RELEASE: WRI Data Lab Launches New Service To Improve Software Product Development For Sustainability shannon.paton@… Thu, 03/21/2024 - 08:00

WRI’s Product Studio aims to kick-start a step-change improvement in product design to drive impact across the sustainable development space by providing support to researchers and non-profits

Washington, DC (March 21, 2024) — Today, World Resources Institute's Data Lab launched a new service to support the design, development, and deployment of cutting-edge digital products addressing the world's most pressing climate and sustainability challenges. Product Studio leverages WRI's extensive experience crafting high-impact digital products — such as Global Forest Watch, Aqueduct, and Climate Watch — to help researchers and non-profits scale software projects that transform insights into user-centered software products that deliver real impact.

While potential for data innovation is clear, there is significant room for improvement when building data products in the sustainable development sector. To achieve greater impact, new products will need to refine their focus to meet their users’ real needs and do so by complementing already available tools. This will allow all players in the sector to harness data to support decisions that matter, enable accountability, and inform the conversation.

“As we accelerate climate action toward 2030, it is clear we need a step-change improvement in the process and practice of designing new products,” said Evan Tachosvky, Data Lab Global Director, World Resources Institute. “By introducing the Product Studio, we want to strengthen WRI’s capacity and contribute to the sustainable development space by helping design and develop data products that serve their users and are developed by optimizing all available resources.”

Product Studio aims to meet this need by maximizing efficiency and learning, lowering development costs, speeding up delivery, and improving the cohesiveness of new data products across the climate and sustainable development sectors. In support of WRI’s Strategic Plan, the Product Studio will help researchers and practitioners build the next generation of products that drive action benefitting people, nature, and climate.

Backed by expert staff and advisors from the Data Lab’s Product, Engineering, and Data Science Teams, the Product Studio will provide three services to WRI teams and external projects: 

1. User Research and Needs Assessment. Many products today are still designed without an audience engagement strategy. The Product Studio gives teams the tools, expertise, and capacity to deeply engage users, understand their needs, and translate those needs into technical requirements.
2. Product Strategy. Many products today are built with good intentions but lack a clear strategy. The Product Studio helps teams evaluate the product landscape, define value and impact, develop a theory of change, and create a roadmap to bring an innovation to market for their users.
3. Rapid Prototyping. Many product teams today struggle to effectively build and test prototypes. The Product Studio builds, deploys and tests prototypes to scale products from ideas to reality in weeks instead of years. 

WRI’s Product Studio works in collaborative design sprints to maximize efficiency and learning. The Product Studio opens a new cohort every six months when project teams are invited to apply and are selected based on the Studio’s criteria. The launch of the Product Studio was made possible by the generous support of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation (PJMF), which provided funding, flexibility, and expert advice. 

The Rockefeller Foundation has also joined PJMF in funding this critical work. With the support and guidance of these two technically savvy philanthropies, the Product Studio harnesses WRI’s experience building data products to serve peers and partners across the climate and sustainable development sectors for years to come.

If you’re interested in getting updates on new Product Studio-related opportunities, like when and how to apply to the next cohort, please share your contact information here or send us an email at productstudio@wri.org.

About World Resources Institute 
World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global research organization with offices in Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States, and regional offices for Africa and Europe. Our over 1,900 staff work with partners to develop practical solutions that improve people’s lives and ensure nature can thrive. Learn more: WRI.org and on Twitter @WorldResources.

About WRI’s Data Lab
The Data Lab is WRI’s core data innovation and product delivery unit. Its mission is to use advances in data and technology to help our community improve lives, protect nature and ensure just transitions. The Data Lab provides robust technical support and guidance to leverage the technological possibilities of today in favor of a sustainable and equitable future.

data Type Press Release Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Projects

• Product Studio

STATEMENT: Bipartisan IMPACT Act Aims to Innovate and Decarbonize America’s Concrete and Asphalt Sectors nate.shelter@wri.org Wed, 03/20/2024 - 16:54

WASHINGTON (March 20, 2024) — Today the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology advanced a bill that would establish a major U.S. effort to innovate and decarbonize America’s concrete and asphalt sectors, boost American competitiveness, bolster supply chains, reduce co-pollutants and create jobs. The bill is named the Innovative Mitigation Partnerships for Asphalt and Concrete Technologies (IMPACT) Act of 2024.

The bill would amend the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 by establishing a U.S. Department of Energy program for research, development and demonstration in innovative, low-emissions concrete and asphalt. It would also create an interagency technical assistance program to support the research program and its commercial applications. The bill was first introduced in the House on March 15 and follows a similar bill introduced in the U.S. Senate late last year.

Below is a statement from Angela Anderson, Director of Industrial Innovation and Carbon Removal, U.S. Climate, World Resources Institute:

"Concrete and asphalt are notoriously high-emitting sectors, with limited options for decarbonization. Yet this bill shows there is continued bipartisan support for solving this challenge. That's because decarbonizing these sectors will make these domestically produced goods more globally competitive, providing a boost to American businesses and workers.

“Notably, the IMPACT Act focuses not just on decarbonization but also on creating quality American jobs and reducing pollutants that harm our health. Limiting industrial emissions must go hand in hand with improving people’s lives and livelihoods.

“We encourage members of Congress to continue championing such holistic industrial climate policies and advance this bill.”

U.S. Climate United States industry Type Statement Exclude From Blog Feed? 0

STATEMENT: U.S. EPA Issues New Pollution Standards for Passenger Vehicles nate.shelter@wri.org Wed, 03/20/2024 - 12:05

WASHINGTON (March 20, 2024) — Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new pollution standards to reduce tailpipe emissions and other forms of pollution from light and medium duty vehicles for model-year 2027 through 2032. 

These new performance standards will result in a 52% reduction in fleetwide averages of planet-warming pollution from new cars and trucks by model year 2032 as compared to vehicles sold in 2026.

The new standards are expected to drive increasing adoption of electric vehicles. EPA estimates that between 2027 and 2055, the new standards will prevent more than 7 billion tons of carbon emissions.

Following is a statement from Dan Lashof, Director, United States, World Resources Institute: 

“These new standards will speed the adoption of cleaner, more efficient vehicles across America’s roads and go a long way to ensuring that all Americans can access the benefits of electric vehicles.

“The standards will have a direct impact on Americans’ lives, improving air quality, cutting people’s transportation costs and reducing climate pollution. Today transportation contributes more to the climate crisis than any other sector in the United States.

“In 2023, Americans purchased a record 1.2 million electric vehicles thanks, in part, to the consumer tax credits established by the Inflation Reduction Act. Investments in new electric vehicle manufacturing facilities are sprouting up across the nation, creating good jobs and boosting local economies.

“We look forward to the final standards for heavy duty vehicles later this spring and urge federal and state policymakers to defend these standards from attack while continuing to advance additional policies to cut vehicle pollution and make the benefits of electric vehicles available to all Americans.”

U.S. Climate United States transportation U.S. Climate Policy-Electric Vehicles Type Statement Exclude From Blog Feed? 0

The Inequity of Water: While Scarcity Is Felt Locally, its Causes Are Increasingly Global shannon.paton@… Wed, 03/20/2024 - 09:16

Lake Tana is immense. From a shoreline too distant to see, waves move across the lake, bringing warm, humid air to the city of Bahir Dar in northwest Ethiopia. Further inland, farming communities irrigate their crops — wheat, corn, potatoes, onions — drawing from a reservoir fast-filling with silt. Up in the highlands, the earth is scarred with deep cracks, and household wells run dry.

Even here in the headwaters of the Blue Nile, a place historically known for its water abundance, there is increasing water scarcity. Throughout this landscape, the Tana watershed, farming families wonder when the rains will come this year. They are experiencing the impacts of a changing climate firsthand: a water cycle out of sync with centuries of farming tradition.

Yezina Alemneh is one of many farmers grappling with water scarcity in Ethiopia’s Tana watershed. Image by Nubia Media & Communications

W/ro Yezina Alemneh* cares for her young son and the family cattle in a part of the Tana where wells and springs are drying up. She joins other women and children to walk far distances and wait in long lines to collect water, sometimes costing hours of her day.

“Now I have finished my studies, so I can wait in line to get water,” she said. “But the students ... they can’t reach school on time.”

As is the case elsewhere, the causes of water insecurity in the Tana watershed are complex, driven in part by local conditions like a growing population, an expanding economy, inadequate water governance and insufficient investment in infrastructure like wells and sewage systems. But there are also bigger sources far outside the control of Tana’s farming communities. 

Their story lays bare one of the fundamental inequities in water management: While water problems are felt most acutely at the local level, their drivers are increasingly global.

.video-caption { margin:0 12.5% auto; } @media only screen and (max-width: 750px) { .video-caption { margin:0 5% auto; } }

Lake Tana, source of the Blue Nile. Tis Abbay, also known as the Blue Nile Falls. Farmland. Gullies caused by erosion. An abandoned well. Video by Nubia Media & Communications.

Water Is Part of the Global Commons, but it Isn’t Treated that Way

Water is usually seen as a local common good, and water challenges a local issue — so much so that “water is local” is an axiom commonly heard in the water expert community. This dominant perception influences how water is managed. The burden of local water security falls largely on the shoulders of local institutions like national ministries, city water utilities, or community-based organizations.

Unquestionably, local factors and local management are critical — water management should be a reflection of the local context, such as the geology, climate, economy and cultural values of a place. But there’s also a new paradigm emerging — one that positions water not just as a resource to be managed locally, but as a fundamental piece of the “global commons.”

At the UN 2023 Water Conference — the first-such international conference in nearly 50 years — UN General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi described the water cycle as a global common good that transcends culture and borders. The idea is still far from consensus — as anything deemed part of the global commons might elicit questions about sovereignty and accountability — but it still emerged from the proceedings as a central theme.

But how is water part of the global commons? The word “water” typically conjures local scenes — the tap supplying your drinking water, or rains washing pollutants into nearby lakes or streams. The ways in which water is a challenge of the global commons are harder to see.

Ethiopia’s Tis Abay, or Blue Nile Falls. Even here in the headwaters of the Blue Nile, a place historically known for its water abundance, community members are struggling with erratic rainfall and water shortages. Image by Nubia Media & Communications Global Forces Are Increasingly Driving Local Water Problems

Climate change is a challenge of the global commons, with dire consequences for water security across the globe. Many of the world’s most vulnerable people contributed least to its existence. Greenhouse gas emissions, polluting and warming our shared atmosphere are changing the water cycle itself.

Water vapor in the atmosphere increases with each degree of global warming, amplifying the warming caused by greenhouse gases and intensifying storms, floods and droughts. The intensity of extreme flooding and droughts has already increased sharply over the last 20 years. Droughts that used to occur once every 10 years are now 1.7 times more likely than they were before humans heavily influenced the climate. Water is increasingly being recognized as a climate change priority, but climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts are far off-track.

Explore WRI’s Water Work in Ethiopia

WRI works closely with partners in Ethiopia to assess water risks, improve water management and boost water security throughout the country. In the Tana sub-basin, we engage farmers, community members and government officials in implementing nature-based solutions to water insecurity — including reforestation and agricultural practices that conserve soil and water. Learn more about our work.

Greenhouse gas emissions are not the only force in the global commons impacting local water security. Nor are they the only force changing the climate. 

Since the first UN Water Conference nearly 50 years ago, the world population has nearly doubled, the global GDP grew five-fold, and the world’s growing appetite for resources and space has carved itself into the landscape. We are witnessing widespread loss of forests, wetlands and other natural ecosystems, and with them wildlife and biodiversity. Cities and agricultural lands are sprawling outward. Experts are increasingly raising the alarm about how changing landscapes and ecosystem loss impact the climate from local to global scales — including precipitation patterns, such as the impact of deforestation on rainfall both locally and downwind. In the Amazon, one study estimated that rainfall in the region could decline by 8% by 2050 if current deforestation rates continue. This degradation of what writer Rob Lewis calls the “living climate” is increasingly intertwined with emissions-driven climate change, but is too often left out of the climate narrative.

And then there’s another dimension of water in the global commons: the water used to produce foods and goods (also known as “virtual water”) that moves around the world via international trade. In theory, trade could be a boon to local water security, allowing water-stressed countries to import water-intensive goods. But about 39% of the time, virtual water travels along unfair routes: from regions where people already live with less water and less income to regions where people live with more. In fact, 50% of the virtual water imported by high-income countries comes from places of high water scarcity. Trade of virtual water is projected to triple by the end of the century. 

This distortion of the water cycle is also intertwined with the climate and ecological crises, depleting and polluting the water flows upon which ecosystems and people depend, creating a feedback loop of increasing fragility and vulnerability. Water crises experienced locally can also spill outward in the form of supply chain disruptions, displacement, migration and conflict, underscoring and undermining water as an essential foundation to the global sustainable development agenda and interdependent global challenges.

In each of these examples of global systems linked to local water security — global climate change, the degradation of the living climate, and the too-often exploitative trade of water-intensive goods — there is a common thread: The origins of global water challenges lie not only outside the jurisdiction, but outside the water sector itself — in our food and energy systems, in urban development and rural land management, in systems of trade and finance. Impacts on water are often an externality, a paradigm of extractive economic systems out of sync with vital planetary systems.

