WRI Insights

New research shows that Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) can reduce travel time by millions of hours for commuters worldwide. For instance, BRT users in Istanbul, Turkey, can save 28 days per year by shifting from other transport modes to BRT. Commuters in Johannesburg, South Africa, meanwhile, can save an estimated 73 million hours between 2007 and 2026. That’s the equivalent of more than 9 million eight-hour work-days.

Wisconsin has already taken strides to reduce its near-term power sector CO2 emissions by implementing cost-effective clean energy policies. And the state has the opportunity to go even further. **In fact, [new WRI analysis](/publication/power-sector-opportunities-reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions-wisconsin) finds that Wisconsin can reduce its CO2 emissions 43 percent below 2011 levels by 2020 by extending its existing clean energy policies and taking advantage of existing infrastructure.** Achieving these reductions will allow Wisconsin to meet even ambitious EPA power plant emissions standards, which are due to be finalized in 2015.

Take a look at four U.S. cities—Boulder, CO.; Salt Lake City, UT; Pinecrest, FL.; and Hoboken, NJ—and it's clear that they are at the [frontlines of climate change](http://www.wri.org/our-work/project/us-climate-impacts-initiative). But take a closer look and you’ll see that they’re also at the forefront of local climate action.

The world’s forests and the people who depend on them face a host of challenges—including [deforestation](http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/04/07/0912668107), [rural poverty](http://www.cifor.org/pen), and degradation of [critical ecosystem services](/publication/ecosystem-services). These negative outcomes are often exacerbated by weak forest governance, including low levels of transparency and participation in forest decision-making and as well as poor oversight of forest activities. To tackle these issues, decision-makers need better information about the institutional, political, and social factors that drive governance failures. An updated tool from WRI’s Governance of Forests Initiative aims to help policy-makers, civil society organizations, and other forest stakeholders evaluate governance of their countries’ forests. [*Assessing Forest Governance: The Governance of Forests Initiative Indicator Framework*](/publication/assessing-forest-governance) updates the original GFI indicators, which were published in 2009 and piloted by WRI’s civil society partners in [Brazil](/our-work/project/governance-forests-initiative), [Cameroon](/our-work/project/governance-forests-initiative), and [Indonesia](/our-work/project/governance-forests-initiative). Using the indicators, stakeholders can identify strengths and weaknesses in forest governance and develop reforms that benefit both people and planet.

The world will need to spend an [estimated US$5.7 trillion annually](http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GreenInvestment_Report_2013.pdf) in green infrastructure by 2020 in order to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees C. This week, it took a step toward creating an institution – the Green Climate Fund – that will be pivotal in achieving this goal.

A [new publication](http://www.wri.org/publication/saving-lives-sustainable-transport) from [EMBARQ](http://www.embarq.org/) explores the existing literature on the safety impacts of sustainable transport – primarily from the United States and Europe – and adding examples from Latin America and South Asia. The evidence suggests that projects that reduce traffic—such as congestion charging—and those that improve infrastructure—such as high-quality mass transport systems—can have a positive impact on traffic safety, in addition to numerous other co-benefits.

In most developing economies, [Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises](http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/de7d92804a29ffe9ae04af8969adcc27/InterpretationNote_SME_2012.pdf?MOD=AJPERES) (MSMEs) [employ up to 78 percent of the population and account for approximately 29 percent](http://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/book/10.1596/1813-9450-5631) of the national GDP. Their presence in communities throughout the world– big and small, rural and urban – allows them to get products and services to hard-to-reach populations. This market concentration and high level of employment means MSMEs are in a good position to contribute to making vulnerable populations more climate-resilient. But while MSMEs can assist in helping vulnerable households adapt to climate change, they are also extremely vulnerable to the impacts of a warmer world, such as intensification of precipitation and shifts in water availability. It’s important that MSMEs overcome these challenges and capitalize on their unique business opportunities in ways that help vulnerable communities adapt to climate change.

The world is projected to hold a whopping 9.6 billion people by 2050. Figuring out how to feed all these people—while also advancing rural development, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and protecting valuable ecosystems—is one of the greatest challenges of our era. So what’s causing the global food challenge, and how can the world solve it? We begin to answer these questions through a series of graphics below. For more information, check out the [interim findings of *Creating a Sustainable Food Future*](http://www.wri.org/publication/creating-sustainable-food-future-interim-findings), a report produced by WRI, U.N. Environment Programme, U.N. Development Programme, and the World Bank.

A [new study](http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/11/20/1314392110.abstract) in the *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences* sheds light on a question that continues to vex industry executives and policymakers alike: How significant are [fugitive methane emissions](http://www.wri.org/blog/close-look-fugitive-methane-emissions-natural-gas) from oil and gas production?

Recent [analysis](http://www.wri.org/publication/creating-sustainable-food-future-installment-two) from the World Resources Institute finds that nearly one-quarter of all food (measured by calorie) produced for people globally is lost due to spoilage or waste. In the U.S., the number is even higher, with a whopping 42 percent of all calories not reaching people’s mouths. Of that, about 20 percent of meat is lost or wasted. That means come Thanksgiving Day, of the approximately [46 million turkeys](http://www.eatturkey.com/why-turkey/history) likely to be purchased, over 9 million will go uneaten.