WRI Insights

Last week in São Paulo, [WRI](http://www.wri.org/), [ICLEI](http://www.iclei.org/), [C40](http://www.c40cities.org/), [USP-IEE](http://www.iee.usp.br/), and [EMBARQ Brazil ](http://embarqbrasil.org/)jointly [brought together](http://www.ghgprotocol.org/blog/invent%C3%A1rios-de-emiss%C3%B5es-de-gases-de-efeito-estufa-para-cidades-gpc) more than 200 Brazilian city officials and experts to discuss how to use the [Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GPC)](http://www.ghgprotocol.org/greenhouse-gas-protocol-accounting-reporting-standard-cities) to measure and manage greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from cities. Representatives from Brazil’s federal and state governments, as well as city-level governments including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, and Piracicaba, shared their experiences in conducting GHG inventories and implementing local climate actions.

It’s well-known that China ranks first in the world in attracting clean energy investment, [receiving US$ 65.1 billion in 2012](http://www.pewenvironment.org/uploadedFiles/PEG/Publications/Report/-clenG20-Report-2012-Digital.pdf). But [new analysis from WRI](http://www.wri.org/publication/china-overseas-investments-in-wind-and-solar-trends-and-drivers) shows another side to this story: China is increasingly becoming a global force in international clean energy investment, too. **In fact, the country has provided nearly $40 billion dollars to other countries’ solar and wind industries over the past decade.**

As evidence of climate change mounts, President Obama has made it clear that tackling this issue will be a priority in his second term. Yet, as weeks go by, the administration has been slow to clarify its strategy. With each passing day, it becomes harder and more expensive to rein in greenhouse gas emissions.

The High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda provided a welcome injection of energy and ambition into the future of development with its [final report](http://www.post2015hlp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/UN-Report.pdf) released last week. While the details will be parsed over the coming months, the report’s recommendations were at once bold and practical. The Panel sees that the promise of a world free of extreme poverty is within reach, and achieving this vision requires that sustainability and [equity](http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/12/what-equity-context-climate-negotiations) should be at the core of the global development agenda.

Ensuring that development projects benefit both people and the planet is becoming more and more of a priority. Environmental and social impact assessments (ESIA) have been in use for decades to consider the effects of projects such as dams, highways, and oil and gas development. Over the years, ESIAs have evolved to cover both [environmental and social impacts](http://www.wri.org/publication/ecosystem-services-review-for-impact-assessment), including health and human rights.

Ending months of uncertainty, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia made a courageous decision last week [to extend the country’s forest moratorium](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/05/indonesia-extends-its-forest-moratorium-what-comes-next). The [new Presidential Instruction](http://www.setkab.go.id/mobile/berita-8652-melalui-inpres-no-62013-presiden-sby-perpanjang-penundaan-izin-baru-pengelolaan-hutan.html) adds another two years of protection for over 43 million hectares of primary forests and peat land — an area the size of Japan.

Delegates at the April UNFCCC intersessional in Bonn, Germany [made some encouraging progress](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/05/3-encouraging-signs-progress-bonn-climate-talks). As negotiators gather again this week, it’s important that they build on this progress and take action on two key topics: raising [ambition](http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/11/what-ambition-context-climate-change), and establishing core elements of the 2015 international climate action agreement.

Uganda is one of only 10 African countries with a national access to information (ATI) law. These types of laws are essential to human rights, providing citizens with legal access to the government-held information that directly impacts them—information on issues like mining permits, logging concessions, air quality data, and more. But as researchers are learning, ATI laws on the books do not necessarily guarantee freedom of information.

How can the world feed more than 9 billion people by 2050 in a manner that advances economic development and reduces pressure on the environment? This is one of the paramount questions the world faces over the next four decades.

Following an extensive global consultation process, the [High Level Panel](http://www.post2015hlp.org/) on the Post-2015 Development Agenda will present its final report to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon this week. Led by the heads of state of Indonesia, Liberia, and the United Kingdom, the panel is charged with producing a bold yet practical vision for global development beyond 2015, when the current [Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)](http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/)are set to expire. While this is just the first round of what is sure to be a multi-year process, there has been no shortage of discussion about the Panel’s report and what it should say.