Farmers look after their flock of sheep. Many people in northwestern Ethiopia raise cattle, sheep and goats as part of their livelihoods. Image by Nubia Media & Communications

Each of these extranational forces is far outside the control of the residents of the Tana watershed, but they are heavily affected by them regardless. They are impacted when deforestation 3,000 kilometers away in the Congo River Basin decreases the community’s rains. They are impacted when the government asks smallholder farmers connected to a major reservoir to cultivate wheat, a particularly water-intensive crop — not because it will improve incomes compared to the tomatoes or onions they were farming (it won’t), but because it will help with the country’s trade deficit. And they are impacted when global efforts to mitigate climate change remain markedly off-track.

Overcoming Tragedy in the Global Commons

W/ro Birkie Tsega is the head of the agriculture office for Farta district, which covers the eastern headwaters of the Tana watershed and is home to nearly 200,000 people. Having grown up in this area, she has witnessed the impact climate change has had on farmers and the changing patterns of rainfall — rains when the fields should be dry; none when it’s historically expected.

Birkie Tsega is the head of the agriculture office in the eastern part of the Tana watershed. She often hears from farmers struggling with changing precipitation patterns. Image by Nubia Media & Communications

“At present, the farmer is wary of the rain,” said Birkie. “It is not constant. The farmers are out of sync with their regular schedule. According to our climate, potatoes are planted around May. Now, the potato that was planted didn’t even grow. Potato seed that was bought at an expensive price was completely lost.”

Ato Habtamu Tamir, the director for water resources management at the Abbay Basin Administration Office, oversees water resources management efforts in the Tana watershed and the wider Abbay (Blue Nile) Basin.

“Climate change is caused by developed countries, not by us,” Ato Habtamu said. “They should take responsibility. People are suffering for things they didn’t do or contribute to.”

A farmer tends to her crop. Image by Nubia Media & Communications

But while global action lags, communities like those in the Tana watershed are working tirelessly to address their water challenges locally.

In a part of the Tana watershed known as Minzir 01, community members are trying to replenish groundwater and streams by reversing land degradation, restoring the common lands through tree-planting and other soil and water conservation efforts. They planted more than 100,000 trees in the last two years alone.

Yezina is one of the committee members coordinating the community’s effort. “The main purpose is to recover the damaged lands by holding it with the tree roots,” she explained. “The land is being eroded and we are losing the groundwater we are currently using. The water shortage is becoming unbearable.”

“We dig today for a better tomorrow,” Yezina added.

.video-caption { margin:0 12.5% auto; } @media only screen and (max-width: 750px) { .video-caption { margin:0 5% auto; } }

A farmer feeds the family livestock with his daughter. A fruit exporter inspects his orchard. W/ro Yezina tends to a young sapling. Video by Nubia Media & Communications.

Digging Today for a Better Tomorrow

The path forward for keeping water safe in the global commons is less clear. Unlike the international Paris Agreement for climate change or the Kunming-Montreal agreement to protect biodiversity, there is no singular international treaty for water as a global common good. Nor would a singular multilateral solution be sufficient.

Understanding the challenge of the global water commons is daunting in its complexity, and imagining ways forward seems even more so. But perhaps underneath this complexity is a simple story: We need alternative paths to well-being and prosperity that do not undermine the very freshwater systems upon which we depend.

The question is not just how to reduce harm to freshwater systems and reduce water risks to people, but how to get into right relationship with water and with each other. This calls for cultivating a new sense of shared responsibility for our water commons — outside the watershed, and even far outside the water silo, from food and energy systems, to city design and nature protection, to trade and financial systems, to the very measurement and management of economic health. Where we are out of sync, how might we put unsustainable and inequitable relationships in reverse, shifting from extractive to regenerative, and exploitative to just?

The next UN Water Conference could be a key moment to kindle this shift. As the UN 2023 Water Conference was a moment of emergence for the idea of water as a global common good, the next UN Water Conference planned for 2026 needs to strengthen consensus around the idea and help translate it into new and better multilateral solutions.

Those solutions should focus on catalyzing more regenerative and just relationships to and through water, across borders and across silos. They could include things like: “Just Water Partnerships,” debt-for-nature swaps, or other initiatives that help developing countries channel finance in ways that serve national development goals as well as the global common good; innovations in multilateral trade that create economic opportunity and reduce supply disruptions without exploiting water and other natural capital reserves;  and elevating water and the “living climate” in the climate action agenda, such as through national climate policies (NDCs) and finance.

Water insecurity is far from the only crisis weighing heavily on the minds of leaders around the world. But looking at the world through the lens of water adds something unique and vital to this moment of interdependent global challenges.

Community members in the Minzir 01 area are working to restore degraded landscapes through soil and water conservation strategies like terracing and check dams, shown here. Image by Nubia Media & Communications

Meanwhile, in the Tana watershed, local efforts to improve water security for the community’s well-being and livelihoods press on. Birkie and her team continue helping farmers cope with unpredictable rains. Habtamu’s office works to implement water policies for a more sustainable and resilient basin. And Yezina joins community members in efforts to restore the land, hoping to bring back the springs and streams.

The water challenge is immense. It is one that local communities cannot and should not have to solve on their own. Will we pick up our shovels and, in the words of Yezina, “Dig for a better tomorrow”?

***

*Throughout this article, we used Amharic titles – specifically W/ro and Ato – which generally equate to Mrs. and Mr., respectively. After they were introduced, we intentionally referred to Tana watershed community members using their first names rather than last, deferring to customary practice in the region.

***

The interviews, videography, and photography were conducted by Nubia Media & Communications.

Special thanks to the members of the Tana watershed community for sharing their perspectives and experiences.

This work was made possible by a grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

ethiopia-farmers-crop.jpeg Freshwater Freshwater agriculture Water Security food security Type Commentary Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Projects

• Water Security
• Water for Sustainable Development in Ethiopia

Authors Eliza L. Swedenborg

ADVISORY: Embargoed WRI Press Call on the 2023 Tree Cover Loss Data hannah.lassite… Mon, 03/18/2024 - 17:05

Registration is for members of the media only. 

Register here.  
 
WASHINGTON D.C. (March 19, 2024) – Join the World Resources Institute (WRI) team on March 26, 2024 for a preview of how much tree cover was lost in 2023 and an analysis on the state of the world’s forest. The embargoed press call will be at 9:00AM EDT / 14:00 CET / 8:00PM WIB and feature many of WRI’s forest experts. 

The speakers will provide the latest global tropical forests data from the University of Maryland’s GLAD lab (UMD) and analyze which countries were hotspots for forest loss in 2023. Experts will also discuss how the latest tree cover loss affects people, biodiversity and climate around the world, and make the scientific and economic case for protecting forests. 

The 2023 Tree Cover Loss analysis is strictly embargoed for April 4 at 12:01 AM EDT / 6:01 CEST / 11:01 AM WIB. By registering for this press call, you agree to respect the embargo date and time. 

To receive a Dropbox folder of embargoed data and graphics, email Hannah Lassiter, Kaitlyn Thayer, or Alison Cinnamond.  

UMD’s tree cover loss data will launch on the Global Forest Watch platform, and in-depth analysis and expert insights on the state of the world’s forests will be released on the Global Forest Review on April 4. 
 
This press call will be hosted in English, with live interpretation into French, Spanish and Portuguese. 

WHAT 
Embargoed Press Call to preview 2023 Global Tree Cover Loss Data 
 
WHEN 
Tuesday, March 26 at 9:00AM EDT / 14:00 CET / 8:00PM WIB 
 
WHO 
Speakers: 

• Elizabeth Goldman, Senior Research Manager, Global Forest Watch, WRI 
• Mikaela Weisse, Director, Global Forest Watch, WRI 
• Matt Hansen, Professor, University of Maryland; Co-Director, Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) Lab
• Rod Taylor, Global Director, Forests, WRI 
• Alejandra Laina, Natural Resources Manager, WRI Colombia 
• Sarah Carter, Research Associate, Global Forest Watch, WRI 
• Teodyl Nkuintchua, Congo Basin Strategy and Engagement Leader, WRI Africa 
• Mariana Oliveira, Manager, Forests, Land Use and Agriculture Program, WRI Brasil 

Moderator: Alison Cinnamond, Global Director, Strategic Communications, WRI 
 

WHERE 
To RSVP, please register here.   
 
For any questions or to request embargoed 2023 content, please reach out to Hannah Lassiter, Kaitlyn Thayer, or Alison Cinnamond  

Forests global forest watch deforestation Type Advisory Exclude From Blog Feed? 0

RELEASE: World Resources Institute Welcomes Sharan Burrow, Johannes van de Ven and Cecilia Martínez to Global Board hannah.lassite… Fri, 03/15/2024 - 14:47

WASHINGTON (March 18, 2024)—World Resources Institute is pleased to announce that Sharan Burrow, Visiting Professor, Grantham Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics; Johannes van de Ven, Managing Director, Good Energies and Board Chair, WRI Brasil; and Cecilia Martínez, Former Director, UN-Habitat and Board Chair WRI Mexico have joined its Global Board of Directors.  

“We are thrilled to welcome three new members to our Global Board, each bringing with them the leadership, passion and deep expertise which underpin WRI’s many areas of work,” said Ani Dasgupta, President & CEO, WRI. “Sharan brings experience in advancing labor, gender and equity goals to the Board and has long been a strategic partner for WRI. Johannes and Cecilia’s election highlights our commitment to advancing equity and connectivity across WRI’s global governance network.” 

Sharan Burrow was the first woman General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation and began her collaboration with WRI through her role as a member, and eventually as a Co-Chair, of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, and its flagship project The New Climate Economy. She also serves as a Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) Ambassador. Sharan brings to the Global Board a deep expertise in just transition that will inform the people-centered approach central to WRI’s strategy. In addition to her track record on human rights, Burrow is well known for her international advocacy on issues of employment, industrial relations and corporate responsibility. 

Sharan is currently a Visiting Professor in Practice at the Grantham Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, a research institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science. 

“Having worked with WRI on critical issues related to climate and economics, just transition, food production and land-use change, I am honored to build on this work as a member of the Global Board,” said Burrow. “WRI’s strategic focus on people, nature and climate is a critical lens in which to view and overcome today’s interconnected issues, and I’m excited to contribute to this mission.” 

Johannes van de Ven currently serves as Chair of the WRI Brasil Board and has been the Managing Director of Good Energies Foundation since 2014, where he focuses his efforts on climate mitigation, investing in clean and renewable energies, natural ecosystem restoration and reforestation. 

Van de Ven also sits on the Boards of the Climate and Land Use Alliance and Arapyaú Institute, and is an Advisory Board member of SELCO Solar Light (India) Ltd. He started his career at Brazil’s investment bank Bozano, Simonsen, in Rio de Janeiro. More recently, he served at the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Forests. His academic formation is in moral theology, business ethics and development economics, with graduate studies at the Jesuit PUC-Rio de Janeiro, and he holds a Ph.D. from Catholic University of Louvain. 

“I have witnessed the power of WRI to advance work to protect both the planet and its people,” said Van de Ven. “I’m looking forward to working across the WRI global network to advance our strategy and to ensure that the issues and priorities of Brazil continue to be promoted on a global level.” 

Cecilia Martínez is the former director of the UN-Habitat office in New York and currently serves as Chair of the Board, WRI Mexico. Retired in 2013, Martínez has extensive expertise in housing, urban planning and design, as well as collaborating with diverse stakeholders within local communities, academia, and federal and local government in Mexico and Latin America. 

During her professional career Martínez has held high-level positions including being a member of the Mexico City Social Organizations Platform and the Board of FINCOMÚN. She is founder of the first association of microentrepreneur of Mexico City and worked as urban planning and design professor at the Faculty of Architecture at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Martínez also worked as advisor to the Director of Housing and Urban Planning and the Undersecretariat for Urban Development of the Secretariat for Human Settlements and Public Works (SAHOP). 

“To achieve and maximize change on a global level, we must first prioritize and uplift local communities,” said Martínez. “During my time chairing WRI’s Mexico Board, it has been evident that this a top priority across the organization, and I am pleased to contribute my expertise in urban planning and local engagement in Mexico and Latin America to cultivate global change across WRI’s portfolio.” 

Burrow, Van de Ven and Martínez all began serving on WRI’s Global Board in March 2024. Find a complete list of WRI’s Global Board Directors here. 

About World Resources Institute   
WRI is a trusted partner for change. Using research-based approaches, we work globally and in focus countries to meet people’s essential needs; to protect and restore nature; and to stabilize the climate and build resilient communities. We aim to fundamentally transform the way the world produces and uses food and energy and designs its cities to create a better future for all.  Founded in 1982, WRI has nearly 2,000 staff around the world, with country offices in Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States and regional offices in Africa and Europe. More information at www.wri.org or on Twitter @WorldResources. 

