a group of Indonesian NGOs and community organizations, requested information from the Indonesian government to determine what companies were doing to mitigate mines’ environmental and health impacts. This process prompted the STRIPE project, which will focus on building strong civil society coalitions to advocate for corporate disclosure of information.

The latest round of U.N. climate talks came to a close in Bonn, Germany last week, with negotiators agreeing to start drafting the [international climate agreement](http://www.wri.org/blog/qa-jennifer-morgan-how-do-we-secure-strong-international-climate-agreement-2015) set to be finalized in 2015. As negotiators look towards the next UNFCCC meeting in June, they’re faced with a key question: What does this agreement actually need to accomplish in order to help the world rise to the [climate change challenge](http://www.wri.org/blog/climate-change-reality-check)?

As China pursues shale gas exploration and development, it could draw some lessons—both positive and negative—from the experience in the United States. Indeed, it is in both countries’ interest that their businesses and governments collaborate to ensure that when and where shale gas is developed, it is done responsibly. In order to pursue shale gas development responsibly, three issues are emerging as potential hotspots for U.S.-China collaboration—environmentally smart development, energy security, and economy.

Di awal Maret 2014, kebakaran hutan dan lahan gambut di provinsi Riau, Sumatera, Indonesia, melonjak hingga titik yang tidak pernah ditemukan sejak krisis kabut [asap Asia Tenggara pada Juni 2013](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Southeast_Asian_haze). Hampir [50.000 orang](http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/world-digest-march-12-2014/2014/03/11/dcdbf8b0-a93c-11e3-8599-ce7295b6851c_story.html) mengalami masalah pernapasan akibat kabut asap tersebut, menurut Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Indonesia. Citra-citra [satelit dengan cukup dramatis](https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.761557143874832.1073742026.194712817225937&type=1) menggambarkan banyaknya asap polutan yang dilepaskan ke atmosfer, yang juga [berkontribusi ](http://www.asb.cgiar.org/PDFwebdocs/ASB%20PolicyBrief%2033-Hot%20spots%20in%20Riau,%20Haze%20in%20Singapore%20Events%20analyzed.pdf)kepada perubahan iklim.

In Indonesia, dramatic [satellite images](https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.761557143874832.1073742026.194712817225937&type=1) of heavy smoke plumes show the large amount of pollutants being discharged to the atmosphere. The fires are extensive in areas with deep peat soils, suggesting high volumes of carbon are being released, [contributing](http://www.asb.cgiar.org/PDFwebdocs/ASB%20PolicyBrief%2033-Hot%20spots%20in%20Riau,%20Haze%20in%20Singapore%20Events%20analyzed.pdf) to climate change. [Global Forest Watch](http://www.globalforestwatch.org/) shows that some of the largest fires are on fully developed plantations, despite the fact that many of these companies are committed to eliminating fire in their management practices. The persistence of the fires—and the intensity with which they have returned—raises important questions.

Negotiators are meeting in Bonn, Germany this week to make progress on establishing a global climate agreement by 2015. But they’re not the only ones working to secure a worldwide climate action plan. WRI along with several other organizations recently launched a new global consortium, the Agreement for Climate Transformation 2015 ([ACT 2015](http://www.wri.org/our-work/project/act-2015)), to help inform and support countries’ engagement in the international climate negotiations—and ultimately, help the world rise to the climate change challenge before it.

As countries negotiate a new international climate agreement for the post-2020 period—including at this week’s intersessional meeting in Bonn, Germany—the key choices for putting the world on a secure pathway to a low-carbon future should be front-of-mind. The new agreement will be essential for putting in place the policies beyond 2020 that ensure a shift from high-carbon to low-carbon and climate-resilient investments. To do this, the agreement will have to send the right signals to governments and businesses about the trajectory we need to be on.

The UNFCCC meetings in Bonn this week mark a critical time, as one of the issues negotiators are focusing on is the development of countries’ [post-2020 plans](http://www.wri.org/blog/qa-jennifer-morgan-how-do-we-secure-strong-international-climate-agreement-2015) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Parties in a position to do so must communicate their post-2020 “contributions” by the first quarter of 2015. To help inform this discussion, we published a working paper outlining what this information should look like and why this level of transparency is important.

In the [Strategic Plan](http://www.wri.org/about/strategic-plan) we present WRI’s strategy for the coming four years. We will focus our activities on six global problems that must be addressed urgently this decade. We will do fewer projects at greater depth and scale, seeking tipping points and, together with partners, moving beyond them. And we will invest in creating open-source data, research, and visual information that are suited to today’s fast-paced and networked world. We look forward to working with our partners to tackle today’s urgent challenges and contribute to a more sustainable and prosperous world for all people.