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It tracks estimates of fossil fuel combustion and [[greenhouse gas emissions]], published as biennial reports.<ref name="Siddiqi">{{cite journal |last1=Siddiqi |first1=Toufiq A. |title=Asia-Wide Emissions of Greenhouse Gases |journal=Annual Review of Energy and the Environment |date=November 1995 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=213–232 |doi=10.1146/annurev.eg.20.110195.001241 |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.eg.20.110195.001241 |access-date=5 June 2023 |language=en |issn=1056-3466}}</ref>
It tracks estimates of fossil fuel combustion and [[greenhouse gas emissions]], published as biennial reports.<ref name="Siddiqi">{{cite journal |last1=Siddiqi |first1=Toufiq A. |title=Asia-Wide Emissions of Greenhouse Gases |journal=Annual Review of Energy and the Environment |date=November 1995 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=213–232 |doi=10.1146/annurev.eg.20.110195.001241 |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.eg.20.110195.001241 |access-date=5 June 2023 |language=en |issn=1056-3466}}</ref>


In 2014, WRI built upon [[Matthew C. Hansen]]'s work at the [[University of Maryland]] on forest change analysis. WRI partnered with Google Earth Engine to develop [[Global Forest Watch]] (GFW), an open-source web application that uses satellite imagery to map forest changes.<ref name="McGrath">{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26287137|title = New online tool tracks tree loss in 'near real time'|last = McGrath|first = Matt|date = 21 February 2014|work = BBC News|access-date = 10 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="Newman">{{Cite news|url = http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/02/21/global_forest_watch_made_by_google_and_the_world_resources_institute_shows.html|title = This Mapping Service Lets Us Watch Forests Shrink|last = Newman|first = Lily|date = 21 February 2014|work = Slate|access-date = 10 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hansen |first1=M. C. |last2=Potapov |first2=P. V. |last3=Moore |first3=R. |last4=Hancher |first4=M. |last5=Turubanova |first5=S. A. |last6=Tyukavina |first6=A. |last7=Thau |first7=D. |last8=Stehman |first8=S. V. |last9=Goetz |first9=S. J. |last10=Loveland |first10=T. R. |last11=Kommareddy |first11=A. |last12=Egorov |first12=A. |last13=Chini |first13=L. |last14=Justice |first14=C. O. |last15=Townshend |first15=J. R. G. |title=High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change |journal=Science |date=15 November 2013 |volume=342 |issue=6160 |pages=850–853 |doi=10.1126/science.1244693 |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1244693 |language=en |issn=0036-8075}}</ref> Global Forest Watch has been used for applications such as detecting illegal logging, assuring supply chain transparency, and assessing endangered tiger habitats.<ref>{{cite web |title=Case Studies |url=https://earthengine.google.com/case_studies/ |website=Google Earth Engine |access-date=5 June 2023}}</ref>
In 2014, WRI built upon [[Matthew C. Hansen]]'s work at the [[University of Maryland]] on forest change analysis. WRI partnered with Google Earth Engine to develop [[Global Forest Watch]] (GFW), an open-source web application that uses satellite imagery to map forest changes.<ref name="McGrath">{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26287137|title = New online tool tracks tree loss in 'near real time'|last = McGrath|first = Matt|date = 21 February 2014|work = BBC News|access-date = 10 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="Newman">{{Cite news|url = http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/02/21/global_forest_watch_made_by_google_and_the_world_resources_institute_shows.html|title = This Mapping Service Lets Us Watch Forests Shrink|last = Newman|first = Lily|date = 21 February 2014|work = Slate|access-date = 10 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hansen |first1=M. C. |last2=Potapov |first2=P. V. |last3=Moore |first3=R. |last4=Hancher |first4=M. |last5=Turubanova |first5=S. A. |last6=Tyukavina |first6=A. |last7=Thau |first7=D. |last8=Stehman |first8=S. V. |last9=Goetz |first9=S. J. |last10=Loveland |first10=T. R. |last11=Kommareddy |first11=A. |last12=Egorov |first12=A. |last13=Chini |first13=L. |last14=Justice |first14=C. O. |last15=Townshend |first15=J. R. G. |title=High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change |journal=Science |date=15 November 2013 |volume=342 |issue=6160 |pages=850–853 |doi=10.1126/science.1244693 |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1244693 |language=en |issn=0036-8075}}</ref> Weekly GLAD deforestation alerts and daily Fires alerts can be specific to a 30-by-30-m area. Global Forest Watch is most frequently used by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), academic researchers, government employees, and the private sector, It is also used by journalists.<ref name="Shea">{{cite book |last1=Shea |first1=Katherine |title=Transformational Change for People and the Planet: Evaluating Environment and Development |date=2022 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-030-78853-7 |pages=263–273 |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-78853-7_18 |language=en |chapter=Measuring the Impact of Monitoring: How We Know Transparent Near-Real-Time Data Can Help Save the Forests}}</ref> Applications of Global Forest Watch include detecting illegal logging, assuring supply chain transparency, and assessing endangered tiger habitats.<ref>{{cite web |title=Case Studies |url=https://earthengine.google.com/case_studies/ |website=Google Earth Engine |access-date=5 June 2023}}</ref>