Type Press Release Exclude From Blog Feed? 0

E-Buses: Operational Tests and Customer Surveys Facilitate Transition and Highlight Benefits ciara.regan@wri.org Wed, 03/13/2024 - 15:09

The adoption of any new technology involves some degree of adaptation, and battery electric buses (e-bus) are no exception. After decades of experience with diesel vehicles, cities and operators need to understand the technical and operational specifications of e-buses to align system planning, business models and service operations. A small challenge compared to the multiple benefits of transitioning to clean fleets.

Part of the process involves conducting tests or pilots. Those reduce risks and improve conditions for a successful transition, by allowing an understanding of the technology and assessing the performance of vehicle models available in the context of each city. This is what cities in China — the country with the largest fleet of battery electric buses globally — and Santiago, Chile, — one of the regional leaders in electrification — have done, for example.

A significant testing process recently concluded in Curitiba, Brazil. The city has taken several steps to decarbonize transport and conducted an operational demonstration of various e-bus models in 2023. In addition to generating localized information, the tests confirmed, alongside service customers, that electric buses can make public transportation more comfortable and attractive.

Curitiba's E-Bus Demonstrations

Curitiba aims to electrify two conventional public transportation lines and a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line. Between April and November 2023, the city tested seven vehicles from four manufacturers (BYD, Eletra, Marcopolo and Volvo). Each vehicle was tested for about 30 days. WRI Brasil supports the city under the TUMI E-Bus Mission and, together with URBS (the company managing public transportation in the city) and the Urban Research and Planning Institute of Curitiba (IPPUC), formed the team that monitored the tests.

The tests produced two main outputs. A technical report prepared by URBS compiled information from the tested vehicles, such as energy consumption, compliance with recommended autonomy and indicators related to charging infrastructure. Also, based on the QualiÔnibus Satisfaction Survey methodology, WRI Brasil helped capture and compile information on the perception of customers who used the tested electric buses.

This article delves into the crucial reasons for implementing tests on electric buses, drawing insights from key conclusions from Curitiba's experience.

Informing Those Operating the Service 

E-bus tests and pilots are comprehensive strategies with multiple benefits. They allow simultaneous exploration of available vehicle options, establishment of partnerships with manufacturers, presentation of electrification benefits to the public and learning for current operators of public transportation.

In Curitiba, the test vehicles were operated by the bus companies that constitute three consortia of the city's public transportation. The participation of these companies makes the tests more reliable and accurate due to their experience in operating services locally. It also enhances the operators' understanding of the technology for participation in future bidding processes. Thus, the city expands the possibilities of successful tenders.

Perception Research Reveals Acceptance of Technology

The C40 Cities guide, "How to Shift Your Bus Fleet to Zero Emission by Procuring Only Electric Buses," indicates that, in addition to generating data and information suitable for the local context, one of the main reasons for conducting pilots is to generate interest and confidence in the technology. Therefore, conducting perception surveys with service customers is valuable. This is an opportunity to check the population's prior knowledge about technology and measure the impact of vehicles on the perception of service quality.

WRI Brasil supported Curitiba in conducting perception surveys with passengers who traveled on five electric bus models — two from Marcopolo, two from Eletra, and one from Volvo. Conducted online, the surveys aimed to identify respondents' profiles, understand their experience and prior knowledge on the subject, their perception of seven key attributes of electric buses and their satisfaction with the vehicles. The survey yielded 506 responses, with 86% from people using the service three or more times a week. The sample consisted of 56% women and 43% men.

Comfort and Low Internal Vibration and Noise are Highlights

Of the participants, 78% were already familiar with electric buses and 22% became acquainted through the tests. Among the known or presumed benefits of the technology, the most mentioned (30%) was the reduction of local pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, followed by noise levels (27%), charging costs (16%), energy consumption (14%) and maintenance costs (11%). The results demonstrate an opportunity to increase the population's knowledge about the benefits of electrifying public transportation.

At the same time, the research highlighted the positive impression generated by the demonstration. Of the participants, 9 out of 10 were supportive of deploying more electric buses. Almost all participants agreed with statements that the vehicles are quieter (95%), can contribute to air quality (94%) and benefit public health (89%). For 81% of respondents, electric buses are more comfortable than diesel ones, and 44% are willing to wait a little longer to board an electric bus.

When evaluating customer satisfaction with 14 aspects of the demonstrated vehicles, the final part of the survey made it clear that attributes directly related to technology were among the highest-rated. For example, smooth acceleration (90%), vibration (90%) and noise levels (90%), as well as ventilation and temperature (77%) — the latter favored not only by air conditioning but also by electric motors generating much less heat. The least well-rated items were vehicle capacity (58%) and safety (45%), which are independent of the technology.

The data is consistent with results observed in a pilot in Santiago, Chile, where public transportation customers gave electric vehicles a rating of 6.3 out of 7, higher than the rating for Euro VI buses — the most advanced diesel vehicles — which received a rating of 5.8.

Technical-Operational Tests

Equally important to customer perception is the verification of the operational performance of the buses. These tests allow the city to define specifications for battery electric vehicles for future public transportation contracts and tenders. They also allow for predictions of possible operational changes, alterations in routes and recharging strategy, as indicated by URBS's final report.

For each tested vehicle, Curitiba sought to measure characteristics such as energy consumption, compliance with manufacturers' recommended autonomy, tire wear, and other relevant chassis and body features. These measurements are opportunities for both the city to test and evaluate vehicle technical specifications and for manufacturers to adapt and improve their vehicles for Curitiba's operational context.

To meet the city's operational requirements, all vehicles had an autonomy declared by the manufacturer of at least 250 km, except for an articulated vehicle with a range of 200 km. In tests without load and with the air conditioning off, most vehicles met or exceeded the manufacturer's forecast, and only one conventional bus had autonomy about 20% lower.

But it is tests in normal operation, with passengers and air conditioning on, that provide more significant information for understanding vehicle performance and how operations and infrastructure can be structured. With the increase in weight and energy consumption, the autonomy of vehicles is significantly impacted. In Curitiba's tests, one of the vehicles did not meet the minimum efficiency defined in URBS's Fleet Specifications Manual for electric fleets and this means that the manufacturer must make adjustments to the technical specifications of the vehicle if it wants to enter the future tender.

Better for People, Nature and Climate

Tests, pilots and demonstrations of battery electric buses contribute to a smoother technological transition with fewer startles. More than that, when results are openly shared, as Curitiba did, they become valuable inputs for other cities that have also recognized the opportunity for decarbonization.

brazil-bus-stop.jpg Cities Brazil Cities Electric Mobility transportation Integrated Transport Type Technical Perspective Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Authors Virginia Bergamaschi Tavares Eduardo Siqueira Fernando Correa

Can “Biodiversity Credits” Boost Conservation? shannon.paton@… Tue, 03/12/2024 - 14:24

The Bosque de Niebla cloud forest in the High Andes of Colombia is a biodiversity hotspot, home to hundreds of plant and animal species like the yellow-eared parrot, spectacled bear and crested eagle. It houses dozens of species that don’t exist anywhere else in the world. It serves as a valuable wildlife corridor connecting the region’s fragmented habitats. And it provides critical ecosystem services for nearby communities, like supplying fresh water to six aqueducts and storing large amounts of carbon.

Yet despite its importance, much of this area has been logged for cattle grazing since the 1980s. The forest’s health is now degraded, endangering at least 20 species and threatening nearby communities that rely on it for fresh water and other benefits. But there’s a scheme in place to protect what remains.

In 2020, ClimateTrade and Terrasos, two companies specializing in climate- and ecosystem-based investing, launched a project to conserve 340 hectares of the Bosque de Niebla by selling “biodiversity credits” to private companies. For each credit purchased at a cost of about $35 (as of Feb. 26, 2024), the initiative works with local landowners to conserve or restore an area of 10 square meters for 30 years. 

This kind of arrangement is an example of a nascent but growing field. Biodiversity credits have been gaining interest globally in recent years amid a surge of efforts to scale financing for nature.

Creating a Market for Biodiversity

Biodiversity remains severely underfunded, with recent research showing upwards of a $700 billion gap between current annual funding and what’s needed by 2030 to maintain ecosystem integrity. To address this shortfall, 196 countries adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022, committing to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. They agreed to redirect $500 billion of harmful subsidies toward biodiversity and mobilize an additional $200 billion per year for conservation and restoration. 

Governments have contributed the lion’s share — 83% — of global nature finance to date. But constrained public budgets and differing national priorities mean that public funds most likely won’t be enough to fill the significant remaining gap.

That’s why civil society, policymakers, philanthropists and even some businesses are increasingly calling on the private sector to play a bigger role in financing nature-positive projects. There are economic incentives and public pressure to do so, too. For one, companies are facing increased expectations to report on their nature-related risks and dependencies. Funding nature protection and restoration can also help companies manage ecosystem-related risks to their operations and profits, such as supply chain disruptions, forest and plantation damage, compliance with evolving nature-related policies and more.

Some organizations and governments see biodiversity credits and other market-based initiatives as a promising way to scale up private finance for nature. Others see them as risky. They worry that these tools could distract from the need to engage more important actors, like governments, for effective mobilization of biodiversity finance.

As this emerging market continues to develop, here’s what to know.

Cattle graze near the town of Salento outside Colombia’s Bosque de Niebla cloud forest. Much of the cloud forest has been cleared for pasture in recent decades, but a new biodiversity credit program aims to protect the area and its unique wildlife. Photo by RAWFILE REDUX 2/iStock  What Are Biodiversity Credits and How Do They Work?

Biodiversity credits are an economic instrument that allow private companies to finance activities, such as forest conservation or restoration, that deliver net positive biodiversity gains.   

It works like this: Non-profit organizations, governments, landowners or companies that have a primary goal to conserve or restore land generate a supply of credits, or “certificates.” One credit might be equal to a certain amount of land conserved or restored over a specific period of time. Terrasos’s project in Colombia, for example, sets the value of one biodiversity credit at 10 square meters of land conserved or restored over 30 years.

Private companies can then purchase these credits to meet their own biodiversity- or nature-based commitments, much like how companies purchase carbon credits toward achieving their emissions-reduction goals. However, there is an important distinction when it comes to biodiversity credit markets. Biodiversity credits are intended to have a net-positive impact on nature and biodiversity, whereas biodiversity offsets, a different market-based tool, are intended to compensate for companies’ negative and unavoidable impacts on nature.

Take the Tondwa Game Management Area in Zambia. The game reserve is situated within a Key Biodiversity Area which, because of a lack of government funding and law enforcement capacity, has seen its wildlife populations decline. This area will soon host one of the world’s biggest biodiversity credit projects. The local community in Zambia, along with an environmental non-profit called Conserve Global, gained biodiversity management rights and will work with project developer ValueNature to supply credits to private sector buyers. This project defines one biodiversity credit, or what it calls a “Nature Investment Certificate” (NIC), as a 10-year agreement to conserve or restore 1 hectare of land within the Tondwa reserve. 

Most biodiversity credit projects like the one in Tondwa are still in their infancy. To ensure they deliver on their promises, market activities will likely eventually be governed by third-party organizations that can help verify the credibility and integrity of biodiversity credits. These organizations would set project performance standards, as well as standards related to monitoring and measurement of biodiversity outcomes, safeguards to protect and ensure local communities’ rights, and more. 

How Do Biodiversity Credits Fit into Corporate Commitments to Biodiversity?

Biodiversity market mechanisms are often structured around the “mitigation hierarchy.” This establishes that companies should: 1) avoid creating negative environmental impacts as far as possible; 2) reduce the extent of environmental impacts that cannot be avoided; and 3) only when every attempt has been made to do these two steps, rely on other tools to like market-based credits to offset their impact or see a net gain.

Why Do Some See Biodiversity Credits As Risky?

As interest in biodiversity crediting increases, many have looked to the well-established carbon credit market for comparisons and learnings. The two are closely related, with both targeting sustainability-focused corporations as their predominant buyers. In some cases, they even overlap: While carbon credits are chiefly aimed at reducing or offsetting CO2 emissions, rather than protecting biodiversity, they are increasingly leveraging nature-based solutions to achieve this goal, which harness the power of healthy ecosystems to remove and store carbon. Some projects are now valuing the positive biodiversity outcomes that can result from these nature-based carbon projects to create higher-valued carbon credits.

Considering these crossovers, biodiversity markets will likely face many of the same headwinds that carbon markets have. Companies are beginning to view their participation in carbon markets as an easy target for accusations of “greenwashing,” due to growing concerns around the integrity of carbon credits from nature-based solutions projects. Project developers are struggling to maintain transparency and effective monitoring mechanisms to ensure emissions reductions while managing complexity and costs. Some critics also argue that nature-related carbon offset projects often fail to adequately consider the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities, on whose land many carbon credit projects are implemented. Establishing effective monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) mechanisms; ensuring credibility; and safeguarding and strengthening the rights and livelihoods of local communities will all be challenges for biodiversity credit markets. 

