WRI Insights

While manufacturing is a critical part of the U.S. economy, it’s struggled over the last several years—both financially and environmentally. Overall U.S. manufacturing employment [has dropped](http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/asm/) by more than one-third since 2000. Meanwhile, U.S. industry—of which manufacturing is the largest component—still [uses more energy](http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/annual/index.cfm#consumption) than any other sector and serves as the largest source of [U.S.](http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/Downloads/ghgemissions/US-GHG-Inventory-2013-Chapter-2-Trends.pdf) and [global](http://www.ecofys.com/files/files/asn-ecofys-2013-world-ghg-emissions-flow-chart-2010.pdf) greenhouse gas emissions. The good news is that energy efficiency can help U.S. manufacturing [increase profits](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421500000264), [protect jobs](http://are.berkeley.edu/~dwrh/CERES_Web/Docs/UCB%20Energy%20Innovation%20and%20Job%20Creation%2010-20-08.pdf), and lead the development of a low-carbon economy. The Midwest’s pulp and paper industry is a case in point: New WRI analysis finds that the pulp and paper sector—the third-largest energy user in U.S. manufacturing—could cost-effectively reduce its energy use in the Midwest by 25 percent through use of existing technologies. **These improvements could save hundreds of thousands of jobs, lower costs, and help the United States achieve [its goal](/news/2013/02/new-report-identifies-pathways-us-administration-reduce-emissions) of reducing emissions by 17 percent by 2020.** As the White House [moves to cut carbon dioxide pollution](/news/2013/06/first-take-looking-president-obamas-climate-action-plan) in America, energy efficiency improvements in Midwest pulp and paper mills are a tangible example of the win-win-win emissions-reduction opportunities in U.S. industry.

This has been a big week for U.S.-China collaboration on climate change. Yesterday the U.S.-China Climate Change Working Group (CCWG), which was established in April by the [Joint Statement on Climate Change](http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/04/207465.htm), presented their [report on bilateral cooperation](http://www.state.gov/e/oes/rls/pr/2013/211842.htm) between the two countries. Not only does it lay out actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a close reading sheds light on important themes for the future of U.S.-China collaboration on climate change.

Following record-breaking air pollution across Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, ministers from five Southeast Asian countries will meet in Kuala Lumpur this week for urgent talks on combating the haze.

Ministers from five Southeast Asian countries gather in Malaysia next week for urgent talks on combating haze. The meeting follows the recent fires in Sumatra that produced record-breaking air pollution across parts of Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. As this 15th meeting of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution kicks off, in-depth analysis of the patterns and causes of the fires continues. Hopefully the recent crisis will help ensure this meeting is more productive than the previous 14 gatherings, and will move the region towards addressing the root causes of the fires and haze.

Menteri dari lima negara Asia Tenggara akan berkumpul di Malaysia minggu depan untuk sebuah pembahasan penting mengenai usaha mengatasi kabut asap. Hal ini terkait terjadinya kebakaran hutan baru-baru ini yang telah memecahkan rekor polusi udara tertinggi di berbagai wilayah Indonesia, Singapura, dan Malaysia. Beriringan dengan dimulainya [pertemuan ke-15](http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v7/ge/newsgeneral.php?id=962453) dari Komite Pengarah Tingkat Menteri Sub-Regional untuk Polusi Lintas-Batas (Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution), analisis mendalam mengenai pola dan penyebab dari api terus berlanjut. Semoga saja krisis terakhir ini dapat memastikan bahwa pertemuan tersebut dapat berlangsung lebih produktif dari 14 rapat sebelumnya, sekaligus mendorong kawasan untuk menemukan penyebab dari kebakaran dan kabut asap tersebut.

A social entrepreneur invests the little working capital she has to bring solar electricity to a community that –like [1.2 billion people worldwide](http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2013/05/23/000442464_20130523110507/Rendered/PDF/778890WP0v10EN0y0Box377317B00OUO090.pdf)– lacks access to electricity. The community used to use dirty, expensive and choking kerosene for light to cook by and for children to learn by. The entrepreneur knows she can recoup her costs, because people are willing to pay for reliable, high-quality, clean energy – and it will be even less than what they used to pay for kerosene. Sounds like a good news story, right? Three months later, the government utility extends the electrical grid to this same community, despite official plans showing it would take at least another four years. While this could be good news for the community, one unintended consequence is that this undermines the entrepreneur’s investment, wiping out their working capital, and deterring investors from supporting decentralized clean energy projects in other communities that lack access to electricity.

Wading through the vast sea of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data can be a real challenge. To help simplify the process and make such data more accessible, today the World Resources Institute is launching the Climate Analysis Indicators Tool, or [CAIT 2.0](http://www.wri.org/project/cait). The free, online portal provides data on GHG emissions from 186 countries and all 50 U.S. states, as well as other climate data. CAIT 2.0 allows users to view, sort, visualize, and download data sets for comparative analysis. By providing comprehensive emissions data in an easy-to-use tool, users from government, business, academia, the media, and civil society can more effectively explore, understand, and communicate climate change issues.

Few countries are unaffected by China’s overseas investments. The country’s outward foreign direct investments (OFDI) have [grown](http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/article/tongjiziliao/)from $29 billion in 2002 to more than $424 billion in 2011. While these [investments ](http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/12/closer-look-chinas-overseas-investment)can bring economic opportunities to recipient countries, they also have the potential to create negative economic, social, and environmental impacts and spur tension with local communities. To address these risks, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and [Ministry of Environment](http://english.mep.gov.cn/) (MEP)—with support from several think tanks—recently issued [Guidelines on Environmental Protection and Cooperation](http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/article/policyrelease/bbb/201303/20130300043226.shtml). These Guidelines are the first-ever to establish criteria for Chinese companies’ behaviors when doing business overseas—including their environmental impact. But what exactly do the Guidelines cover, and how effective will they be? Here, we’ll answer these questions and more.

Singapore can help Indonesia untangle complex ownership structure of companies to figure out who’s legally responsible if crimes have been committed.

The global market for wood and other forest products is changing quickly. The industry has long struggled to address the problem of illegal logging, which damages diverse and valuable forests and creates economic losses of up to [$10 billion a year](http://bit.ly/YnW1f2). In some wood-producing countries, illegal logging accounts for [50-90 percent of total production](http://bit.ly/YnW1f2).