WRI Insights

Natural gas is booming in the United States. Production has increased by 20 percent in the last five years, fueled largely by technological advances in [shale gas extraction](http://www.eia.gov/energy_in_brief/article/about_shale_gas.cfm). Other countries--[including China](/publication/testimony-chinas-prospects-shale-gas-and-implications-us)--are now studying our experience with this abundant new resource.

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](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/03/4-ways-green-climate-fund-can-support-readiness-climate-finance) that will encourage public and [private sector investors](http://www.wri.org/project/climate-finance-private-sector) to put their money into climate-friendly projects.

New [data](http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/index.cfm) from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reveals a troubling trend: Coal-fired power generation—and its associated greenhouse gas emissions—were on the rise as 2012 came to an end.

This is Part Four of a five-part blog series, [Aligning Profit and Environmental Sustainability](/blog-tags/8691). Each installment explores solutions to help businesses [overcome barriers](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/03/4-barriers-overcome-achieving-corporate-environmental-sustainability) that prevent them from integrating environmental sustainability into their everyday operations. Look for [these posts](/blog-tags/8691) every Thursday.

The private sector is a crucial partner in advancing sustainable development, and bilateral aid agencies are grappling with ways to learn from and leverage the activities of companies and markets. As the worlds of business and of aid increasingly intersect—and as development budgets are reined in even as demands on them grow—the pressure is to do *more* in partnership with the private sector. The real challenge, though, is to do *better*.

Agriculture is a [major actor](http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/06/first-time-ghg-protocol-help-brazil-measure-greenhouse-gas-emissions-agriculture) in spurring global climate change. The sector is already responsible for at least [10-12 percent](http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg3/ar4-wg3-chapter8.pdf) of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and agricultural emissions are expected to increase [by more than 50 percent](http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg3/ar4-wg3-chapter8.pdf) by 2030.

We know less about one of world's most pressing challenges today than we did 10 years ago. It's no secret that water - or the lack thereof - will be one of the defining issues of the 21st century. And yet, the United Nations World Water Report, in 2009, stated that when it comes to water, "less is known with each passing decade."

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the first [World Water Day]( http://www.unwater.org/water-cooperation-2013/home/en/), an international celebration designed to draw attention to the importance of freshwater resources. However, for a [large and growing proportion](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/01/5-sobering-realities-about-global-water-security-0) of the world’s population, every day is a World Water Day. Difficult, complex water challenges including [drought](http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/07/missing-link-droughts-economy-and-climate-change), groundwater depletion, pollution, and clean drinking water availability are growing in urgency and seriousness all around the world. Some even argue that we should [boycott World Water Day](http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2011/world/boycott-world-water-day/) – that our water problems are too serious to try and confine to a single day.

Now is a critically important time for the world to focus on [climate finance](http://www.wri.org/climate-finance). Developing nations—those least responsible for causing global warming but [most vulnerable](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/02/time-leadership-climate-justice) to its impacts—need funding to adopt clean energy, protect infrastructure from sea level rise, and engage in other [adaptation](http://www.wri.org/project/vulnerability-and-adaptation) and mitigation strategies. But these activities are costly—the world will need to figure out how to fund them now in order to protect countries from future climate change.

This is Part Three of a five-part blog series, [Aligning Profit and Environmental Sustainability](/blog-tags/8691). Each installment explores solutions to help businesses [overcome barriers](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/03/4-barriers-overcome-achieving-corporate-environmental-sustainability) that prevent them from integrating environmental sustainability into their everyday operations. Look for [these posts](/blog-tags/8691) every Thursday.