These markets arguably have an added complexity compared to carbon markets: There is no simple equivalent to the “tonne is a tonne” premise on which the carbon market is built.  While a tonne of carbon is the same everywhere, biodiversity is, by its nature, diverse, and arguably lacking a “common currency” that can be consistently measured, tracked and traded. Different project developers have taken different approaches; for example, ValueNature defines one credit as one hectare of land managed for at least 10 years, while the UK-based Wallacea Trust sets unique baselines and goals for each specific habit, measuring one “biodiversity unit” as a 1% improvement from the median.  The innate complexity of these markets reinforces the need for transparency and accountability, good governance, and social safeguards as the global biodiversity credit market continues to develop.

At the same time, more standardized metrics may be possible. A “tonne is a tonne” is perhaps more of a motto than a practice in carbon markets. Most carbon credit projects do not directly measure carbon atoms, relying instead on indirect measurements, industry averages, models and proxies. While technically there may not a biodiversity equivalent to a tonne of carbon, land is widely viewed and accepted as a commodity and asset, and natural lands and the land use changes most associated with biodiversity losses (such as deforestation) can be directly monitored through modern remote sensing technologies.  The development of a common currency (or currencies) for biodiversity or nature may be closer than it seems.

A local man fishes in the Pacaya-Samiria Nature Reserve in Peru’s Amazon rainforest. Biodiversity credits and other nature-based programs need to involve and benefit local and Indigenous people who live in and rely on these ecosystems. Photo by Patricia Marinelli/iStock  What’s Next for Biodiversity Credit Markets?

It’s still unclear how biodiversity credits can, or should, play a significant role in meeting global biodiversity finance goals. So far, demand seems limited. While half of the Fortune 500 companies acknowledge biodiversity loss in their sustainability reporting, just 5% have developed quantified biodiversity-related targets. According to the World Economic Forum, even with effective progress and governance of these markets, demand could reach only up to $2 billion per year. That’s just 1% of the total finance required to meet 2030 goals.

What is clear, however, is that the $200 billion per year committed to in the Global Biodiversity Framework needs to be scaled quickly and effectively. With governments looking to the private sector to help achieve this, some are moving to support these markets to help fulfil their commitments.

The UK and France announced a joint initiative to launch a biodiversity credits roadmap that will support companies’ positive contributions for nature. As part of its Environment Act 2021, the UK government is also developing a statutory biodiversity credit scheme. This will serve as a last resort for land developers to meet the country's mandated 10% biodiversity gain in all land development projects. The Australian Federal government introduced a bill called the Commonwealth Nature Repair Market Bill in 2023, which provides a framework for creating tradeable biodiversity certificates. These can be issued to landowners and sold to companies, individuals and governments.

Several coalitions are also developing guidance and governance frameworks to build high-integrity biodiversity credit markets, including the World Economic Forum , the Taskforce on Nature Markets and the Biodiversity Credit Alliance. These coalitions include scientists, academics, conservation practitioners, and policy and market experts, as well as members from Indigenous and local communities. This diversity of stakeholders is meant to ensure that proper mechanisms for free, prior and informed consent and benefit sharing are included in biodiversity credit markets.

While the Best Tools May Not Be Clear, the Need for More Finance Is

The debate over whether and to what extent biodiversity credits should be used, and how effective they will be, is likely to continue. What all can agree on, however, is the urgent need to scale finance for nature and biodiversity. As governments, companies and others work to do so, additional critical attention to biodiversity credit markets and their alternatives is needed and welcomed. This can help build momentum toward the world’s common biodiversity goals and ensure that finance is directed to the instruments best able to achieve them. 

zambia-elephants.jpg Finance biodiversity Forests Climate Finance Type Explainer Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Authors Radhika Rao Esther Choi Roman Paul Czebiniak

Clear Watershed Boundaries Are Essential for Successful Water Stewardship shannon.paton@… Tue, 03/12/2024 - 13:33

Private companies are increasingly reporting water as a material risk to their businesses. These risks — such as water scarcity, floods and droughts, which are increasing due to climate change and growing water demand — can raise operational costs, disrupt operations, damage brands or heighten regulatory uncertainty. Material risks threaten not only businesses themselves, but also the people who rely on them for employment and services.

Companies need to understand their risk levels and conduct water stewardship projects that reduce water risks. But understanding how much water a company uses and where it’s sourced from is complicated. WRI worked with Procter & Gamble (P&G) and partners to assess the company’s water use, uncover its sources, understand specific water-related business risks, and identify regions and basins that are impacted the most.

Challenges of Mapping Water Boundaries

Water can’t be mapped the same way as a local city, county or state because the water used by the residents and businesses of those locations crosses traditional borders. Instead, water is mapped via watersheds, also called drainage basins or catchments. Watersheds are areas of land that drain (or shed) water from rainfall and snowmelt into a receiving body of water (also called an outflow point), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  The outflow point is where all flowing surface water converges into a single place like a river mouth, bay, lake or ocean.

Watershed boundaries are relative to the use case — and vary in size based on how they are defined. Someone may refer to their local watershed as the area around a small tributary that drains into the Mississippi River and others may refer to their local watershed as the entire Mississippi River watershed — one that includes thousands of square miles and encompasses many other smaller watersheds. The Mississippi watershed is the largest in the U.S. and drains 1.15 million square miles (roughly the size of India) across 31 states and two Canadian provinces.

Subbasins of the Mississippi (HydroBASINS 6)

To provide uniform, comparable data, global models and datasets, including WRI's Aqueduct data platform, aggregate water risk data into basins defined by the HydroBASINS dataset. This dataset, used in several other water-related tools and databases, depicts watershed boundaries and subbasin delineations at a global scale and offers 12 levels of basin sizes — some very small like the tributary’s basin that drains into the Mississippi, and some the size of the Mississippi's watershed. Aqueduct uses HydroBASINS level 6 to denote subbasins because it is small enough to capture meaningful local variations and large enough to minimize the non-natural effect of water transfers, like canals or water trucks (“inter-basin transfer”), not included in the model that Aqueduct uses.

Local and Global

Global models show companies where water risks occur and help them prioritize where to focus water stewardship efforts. While they are great first-level screening tools to identify water risks and prioritize regions, discrepancies can arise between global data and local, on-the-ground realities. For example, global models, like HydroSHEDS classify all basins around the world at a similar area for each level. They can be smaller or larger than local water management authorities’ definitions, based on country size, basin importance, scale or source data. The resulting boundaries can span the jurisdictions of multiple water managers — too large for effective water stewardship work. In addition, to ensure data clarity, HydroBASINS are named with six-digit codes that are not universally recognized, and although Aqueduct reports basin names as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), they don’t perfectly match the HydroBASINS scale which means global modelers and local authorities may classify basins with different names. 

While these challenges can complicate water stewardship, it is important to use both global and local data to inform this work. Once companies prioritize locations with global models, they should also use local datasets and models to dive deeper into priority sites and work on water stewardship.

Water stewardship projects — like rechanneling a creek to restore native habitat, installing blue-green roofs to reduce stormwater runoff or detecting leaks in residential toilets — are meant to benefit the watershed where that company is withdrawing water, affecting water quality or otherwise impacting the basin. It’s critical for watershed boundaries to be clear and the same boundaries must be used by all stakeholders (e.g., companies, water managers, NGOs) operating within or impacting a watershed. If stakeholders use different maps for the watersheds they work in, this can have detrimental impacts for water stewardship projects and collective action in a particular basin.

Identifying the Right Locations for Water Stewardship Projects

Using Aqueduct, WRI and P&G assessed water risks across P&G facilities and consumer markets. The data highlighted basins based on water-stressed and high-priority markets where the company has a physical presence, where over 20% of the population faces high or extremely high average annual water stress, and where at least one high water-risk facility is located.  This resulted in 18 priority basins across seven countries.

To transition from global prioritization to local water stewardship projects, P&G developed a basin discovery report for each location, with help from Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), the University of Cincinnati and ERM, to better understand local definitions of basin boundaries, local nomenclature, source watersheds, shared water challenges and existing efforts to address those challenges for these 18 basins. This information helped P&G to: 

1. Confirm that the HydroSHEDS boundaries and FAO names were identical at the local scale.
2. Suggest changes to the original boundaries based on results from local research.
3. Identify the source watersheds that provide water to local communities or their facilities.

Now, P&G can more confidently identify and support water restoration projects to improve, better manage, or protect freshwater resources used or impacted by their facilities or consumers.

 

Spain

In Spain, P&G used Aqueduct data to identify the Segura Basin as a priority basin surrounding their facility.

They then completed a basin discovery report for the Segura Basin and learned that the water authorities defined it using different boundaries than those used by Aqueduct. The local definition of the Segura Basin boundaries did not include the P&G facility location.

Instead, it was discovered that the Jucar Basin and its locally defined boundaries was the basin that contained the P&G site.

Without looking at the local definitions for the basin boundaries, P&G would have risked supporting water restoration projects that were not linked to the facility’s actual water source. It would have also caused confusion when local implementers searched for projects because they would not be familiar with the global basin boundaries and name used by Aqueduct.

Los Angeles

One of P&G’s facilities in California is located just outside of Los Angeles. Using Aqueduct, a large watershed reaching almost as far northwest as Santa Maria (about 70 miles northwest of Santa Barbara), was identified as the priority basin. In addition to restoring the water consumed at the site, P&G also committed to restoring the water consumed during the use of its products in the basin.

They embarked on further research to confirm the boundaries for intervention and discovered that the basin boundaries and name should be modified based on the local definition of the state’s basins.

Once the new boundaries and names were identified, the next step was to learn more about where the water for the priority basin came from.

The basin discovery report revealed that much of the water used by both the facility and by P&G consumers living in the metropolitan Los Angeles area originates from several different source watersheds outside of the priority basin boundaries.

In 2022, over 70% of the water sourced to the Los Angeles area came from the Sacramento River/Feather River basins via the State Water Project and from the Colorado River Basin via the Colorado River aqueduct. 15% came from the Owens River Basin via the Los Angeles aqueduct.

initFlourishScrolly( { trigger_point: "0%", offset_top: "50px" } ); @media screen and (max-width: 767px) { .fl-scrolly-step { width: 80vw !important; font-size: .95rem !important; text-align: left !important; } } @media screen and (min-width:768px) and (max-width: 1023px) { #my-wrapper { margin-left: 45vw; width: 55vw; } .fl-scrolly-step { text-align: left !important; margin-left: -42vw !important; width: 35vw !important; box-shadow: none !important; } } @media screen and (min-width: 1024px) { #my-wrapper { margin-left: 35vw; width: 65vw; } .fl-scrolly-step { text-align: left !important; margin-left: -30vw !important; width: 25vw !important; box-shadow: none !important; } }

With this more holistic understanding of the basin boundaries and source watersheds, P&G was able to search for related projects in areas relevant to their water consumption. Today, P&G is supporting projects within the local basin boundaries (South Coast basin), Sacramento River basin and the Colorado River basin.

Other companies can replicate this to identify where to implement water stewardship projects. Here are three ways to advance local understanding and engagement:

1) Refine Basins Based on Local Information

Country-level environmental agencies, regional basin authorities, national or local utilities or local universities may have studies, reports and/or maps available that can help companies confirm the boundaries and names of the basins they operate in. These resources can also show where water originates from a prioritized basin.

2) Contribute to the HydroBASINS Updates 

WRI Aqueduct uses HydroBASINS 6 basin data, which is currently undergoing a major update. The new version will have higher resolution elevation data to refine boundaries and river networks. Adding locally recognized names to these basins would greatly improve understanding and support collective action.

3) Collective Action: Partner with Local Basin Management and Local Actors

Though companies use global models to prioritize and set goals, water stewardship projects must be locally led. This helps to ensure buy-in long after the initial project ends. Partnering with local basin management authorities sets water stewardship projects up for success.  In addition, companies should work together and engage in collective action, like the Water Fund of São Paulo that brought more than 1,500 people together to improve the watershed. Rather than working alone, locally led projects and collective action can expand benefits.

mississippi-river.jpg Corporate Water Stewardship Freshwater Corporate Water Stewardship water risk Type Project Update Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Projects

• Aqueduct
• Corporate Water Stewardship

Authors Liz Saccoccia Shannon Quinn Marlena Chertock

What Are Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Corporate Climate Disclosures? 6 Questions, Answered shannon.paton@… Thu, 03/07/2024 - 19:13

The origin of greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting, or measuring emissions from companies and other entities, dates to the late 1990s, but interest has grown exponentially in the past few years with the proliferation of both voluntary and more recently, mandatory corporate climate disclosure initiatives.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finalized a rule in March 2024 that will require companies to disclose some of their emissions if they're deemed financially material to investors. The European Union enacted the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) in 2023, which will require companies operating in Europe to disclose their emissions beginning in 2025. The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) released a voluntary GHG reporting standard (IFRS S2) in 2023; three countries have made it mandatory for corporations operating in their nation, while several others are considering doing the same. And significantly, almost 400 organizations have committed to advancing the adoption or use of the ISSB’s sustainability standards (including IFRS S2) at a global level.

GHG emissions disclosure is a critical climate change mitigation and accountability tool, as well as a key step towards achieving ambitious emissions-reduction goals. To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, global greenhouse gas emissions need to drop by nearly half by 2030 and ultimately reach net zero. The process to achieve these GHG emissions reductions starts with GHG accounting.

