WRI Insights

Deforestation rates in the Congo Basin — historically lower than in the Amazon and southeast Asia — are on the rise. It's not just a problem for the 80 million people who rely on the forests for food and livelihoods; research shows the world's second-largest rainforest regulates weather patterns across Africa.

Climate negotiators in Bonn, Germany left with only mixed progress in maintaining the spirit and strengthening the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Here are the highs and lows.

Fewer than a dozen national climate plans include measures to reduce food loss and waste. That's a problem—if food loss and waste were its own country, it would be world's third-largest emitter.

Nicholas Walton gets on the phone with Raj Bhagat Palanichamy, an expert in cities and water for WRI India, to understand why Chennai ran out of water—and what can be done to prevent residents from going thirsty.

While making buildings more energy-efficient is the cheapest way to reduce emissions, the energy efficiency improvement rate is actually slowing down. Eskişehir, a Turkish city of 870,000, is showing cities around the world how they can lead on building efficiency.

Japan has as many companies with science-based targets for reducing climate emissions as anyone but the United States. The secret? They're the only country that offers government support to companies trying to set targets, part of a broader emphasis on private sector engagement in the country's climate plan.

Clothing and footwear companies now have guidance through the Science Based Targets initiative on how to set Paris-consistent climate goals. To really cut emissions, they'll need to work together and focus on value chains.

Chennai's four main reservoirs are virtually dry. This crisis is not only due to last year's poor monsoon season—lack of proper management is driving the city's water security problems.

Development banks committed record funds to climate finance in 2018, but key vulnerabilities in adaptation finance, cofinancing and portfolio alignment persist, and some institutions even backslid. To meet 2020 goals, MDBs need to kick it into overdrive.

The release of a nearly $7 billion bond, which will help the Netherlands adapt to sea level rise, was met with widespread enthusiasm from investors. It's the latest in a wave of innovations in green bonds and climate adaptation.