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by and - Restoring forests in 4,000 targeted hectares would over time reduce sediment pollution by a third and turbidity by half in São Paulo's stressesd water system.
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Today at the Global Climate Action Summit, 45 cities across six continents joined the Cities4Forests initiative, committing to conserve and restore their forests while making residents more aware of the vast benefits of trees.
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by John-Rob Pool, Frances Seymour, Todd Gartner and Mariana Campos - September 12, 2018Most people don’t associate cities with trees, but urban areas are actually dependent on healthy forests. A new initiative helps cities protect trees—both those within city boundaries and others hundreds or even thousands of miles away.
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by Peter Gleick and Charles Iceland - August 27, 2018From the foothills of the Taurus Mountains in Turkey to the desert wadis on the southern tip of Yemen, the history of water conflicts provides a cautionary tale: When water and politics mix, freshwater can become both a weapon and a threat to national security.
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by Peter Gleick and Charles Iceland - August 2018This paper reviews the key drivers behind growing water risk, describes and illustrates water and security pathways, and presents approaches for reducing water related risks to global security.
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by Kitty van der Heijden - July 06, 2018The Niger Delta, lush with waters from Niger River, is a veritable oasis at the edge of the Sahara. It is remote, remarkable and a reminder of the complex interplay between some some of the biggest issues facing Europe and climate change.
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August 26, 2018 to August 30, 2018
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. Take a look at WRI's scheduled events.
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by Hayden Higgins - June 06, 2018In this episode of the WRI Podcast, Charles Iceland, director, Global and National Water Initiatives with WRI's Food, Forests, and Water Programs, explains what water stress is, how we measure it, and why it matters for understanding geopolitics today.
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by Todd Gartner, Climate Bonds Initiative, CDP, Ceres and Alliance for Global Water Adaptation - May 2018Green bonds finance sustainable infrastructure projects. A new criteria sets standards for green bonds for built and natural water infrastructure.
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by Todd Gartner and John H. Matthews - May 22, 2018Wetlands, forests and other green spaces are the original water infrastructure. For the first time, they can now be financed through bonds – just like other built infrastructure such as treatment plants and dams.
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by Tianyi Luo - May 10, 2018Power from solar and wind requires zero or little water, unlike coal, gas and other forms of thermal power. Renewable energy can therefore be particularly attractive to water-stressed countries looking to meet their increasing electricity demands without producing emissions.
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by Charles Iceland, Tianyi Luo and Gennadii Donchyts - April 11, 2018Cape Town, South Africa has been in the news for its impending "Day Zero," when the city will shut off taps and start rationing water, but its reservoirs aren't the only ones shrinking. Satellite images reveal dwindling water supplies in Morocco, India, Iraq and Spain.
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by Aaron Kressig, Logan Byers, Johannes Friedrich, Tianyi Luo and Colin McCormick - April 11, 2018Many people point to renewable energy as the greatest threat facing fossil fuel power plants. New WRI research finds that the real threat may be water scarcity.
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Today on World Water Day, the Water, Peace and Security Initiative (WPSI), was launched to provide expert guidance on the link between water and security, identify potential “hotspot areas” to prevent the next water-driven security crisis, and provide support to impacted countries.
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by Todd Gartner and James Mulligan - March 20, 2018Sometimes the best answer to daunting problems is the simplest one. Restoring and protecting forests today is one measure that can help prevent the water crises of tomorrow.
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by Rafael Feltran-Barbieri, Suzanne Ozment and Samuel Roiphe Barreto - March 19, 2018Brazil's forests are its historic first line of defense against water stress and water-related natural disasters, but now these forests are under pressure. Will Brazil increase investment in its natural infrastructure to defend against water crises?
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by Paul Reig and Will Sarni - March 14, 2018Water risk poses a major risk to businesses. While there are a variety of publicly-available frameworks for guiding corporate water action, five key trends have emerged, from data disclosure to changing company culture.
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by Colin Strong and Cindy Noe - March 08, 2018Many databases cover the world's physical water resources, but none give a global picture of water management and policy. Since companies already track water management where they have operations, a crowdsourced approach relying on their input could spin up the database quickly.
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by Colin Strong, Paul Reig, Julian Köbel and Cindy Noe - March 2018This methodology documents an approach to crowdsourcing information on public water management via companies, in order to create a global database of local data.
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by Tianyi Luo and Giulia Christianson - February 20, 2018Thermal power companies rely on water for cooling, and are therefore susceptible to water stress. Prudent investors would do well to pay attention to the impact water stress could have on their energy-sector investments.