Here, we answer questions about this rapidly evolving field: 

What is GHG accounting?

Greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting, also called carbon accounting (carbon dioxide being the most common greenhouse gas), refers to measuring and monitoring GHG emissions using standardized methods and reporting on them per agreed-upon protocols. These standardized methods enable companies, governments and individuals to measure the quantity of GHG emissions resulting from their activities, both directly through their operations and indirectly through their upstream supply chains and downstream customers.

Corporate GHG accounting is especially important, as business is a primary driver of GHG emissions. Just 100 companies are responsible for 70% of the world’s industrial GHG emissions, according to a 2017 report from CDP.

How did corporate GHG accounting and emissions disclosures begin?

Many events and initiatives have contributed to the evolution of corporate GHG accounting and reporting over the past 25 years. The signing of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 marked the advent of a global decarbonization requirement, paving the way for the introduction of emission-reduction targets for 37 countries and the European Union.

At the time, there were no guidelines for companies to measure their emissions. WRI and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) launched GHG Protocol in 1998 as an NGO-business partnership to establish standardized methods for GHG accounting that would address the need for a globally agreed upon methodology. Today, GHG Protocol’s framework of “three scopes” is the foundation for corporate GHG accounting.

What kinds of emissions should companies measure and disclose?

For companies to comprehensively assess their climate impact, they need to measure not only the emissions caused by their own operations, but also from the raw materials they source and use of the goods they sell. Calculating the totality of a company’s impact on emissions requires evaluating three scopes:

• Scope 1 refers to direct GHG emissions from sources that a company owns or controls. These emissions typically occur on-site, such as the combustion of diesel used for driving a truck or the burning of coal to generate electricity.
• Scope 2 refers to indirect emissions from purchased electricity, steam, heat and cooling. For example, an electricity user’s scope 2 emissions would be the scope 1 emissions of the power generating company.
• Scope 3 refers to indirect emissions from a company’s upstream and downstream activities. They occur outside a company’s control and are associated with its value chain. For example, the indirect emissions that occur when a mobile phone user charges their phone would be the mobile phone manufacturing company’s downstream scope 3 emissions. Similarly, the emissions from the materials it took to build the phone would be the mobile phone manufacturer’s upstream scope 3 emissions.

Overview of GHG Protocol scopes and emissions across the value chain, GHG Protocol, Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard Why are GHG accounting and corporate climate disclosures important?

With a standardized method to measure and report emissions, companies can identify areas in which they can reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to global emissions-reduction efforts. GHG accounting can also help  companies identify risks and opportunities associated with value chain emissions, engage value chain partners in GHG management and participate in GHG markets.

Accurate and reliable greenhouse gas accounting and reporting can increase stakeholder and investor confidence in a company’s sustainable practices and future prospects. GHG accounting standards also serve as the foundation of both voluntary and mandatory corporate emissions disclosure and target-setting initiatives.

What’s next for GHG Protocol?

GHG Protocol’s corporate suite of standards is undergoing a multi-stakeholder revisions process. Between November 2022 and March 2023, the public was invited to provide feedback, which will inform the scope of the updates that GHG Protocol makes to its corporate standards and guidances. GHG Protocol’s goal with the revisions process is to ensure standards provide a rigorous and credible accounting foundation for businesses to measure, plan and track progress toward science-based and net-zero targets, in line with the global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C. The GHG Protocol secretariat is now reviewing survey submissions and developing workplans for updating the standards.

GHG Protocol is also developing new Land Sector and Removals Guidance. It seeks to explain how companies should account for and report GHG emissions and removals from land management, land use change, biogenic products, carbon dioxide removal technologies and related activities in GHG inventories.

A growing number of companies are participating in these kinds of initiatives, such as CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project) and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), all of which use GHG Protocol accounting standards to track and report progress. In 2022, more than 18,700 companies submitted climate disclosures via CDP, 42% more than in 2021 and over 233% more than when the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015. In 2022, 2,151 organizations made a commitment to set a science-based target via SBTi. The number of organizations committing to set a science-based target has increased by over 2,000% since SBTi’s inception in 2015.

Are GHG accounting and corporate emissions disclosures mandatory?

GHG reporting is mandatory for some companies, depending on where they do business. In the past few years, GHG reporting has been integrated into law in many areas of the world.

For example, the European Commission adopted the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) for use by all large companies listed in the E.U. subject to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) in July 2023. The European Sustainability Reporting Standards directly reference GHG Protocol’s standards and are expected to impact 50,000 companies across the European Union.

Another example is California’s Climate Disclosure Accountability Act, signed into law in October 2023. The legislation requires the California Air Resources Board to develop and adopt regulations requiring companies with over $1 billion in revenues that do business in California to publicly disclose their scope 1 and 2 emissions starting in 2026, and their scope 3 emissions starting in 2027.

Several countries also are opting to use voluntary reporting frameworks to create reporting requirements. For example, the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) S2 climate-related disclosures standard is being adopted into regulatory frameworks in Turkey, Nigeria and Brazil, requiring companies in those countries to disclose their scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Other governments have expressed intention to make IFRS S2 mandatory, including New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan. The IFRS S2 standard is estimated to affect between 100,000 and 130,000 companies globally.

What’s next for corporate GHG accounting?

In 2025, large listed European companies will need to publish their first sustainability statement under the European Sustainability Reporting Standards. Small and medium enterprises will need to publish in 2026.

Starting in 2026, large public U.S. companies will be required under the new SEC rule to report scope 1 and 2 emissions that are deemed to be material to investors. The new rule was finalized on March 6, 2024, almost two years after the draft rule was proposed. The draft rule had required disclosure across all three scopes, but the requirement to report scope 3 was not included in the final rule.

This article was originally published on March 4, 2024. It was updated to reflect the final SEC rule, issued on March 6, 2024. 

shipping-containers.jpeg Climate Climate GHG emissions GHG Protocol greenhouse gas accounting Type Explainer Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Projects

• Greenhouse Gas Protocol

Authors Kyla Aiuto Sarah Huckins Hannah Momblanco

Leveraging Energy Access Explorer to Advance Kenya’s Clean Cooking Agenda ciara.regan@wri.org Thu, 03/07/2024 - 16:43

Kenya is among the top 20 countries with the largest energy access deficits; 12 million of its citizens are still living without electricity[1]. In 2021, over 75% of the population was cooking with polluting fuels like charcoal, coal, crop waste, dung, kerosene or wood,[2] which pose serious health, environmental and socio-economic challenges. Access to finance, affordability of clean technologies and fuels as well as underdeveloped infrastructure for technologies and fuel distribution hamper an increased uptake of clean cooking in Kenya.

Lack of granular data to inform the most strategic interventions is another big barrier. The Energy Access Explorer (EAE) is helping in addressing this challenge while contributing to initiatives to bring cleaner cooking alternatives to Kenya.

Bringing Energy Access Explorer to Kenya to Advance Clean Cooking Goals

Currently available in eight countries in Africa and Asia, EAE is an online, open-source, interactive platform that enables clean energy players to identify high priority areas for energy interventions. In Kenya, EAE is used to inform the design of subnational County Energy Plans as mandated by the Energy Act 2019. At National level, EAE supports the upcoming Kenya National Clean Cooking and e-Cooking Strategies. To enhance usability of EAE for clean cooking, WRI — in partnership with the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA), the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum (MoEP), Clean Cooking Association of Kenya (CCAK), Royal Institute of Technology, Kartoza and other stakeholders — are building on the existing EAE infrastructure to add data and use cases focusing specifically on the adoption of clean cooking.

While EAE can be used to identify where the expansion of energy shall be prioritized, two other open-source modeling algorithms (OnStove and OnSSET) have been developed to estimate (a) costs and benefits associated to different cooking solutions and (b) the reach and type of electrification technologies in the studied area. This way, EAE users can answer two questions: What technologies to invest in? Where to prioritize certain interventions based on multiple criteria?

OnStove is a geospatial clean cooking tool used to determine the net-benefit of cooking with different stoves. OnStove compares fuel-technology options for providing cooking access to answer questions like: Which fuel-technology combinations provide the highest net benefits across a country or region?

The Open-Source Spatial Electrification Tool (OnSSET) is also a geospatial based optimization tool developed to support least-cost electrification planning and decision-making to further energy access goals in currently unserved locations.

In August 2023, WRI, CCA, KTH and CCAK organized a workshop which brought together stakeholders from the government, clean cooking associations and enterprises, development institutions and research organizations. The main objective was to ensure that EAE Kenya is applicable to the local contexts and to synergize with other clean cooking initiatives going on in the country.

Identifying Priority Areas for Clean Cooking Interventions

Two scenarios were analyzed to inform the forthcoming Kenya National e-Cooking Strategy being developed by Nuvoni Research and partners:

1. Financial assistance strategies such as cooking appliance subsidies or credit financing to target households willing to transition, but without the resources to purchase the e-cooking devices. The EAE was used to show the locations of populations that meet these criteria.
2. Behavioral change campaigns targeting households with the resources (both financial and infrastructural) to transition to clean cooking, but who are not willing to transition.

Scenario 1: Households willing to transition to e-cooking and are above tier 3, but have poor wealth index

For this scenario, the EAE was used to locate households willing to transition to e-cooking (using survey data). The analysis also showed which of these households are above tier 3 of electricity access, meaning they are in areas with good grid infrastructure and a reliable energy supply (receive more than 8hrs of electricity per day). From the remaining areas that meet the first two criteria, the analysis further narrowed the search to highlight the populations with low wealth index (below middle-class), with inputs derived from the primary surveys. These households were then flagged as those that could be targeted for financial assistance strategies, such as cooking appliance subsidies or credit financing.

Datasets added to EAE for this scenario, plus filters used in the analysis:DataFilterPopulation Density Households Willing to TransitionCounties with 50% and above households willing to transition to e-cookingWealth IndexCounties with 50% and above households in the poor, lower-middle class, and middle-class wealth index.Overall, Tier (3-5)Households above overall tier 3

The above datasets were loaded to the EAE and filtered as specified in the table above.

Datasets used in this analysis loaded to the EAE.  Scenario 1 Results Analysis results with the input data showing areas with low to high energy access potential before further filtering the data. One location with high energy access potential is shown where the majority of the households are willing to transition but have a high percentage living below middle class wealth index.  Population settlements that meet these criteria shown in the EAE after filtering the data.  One of the top-most locations that meets the chosen criteria.  

From this analysis, we found that a total of 21.2 people meet these criteria across the entire country, with a majority located in the western, central and southeastern parts of Kenya, as highlighted in the map above.

The tool also assigns an energy access potential index to these populations to illustrate which of them have the highest to lowest potential for targeting based on how best they meet the criteria. (Areas with higher populations, more households willing to transition, and more electricity access generally score higher in this index. The map assigns brighter colors to these areas with higher energy access potential index).

Scenario 2: Households not willing to transition to e-cooking, above tier 3, but have high wealth index

The EAE was used to show locations of households unwilling to transition to e-cooking, based on survey data. The analysis also narrowed down to show of these households, which are above tier 3 of electricity access. From the remaining areas that meet the first two criteria, the analysis then scaled down to highlight the populations with high wealth index (above the middle-class) with inputs derived from primary surveys. These households were then flagged as those that could be targeted for behavioral change campaigns.

Datasets added plus filters:DataFilterPopulation Density Households not Willing to TransitionCounties with 30% and above households not willing to transition to e-cookingWealth IndexCounties with 30% and above households in the upper middle class, and wealthy index.Overall, Tier (3-5)Households above overall tier 3

The above datasets were loaded to the EAE and filtered as specified in the table above.

Datasets used in this analysis loaded to the EAE.  Scenario 2 Results Analysis results with the input data showing areas with low to high energy access potential before further filtering the data. Population settlements that meet the filtering criteria shown in the EAE. One of the top-most locations that meets the chosen criteria.

From this analysis, we found that a total of 9.8 million people meet these criteria across the entire country, with a majority of them located in the western, southwestern and southern parts of Kenya, as highlighted in the map above.

The tool also assigns an energy access potential index to these populations to illustrate which of them have the highest to lowest potential for targeting, based on how best they meet the standards. Areas with higher populations above the middle-class index, more households unwilling to transition, and more proximity to electricity access generally score higher, could be targeted first for behavioral change campaigns. The map assigns brighter colors to these areas with higher energy access potential.

Moving Forward

WRI and partners plan to conduct capacity-building workshops on EAE quarterly in Kenya. So far, two workshops have been conducted to support EAE’s use in advancing Kenya’s clean cooking agenda.

Workshop participants proposed formation of a cross-sectoral EAE Data Working Group, which shall be responsible for sharing data in a standardized format and updating it in the EAE. Photo by Energy Access Explorer

Workshop participants proposed formation of a cross-sectoral EAE Data Working Group, which shall be responsible for sharing data in a standardized format and updating it in the EAE.

As the EAE Data Working Group moves forward with these action items, we will continue broad stakeholder collaboration and capacity-building initiatives to support Kenya’s National Clean Cooking and e-Cooking Strategies. To learn more about the use of EAE in Kenya, please contact Douglas Ronoh: douglas.ronoh@wri.org.

