WRI Insights

Through the Compact of Mayors and parallel initiatives, cities are making ambitious commitments to curb emissions, adopting new greenhouse gas emissions measuring standards, and supporting the financing of low-carbon infrastructure.

A new report delivers a simple, but powerful message: economic growth and climate action can be achieved together. Drawing on new evidence and hundreds of real-world examples, it focuses on opportunities to shift three key economic systems: energy, land use, and cities.

Leaders at this week's UN Climate Summit unveiled “The New York Declaration” on forests, which many hope will inject life into efforts to reverse forest loss. While the Declaration is not an “official” UN agreement—and has been carefully worded to avoid the appearance of commitments being binding—it is a positive development. If governments and business take it seriously going forward—and civil society watchdogs hound them sufficiently to do so—it would yield significant impacts.

The [UN Climate Summit](http://www.wri.org/events/united-nations-climate-summit-2014) brought together more than 125 heads of state and government officials—the largest-ever climate meeting of world leaders. Leaders clearly demonstrated their understanding that the impacts of climate change are real and costly, and that they no longer have to choose between economic growth and climate action—they [go hand-in-hand](http://www.wri.org/blog/2014/09/numbers-new-climate-economy). WRI’s experts were in New York for all the action. While the outcomes from [the Summit](http://www.un.org/climatechange/summit/) are still evolving, here’s our first look at progress made and next steps.

In a blog post originally published for Huffington Post, Andrew Steer and Stephen M. Ross discuss the importance low carbon cities. The authors have recently partnered to create the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, an initiative that will galvanize action on sustainable urban development and improve the lives of people around the world.

Global emissions are [higher than any point in history](http://www.wri.org/blog/2014/05/history-carbon-dioxide-emissions) and atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide [are increasing faster](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/09/09/carbon-dioxide-sees-biggest-annual-spike-on-record-as-researchers-gain-insight-on-warming-slowdown/) than the previous 30 years. A new interactive map reveals how carbon dioxide emissions are distributed globally and how they've changed in the past 160 years.

The UN Climate Summit will draw 125 heads of state and government to address the global challenge of climate change, the biggest gathering of its kind ever. Building on the excitement of the massive People’s Climate March on September 21, we should expect some movement on the key question of how to finance climate solutions. Read more for forthcoming highlights.

The Long March was a watershed moment in Chinese history—the moment Mao Zedong’s nascent Communist Party escaped disaster in 1934 en route to forming a new nation. Fast forward 80 years, and China is poised to embark on a new Long March – but this time away from climate change and environmental damage toward a sustainable future.

Recent [research](http://www.wri.org/securingrights) from WRI and the [Rights and Resources Initiative](http://www.rightsandresources.org/) found that the world’s 513 million hectares of legally recognized community forests store 37 billion tonnes of carbon—29 times the annual carbon footprint of the world’s passenger vehicles. The impacts of oil extraction in Ecuador illustrate why secure community forest rights are necessary to protect both livelihoods and the environment.

Next week at the UN Climate Summit in New York City, leaders from business, national government, and cities will convene to discuss bold actions to address climate change in various sectors, including transport. And while climate change is an international challenge, climate action in the transport sector is proven to create significant and immediate development benefits at the national and local levels.