WRI Insights

Water is a [scarce resource](http://aqueduct.wri.org) in India, especially in the state of Maharashtra, where most rainfall is limited to the monsoon season from June through September. The Government of India has long promoted a Participatory Watershed Development (PWD) approach to deal with this scarcity.

As leaders gather for the [World Economic Forum in Davos](http://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2013) today, signs of economic hope are upon us. The global economy is on the mend. Worldwide, the middle class is expanding by an estimated 100 million per year. And the quality of life for millions in Asia and Africa is growing at an unprecedented pace.

Two leaders on urban development recently came together on the same stage: Dr. Jim Yong Kim and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Kim, president of the World Bank, and Bloomberg, mayor of New York City, headlined a panel at the [Transforming Transportation conference](http://transformingtransportation.org/), an event co-organized by the World Bank and [WRI’s EMBARQ Center for Sustainable Transport](http://www.embarq.org/). Through a discussion moderated by Zanny Minton Beddoes, an editor at *The Economist*, and closed by WRI’s president, [Dr. Andrew Steer](http://www.wri.org/profile/andrew-steer), Kim and Bloomberg took on the meaty topic of how to shape the [future of urban transport](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/01/3-big-opportunities-transform-transportation).

As we enter 2013, there are signs of growth and economic advancement around the world. The global middle class is booming. More people are moving into cities. And the quality of life for millions is improving at an unprecedented pace.

Temperatures hit an unseasonably warm 61˚F in Washington D.C. earlier this week. The Middle East is blanketed in record rainfall and rare heavy snowfall, [ending](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/01/10/middle-east-snow/1823275/) a nearly decade-long drought. Australia [witnessed its hottest day on record](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/australia-braces-for-more-blistering-heat-after-record-busting-spell/2013/01/10/1b5e00f2-5b4f-11e2-88d0-c4cf65c3ad15_blog.html) this past week, stoking wildfires. And China is experiencing a bitterly cold winter, where temperatures [are the lowest](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/01/09/china-cold/1820089/)they’ve been in almost three decades. We’re only two weeks into 2013, and already we are getting a reminder of the extreme year we just emerged from.

The need for action on sustainable transport has never been more apparent than it is today. The world’s population is expected to reach a whopping [9.8 billion people by 2050](http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2008/pressrelease.pdf), with [about 70 percent](http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/35571/icode/) of these people residing in cities. Meanwhile, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are on the rise. Transportation [contributes 13 percent](http://www.internationaltransportforum.org/Pub/pdf/09GHGsum.pdf) of global emissions, spurring climate change and creating dangerous air pollution.

The [draft U.S. National Climate Assessment](http://ncadac.globalchange.gov/) was [released last week](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/01/new-national-climate-assessment-shows-america-course-unprecedented-warming), confirming that the climate is changing, that it is primarily due to human activities, and that the United States is already being adversely impacted. These top-line messages should come as no surprise, as they reconfirm the major findings of [previous National Climate Assessments](http://www.globalchange.gov/what-we-do/assessment/previous-assessments) and of the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s](http://www.ipcc.ch/) recent reports.

A [new federal report](http://ncadac.globalchange.gov/) reveals alarming statistics on climate change. According to the 3rd National Climate Assessment, released in draft form today from the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the world could warm by more than 12°F by the end of the century if action isn’t taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

As another year begins, big business will continue falling well short of taking the leadership role on the sustainability the world urgently needs. While many chief executives now publicly identify sustainability as a key issue for their companies, walking the talk is proving more elusive.

Natural ecosystems [provide essential services](http://www.wri.org/publication/insights-from-the-field-forests-for-water) for our communities. Forests and wetlands, for example, [filter the water](http://www.wri.org/stories/2011/02/protecting-forests-protect-water-us-south) we drink, protect neighborhoods from floods and droughts, and shade aquatic habitat for fish populations.