[1] sdg7-report2023-full_report.pdf (esmap.org)

[2] Kenya | Tracking SDG 7 (esmap.org)

joecalih.jpg Energy Kenya Energy Energy Access energy efficiency Type Project Update Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Projects

• Energy Access Explorer

Authors Victor Otieno Douglas Ronoh Dimitrios Mentis Shannon Loyd Anobha Gurung Camilo Ramirez Gomez Babak Khavari

WRI Ross Center Global Electric Mobility Director, Cristina Albuquerque, Named One of 2024’s Most Influential Women in Mobility ciara.regan@wri.org Thu, 03/07/2024 - 12:38

Washington, DC (March 6th, 2024) – World Resources Institute (WRI) is pleased to announce Cristina Albuquerque, Director of Global Electric Mobility for WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities and WRI Brasil, is featured in Vulog’s 2024 edition of the Most Influential Women in Mobility report.

Vulog is a leading global provider of shared mobility technology. Now in its sixth year, their annual report continues to play a pivotal role in spotlighting women leaders who are driving change in the mobility industry.

Despite advancements, gender disparity remains a challenge in the mobility sector. Women encounter obstacles in accessing leadership positions and receiving recognition for their contributions. The Most Influential Women in Mobility report aims to address this imbalance by celebrating the accomplishments of 16 outstanding women who are reshaping urban and rural transportation landscapes.

This year’s report stands out for its geographical diversity, reflecting the global expansion of the mobility industry. The featured women are spearheading innovative solutions tailored to the unique needs of diverse communities. They are visionaries who prioritize sustainability and equity, striving to enhance mobility for all.

"Increasing global temperatures underscore the urgency of green and accessible mobility solutions," says Vulog’s CEO Gregory Ducongé, "the contributions of these inspiring women are more crucial than ever as we work towards a more sustainable future."

Download the report here.

As Global Electric Mobility Director, Albuquerque works to refine and manage WRI’s global strategy on electric mobility, seeking integration and collaboration within and outside the Cities team, including other WRI programs. This work includes the coordination of teams across multiple regions, including Asia, Africa and Latin America.

An expert in urban mobility issues and public transit systems, Albuquerque has been with WRI for 14 years. From 2018 to 2023, she served as Senior Urban Mobility Manager for WRI Brasil, where she worked to transform Brazil’s urban public transport system into a cleaner and more efficient model. As part of that work, she led support for nine Brazilian cities to develop and implement electric bus projects in their fleets. She supported similar projects in Colombia, Chile and Uruguay. She also spearheaded the growth of QualiÔnibus, a FedEx-funded program that guides Brazilian cities to use tools and forums to exchange experiences and share knowledge about how to improve public transit systems.

Thanks to Cristina’s dedication to designing and implementing low-carbon and high-efficiency transportation solutions and policies, people are breathing a little easier in cities across the globe.

—

About Vulog

Since 2006, Vulog’s advanced AI-powered SaaS platform has empowered successful shared mobility businesses with flexible fleet management tools, consumer-facing mobile applications and connected vehicle technology. Committed to greener mobility, Vulog partners with major automotive players such as Toyota, BCAA, Hyundai-Kia and VW Group. More information at www.vulog.com.

About World Resources Institute

World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global research organization that spans more than 60 countries, with international offices in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States, regional offices in Ethiopia (for Africa) and the Netherlands (for Europe), and program offices in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Our more than 1,000 experts and staff turn big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity and human well-being. More information at www.wri.org.

About WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities

WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities is World Resources Institute’s program dedicated to shaping a future where cities work better for everyone. It enables more connected, compact and coordinated cities. The Center expands the transport and urban development expertise of the EMBARQ network to catalyze innovative solutions in other sectors, including air quality, water, buildings, land use and energy. It combines the research excellence of WRI with two decades of on-the-ground impact through a network of more than 370 experts working from Brazil, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Mexico, Turkey and the United States to make cities around the world better places to live. More information at www.wrirosscities.org.

cristina-a-2024-most-influential-women-in-mobility Cities Cities transportation Urban Mobility electric mobility Type Project Update Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Projects

• Urban Mobility
• Electric Mobility
• QualiÔnibus – Quality Public Transport

How "Complete Streets" Are Creating Safer, More Sustainable Cities in Brazil ciara.regan@wri.org Wed, 03/06/2024 - 17:00

Urban development in many cities around the world prioritizes making space for cars over pedestrians, cyclists or public transportation. In Brazil, this design led to an average of more than 30,000 annual road crash fatalities nationwide by the turn of the century, as well as high levels of congestion and pollution.

But things are changing. In the last 20 years, fatalities have started to decrease, and city centers have become more vibrant, cleaner and resilient.

At the heart of these changes is implementation of the “Complete Streets” concept.

What Is the ‘Complete Streets’ Approach?

Many local governments aim to reduce traffic crashes only by changing drivers’ and passengers’ behaviors through things like seatbelt- and helmet-wearing campaigns. This approach puts the onus on individuals rather than the city to make streets safer. Complete Streets changes the paradigm, emphasizing the creation (or redesign) of streets that are safe, accessible and enjoyable for individuals of all ages and abilities.

By providing infrastructure such as bike lanes, broader sidewalks, benches and green spaces, Complete Streets encourages active modes of transportation and reduces dependency on private vehicles. It’s also a good strategy for implementing traffic calming measures that reduce car speeds, thus improving road safety.

Report: Complete Streets in Brazil

A report launched by WRI systematizes the implementation process, challenges, learnings and results of Complete Street interventions in eight cities from different regions of Brazil. The report highlights the flexibility of applying the concept to different realities, scales and contexts.

Since Brazil passed its Federal Mobility Law in 2012, which prioritizes public transportation, pedestrians and cyclists over cars and motorcycles, local governments are gradually shifting their policies and interventions toward this more equitable and efficient model.

WRI Brasil worked with Brazil’s National Front of Mayors, Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety and many other partners to support the implementation of 28 different Complete Street projects throughout the country in the last five years. While the goals of the projects vary — ranging from school zones to commercial streets to public transport hubs — each highlight how the Complete Streets approach can make public space more accessible, enjoyable, climate-resilient and safe.

Here are three cities that illustrate these transformations:

João Alfredo Street, Porto Alegre: Creating a Livable Space

With scarce road signage, narrow sidewalks and numerous car crashes, João Alfredo Street wasn't any different from other streets in the central area of Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. In 2019, the street received a complete redesign. The goal was to make the mixed-use street safer and more welcoming during the day for hundreds of school children, and at night for the many people who enjoyed going out to restaurants and nightclubs.

An intersection on João Alfredo Street in Porto Alegre, Brazil, that was redesigned during the second phase of a tactical urbanism project. Photo by Bruno Batista/WRI Brasil

The transformation was done in several stages. First, the city painted and installed curb extensions and roundabouts and existing ones were redesigned. The curb extensions shortened the distances for crossing the street, while roundabouts reduced speed in the intersections.

Additional crossing lanes for pedestrians were also painted by the city and the posted speed limit was reduced from 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour) to 30 kilometers (19 miles per hour), an important change especially for improving the safety of children and the elderly.

On the following stages, new street furniture was installed with vegetation, including litter bins and benches made by alumni from a social project in the neighborhood.

The street was made safer by design. Spaces where people once passed by became places for socialization and rest for individuals and groups.

Between 2016 and 2017, before the redesign, 60 crashes were reported on the street, with a total of 18 injured and one death. After the new infrastructure was installed, between 2020 and 2022, the number of crashes dropped to 26 (-56%), and the number of injured fell to 7 (-61%), with no fatalities, according to the city records.

Marques do Paraná Avenue, Niterói: A More Equitable Transit Corridor

Marquês do Paraná Avenue is one of the most important transport corridors in the city of Niterói, located just east of Rio de Janeiro. It’s also crucial for thousands of pedestrians and bicyclists who commute daily between residential neighborhoods and the city center. Since the 1970s, new development prioritized improving conditions for car traffic, resulting in less space for cyclists and pedestrians. There was also no dedicated infrastructure for public transport on most of Niterói’s streets.

Before and after of Marques do Paraná Avenue, Niterói. Photo by Fabrício Arriaga

In 2019, the city adopted a Complete Streets approach to transform a stretch of the avenue, shifting the priority to sustainable mobility. Thirty-five percent of the space once dedicated to cars is now dedicated to public transport, cyclists and pedestrians, with improvements to sidewalks and bike lanes. The redesign also included a permanence space, with a square, benches, cycle racks and vegetation. This change represents a substantial gain in terms of environmental quality, creating a new comfortable public space in the neighborhood.

Through a holistic, system approach, urban drainage was also greatly improved. Green infrastructure, such as drainage gardens, which increased pavement permeability by 300%, and an underground reservoir with a capacity of capturing 60 cubic meters of rainwater help reduce flooding and improve safety, environmental health and urban landscape.

Delphino Cintra Street, Campinas: A Safer Street for All

Delphino Cintra Street is an important access street to the city center of Campinas and was selected to be one of the flagships of the RevivaCidade program, an urban renewal program in the central area. Campinas is the third most populous city in the state of São Paulo, northwest of the city by the same name. 

Delphino Cintra Street in three moments: before the intervention, and after the first and second set of design changes. A survey revealed 61% of users approved the new design (Photos: Bruno Batista/WRI Brasil; Emdec/Campinas)

The area where Delphino Cintra Street is located has many hospitals and medical offices and had a significant number of crashes recorded in the area, as well as excessive speeding. To improve safety, the local government carried out a tactical transformation of the streets to reduce and organize traffic, expand space for pedestrians and cyclists, and ensure the street was designed for permanence, accessibility and pedestrian interaction.

Launched in August 2022, the transformation generated new local dynamics. New pedestrian crossings, 645 square meters of extended sidewalks, new benches and vegetation were implemented. The city collected data and found speeding was reduced by 38% for cars and 46% for motorcycles. Data also indicates that the new crosswalks have been well used. The percentage of pedestrians using the new crosswalks varied between 66% to almost 100%, which shows that these crossings were placed on the pedestrians' desired lines. A survey by the city of Campinas revealed that 56.5% of the users approved of the new design.

These results informed some design adjustments made during the second stage of implementation, including: revision of a bus stop, more durable painting, LED solar road studs, new and more durable bollards and inclusion of a new safe area (a pedestrian refuge island, new crosswalks and accessible sidewalks were implemented). After the changes were made, survey results showed the approval rate reached 61%.

Challenges for Complete Streets Implementation

Although Complete Streets often receives a lot of acceptance after implementation, that’s not always the case when new projects are announced. Common opponents include drivers who are used to having as much road space as possible, business owners fearful about the loss of parking spaces, and politicians and decision makers who are afraid of losing votes.

Also, being holistic, Complete Streets projects tend to rely on budget and decisions from multiple city departments, such as Transport, Mobility, Environment and Public Works. This is challenging for the often-siloed operations of municipal departments. However, this provides an opportunity for a much-needed systemic shift in urban planning that promotes other important solutions, such as transport-oriented development and the adoption of nature-based solutions for climate adaptation.

A Solution for Changing Culture

WRI Brasil's work helping cities implement Complete Streets projects shows how these interventions are efficient and convincing tools for promoting cultural change towards healthier people-centered cities. It is still to be seen if Complete Streets and other sustainable urban development and mobility interventions will scale to more cities. But these good examples provide evidence for hope in Brazil and other countries seeking sustainable, equitable and people-centric urban mobility solutions.

Belo-Horizonte.jpg Cities Brazil Cities transportation public transit Urban Mobility Urban Transformations Urban Development Type Finding Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Authors Bruno Batista Reynaldo Neto Fernando Correa

France Shapes Budget to Increase Net-zero-aligned Public Finance shannon.paton@… Wed, 03/06/2024 - 14:15

Over the last decade, developing and deploying innovative green finance and investment tools have become priorities in France. Indeed, through pairing robust public financing interventions with a suite of tools for mobilizing increased climate finance, climate investments in the country have steadily risen.

On the public finance side, France has developed a strong reputation for incorporating climate considerations into its annual budgetary process. These efforts took off in 2017, when France committed to the Paris Collaborative on Green Budgeting, an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development initiative requiring signatories to “assess the compatibility of [their] public finance trajectories with the Paris Agreement”. This commitment spurred the country to prepare plans for its first “Green Budget,” which was published in 2021 after a cross-government design process. The Green Budget provides an assessment of the “green impact of all State budget expenditures,” rating all expenditures across a variety of criteria, including impact on climate, biodiversity and local air pollution.

More specifically, the methodology rated State expenditures into five categories ranging from an unfavorable (-1) to a very favorable (+3) environmental impact. It used a grid covering six major environmental goals: (i) the fight against climate change; (ii) adaptation to climate change and prevention of natural disasters; (iii) the management of water resources; (iv) the circular economy, waste and the prevention of technological risks; (v) the fight against pollution; and (vi) biodiversity, and protection of agricultural, forestry and other green areas.

