Climate scientists recently found that extreme heat is leading to more pre-term births, warming waters in New England are linked to a decline in fishermen, and unprecedented changes in the Arctic show the region is changing more quickly than anticipated. This post summarizes these and other studies published in December 2019.
What if we could predict violent conflicts before they arise and help stop them? A groundbreaking new tool, launched today by the Water, Peace and Security (WPS) partnership, can predict the risk of violent conflicts up to 12 months ahead of time.
About 2,000 administrative districts across the Global South — about 14% of all surveyed — are at risk of violent conflict between October 2019 and September 2020.
Data on Aqueduct Food reveals that one-third of the world's irrigated crops are grown in areas facing extremely high water stress.
Water-related risk is a growing economic threat. The private sector has a unique opportunity to shift corporate culture toward more sustainable practices that will spur long-term solutions to systemic water problems.
WRI Water Program Director Betsy Otto knows the world should be worried about water: Her team's research showed this year that one-quarter of the world's population lives in extreme water stress. In this conversation, though, she talks about the solutions—technological, political, and managerial—that can alleviate the strain.
When Cape Town and Chennai nearly ran out of water, these two cities managed to avert Day Zero, while revealing broad social inequity in both places. World Cities Day is a good moment to consider the lessons to be learned about equitable responses to water crises.
This paper provides quantitative evidence to help investors better understand and measure the financial impacts from water shortages in the thermal power sector, drawing on data and analysis of Indian companies. It introduces a new methodology to estimate the water shortage-induced impacts to earnings on five Indian thermal power companies from FY 2014-2017. It also uses outputs from climate models to analyze potential future changes to water availability in India, which could increase the risk of water shortages.
African countries face some of the highest water risk in the world, now exacerbated by climate change. But management and investment are often bigger challenges. Tackling them can strengthen economies and build countries' resilience to climate change.
This guide aims to help companies set effective site water targets that are informed by catchment context, which can create value and lessen risks for the company and support collective action.
Building on recent applications in Latin America, this paper overviews WRI’s Green-Gray Assessment method, and provides recommendations for applications.
This paper provides a methodology to calculate and valuate the benefits of water stewardship activities. This new method enables businesses and other key stakeholders to better tackle shared water risks at catchment-scale.
The Natural Infrastructure for Aquifer Recharge Financial Calculator, is an excel based tool with a flexible financial model that estimates the private costs and benefits, including the return on investment (ROI), of natural infrastructure interventions designed to enhance aquifer recharge. The technical note explains the methods, data and assumptions used to produce the tool.
Organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), World Water Week is a unique opportunity for individuals around the world— from experts and decision-makers to young professionals—to discuss the world's most pressing water issues and identify promising solutions.
New research finds millions have access only a few hours a day, while others are forced to pay up to a quarter of monthly household income for private provision.
Nearly half the population in 15 major cities in the global south lacks access to public piped water systems, with access lowest in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. For these households without public piped water, water from other sources is either too expensive or unsafe.
New data on WRI's Aqueduct platform ranks the world's countries from least to most water-stressed.
This paper discusses updates to the Aqueduct™ 3.0 water risk framework, that is used, among other things, as underlying database for the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas and Country Rankings.
Chennai's four main reservoirs are virtually dry. This crisis is not only due to last year's poor monsoon season—lack of proper management is driving the city's water security problems.
The release of a nearly $7 billion bond, which will help the Netherlands adapt to sea level rise, was met with widespread enthusiasm from investors. It's the latest in a wave of innovations in green bonds and climate adaptation.