WRI is committed to producing high-quality research, including reports, issue briefs, guidebooks, working papers, technical notes, and practice notes. Our research publications are subject to peer review, and are held to traditional "academic" standards of excellence, such as objectivity and rigor. We also ensure that all of our research publications are timely, fit for audience, and rooted in a strategic plan for achieving positive change in the world. If you notice an error in our research or have concerns about quality, please contact the authors and copy Vice President for Research, Data and Innovation Janet Ranganathan.
All of our research is freely available to download.
The World Resources Report is the flagship publication of World Resources Institute. The inaugural edition, An Assessment of the Resource Base that Supports the Global Economy, was published in 1986. Subsequent editions have been published at regular intervals and have provided in-depth analyses of issues ranging from human health and the environment to climate change, ecosystem services and environmental governance. Every World Resources Report builds on a strong evidence base to develop fresh insights that can help decision-makers evaluate and implement the most effective solutions.
Sustainably feeding nearly 10 billion people by 2050 is possible – but it will require significant innovation and investment by the public and private sector.
The World Resources Report: Towards a More Equal City focuses on helping cities in rapidly urbanizing regions alter their development trajectories as demand for infrastructure and services grow.
This paper analyzes climate-related physical risk assessment guidance from leading corporate disclosure initiatives to examine whether existing publicly available guidance aligns with climate science and provides consistent terminology and robust methodologies for risk assessment.
This report discusses women’s tenure security in collectively held lands and provides promising practices for ensuring women not only have legally and socially recognized rights in collectively held land but also are empowered to exercise their rights. The report combines legal analysis and literature review with in-depth case studies of five indigenous and customary communities – in Mexico, Jordan, Nepal, Indonesia, and Cameroon – who have achieved more gender-equitable collective land tenure systems.
This technical note describes the data sources and methodology underpinning a computer system for the automated generation of land use/land cover maps of urban areas at continental scale.
Mapping Together is a guide that shows people how to use Collect Earth, a data-collection tool, to monitor progress on their forest and landscape restoration goals. By hosting collaborative data-collection mapathons, the guide helps users combine the best-available open-source monitoring tool with the expertise of people familiar with the landscape.
The Global Forest Review (GFR) provides accessible, comprehensive, and data-driven insights to better inform protection, restoration, and sustainable management of forests worldwide. Delivered through a dynamic online platform, the GFR tracks vital trends on the extent, condition, use, and social and ecological values of forests globally.
This paper discusses opportunities to support locally led adaptation to climate change through monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL). It outlines steps throughout the MEL cycle to balance power, promote mutual accountability, elevate local knowledge and priorities, and create value for local actors, in the interest of more effective and equitable locally led adaptation interventions. The paper recommends a systemic shift toward MEL that is locally led, context-aware, and itself adaptive.
This working paper examines the existing literature on locally led adaptation, looking at efforts that have optimized finance through direct and consistent collaboration with local actors and identifying initiatives that embody locally led principles rather than traditional stakeholder consultation or participation. In line with the Global Commission on Adaptation’s Year of Action, the authors sought to identify specific projects and designs that aim to catalyze accelerated action and support for locally led adaptation.
This paper highlights key findings from over 50 listening sessions held with farmers, herders, fishers, NGOs and CSOs, and the private sector, meant to inform the CGIAR's Two Degree Initiative, a flagship effort to transform the global food system for a climate-smart future.
This paper outlines the best ways countries can use ocean-based action to curb greenhouse gas emissions and better adapt to the impacts of climate change. The paper focuses on four ocean-based subsectors that have the greatest potential to curb emissions and deliver significant other benefits: marine conservation (coastal and marine ecosystem restoration and protection), oceanic and coastal fisheries, marine transport, and ocean-based renewable energy.
This paper discusses the three renewable energy procurement options available to commercial and industrial customers in Colombia: on-site turnkey purchases; on-site third-party power purchase agreements or leases; and off-site third-party power purchase agreements.
The Electric Vehicles on the Grid Simulator is intended to help individual building energy managers, facility owners, distribution service operators, charging point operators, and fleet operators.
This working paper provides guidance for state policymakers on evaluating RNG resource potential, greenhouse gas emissions impacts, and deployment and policy options.
A new working paper from WRI Ross Center and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy examines the fiscal and equity impacts of urban land value capture instruments based on three case studies from the global south.
Restoring landscapes can bring economic, environmental, and social prosperity to people and the planet. In the Sidhi District of India’s Madhya Pradesh state, the opportunity is massive. By adapting the popular Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM) to measure ecosystem services, livelihood benefits, land tenure, gender, and social inclusion and by mapping the social landscape, we uncovered that diverse potential.
By putting into place stronger climate policies and measures in the next five years, China can peak carbon emissions as early as 2026 and get on track to achieving President Xi’s vision for carbon neutrality while generating nearly $1 trillion in net economic and social benefits in 2050.
This working paper examines case studies of three communities in Bhutan, Ethiopia, and Costa Rica that are already experiencing severe impacts of climate change. These case studies explore the incremental and transformative adaptation measures they have adopted or will need to in the future.
This paper examines how the United States, South Korea, China, and the European Union used green investments after the global financial crisis to help their economies recover, create jobs, and build up new industries. The lessons from 2008–2009 can help inform today’s policymakers designing economic stimulus packages in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To keep the window open to limit global warming to 1.5 C, countries need to accelerate transformation towards a net-zero emissions future across all sectors at a far faster pace than recent trends, according to this report from World Resources Institute and ClimateWorks Foundation, with input from Climate Action Tracker. The report offers insights on what progress is needed by 2030 and 2050 across six key sectors -- power, buildings, industry, transport, forests and agriculture.
This paper highlights how civil society organizations can play critical roles in establishing transparent and accountable climate finance systems that put communities at the center of decision-making. It draws from the Adaptation Finance Accountability Initiative’s experiences in Ethiopia and Uganda as well as lessons learned from similar efforts in Bangladesh, Kenya, and the Philippines. It offers valuable information to help civil society organizations build their engagement and capacity on climate adaptation finance.
This paper describes new methods for estimating the area of forest replaced by commodity production, and presents results for seven key commodities from 2001 to 2015.