Because every governmental expenditure must now be evaluated on this scale, France’s Green Budget ensures that all government line ministries and agencies carefully consider the climate and environmental impacts of each intervention for which they are using national funds. In so doing, these departments are expected to evaluate the extent to which each decision that they make helps — or hinders — progress toward achieving net zero.

France is also exploring means by which to set standards that require minimum environmental thresholds to be met. For instance, France’s 2021 COVID-19 recovery plan required that €30 billion (30% of the full recovery package) be devoted to investments tagged favorably under the Green Budget methodology. These investments included the funding of large-scale energy efficiency and insulation projects, investments in green hydrogen development for storing and transporting energy and more.

France’s Green Budget methodology and minimum requirements for national expenditures are helping to ensure an increase in domestic climate finance. Of course, future efforts must be made to evaluate the extent to which these increased climate investments are driving tangible emissions reductions, creating green development benefits, and promoting a just and equitable transition to net zero.

thomas-reaubourg-JRUVbgJJTBM-unsplash.jpg Climate Climate National Climate Action net-zero emissions long-term strategies Type Project Update Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Projects

• National Climate Action
• Long-Term Climate Strategies
• Tracking Climate Progress

A Sustained Portfolio of Policies Have Transformed Denmark’s Power Sector shannon.paton@… Wed, 03/06/2024 - 14:11

Denmark’s power sector has undergone a transformational shift over the past 30 years from coal-dominated generation to mostly renewable sources. Power generation from renewable sources rose nearly 30-fold from 1990 to 2020, from 3% of the generation mix to more than 80%. This has mostly been due to massive deployment of wind, which increased 24-fold over the same time period and reached seven gigawatts of installed capacity as of January 2022.

More recently, solar generation has become a contributing factor, doubling between 2015 and 2020 to contribute 4% of the power mix. Use of renewable sources for heat has also been on the rise, with renewable energy currently composing more than half of total heat generation. The scale-up of renewables has contributed to a 76% decline in carbon dioxide emissions from Denmark’s power and heat sector from 1990 to 2020 (Figure 1).

This transformation has been driven by a combination of sustained, well-designed policies and actions, including the following:

• Sustained investment in research and development (R&D): Denmark began expanding wind energy in response to the 1970s oil crisis by scaling up R&D investment. Today, Denmark has one of the highest ratios of R&D spending on wind energy as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) in the world and was the top investor in the European Union in terms of R&D spending on renewable energy as a share of GDP from 2000 to 2020. This has made Denmark a world leader in wind energy and an exporter of wind technology.
• Implementation and adjustment of a feed-in tariff for wind: Denmark first introduced a feed-in tariff for wind in the 1980s and raised it in 2008 in response to a stall in development of new wind capacity. The increase reinvigorated wind development by providing developers with stable revenue to make long-term investments.
• Institutional support for planning and installation of renewable energy: Government support and streamlined planning processes facilitated development of onshore wind with requirements beginning in 2008 for municipalities to designate areas for onshore wind. Likewise, the Danish Energy Agency conducts mapping and site identification for offshore wind, working with developers to streamline the licensing processes, which has reduced barriers and transaction costs. The Danish Energy Agency provides a single point of access for project developers through the permitting and approval process.
• Strong grid interconnection: Denmark has been a world leader in renewables integration by maintaining strong grid interconnection and market integration with other countries for export, complemented by use of combined heat and power. The transmission grid is owned by a public company under control of the government’s Ministry for Climate and Energy, which finances projects and passes costs on to consumers.
• Community ownership of renewable energy projects: Denmark’s 2008 Renewable Energy Act requires local citizens to be offered at least a 20% share in new wind projects and requires investment of revenues into local projects, increasing buy-in for new wind projects and helping communities share the benefits. Denmark’s Samsø Island, the first to be 100% powered by renewable energy, illustrates a successful shared ownership model, where offshore turbines are owned by investors, municipal government and local cooperatives.
• Upgrading aging turbines: In 2001, Denmark implemented a scrapping program to speed replacement of aging, less efficient turbines with more modern models.
• Increasingly ambitious renewable energy targets: Because of the interventions described above, Denmark surpassed targets set for renewables for 2011 (20% of Denmark’s gross energy consumption) and 2020 (35% of final energy, 50% of electricity consumption). Now, the government has further increased targets for 2030 (100% of electricity generation, 55% of total energy consumption, and 90% of district heating, or non-fossil sources), which will continue to drive the increased scale-up.

Throughout the transition, Denmark has had ongoing dialogues with unions and employers to work toward fair sharing of costs and benefits and to support workers in fossil fuel industries. Building a strong industry for renewables has been central to Denmark’s approach, paired with a robust social safety net.

febiyan-0PSCd1wIrm4-unsplash (1).jpg Climate Climate National Climate Action net-zero emissions Type Project Update Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Projects

• National Climate Action
• Long-Term Climate Strategies
• Tracking Climate Progress

South Africa Establishes an Inclusive Process Toward a Just Transition, with Broad Stakeholder Engagement shannon.paton@… Wed, 03/06/2024 - 14:06

In 2020, South Africa’s president established the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC), with a primary mandate of overseeing and facilitating a just transition in the country. The PCC is unique in its position, design and means of operation. First, the PCC is situated within The Presidency, which provides the commission with an important cross-cutting role across all government departments and plans, thus elevating the just transition imperative. Second, the PCC comprises commissioners from all major stakeholder groups — government, business, labor, civil society and traditional leadership — which supports its approach of building consensus to advance the transition. Finally, the PCC operates transparently, with all meetings, events and workshops broadcast to all; and with a commitment to deep, genuine and continuous engagement with communities.

This model of operation was put into practice through the design of the Just Transition Framework, which was adopted by South Africa’s Cabinet in August 2022. The framework sets out a shared vision, principles, policies and governance arrangements to give effect to the transition — all intending to bring coordination and coherence to just transition planning in the country. The speed at which the document was embraced in national policy and by all stakeholders was largely due to the inclusive process that was followed in its development, built on years of evidence and research. In developing the just transition framework, the PCC took the following actions:

• Deepened the evidence base around an effective and equitable transition and commissioned a series of policy briefs on key issues relevant to the transition
• Conducted a series of public workshops and events on these issues, incorporating views of government ministers, civil society, business, labor, traditional leadership, youth and the research community, among others, to form a comprehensive view of the major topics for a just transition framework
• Embarked on a series of in-person community consultations to better understand the needs of communities that are being impacted in the shift away from fossil fuel-based economies, ensuring that the framework is tailored to those most impacted by the changes that lie ahead; this process included significant engagement with municipalities and traditional leaders in affected regions
• Commissioned a series of essays from experts in different fields (academia, business, labor and civil society), exploring what it will take to achieve a just transition in South Africa
• Consulted widely with workers, communities, small businesses and social partners in the country in 2021–22 on the framework, allowing impacted groups to discuss their own development pathways and livelihoods
• Invited written comments of the draft just transition framework, where written submissions were received from many stakeholder groups, including youth, labor, business, financial institutions, all spheres of government, nongovernmental organizations and academia

The significant and genuine engagement in the development of the Just Transition Framework helped build support for the transition and improve public trust and acceptance for the difficult work and decisions that lie ahead.

jolame-chirwa-Oer1kxEHzc4-unsplash.jpg Climate South Africa National Climate Action Climate net-zero emissions Type Project Update Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Projects

• National Climate Action
• Long-Term Climate Strategies
• Tracking Climate Progress
• Just Transition and Equitable Climate Action Resource Center

STATEMENT: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Finalizes Climate Disclosure Rule hannah.lassite… Wed, 03/06/2024 - 12:21

WASHINGTON (March 6, 2024) — Today the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finalized a rule that requires larger public U.S. companies to disclose risks that climate disasters pose to their businesses, as well as greenhouse gas emissions from their own operations or energy use if this information is financially material to investors. The draft rule released in 2022 had required some companies to also disclose emissions across their entire value chain, referred to as Scope 3 emissions, but that was not required in the final version.  

Following is a statement by Janet Ranganathan, Managing Director for Strategy and co-founder of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, World Resources Institute: 

“This rule is a welcome first step to providing investors with insights into how the climate crisis is harming American businesses and how companies’ emissions are creating material financial risks.  

“The fact that the final rule says information only needs to be disclosed if financially material is by no means a free pass for businesses. Climate risk is material to virtually all U.S. companies’ financial performance and those businesses that fail to disclose material items will risk enforcement actions by the SEC and private lawsuits. 

“It is unfortunate that requirements to disclose Scope 3 emissions are glaringly absent from the new rule. These emissions account for roughly three quarters of a company’s total emissions so are a major source of risk – and also something investors are hungry to know more about. Of the 297 comment letters from investors on the draft SEC rule, a whopping 97 percent supported including Scope 3 emissions.  

“Skirting Scope 3 emissions puts the SEC out of step with other regulators’ requirements, including the European Union, the State of California and more than a dozen other countries. This omission will not help investors or companies respond to the growing risk of climate change across their value chain or prepare for new opportunities in a low-carbon economy.”

U.S. Climate United States GHG emissions Type Statement Exclude From Blog Feed? 0

Chile’s New Governance Structures Are Streamlining Net-zero Implementation shannon.paton@… Wed, 03/06/2024 - 12:09

Chile’s long-term low-emission development strategy, submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in 2021, provides a road map to carbon neutrality by 2050, covering all gases and sectors excluding international shipping and aviation1. The net-zero target was subsequently legally enshrined through Chile’s Climate Change Framework Law (2022), which built on earlier climate policy planning efforts and reflected thousands of public comments received on the first submitted version in 2020.

Chile’s new Environment Minister, Maisa Rojas, spearheaded the law. Rojas took office under recently elected President Gabriel Boric. Boric’s pledge to make climate a top priority of his administration amplified recent climate action in the country and created a supportive environment for net-zero implementation.

The Climate Change Framework Law completely shifted climate policy implementation in Chile, creating new governance structures from the national to local levels to accelerate net-zero implementation (see Figure 1). Previously, the responsibility for implementing climate policies was not shared across government entities, with the burden falling solely on the Ministry of the Environment, resulting in a slow policymaking process and lack of binding commitments. The Climate Act decentralized and mainstreamed net-zero implementation, assigning responsibilities to 17 government ministries, with measurable indicators to track progress, as well as to regional and municipal authorities. The act created critical new structures, including, at the national level, the Council of Ministers for Sustainability and Climate Change to vet climate policies; the Scientific Advisory Committee of independent climate policy experts to advise on policy instruments and progress toward targets; and the National Council for Sustainability and Climate Change, composed of stakeholders, to facilitate public participation and accountability. At the subnational level, regional Climate Change Committees have been established for all 16 regions of the country to develop and implement local climate policies, and existing municipal government structures have been given authority for climate policy implementation.

Although the law itself was passed only recently, Chile already began to lay the groundwork in 2021 when it developed sectoral carbon budgets for the first time and assigned them to specific agencies. A series of sectoral policy initiatives were launched, including a coal exit initiative, a 100% electric vehicle pledge and sustainable management and afforestation plans. Sectors can now be held accountable through budgetary sanctions if they do not meet their targets.

The shift in governance structure in Chile has already resulted in a significant increase in the amount of climate policy work that the government has been able to undertake, enabling policies to develop on short timelines. The national government is developing critical policy instruments over the course of one year from the law’s publication — by June 2023 — including procedural regulations to enact greenhouse gas emissions standards for a range of sources, potentially the basis for an emissions trading program.

Sectoral mitigation and adaptation plans must be ready by June 2025. Regional and municipal governments are each developing climate action plans over the course of three years. The Climate Change Framework Law ties regulatory instruments to Chile’s international commitments, ensuring they will be reviewed and updated periodically as needed. If implementation of current policies proceeds as planned, Chile’s carbon dioxide emissions may have already peaked and may be on a trajectory to meet 2030 targets compatible with a 1.5°C temperature rise in the longer term.

 

1 The plan describes pathways to net zero and includes national as well as sector-specific carbon budgets, with interim targets of peak emissions in 2025 and an emissions cap for 2030

antonio-garcia-ndz_u1_tFZo-unsplash.jpg Climate Chile Climate National Climate Action net-zero emissions Type Project Update Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Projects

• National Climate Action
• Long-Term Climate Strategies
• Tracking Climate Progress

Costa Rica’s Pioneering Net-zero Implementation Plan Attracts Investment, Withstands Political Changes shannon.paton@… Wed, 03/06/2024 - 11:25

With support from a team of technical experts and international funding, the Costa Rican government took several foundational steps as it committed to a midcentury net-zero emissions target in its 2019 National Decarbonization Plan. The target's scope was clearly defined, covering all greenhouse gases and all sectors, excluding international shipping and aviation. Pathways to reach the target were described using a backcasting approach, which grouped the transition to net zero into three phases: foundations (2018–22), inflection (2023–30) and massive deployment (2031–50). For each phase, the plan described actions needed within each sector as well as critical cross-cutting strategies, including financing, just transition and green tax reform. Emphasis was also placed on strategies and investments that should be avoided. The work provided assurance to government ministers, working under then-president Carlos Alvarado Quesada, that adopting a 2050 target was not delaying responsibility, but rather informing near-term actions and investments. The strategy and specific priority actions allowed the government to maintain and build upon progress in electric vehicle deployment, reduce agricultural emissions and increase the use of composting, among other areas.