Working with the Sustainability Consortium, WRI works to identify and quantify major drivers of forest losses. For example, they have identified industrial scale internationally traded [[commodity crops]] such as beef, soybeans, palm oil, corn, and cotton as a dominant driver of forest loss in South America and Southeast Asia.<ref name="Ritchie">{{cite web |last1=Ritchie |first1=Hannah |last2=Roser |first2=Max |last3=Rosado |first3=Pablo |title=CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions |url=https://ourworldindata.org/emissions-by-sector |website=Our World in Data |date=11 May 2020}}</ref><ref name="Voiland">{{cite news |last1=Voiland |first1=Adam |title=Sizing Up How Agriculture Connects to Deforestation |url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148674/sizing-up-how-agriculture-connects-to-deforestation |access-date=5 June 2023 |work=earthobservatory.nasa.gov |date=11 August 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
Working with the Sustainability Consortium, WRI works to identify and quantify major drivers of forest losses. For example, they have identified industrial scale internationally traded [[commodity crops]] such as beef, soybeans, palm oil, corn, and cotton as a dominant driver of forest loss in South America and Southeast Asia.<ref name="Ritchie">{{cite web |last1=Ritchie |first1=Hannah |last2=Roser |first2=Max |last3=Rosado |first3=Pablo |title=CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions |url=https://ourworldindata.org/emissions-by-sector |website=Our World in Data |date=11 May 2020}}</ref><ref name="Voiland">{{cite news |last1=Voiland |first1=Adam |title=Sizing Up How Agriculture Connects to Deforestation |url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148674/sizing-up-how-agriculture-connects-to-deforestation |access-date=5 June 2023 |work=earthobservatory.nasa.gov |date=11 August 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

Revision as of 14:39, 6 June 2023

World Resources Institute (WRI)
Formation1982; 42 years ago (1982)
FounderJames Gustave Speth
HeadquartersWashington, D.C.
United States
Ani Dasgupta
Chairman of the Board
James Harmon
Revenue (2019)
US$ 132 million[1]: 50 
Expenses (2019)US$ 114 million[1]: 50 
WebsiteWRI.org

The World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global research non-profit organization established in 1982 with funding from the MacArthur Foundation[2][3] under the leadership of James Gustave Speth.[4] Subsequent presidents include Jonathan Lash (1993 - 2011), Andrew D. Steer[2] (2012 - 2021)[5] and current president Ani Dasgupta (2021-).[6]

WRI studies sustainable practices for business, economics, finance and governance, with the purpose of better supporting human society in six areas: food, forests, water, energy, cities, and climate.[7] WRI encourages initiatives for monitoring, data analysis, and risk assessment, including global and open source projects. WRI has maintained a 4 out of 4 stars rating from Charity Navigator since 1 October 2008.[8]

