Consortium Produces Groundbreaking Data to Help Protect Grasslands
WRI brought together world-class experts to form the Global Pasture Watch consortium and produce the first high-resolution global datasets to monitor grasslands and livestock grazing areas. The data can help governments, landowners and others better protect and manage critical grassland ecosystems.
The ChallengeGrasslands cover more of Earth’s ice-free land than any other ecosystem. These underappreciated landscapes are crucial for biodiversity, climate mitigation and food security, among other benefits.
However, the lack of consistent and comparable global data on grasslands’ changing extent and use has hindered their effective management. Without the right information, governments, Indigenous Peoples, local communities and others — many of whom depend on grasslands for sustenance and livelihoods — face barriers in making the right land-use choices.
WRI’s RoleWRI’s Land & Carbon Lab initiative convened the Global Pasture Watch consortium, bringing together experts in geospatial monitoring, ecology, agriculture and machine learning. The consortium has been developing free, flexible and open data resources and tools to improve the monitoring of natural grasslands and livestock pastures. Access to this information can help lead to better land-use decisions.
WRI collaborated with leading institutions such as OpenGeoHub Foundation, the GIS Laboratory of the Federal University of Goias, and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis to develop a collaborative data creation process, incorporating groundbreaking technological advancements and methodologies that allow for easy improvements and updates. For example, the team developed a Time-Series Iteration Reconstruction Framework, a computational framework that can quickly and efficiently reduce the size of large satellite-based datasets — a critical step for creating data that is both cost-effective and publicly available.
The Global Pasture Watch consortium also conducted regional trainings and engaged with people representing Indigenous groups, local communities and other stakeholders to understand the risks and benefits of open grassland mapping products.
The OutcomeThe Global Pasture Watch consortium produced the first comprehensive, high-resolution (30-meter) global datasets on grassland extent, productivity and management, filling critical data gaps on the state of the world’s grasslands. Developed in just over two years, the timely and actionable data enable governments, landowners and others to monitor changes in the world’s grasslands for the first time and make better decisions around agriculture and land-use planning.
Early adopters are also using the open data to design their own tools and analyses. For example, AI4SoilHealth is creating maps that will help farmers across Europe monitor and predict soil health. The University of Twente is using Global Pasture Watch data to predict how Europe’s organic soil carbon density will change over time.
Moving forward, the consortium plans to release additional data sets, such as primary productivity and short vegetation height, that will provide even more visibility into the world’s grasslands and livestock pastures.
global-grasslands.jpg Forests Top Outcome: 2024 data mapping Type 2024 Top Outcome Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 ProjectsBengaluru, India Invests $128 Million in Building Safer Roads
WRI India worked closely with the city government and others to redesign roads and protect vulnerable pedestrians from car traffic. The move will save lives and encourage more sustainable transport.
The ChallengeBengaluru, India has faced an alarming rise in pedestrian fatalities, averaging over 650 road traffic deaths annually in recent years. A big reason is that road designs throughout the city prioritize cars over people, while many streets lack safe crossings for pedestrians. Children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable.
As the sixth-most congested city in the world, Bengaluru’s rapid growth and heavy traffic have only worsened road safety concerns, affecting residents’ mobility and overall quality of life. Without redesigning its public spaces, Bengaluru is unlikely to meet its commitment of reducing road deaths 50% by 2030.
WRI’s RoleWRI India helped guide Bengaluru’s municipal body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), to support people-centric street redesigns.
WRI India provided technical assistance to BBMP to develop the Suraksha75 initiative, which used data to identify 75 critical junctions for redesign based on criteria such as number of crashes and pedestrian volume. The city has since added another 25 intersections to the list. The team worked to reform how street improvement projects are proposed and implemented in Bengaluru, including by updating procurement processes, providing research on best practices for prioritizing safety over aesthetics, and facilitating ongoing stakeholder engagement. WRI also provided design support for specific road safety interventions like pedestrian footpaths, conducted capacity-building workshops, and collaborated with traffic engineers, urban planners and local civic organizations.
The OutcomeBengaluru invested over $128 million in sustainable road safety projects, marking a significant shift from vehicle-centric road development to urban planning that puts people’s safety first.
The Suraksha75 initiative led to the redesign of over 100 high-risk intersections and more than 150 kilometers of pedestrian-friendly streets, aiming to drastically reduce road traffic injuries, especially for vulnerable groups such as pedestrians, cyclists and the elderly. Key changes include expanded and accessible footpaths, safer pedestrian crossings, wider roads, and the introduction of refuge islands — road medians that provide a safe place for people to wait while crossing busy streets. As of late 2024, 39 intersections were under construction, with completion expected by 2025.
