WRI Insights

COP 20 is a major milestone on the path to Paris and the 2015 climate agreement. By narrowing down the options for the agreement and setting the rules of the road for putting forward and evaluating national contributions over the next year, this can be the global climate conference that puts us on the way to an [effective, robust, and ambitious agreement](/blog/2013/11/qa-jennifer-morgan-how-do-we-secure-strong-international-climate-agreement-2015).

Recent data reveals only 10 countries produce around 70 percent of global GHG emissions. Here's a closer look at these top 10 emitters—based on our [Climate Analysis Indicators Tool](http://cait.wri.org/wri/).

With China at an economic and environmental crossroad, ongoing cooperation on climate and clean energy with the U.S. can yield significant social and economic rewards for both countries. The benefits of this course can and must go together to tackle climate change and create vibrant economies for the 21st century.

Rapid urbanization creates a number challenges for city leaders, but the growing use of sustainable urban mobility solutions provides reasons for optimism in cities worldwide.

To limit global warming to 2 degrees C will require enormous collective effort. China and the U.S. have joined the EU by announcing their targets, *and as the world’s top three emitters*, the pressure will stay on them to deliver the most ambitious reductions possible.

A new tool from [WRI’s Access Initiative](http://www.accessinitiative.org/) and the [Jamaica Environment Trust](http://www.jamentrust.org/), shows where recently approved or proposed development projects overlap with protected areas, fisheries, forest reserves, and other areas important for Jamaica's environment and public health.

To stay below a 2-degree Centigrade temperature rise, the world needs to reach global carbon neutrality-no net carbon increases-by the end of the century, according to a new report from the UNEP. WRI President Andrew Steer shares highlights and tells what needs to be done.

As governments prepare to resume climate negotiations at COP 20, a key issue is the commitments countries are making to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions after 2020. A new report from the UNEP quantifies the magnitude for those commitments that will be needed in order to have a likely chance of limiting global warming to 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F), thus preventing some of the most disastrous impacts of climate change.

The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol’s *[Mitigation Goal Standard](http://www.ghgprotocol.org/mitigation-goal-standard)*, launched today, provides the first-ever standardized approach for designing, assessing, and reporting progress on a variety of national and subnational mitigation goals. The standard can help governments set emissions-reduction targets, meet domestic and international emissions reporting obligations to groups like the UNFCCC, and ensure that efforts to reduce emissions are actually achieving their intended results.

Tunisia launched its renewable energy program in 2010 to scale up solar photovoltaic systems and used the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol’s Policy and Action Standard—to find out just how much the program would reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.