Organization

The mission of the World Resources Institute (WRI is to promote a sustainable human society[9] with a basis of human health and well-being, environmental sustainability, and economic opportunity.[10] WRI partners with local and national governments, private companies, publicly held corporations, and other non-profits, and offers services including global climate change issues, sustainable markets, ecosystem protection, and environmental responsible governance services.[11][12]

The World Resources Institute maintains international offices in the Brazil, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States and is active in over 50 countries.[13] A report by the Center for International Policy's Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative of the top 50 think tanks on the University of Pennsylvania's Global Go-To Think Tanks rating index found that during the period 2014–2018 World Resources Institute received more funding from outside the United States than any other think tank, with a total of more than US$63 million, though this was described as "unsurprising" given the institute's presence in so many countries.[14] In 2014, Stephen M. Ross, an American real estate developer, gave the organization US$30 million to establish the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities.[15]

Initiatives

WRI's activities are focused on the areas of food, forests, water (including oceans), energy,[16] cities, and climate. WRI is active in initiatives for monitoring, data analysis, and risk assessment. It tracks estimates of fossil fuel combustion and greenhouse gas emissions, published as biennial reports.[17]

In 2014, WRI built upon Matthew C. Hansen's work at the University of Maryland on forest change analysis. WRI partnered with Google Earth Engine to develop Global Forest Watch (GFW), an open-source web application that uses satellite imagery to map forest changes.[18][19][20] Weekly GLAD deforestation alerts and daily Fires alerts can be specific to a 30-by-30-m area. Global Forest Watch is most frequently used by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), academic researchers, government employees, and the private sector, It is also used by journalists.[21] Applications of Global Forest Watch include detecting illegal logging, assuring supply chain transparency, and assessing endangered tiger habitats.[22]

Working with the Sustainability Consortium, WRI works to identify and quantify major drivers of forest losses. For example, they have identified industrial scale internationally traded commodity crops such as beef, soybeans, palm oil, corn, and cotton as a dominant driver of forest loss in South America and Southeast Asia.[23][24]

In addition to mapping carbon emissions from forest loss, WRI is working with scientists at Purdue University, Science-i, and the Global Forest Biodiversity Initiative to develop methods for assessing carbon accumulation rates in forested ecosystems. Such rates are affected by three forest growth components, which are difficult to measure: ingrowth, upgrowth and mortality. Being able to assess this more accurately would reduce uncertainty in estimating the impact of global forests as a carbon sink.[25]

WRI has partnered with Google Earth Engine to develop Dynamic World, a near real-time (NRT) application that uses high-resolution satellite images to do land use land cover (LULC) classification. Dynamic World identifies areas of land and water such as wetlands, forests, trees, crops and urban areas. Released in June 2022, its uses include monitoring ecosystem restoration, assessing protected areas, and detecting land changes due to deforestation and fires.[26][27][28]

WRI initiatives include:

  • The Access Initiative, a civil society network dedicated to ensuring that citizens have the right and ability to influence decisions about the natural resources.[29]
  • Aqueduct, an initiative to measure, map and understand water risks around the globe.[30]
  • CAIT Climate Data Explorer, offering chart tools for historic GHG data, Paris contributions and more. As of May 2020 this is being integrated into the similar platform Climate Watch.[31]
  • Champions 12.3, a coalition of executives to accelerate progress toward United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3 to tackle food loss and waste.[32]
  • Global Forest Watch, an online forest monitoring and alert system.[citation needed]
  • The Greenhouse Gas Protocol provides standards, guidance, tools, and trainings for business and government to quantify and manage GHG emissions.[33]
  • LandMark, a platform providing maps and information on lands that are collectively held and used by Indigenous peoples and local communities.[34]
  • Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE), a public-private collaboration platform and project accelerating focusing on building the circular economy. PACE was launched during the 2018 World Economic Forum Annual meeting; from 2019, WRI is supporting the scale-up of PACE and establish an Action Hub in The Hague.[35]
  • Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance is an alliance of large clean energy buyers, energy providers, and service providers that is unlocking the marketplace for all non-residential energy buyers to lead a rapid transition to a cleaner, prosperous, zero-carbon renewable energy future.[36] It has over 200 members including Google, GM, Facebook, Walmart, Disney and other large companies, and reached 6 GW capacity in 2018.[37]
  • The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) helps companies transition to a low-carbon economic profile by setting greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in line with climate science.[38] Through Science Based Targets (SBTs), companies express their intention to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5 °C.[39]
  • WRI Ross Center helps cities grow more sustainably and seeks to improve quality of life in developing countries around the world.[40]
  • World Resources Report, WRI's flagship report series. Each report deals with a different topic.[41]