BBMP established a dedicated team to ensure continued collaboration between design experts, consultants, communities and other road safety stakeholders. With updated guidelines and a focus on functional safety improvements over aesthetics — for example, ensuring that landscaping and other beautification elements do not prevent vulnerable pedestrians from accessing safe pause points while crossing busy roads — the program embedded new design standards into the city’s planning processes.
BBMP is now scaling this approach to a broader corridor improvement project that includes the redevelopment of 324 kilometers of streets. The success of Suraksha75 has also inspired other Indian cities, such as Delhi, to adopt similar road safety programs.
bengaluru.jpg Cities India Top Outcome: 2024 Health & Road Safety Integrated Transport Type 2024 Top Outcome Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 ProjectsNew AI Model Maps Every Tree on Earth
Developed by WRI and Meta, the model provides unprecedented insight into trees outside of dense forests. The data is already being used to monitor small-scale restoration throughout Africa, which can help these projects access much-needed finance.
The ChallengeForests play a vital role in combating climate change; providing water, food and medicines; and supporting livelihoods for millions of people. But monitoring them is challenging, particularly for trees that grow outside dense forests in drylands, farms and cities. These trees make up more than one-third of tree cover on Earth, yet they go largely undetected by forest data sets.
This data gap is especially limiting for monitoring restoration projects, much of which are carried out by individual farmers and local organizations revitalizing small plots of land. As a result, funders often prioritize larger, easier-to-monitor projects over the smaller, locally led projects proven to be more effective at restoring degraded landscapes. Overcoming this gap is essential to help local communities protect their environment and access restoration finance.
WRI’s RoleWRI's Land & Carbon Lab initiative collaborated with Meta’s Fundamental AI Research and Sustainability teams to develop a first-of-its-kind AI-based global tree canopy map with 1-meter resolution. Meta provided advanced computational resources and AI modeling, while WRI contributed expertise in restoration monitoring and remote sensing.
WRI then facilitated the application of the data to restoration programs such as TerraFund, which funds 192 local restoration organizations across Africa. WRI also shared the model and its results through its extensive network, ensuring the data could benefit other organizations globally.
The OutcomeThe ability to map every tree in the world at 1-meter resolution provides unprecedented visibility. It holds particular promise for monitoring restoration and tree-planting, making it feasible to monitor small-scale projects in rural, hard-to-reach areas that are often overlooked due to high monitoring costs. The AI-based approach is 10 times cheaper than traditional field-based monitoring.
The tree canopy height map already supports over 28,000 restoration sites across Africa through WRI’s TerraFund initiative, providing critical data to evaluate projects’ impacts on land restoration and carbon sequestration. Being able to see individual trees on the ground gives credit to the thousands of smallholder farmers revitalizing their land. This can convince investors that financing local restoration is an effective nature-based solution to climate change and rural poverty. The data also allows governments to better understand how these communities are contributing to national land restoration pledges and climate plans.
The data has also been integrated into global and national conservation efforts. Half a dozen countries are utilizing the dataset to set baselines for the EU Deforestation Regulation, while the EU Commission has integrated it into its updated global forest baseline map.
papa-christian-banana-tree-yanonge-tshopo-province-drc.jpg Forests Top Outcome: 2024 mapping data Type 2024 Top Outcome Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 ProjectsIndia Significantly Scales Up Electric Vehicle Adoption
WRI India partnered with government agencies, manufacturers, financiers and more to bring more electric vehicles to India’s roads. More than 6% of India’s vehicles are now electric, avoiding 10 million tonnes of carbon emissions from 2020-2024.
The ChallengeIndia’s cities have some of the dirtiest air in the world, with air pollution claiming millions of lives in the country every year. Transportation is one of India’s most polluting sectors. Road transport in particular is responsible for over 13% of the country’s energy-related greenhouse gas emissions.
While India has set goals to reach net-zero emissions by 2070 and ensure 30% of its vehicle sales are electric by 2030, achieving these targets will take significant policy action, infrastructure development and finance.
WRI’s RoleWRI India helped accelerate electric vehicle (EV) adoption in the country by bridging policy, infrastructure and knowledge gaps within governments and other organizations. Collaborating with critical stakeholders in the transport sector, WRI India influenced policy design, demand incentives and EV infrastructure expansion while also prioritizing access to clean mobility for low-income groups.
