WRI Insights

Low-carbon city development has become a central part of the Malaysian government’s strategy to meet its greenhouse gas (GHG) commitments. The country, currently ranked second in terms of emissions per capita in Southeast Asia, has committed to reduce the emissions intensity of its gross domestic product (GDP) [by 40 percent](http://www.pmo.gov.my/?menu=newslist&page=1731&news_id=900&news_cat=13) from 2005 levels by 2020.

It’s been almost four months since the last UNFCCC negotiations in Doha, Qatar [(COP 18)](http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/12/reflections-cop-18-doha-negotiators-made-only-incremental-progress). Countries [decided in Doha](http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/12/reflections-cop-18-doha-negotiators-made-only-incremental-progress) to finalize the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, wrap up a series of decisions on the Bali Action Plan, and outline a plan to establish an international climate agreement by 2015. Countries will gather this week in Bonn, Germany, for the first formal conversations since the Doha meeting.

Within our lifetimes, the world could be free of widespread, extreme poverty, replaced instead with shared prosperity and environmental and fiscal balance. That was the vision World Bank President Jim Yong Kim outlined at his first [Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C.](http://www.imf.org/external/spring/2013/) last week.

Measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) across different sectors is no easy feat. But creating a national inventory of GHGs is one important step for countries to take toward managing them. Starting in 2014, many developing countries will begin providing more frequent updates to their national inventories under guidelines from the [COP 17 Durban Platform](http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/durban_nov_2011/decisions/application/pdf/cop17_durbanplatform.pdf). How can they best meet international reporting requirements and, more importantly, use the development of their national inventory systems to support domestic low-carbon growth?

An effective [corporate climate change strategy](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/04/4-lessons-environmental-sustainability-every-corporation-should-learn) requires a detailed understanding of a company’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Until recently, most companies have focused on measuring emissions from their own operations and electricity consumption, using the [GHG Protocol’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 framework](http://www.ghgprotocol.org/calculation-tools/faq#directindirect). But what about all of the emissions a company is responsible for outside of its own walls—from the goods it purchases to the disposal of the products it sells?

As U.S. government officials take stock of [last week’s Ministerial Meeting on Mobilizing Climate Finance](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/04/3-ways-unlock-climate-finance) and prepare for [upcoming UNFCCC talks in Bonn](http://unfccc.int/meetings/items/6240.php), WRI’s [Open Climate Network (OCN)](http://www.wri.org/project/open-climate-network), along with [Climate Advisers](http://www.climateadvisers.com/) and the [Overseas Development Institute](http://www.odi.org.uk/), are taking a look back at U.S. efforts on climate finance. (See [our new fact sheet](http://www.wri.org/publication/us-contribution-fast-start-finance-2012-update)).

The United States and China are the world’s two largest economies. They are also the two largest producers and consumers of coal, and the [largest emitters](http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/09/chinese-leaders-and-wri-experts-share-knowledge-low-carbon-development) of carbon dioxide. In recent years, however, their paths on coal have started to diverge.

This is part two of a four-part blog series, [“Improving Electricity Governance,”](http://www.wri.org/resources/type/insights-50/tags/8690) which explores the key components involved in effective electricity governance. The series draws on the experiences of WRI’s Electricity Governance Initiative, documented in a new report, “[Shining a Light on Electricity Governance](https://www.wri.org/research/shining-light-electricity-governance).” Read [more posts](https://wri.org/resources/type/insights-50/tags/8690) in this series.

We are in a race for sure, but it is not a race among various national issues. It’s a race to slow the pace of our rapidly changing climate. The planet is [warming faster](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/03/developed-nations-must-reduce-emissions-half-2020-says-new-study) than previously thought, and we cannot afford to wait for national politics to align to make progress in slowing the dangerous rate of warming.

We recently travelled to Santiago, Chile, a sprawling city of six million people just beyond the Andes. Our purpose was to attend the first sub-regional workshop of the Climate Justice Dialogue, a new initiative led by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the [Mary Robinson Foundation—Climate Justice (MRFCJ)](http://www.mrfcj.org/). But before we even made it inside the conference center, we were confronted by a poignant, real-life example of climate justice.