Criticism

A 1990 study by the World Resources Institute was criticized by Anil Agarwal, who had been on the council of the World Resources Institute from 1988 to 1990. Agarwal, who "was among the first to argue that concepts of social equity need to be integrated into international policies aimed at mitigating the harmful effects of human-induced climate change",[42] accused WRI of allocating too much responsibility for global warming to developing countries, and under-acknowledging the impact of U.S. overconsumption on global warming. He called the WRI study an example of environmental colonialism and suggested that a fairer analysis would balance sources of emissions against terrestrial sinks for each nation.[43][44] His critique sparked considerable debate about the appropriate methodologies for such analysis, and resulted in increased awareness of the issues involved.[45][46]

References

  1. ^ a b Rising to the Challenge; WRI Annual Report 2019–2012 (PDF). Washington DC: World Resources Institute (WRI). 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b Broder, John M. (March 14, 2012). "Climate Change Envoy to Lead Influential Institute". New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  3. ^ "World Resources Institute". MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  4. ^ "James Gustave Speth". World Resources Institute. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  5. ^ Stiffler, Lisa (March 9, 2021). "$10B Bezos Earth Fund hires a long-time global leader on climate issues as president and CEO". GeekWire. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  6. ^ Uchida, Kyoko (April 17, 2023). "Ani Dasgupta, President and CEO, World Resources Institute: Philanthropy's opportunity to fill the gaps—and do it right". Philanthropy News Digest. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  7. ^ "World Resources Institute | UNDP Climate Change Adaptation". United Nations Development Programme 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Charity Navigator - Historical Ratings for World Resources Institute". Charity Navigator. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  9. ^ "World Resources Institute". UNCCD. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  10. ^ "World Resources Institute Offices – Washington DC". Office Snapshots. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  11. ^ Bloomberg (2017). "World Resources Institute". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  12. ^ "Charitywatch: World Resources Institute". American Institute of Philanthropy. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  13. ^ "WRI develops practical solutions that improve people's lives and ensure nature can thrive". World Resources Institute. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  14. ^ Freeman, Ben (January 2020). Foreign Funding of Think Tanks in America (PDF) (Report). Center for International Policy. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 1, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  15. ^ Pogrebin, Robin. "Developer Gives $30 Million to Establish City Planning Center". New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  16. ^ M.A. Siraj (September 15, 2017). "Powering cities with clean energy". Thehindu.com. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  17. ^ Siddiqi, Toufiq A. (November 1995). "Asia-Wide Emissions of Greenhouse Gases". Annual Review of Energy and the Environment. 20 (1): 213–232. doi:10.1146/annurev.eg.20.110195.001241. ISSN 1056-3466. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  18. ^ McGrath, Matt (21 February 2014). "New online tool tracks tree loss in 'near real time'". BBC News. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  19. ^ Newman, Lily (21 February 2014). "This Mapping Service Lets Us Watch Forests Shrink". Slate. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  20. ^ Hansen, M. C.; Potapov, P. V.; Moore, R.; Hancher, M.; Turubanova, S. A.; Tyukavina, A.; Thau, D.; Stehman, S. V.; Goetz, S. J.; Loveland, T. R.; Kommareddy, A.; Egorov, A.; Chini, L.; Justice, C. O.; Townshend, J. R. G. (15 November 2013). "High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change". Science. 342 (6160): 850–853. doi:10.1126/science.1244693. ISSN 0036-8075.
