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.
WRI's business case studies go deeper into some of the most promising projects represented in the Digital Dividend Clearinghouse, providing detailed description and analysis of each business model, the market segment in which it operates, its successes and challenges, potential replicability and
The authors explore the United States' position on developing countries in climate protection efforts.
WRI's business case studies go deeper into some of the most promising projects represented in the Digital Dividend Clearinghouse, providing detailed description and analysis of each business model, the market segment in which it operates, its successes and challenges, potential replicability and
The Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC) is a regional initiative launched in Central America and southern Mexico that aims to conserve biological diversity while fostering sustainable development.
WRI's business case studies go deeper into some of the most promising projects represented in the Digital Dividend Clearinghouse, providing detailed description and analysis of each business model, the market segment in which it operates, its successes and challenges, potential replicability and
This Climate Note explores the question of whether industrialized countries should be allowed to use their development assistance funds (aid) to directly finance the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects.
Rules governing the global environment and the international economy are currently decided in separate arenas.
If history is any guide, the United States and other petroleum importing countries can expect further tensions and perhaps conflicts related to the vast quantities of oil that underlie the Middle East.
The PAGE Agroecosystems study analyzed qualitative and quantitative indicators of the condition of the world's agroecosystems in terms of the delivery of a number of key goods and services valued by society.
The PAGE reports analyze quantitative and qualitative information and develops indicators of the condition of the world's freshwater, coastal, forests, grassland and agroecosystems.
Among the most important items of the Kyoto Protocol requiring elaboration is the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), the Protocol's instrument for financing lower-emission sustainable development in the countries of the South.
Drawing from the rich experience of Central and Eastern European countries in Activities Implemented Jointly (AIJ) -- the Joint Implementation (JI) phase launched in 1995 -- the authors look at the institutional infrastructure for countries that wish to host climate-friendly development projects.
If the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change were ratified by the U.S. Senate and a national program to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions put in place, some studies have suggested that American farmers would suffer dire economic consequences.
A Biodiversity Support Program Publication
Forest sector planning and management policies can help ensure long-term yields of timber products while minimizing the environmental and social costs of logging and other development.
In Coming Clean: Corporate disclosure of financially significant environmental risks, WRI economists Robert Repetto and Duncan Austin examine the extent to which one group of companies are failing to disclose their exposure to financially material environmental issues.
The PAGE reports show that human action has profoundly changed the extent, distribution, and condition of all major ecosystem types.
This study set out to understand how decentralization of decision making and management authority affects biodiversity conservation.
