Climate Change
Climate change and global warming is now affecting every country on every continent. It is disrupting national economies and affecting lives, costing people, communities and countries dearly today and even more tomorrow. Weather patterns are changing, sea levels are rising, weather events are becoming more extreme and greenhouse gas emissions are now at their highest levels in history. Without action, the world’s average surface temperature is likely to surpass 3 degrees centigrade this century. The poorest and most vulnerable people are being affected the most.
Climate change is an urgent threat to humanity that demands swift, decisive action.
Fires. Droughts. Floods. Hurricanes. Rising seas. Climate impacts are being felt all around the world and on track to get much worse. Every year of delay and every tenth of a degree matters. The next few years is the last window we have to steer the world in a better and safer direction.
Water
The world runs on water. Clean, reliable water supplies are vital for industry, agriculture, and energy production. Every community and ecosystem on Earth depends on water for sanitation, hygiene, and daily survival.
Yet the world’s water systems face formidable threats. More than a billion people currently live in water-scarce regions, and as many as 3.5 billion could experience water scarcity by 2025. Increasing pollution degrades freshwater and coastal aquatic ecosystems. And climate change is poised to shift precipitation patterns and speed glacial melt, altering water supplies and intensifying floods and drought.
WRI works with businesses, governments, and civil society to ensure a water-secure future. We seek to address both water quantity and quality challenges.
Deforestation
Human society and the global economy are inextricably linked to forests. More than 1 billion people depend on forests for their livelihoods. And forest ecosystems play a critical role in stabilising the climate; providing food, water, wood products, and vital medicines; and supporting much of the world’s biodiversity.
Despite decreased deforestation rates in some regions, forest ecosystems are still under great threat. According to WRI research, 30 percent of global forest cover has been cleared, while another 20 percent has been degraded. Most of the rest has been fragmented, leaving only about 15 percent intact.
Food and Agriculture
The world is projected to hold nearly 10 billion people by 2050. Sustainably feeding this exploding population requires meeting three great needs simultaneously.
According to WRI research, the world will have to close a gap of 56 percent between the amount of food available today and that required by 2050. It must reduce agriculture’s impact on climate, ecosystems, and water. And it needs to ensure that agriculture supports inclusive economic and social development.
WRI works to meet these three needs. They develop analyses, partnerships, and strategies to secure a sustainable food future.
Energy
For many people across the globe, clean energy solutions are neither affordable nor accessible, even with the drop in the cost of renewable energy. And for many countries, there are barriers to deploying clean energy fast enough to change their emissions trajectories.
We are in a window of opportunity in which significant energy investments will be required. Over the coming 15 years, energy is expected to account for nearly 30 percent of total core infrastructure investment, around U.S. $25 trillion. These investments can be shaped to deliver clean, affordable and reliable energy to all people.
Shifting to a low-carbon, inclusive energy future requires (1) accelerating the pace of renewable energy deployment; (2) increasing energy productivity, so that energy use diverges from economic growth; and (3) addressing the gap that is emerging between those who have clean energy and those who lack basic access.
The Ocean
The Ocean adds $2.5 trillion each year to the global economy, feeds 3 billion people, is home to more than half the world’s species, produces half the planet’s oxygen and absorbs a quarter of all carbon dioxide emissions. Yet it is a treasure in peril.
Once considered vast and inexhaustible, the Ocean is being exploited in ways that were unimaginable a few decades ago. Over-fishing, plastic pollution, ocean warming and acidification and more threaten to undermine the ability of the Ocean to underpin human well-being and life on Earth as we know it.
The world cannot afford to continue this current trajectory. A new pathway is needed, one where profitability and sustainability operate together to the benefit and health of people and the Ocean.
Sustainable Cities
The decisions that national leaders, local officials, developers and planners make in cities today will determine how billions of people will live over the next century. Already, half the global population resides in cities. That figure is set to increase to 70 percent by 2050.
Traditional models of urban development can lock us into congestion, sprawl and inefficient resource use. However, compact, connected and efficient growth can help ensure more competitive cities and provide a better quality of life for citizens.
WRI aims to ensure that cities drive economic opportunity while sustaining natural resources and improving quality of life. Through their Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, they use technical expertise, cutting-edge research and on-the-ground partnerships to design solutions that enable sustainable city growth.