Critically, the plan was able to withstand a major political shift when President Rodrigo Chaves took office in May 2022 after running a campaign largely focused on completely changing course from the previous administration. This continuity is due in part to the plan’s success in attracting large investments from the International Monetary Fund and Inter-American Development Bank. Because the new administration saw the concrete value of having a strong decarbonization plan — nearly $1 billion in central funding they would not otherwise have had — they began their own prioritization of climate objectives, rather than rejecting the plan outright. Costa Rica demonstrates how a robust implementation plan can withstand such shifts, even in a case where the target was not legally adopted.

It remains to be seen how Costa Rica’s current government will shape its climate agenda. Early priority action areas continue the focus on electric vehicles (in particular, the administration has prioritized operationalizing 1,000 electric buses) and agriculture, with a shift from defining the technical transition pathways to attracting large-scale finance for specific sectors. Banks are signaling their willingness to make low-carbon investments and provide cheaper loans when strong plans are in place.

International investment is one aspect of potential financing, engaging local businesses and investors will also be key politically to make truly transformational change. How to generate these concrete, attractive business opportunities is the next big question for Costa Rica. The Costa Rican government has an opportunity to transform the 2050 National Decarbonization Plan of 2019 into a national investment plan that aligns with its priority areas, calculating costs and estimating needed investments locally and internationally, and making the investment case to local businesses.

cesar-badilla-miranda--WZtZKXtKCw-unsplash.jpg Climate Costa Rica Climate net-zero emissions National Climate Action Type Project Update Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Projects

• National Climate Action
• Tracking Climate Progress
• Long-Term Climate Strategies

5 Essential Principles of the Just Transition Work Programme for Climate Action ciara.regan@wri.org Mon, 03/04/2024 - 08:00

As the climate crisis ratchets up, so, too, must global efforts to address its root causes and escalating impacts. This means rapidly shifting societies and economies to pathways that are consistent with low-carbon, climate-resilient development.

This urgently needed shift is not without risk. Unless governments put proactive policies in place, a rapid economic transition could create or worsen social inequality, displacement and economic disruptions, including unemployment. While the low-carbon economy ultimately offers an opportunity for net job gains, the International Labour Organization estimates that around 80 million existing jobs could be lost. Stakes are especially high for the countries and communities that still depend on fossil fuels and other emissions-intensive sectors for their livelihoods.

To ensure that vulnerable people are not left behind, all climate action must be underpinned by principles of a just transition. Broadly, this means moving toward a greener world in ways that won’t create or exacerbate inequalities or cause other unintended social and economic harms. It also means taking action to mitigate such harms, creating opportunities that benefit all people and communities and promoting sustainable development.

Driving Equitable Green Development Through the Just Transition Work Programme

The number of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) that explicitly mention “just transition” is low but growing. It jumped from 17% (33 NDCs covering 59 countries) in 2022 to 23% (45 NDCs covering 71 countries) in 2023. Fifty-six percent of long-term strategies (LTS) also include references to just transitions. These numbers must increase further to ensure progress toward an equitable green transition across all nations and sectors.

However, key questions remain around what a truly “just” transition looks like. What values should it embody, particularly from the perspective of affected workers, communities and countries? How can discussions on just transitions at the multilateral level be broad enough to support rapid decarbonization and climate-resilient development at a global scale, while still allowing each country to define its unique needs and priorities?

The work programme on just transition pathways (JTWP) was created to help answer these questions. It aims to facilitate countries’ just transitions to a low-emissions and climate-resilient future through actions that also contribute to reducing inequalities both within and between countries. The JTWP will support knowledge-sharing and the development of best climate action practices in line with a just transition. It is intended to encourage conversations between countries and other stakeholders — such as policymakers, NGOs and local communities — to devise more effective ways of realizing just transitions in the socioeconomic and environmental spheres.

The JTWP was established at COP27 in 2022 and its modalities were adopted at COP28 in 2023. But while the COP28 outcome outlines the scope of the work programme in broad strokes, important questions remain about how to further refine and implement it.

Here, we explore five key elements that the JTWP should consider and their implication from the perspective of vulnerable developing countries. This article was written with the ACT2025 consortium, a group of think tanks from vulnerable developing countries working to drive greater climate ambition on the international stage.

1. Ensuring People-centered Climate Action

The JTWP must, first and foremost, champion “people-centered” transition pathways that put people’s needs at the heart of all climate action. Pathways must be founded on meaningful and effective social dialogue and participatory decision-making processes. They must also include social, economic, workforce and other dimensions, ensuring that equity is a key aspect throughout.

Effective people-centered climate action does three things:

• It ensures a just and well-managed transition away from a high-carbon economy, avoiding and/or addressing unintentional negative effects of mitigation interventions or maladaptation.
• Through an inclusive process, it purposefully identifies and unlocks social and economic benefits; for example, by creating quality jobs with decent pay.
• It targets these benefits to further equity; for example, by employing innovative financing to boost energy access through distributed solar power or restoring ecosystems in ways that also raise rural incomes.

Protecting and advancing human rights must be a central consideration in developing climate actions, especially for those who are most marginalized and vulnerable. This can involve putting instruments such as social safety nets, unemployment support and parental leave policies in place to support communities both socially and economically and minimize risks. In addition, local populations need to be actively and deliberately engaged in shaping development agendas. This can help ensure an equitable process that addresses their needs.

In South Africa, for example, the Presidential Climate Coalition (PCC) was created in 2020 to lead the government's work toward a just transition across sectors such as energy, agriculture and tourism. It has enabled a wide range of stakeholder engagement in building the country’s just transition frameworks and aims to help ensure that all stakeholders have input and receive benefits. For instance, the PCC held workshops for people in coal communities that highlighted key areas to focus on when implementing a just transition. These included topics like addressing community health impacts from coal mining and clarifying misconceptions concerning renewable energy. It also worked to enable community engagement in just transition dialogues through accessible language and communication methods and effective knowledge sharing.

The work of the PCC is not over; further efforts are needed to ensure that this process is equitable and truly includes those impacted. However, lessons from these processes, such as the importance of involving a wide range of stakeholders, can help in developing the JTWP.

2. Addressing Global Inequity and Rejecting Oppressive Global Systems

Climate change impedes economic development, employment, agriculture and industry. It also destroys transport and communication systems and other important infrastructure. But despite being a global phenomenon, the impacts of climate change are disproportionately felt by the world’s poorest countries and communities. This exacerbates existing inequality and poverty, with the Global South on the frontline of these disruptions.

Moreover, well-intentioned climate actions can sometimes come with unintended negative effects for vulnerable people. For example, the European Union’s proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) could help reduce the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions by 55% below 1990 levels by 2030. However, studies have shown that CBAM would reduce African exports and diminish the continent's GDP by at least 1.12%, exacerbating existing socioeconomic issues in a highly climate-vulnerable area.

A transition that oppresses those living in poverty, climate-vulnerable communities and other marginalized groups cannot be just; nor can a transition which further undermines the development of vulnerable countries. Countries should view the JTWP as an avenue to discuss and provide climate solutions which enhance social, economic and environmental equity.

To this end, the JTWP must identify and avoid climate actions which could extend or potentially result in a repetition of oppressive systems — from historical and structural inequalities to trade protectionism, distortions, and unilateral taxation systems for developing countries. It should also share guidance on more supportive pathways. For example, the JTWP can draw on elements from the Bridgetown Initiative, such as restructuring unsustainable debt, promoting inclusive international tax systems and reducing barriers that uphold socioeconomic and structural inequalities.

Addressing climate change is a multilateral process; all countries have a role to play as guided by the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC). As such, the JTWP should provide a multilateral platform that centers on inclusion and international cooperation. This could be a platform to share and submit learnings, increase transparency and allow countries to build on one another’s best practices. But while the JTWP should be collaborative in nature, rich nations must commit to correcting historical inequalities given that the poorest and most climate-vulnerable countries have often contributed the least to the climate crisis. They can do this both by leading the way on decarbonization and by supporting developing countries to do the same.

3. Channeling Unconditional Support from Developed Countries

Developing countries urgently need increased support to facilitate climate action and achieve just transitions. This includes international climate finance, technology development and transfer and capacity building. Support must be conducted within the guidelines of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Paris Agreement — articles 9.1 and 9.4 of which state that developed countries will provide financial resources to developing countries for both mitigation and adaptation. Rich nations must demonstrate their accountability by fully delivering on financial agreements in a timely and just manner.

The JTWP should stress the importance and urgency of public finance from developed countries as an enabler for just transitions in developing countries. Finance and resources should be focused on areas such as reskilling, economic diversification, employment access and social protection to ensure that workers are retrained to be able to adapt to the transition. Countries providing targeted finance must also consider broader socioeconomic factors: New green jobs not only require new skillsets but may be in different locations and completely shift how people and communities have functioned in the past.

The work programme should also caution Parties against financial instruments that deepen the indebtedness of vulnerable countries. Instead, it should support the development of a financial and support architecture that promotes shared economic growth and sustainability for a fair transition. New systems should make it easier for poor countries to access climate finance without increasing their debt burdens or discouraging access due to complicated financing structures and requirements.

4. Creating Comprehensive and Flexible Just Transition Pathways

The JTWP is a collaborative and facilitative platform that should promote an equitable and sustainable future for all countries. Recognizing that every country is experiencing different levels of climate change impacts, as well as different priorities and challenges in addressing them, the work programme should refrain from prescribing solutions. Instead, it should lay out overarching principles for just transitions which countries can use to develop their own national plans in line with the UNFCCC and its guiding principles.

The new work programme must cover the full scope of just transitions by considering all the socioeconomic and environmental repercussions of climate change action. These include labor migration, unemployment, inequitable loss of ecosystem resources and more. Under the JTWP, climate interventions should be designed to support nationally determined transition pathways, including national adaptation plans (NAPs) and nationally determined contributions (NDCs). This can be done without prescribing practices to countries or managing their transitions by supporting locally driven approaches to the transitions.

The work programme should pay particular attention to poor countries that are more vulnerable to the devastation of climate change. It should elevate their needs in a manner that allows them to attain their national priorities and to develop in a climate-compatible fashion aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C. It must also recognize that in this transition, factors such as gender and age can create disproportionate impacts on certain groups. Working to ensure that the JTWP framework acknowledges these disparities and includes all people is what will truly make it just.

5. Building Synergies with Other Global Climate-related Workstreams

In UN climate negotiations, it is essential for discussions on just transitions to happen at both technical and political levels. This could potentially include convening an annual high-level event — such as at the COP and G20 summits — where the just energy transition, just resilience, just transition financing and other related topics are discussed by world leaders. These events could inform annual reports and decisions made at COPs and help drive political declarations to enhance international cooperation in climate action.

The JTWP is also intended to complement and build on the contributions of other relevant work streams and fora, including those on mitigation, response measures, adaptation and climate finance. It should actively collaborate with other workstreams under the Paris Agreement and more broadly, such as:

• The Global Stocktake (GST): The JTWP should feed into the GST process so its progress can be tracked and implemented across multiple sectors.
• The Mitigation Ambition and Implementation Work Programme (MWP): Linking to the MWP can help ensure that elements of equity and justice are built into all mitigation actions toward the Paris Agreement’s 1.5-degrees-C temperature goal.
• The Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA): The work programme on the GGA can provide inputs into the climate resilience component of the JTWP as it relates to adaptation.
• The Katowice Committee of Experts on the Impacts of the Implementation of Response Measures (KCI): Since there is a strong connection between JTWP and KCI workstreams, the KCI should provide expert input into the just transition work programme.
• Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs): Involvement with workshops and other exchanges related to NDCs can help promote a fair and equitable transition by ensuring that just transition considerations are built into countries’ national climate plans.
• Relation to finance: Securing finance for just transition pathways is a core goal of the JTWP. Collaboration with other finance workstreams will be critical to mobilizing and transforming financial systems toward this goal. This can include, for example, linking the JTWP to discussions on the new collective quantified goal on climate finance (NCQG), international financial institution reform and mobilizing private sector finance.
• National just transition approaches: The work programme can inform ongoing national, regional and international work on just transitions. This includes assessing and providing guidance for country-level policy processes for just energy transitions.

The JTWP also invites international organizations and civil society to submit recommendations that can enrich the discussions about just transitions at the workshops.

Implementing the JTWP in 2024 and Beyond

The just transition work programme must recognize that to fight climate change is to fight inequality in the world. With an overarching framework put in place at COP28, we will now be watching how the work programme carries out its mandate through workshops conducted over the next two years and in decisions made at COP30. Ultimately, countries must recognize that any successful transition will prioritize people and planet together.

 

This article was originally published in December 2023. It was updated in March 2024 to reflect the latest developments in the just transitions work programme.

HoiAn-flooding.jpg Climate Equity Climate Equity environmental justice COP28 Equity & Governance Type Technical Perspective Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Authors Mohamed Adow Mark Bynoe Fatuma Hussein Keith Nichols Chikondi Thangata