  21. ^ Shea, Katherine (2022). "Measuring the Impact of Monitoring: How We Know Transparent Near-Real-Time Data Can Help Save the Forests". Transformational Change for People and the Planet: Evaluating Environment and Development. Springer International Publishing. pp. 263–273. ISBN 978-3-030-78853-7.
  22. ^ "Case Studies". Google Earth Engine. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  23. ^ Ritchie, Hannah; Roser, Max; Rosado, Pablo (11 May 2020). "CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions". Our World in Data.
  24. ^ Voiland, Adam (11 August 2021). "Sizing Up How Agriculture Connects to Deforestation". earthobservatory.nasa.gov. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  25. ^ "Purdue launches new AI-based global forest mapping project". Purdue University Agriculture News. January 25, 2023.
  26. ^ Cowan, Carolyn (9 June 2022). "New near-real-time tool reveals Earth's land cover in more detail than ever before". Mongabay Environmental News. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  27. ^ Price, Gary (9 June 2022). "Dynamic World: A New Online Tool from World Resources Institute and Google Earth Engine Shows How the Planet Is Changing in Near Real Time". Library Journal infoDOCKET. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  28. ^ Brown, Christopher F.; Brumby, Steven P.; Guzder-Williams, Brookie; Birch, Tanya; Hyde, Samantha Brooks; Mazzariello, Joseph; Czerwinski, Wanda; Pasquarella, Valerie J.; Haertel, Robert; Ilyushchenko, Simon; Schwehr, Kurt; Weisse, Mikaela; Stolle, Fred; Hanson, Craig; Guinan, Oliver; Moore, Rebecca; Tait, Alexander M. (9 June 2022). "Dynamic World, Near real-time global 10 m land use land cover mapping". Scientific Data. 9 (1). doi:10.1038/s41597-022-01307-4.
  29. ^ "Home | The Access Initiative". accessinitiative.org.
  30. ^ "Aqueduct". World Resources Institute. June 12, 2013.
  31. ^ WRI, CAIT Climate Data Explorer, accessed 6 May 2020
  32. ^ "Champions 12.3". Champions 12.3.
  33. ^ Greenhouse Gas Protocol
  34. ^ "LandMark Map". LandMark.
  35. ^ "Resources". Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy.
  36. ^ "REBA – Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance". rebuyers.org.
  37. ^ Dzikiy, Phil (28 March 2019). "Google, GM, and more than 300 other companies launch Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance". Electrek. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  38. ^ "Science Based Targets".
  39. ^ Science Based Targets initiative [1], accessed 13 May 2021
  40. ^ "WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities I Helping cities make big ideas happen™". WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities.
  41. ^ "World Resources Report". World Resources Institute. December 4, 2018.
  42. ^ Dickson, David (January 2002). "Anil Agarwal (1947–2002)". Nature. 415 (6870): 384–384. doi:10.1038/415384a. ISSN 1476-4687.
  43. ^ Agarwal, Anil; Narain, Sunita (21 November 2019). "Global Warming in an Unequal World: A Case of Environmental Colonialism". India in a Warming World: Integrating Climate Change and Development. doi:10.1093/oso/9780199498734.003.0005.
  44. ^ World resources 1990-91: a report. New York, NY: Oxford Univ. Pr. 1990. ISBN 978-0195062298.
  45. ^ Guha, Ramachandra (2002). "Environmentalist of the Poor". Economic and Political Weekly. 37 (3): 204–207. ISSN 0012-9976.
  46. ^ Lash, Scott; Szerszynski, Bronislaw; Wynne, Brian (5 April 1996). Risk, Environment and Modernity: Towards a New Ecology. SAGE. p. 244. ISBN 978-0-8039-7938-3.

See also

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