WRI Insights

How can we make climate change adaptation measures more effective? I recently traveled to Dhaka, Bangladesh to discuss ways to address that very question.

A slight breath of fresh air entered the [UNFCCC climate negotiations](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/04/2-big-issues-watch-week%E2%80%99s-bonn-climate-talks) this week in Bonn, Germany. Held in the old German parliament—which was designed to demonstrate transparency and light—the meeting took on a more open feel than the [past several COPs](http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/12/reflections-cop-18-doha-negotiators-made-only-incremental-progress) and intersessionals.

I recently had a frustrating experience. It all started during a casual conversation with one of my mother’s friends. After hearing a bit about my role as CFO of the World Resources Institute, my mother’s friend informed me that she regularly contributes to charities. In fact, she stated proudly, she only donates to organizations with “low overhead”-- that is, to groups that spend the lion’s share of their funding on program expenses and only a small amount on fundraising and administrative costs. I couldn’t help but shake my head--not only because I disagreed with her, but because it’s a sentiment we hear all too often in the non-profit world.

A new report from CERES draws a connection between water risk and hydraulic fracturing in the United States. The report adds an important dimension to the conversation about how energy use and water stress will play out in the years ahead.

Low-carbon city development has become a central part of the Malaysian government’s strategy to meet its greenhouse gas (GHG) commitments. The country, currently ranked second in terms of emissions per capita in Southeast Asia, has committed to reduce the emissions intensity of its gross domestic product (GDP) [by 40 percent](http://www.pmo.gov.my/?menu=newslist&page=1731&news_id=900&news_cat=13) from 2005 levels by 2020.

It’s been almost four months since the last UNFCCC negotiations in Doha, Qatar [(COP 18)](http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/12/reflections-cop-18-doha-negotiators-made-only-incremental-progress). Countries [decided in Doha](http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/12/reflections-cop-18-doha-negotiators-made-only-incremental-progress) to finalize the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, wrap up a series of decisions on the Bali Action Plan, and outline a plan to establish an international climate agreement by 2015. Countries will gather this week in Bonn, Germany, for the first formal conversations since the Doha meeting.

Within our lifetimes, the world could be free of widespread, extreme poverty, replaced instead with shared prosperity and environmental and fiscal balance. That was the vision World Bank President Jim Yong Kim outlined at his first [Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C.](http://www.imf.org/external/spring/2013/) last week.

Measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) across different sectors is no easy feat. But creating a national inventory of GHGs is one important step for countries to take toward managing them. Starting in 2014, many developing countries will begin providing more frequent updates to their national inventories under guidelines from the [COP 17 Durban Platform](http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/durban_nov_2011/decisions/application/pdf/cop17_durbanplatform.pdf). How can they best meet international reporting requirements and, more importantly, use the development of their national inventory systems to support domestic low-carbon growth?

An effective [corporate climate change strategy](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/04/4-lessons-environmental-sustainability-every-corporation-should-learn) requires a detailed understanding of a company’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Until recently, most companies have focused on measuring emissions from their own operations and electricity consumption, using the [GHG Protocol’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 framework](http://www.ghgprotocol.org/calculation-tools/faq#directindirect). But what about all of the emissions a company is responsible for outside of its own walls—from the goods it purchases to the disposal of the products it sells?

As U.S. government officials take stock of [last week’s Ministerial Meeting on Mobilizing Climate Finance](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/04/3-ways-unlock-climate-finance) and prepare for [upcoming UNFCCC talks in Bonn](http://unfccc.int/meetings/items/6240.php), WRI’s [Open Climate Network (OCN)](http://www.wri.org/project/open-climate-network), along with [Climate Advisers](http://www.climateadvisers.com/) and the [Overseas Development Institute](http://www.odi.org.uk/), are taking a look back at U.S. efforts on climate finance. (See [our new fact sheet](http://www.wri.org/publication/us-contribution-fast-start-finance-2012-update)).