WRI Insights

Governments, businesses, development agencies, and NGOs are increasingly turning to [economic valuation](http://www.wri.org/blog/does-economic-valuation-really-influence-coastal-policy) as a way to protect coral reefs and mangroves. This process makes the economic case for protection and sustainable use of natural resources by showing the monetary, employment, and infrastructure benefits ecosystems provide—metrics that are easily understood by decision-makers. But not all economic valuations are created equal. WRI's [new guidebook](http://www.wri.org/publication/coastal-capital-guidebook) shows how NGOs and other stakeholders can conduct economic valuations in ways that lead to real change on the ground.

More than [70 percent of the world’s population](http://www.who.int/gho/urban_health/situation_trends/urban_population_growth_text/en/) will live in cities by 2050. Cities represent the single-greatest opportunity for targeted, meaningful actions that create impact on the ground, improve the quality of life for billions of people, and reduce the risks of climate change. This opportunity was a key theme at the C40 Mayors Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The [Green Climate Fund (GCF)](http://www.wri.org/blog/green-climate-fund-inception-launch-0) has big ambitions: It aspires to become the [main global fund](http://gcfund.net/fileadmin/00_customer/documents/pdf/GCF-governing_instrument-120521-block-LY.pdf) for providing climate change finance, contributing to activities like the design of resilient cities and the expansion of low-emission power generation. While the GCF Board should be ambitious and innovative, they can also look to what’s been done before. Drawing knowledge from the experiences of other critical climate and development funds is one way to ensure that the GCF succeeds.

Readiness is a hot topic for the newly established [Green Climate Fund](http://www.wri.org/blog/green-climate-fund-inception-launch-0) (GCF), as it heads towards its 6th Board meeting in Bali, Indonesia next week. At the meeting, the Board is expected to make a decision on what the GCF’s readiness program will look like. It will likely be narrow in focus, which makes sense based on its limited funding and timeframe. Yet as the GCF moves forward, it is important to remember countries’ broader readiness needs and to be flexible in finding the right institutions to channel funds in the short term.

As news of [California’s epic drought](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/california-governor-drought-requires-compromise-22488291) continues to reverberate around the nation, a meeting today may offer some hope. The President’s [Task Force on Climate Resilience and Preparedness](http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/11/01/fact-sheet-executive-order-climate-preparedness) will convene in Los Angeles, California today for the next round of meetings to determine ways the federal government can assist local efforts to address and prepare for the impacts of climate change. The group represents a significant opportunity to bridge the gap between local and federal climate action.

Experts recently said that 20 million people in Africa's Sahel will face hunger this year, [requiring $2 billion](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26021145) in food aid. The question is: Can the Sahel cost-effectively and sustainably increase food production? The [answer is yes](http://www.wri.org/blog/farmer-innovation-improving-africa%E2%80%99s-food-security-through-land-and-water-management)—and we’re already learning from some [farmer innovators](http://www.wri.org/blog/burkina-faso-farmers-lead-way-food-security-and-climate-change-resilience) on how to do so.

The world [spent $50 billion dollars](http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2013/11/18/damages-extreme-weather-mount-climate-warms) per year on weather-related disasters in the 1980s, according to the World Bank. Today, we spend [roughly $200 billion](http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2013/11/18/damages-extreme-weather-mount-climate-warms) annually. Twenty-five extreme weather and climate events in 2011 and 2012 caused [more than $188 billion of damages](http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/02/13/1581351/the-188-billion-price-tag-from-us-extreme-weather-from-2011-to-2012/) in the United States alone. And yet—despite these escalating costs and risks—the world continues to emit dangerous amounts of greenhouse gases. It’s time for a climate change reality check.

The [C40 Cities Mayors Summit](http://c40summitjohannesburg.org/) in Johannesburg, South Africa kicks off today. It’s the fifth biennial meeting of the [C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group](http://www.c40.org/), a collection of mayors from cities around the world committed to advancing urban solutions to climate change. The theme for the event is “Towards resilient and liveable megacities—demonstrating action, impact, and opportunity.” Before the talks begin, check out Andrew Steer’s thoughts on how we can learn from forward-thinking cities to advance sustainable urbanization.

Two weeks ago, [EMBARQ](http://www.embarq.org/), the sustainable transport and urban development program of the [World Resources Institute](http://www.wri.org/) (WRI), and the [World Bank](http://www.worldbank.org/) co-hosted [Transforming Transportation](http://transformingtransportation.org/). The two-day event concluded with the announcement of [Transport Delivers](http://www.slocat.net/transport-delivers-campaign), a global campaign calling city and national leaders to better integrate sustainable transport into policy discussions on development and climate change. If the campaign’s objectives are fully implemented, they could be a game-changer for today’s cities – as well as tomorrow’s.

Alex Doukas discusses outcomes of a financing clean energy access workshop in Africa, and how social entrepreneurs could be part of the clean power solution.