WRI Insights

The private sector is a crucial partner in advancing sustainable development, and bilateral aid agencies are grappling with ways to learn from and leverage the activities of companies and markets. As the worlds of business and of aid increasingly intersect—and as development budgets are reined in even as demands on them grow—the pressure is to do *more* in partnership with the private sector. The real challenge, though, is to do *better*.

Agriculture is a [major actor](http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/06/first-time-ghg-protocol-help-brazil-measure-greenhouse-gas-emissions-agriculture) in spurring global climate change. The sector is already responsible for at least [10-12 percent](http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg3/ar4-wg3-chapter8.pdf) of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and agricultural emissions are expected to increase [by more than 50 percent](http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg3/ar4-wg3-chapter8.pdf) by 2030.

We know less about one of world's most pressing challenges today than we did 10 years ago. It's no secret that water - or the lack thereof - will be one of the defining issues of the 21st century. And yet, the United Nations World Water Report, in 2009, stated that when it comes to water, "less is known with each passing decade."

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the first [World Water Day]( http://www.unwater.org/water-cooperation-2013/home/en/), an international celebration designed to draw attention to the importance of freshwater resources. However, for a [large and growing proportion](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/01/5-sobering-realities-about-global-water-security-0) of the world’s population, every day is a World Water Day. Difficult, complex water challenges including [drought](http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/07/missing-link-droughts-economy-and-climate-change), groundwater depletion, pollution, and clean drinking water availability are growing in urgency and seriousness all around the world. Some even argue that we should [boycott World Water Day](http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2011/world/boycott-world-water-day/) – that our water problems are too serious to try and confine to a single day.

Now is a critically important time for the world to focus on [climate finance](http://www.wri.org/climate-finance). Developing nations—those least responsible for causing global warming but [most vulnerable](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/02/time-leadership-climate-justice) to its impacts—need funding to adopt clean energy, protect infrastructure from sea level rise, and engage in other [adaptation](http://www.wri.org/project/vulnerability-and-adaptation) and mitigation strategies. But these activities are costly—the world will need to figure out how to fund them now in order to protect countries from future climate change.

This is Part Three of a five-part blog series, [Aligning Profit and Environmental Sustainability](/blog-tags/8691). Each installment explores solutions to help businesses [overcome barriers](http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/03/4-barriers-overcome-achieving-corporate-environmental-sustainability) that prevent them from integrating environmental sustainability into their everyday operations. Look for [these posts](/blog-tags/8691) every Thursday.

This piece explores how advances in technology can curb illegal logging, written in honor of the first [International Day of Forests](http://www.fao.org/forestry/international-day-of-forests/en/). It [originally appeared](http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/saving-forests-technology-illegal-logging) on The Guardian's Sustainable Business Blog.

At the 2009 U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen, developed nations [committed to provide](http://www.wri.org/stories/2009/12/reflections-copenhagen-accord-and-way-forward) a collective $100 billion per year by 2020 to help developing countries mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change’s impacts. Recently, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) [released](http://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?DataSetCode=CRS1) some surprising new data on this pledge. The figures indicate that developed nations’ recent climate finance contributions have fallen rather than risen toward the level of their 2020 commitment.

As the world continues to feel the effects of drought, sea level rise, and [more volatile weather](http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/09/timeline-extreme-weather-events-2012), it’s clear that adaptation efforts have never been more imperative. These initiatives are critically important in order to protect communities—especially in impoverished places—from the worsening impacts of climate change.

As the old adage suggests, it is important to see the forests for more than just the trees. While an estimated 500 million people [depend directly](http://www.forestpeoples.org/sites/fpp/files/publication/2012/05/forest-peoples-numbers-across-world-final.pdf) on forests for their livelihoods, the entire world depends on them for food, water, clean air, and vital medicines. Forests also absorb carbon dioxide, making them critical to curbing climate change.