WRI Insights

A growing number of countries and companies now measure and manage their emissions through greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories. Cities, however, lack a common framework for tracking their own emissions—until now. Thirty-three cities and communities from around the world started pilot testing the [Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions Pilot Version 1.0](http://www.ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/ghgp/GPC_PilotVersion_1.0_May2012_20120514.pdf) (GPC Pilot Version 1.0) last month. The GPC represents the first international framework for greenhouse gas accounting for cities. It was [launched](http://www.wri.org/blog/2012/05/new-global-framework-measure-greenhouse-gas-emissions-cities) in May 2012 as a joint initiative among [WRI](http://www.wri.org/), [C40](http://www.c40cities.org/), and [ICLEI](http://www.iclei.org/) in collaboration with the [World Bank](http://www.worldbank.org/), [UN-HABITAT](http://www.unhabitat.org/), and [UNEP](http://www.unep.org/).

The White House’s [climate action plan](http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/climate-action-plan) aims to transform the U.S. electricity system in the coming decades. [The President directed](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/06/first-take-looking-president-obama%E2%80%99s-climate-action-plan) the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and implement standards to reduce carbon dioxide pollution from power plants, double renewable energy in the United States by 2020, and open public lands to an additional 10 gigawatts of renewable energy development, enough to power more than 6 million homes.

While reactions to President Obama’s [newly announced climate plan](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/06/first-take-looking-president-obama%E2%80%99s-climate-action-plan) have focused on [domestic action](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/06/numbers-economic-benefits-national-climate-action-plan), the plan actually has potentially significant repercussions [for the rest of the world](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/06/what-president-obama%E2%80%99s-national-climate-plan-tells-us-about-international-climate). These repercussions will come in part through his commitment to limit U.S. investments in [new coal-fired power plants overseas](http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/11/new-global-assessment-reveals-nearly-1200-proposed-coal-fired-power-plants). If fully implemented, the plan will help ensure that the U.S. government channels its international investments away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy. The move sends a powerful signal—and hopefully, will inspire similar action by other global lenders.

President Obama’s [newly announced](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/06/first-take-looking-president-obama%E2%80%99s-climate-action-plan) National Climate Action Plan will make serious progress on reducing pollution and [curbing climate change](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/06/what-president-obama%E2%80%99s-national-climate-plan-tells-us-about-international-climate). **But importantly, the United States can also save billions of dollars each year by fully implementing all aspects of the plan**.

The world has been asking: How will the United States turn its climate change talk into real action? President Obama began to answer that question this week when he announced [his National Climate Action Plan](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/06/first-take-looking-president-obama%E2%80%99s-climate-action-plan), laying out concrete steps to curb climate change at home and abroad, including a policy [that would bar](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/27/the-u-s-will-stop-subsidizing-coal-plants-overseas-is-the-world-bank-next/) the U.S. from financing conventional coal plants internationally. The concrete steps he described are vital--most importantly because they represent actions, not just words. But everyone should also take note of the starting point in his speech. It reveals the critical role the international climate change process can play in stimulating climate action.

President Obama [is in Africa](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/28/world/africa/obama-africa-tour.html) this week to discuss development, investment, health, and, [notably, food security](http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/21/conference-call-briefing-presidents-trip-africa). The trip comes on the heels of the [president’s groundbreaking announcement](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/06/first-take-looking-president-obama%E2%80%99s-climate-action-plan) of a U.S. Climate Action Plan. So it’s a fitting time for Obama and other global leaders to take notice of a strategy that addresses both climate change and food security in Africa—re-greening.

Developing countries will need [about $531 billion](http://www.wri.org/publication/mobilizing-climate-investment) of additional investments in clean energy technologies every year in order to limit global temperature rise to 2°C above pre-industrial levels, thus preventing climate change’s worst impacts. To attract investments on the scale required, developing country governments, with support from developed countries, must undertake “readiness” activities that will encourage public and private sector investors to put their money into climate-friendly projects.

Selama beberapa hari terakhir ini, WRI telah melacak lokasi peringatan titik api yang terjadi di Sumatera. Dalam perkembangan terbaru ini, WRI menganalisis tren historis kebakaran hutan yang terjadi di Sumatera.

Over the past few days, WRI has been tracking the location of forest and land fires on Sumatra, an island in western Indonesia. In this update, WRI examines the historical trends of forest fires in Sumatra. Read our [previous analysis](http://www.wri.org/topic/indonesia-forest-fires).

As the crisis of tropical deforestation reaches a [new level of urgency](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/06/peering-through-haze-what-data-can-tell-us-about-fires-indonesia) due to forest fires raging in Indonesia, an important question is how can the world satisfy the growing demand for forest products while still preserving forest ecosystems? This week, some of the world’s largest companies will join U.S. and Indonesian government officials in Jakarta at the **[Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 (TFA 2020)](http://www.usaid.gov/climate/tfa2020)** meeting to discuss this issue.