For example, WRI serves as the technical partner for the Bharat Zero Emission Trucking Policy Advisory, which created a policy roadmap for truck electrification in the country — long considered a hard-to-abate sector since it produces close to 40% of road transport emissions. WRI is the secretariat for the Electric Freight Accelerator for Sustainable Transport (e-FAST) India platform, which strengthened the momentum for zero-emission trucks. We convened partners such as NITI Aayog, industry associations, auto companies, state government officials and worker training groups to facilitate knowledge-sharing. And WRI helped launch the Battery360 Alliance to advance discussions between government stakeholders, battery recyclers, and auto and battery manufacturers on how to ensure a circular supply chain for lithium-ion batteries.
At the state and city levels, WRI provided technical assistance and supported pilot programs to build government capacity for the EV transition. All these achievements were made possible through partnerships with government agencies, manufacturers, financiers and civil society — essential to ensure a holistic and inclusive EV transition.
The OutcomeIndia’s EV adoption rose dramatically from 0.7% of total motor vehicle sales in 2020 to 6.3% in 2024. The country now boasts nearly 5 million registered EVs on its roads, preventing an estimated 10 million tonnes of carbon emissions from 2020-2024 while reducing air pollution and creating jobs. Investments in EVs have also surged, with $15.13 billion from national and state governments and $6.4 billion in private funding.
Growth is expected to continue thanks to a supportive policy environment and market conditions. State EV policies and the PM E-DRIVE scheme, a national initiative to expand charging infrastructure and subsidize the purchase of EVs for public transit and commercial purposes, have bolstered EV manufacturing and adoption. Regions such as Delhi and Chandigarh are leading EV adoption, while Tamil Nadu, home to major auto manufacturers, is spearheading EV production.
The freight sector is also advancing, with an estimated industry demand of 7,750 electric trucks in the country by 2030. Companies including Flipkart and IKEA have piloted e-truck logistics, which will help accelerate this transition. Battery sustainability is also gaining traction through the government’s Battery Waste Management Rules and Advanced Cell Chemistry Production Linked Incentives, which support building a battery supply chain that employs local workers and aims to recycle and reuse batteries. Meanwhile, initiatives from state governments and groups such as the Automotive Skills Development Council are working to equip small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the workforce with the skills they need to support the transition to clean vehicles.
india-ev-parking.jpg Electric Mobility India Top Outcome: 2024 transportation Air Quality Cities Climate National Climate Action Type 2024 Top Outcome Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Projects100+ Governments and Others Use Data Platform to Bring Clean Energy to Underserved Communities
Using WRI’s Energy Access Explorer, recently named the first “digital public good” for energy, businesses, financiers and over 100 governments in Africa and South Asia are working to expand energy access and grow local economies through clean energy adoption.
The ChallengeEnergy is fundamental to human wellbeing and economic growth, powering education, healthcare, jobs, agriculture and much more. Yet 675 million people still lack electricity access. Many more rely on polluting fuels like charcoal for cooking and diesel for other day-to-day needs.
It’s up to governments, businesses and financiers to identify and fill these access gaps, ideally with affordable and reliable clean energy sources. But doing so is a technical challenge. Many struggle with limited access to transparent, high-quality data and analytical tools to pinpoint energy gaps and plan the most effective interventions.
WRI’s RoleIn collaboration with more than 200 partners, WRI launched the Energy Access Explorer in 2019 to help governments and other stakeholders map and improve energy access in underserved areas. Energy Access Explorer is the first open source, interactive platform to support energy planning and interventions, with a current focus on Africa and South Asia.
WRI works closely with energy planners, clean energy entrepreneurs, financiers and development institutions to assess energy needs and solutions using data and analysis from the Energy Access Explorer. Together, we identify areas where clean energy can not only provide electricity, but also improve livelihoods and support sustainable economic development.
The OutcomeEnergy Access Explorer has reached more than 100 governments across eight countries, with over 25,000 users in total. It's proven to be a powerful tool for supporting green growth.
In Kenya, the platform has helped local governments develop county energy plans that support the country’s Integrated National Energy Plan. In Nigeria, it’s pinpointed opportunities to boost agriculture through solar-powered irrigation and expand the use of mini grids. Government officials in Ethiopia used the platform to prioritize distributed renewables for 19 million people. And across Ethiopia, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania and India, Energy Access Explorer is helping stakeholders identify areas where clean energy can improve healthcare, education and agriculture —such as through rooftop solar on rural health clinics.
Energy Access Explorer was officially registered as a “digital public good” in 2024, the first of its kind in the energy sector. This status recognizes it as a critical tool for achieving the world’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 7 calls for “affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all” by 2030).
solar-panels-chamwino.jpg Energy Top Outcome: 2024 Energy Access renewable energy Clean Energy Type 2024 Top Outcome Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 ProjectsShenzhen, China Reduces Emissions While Lowering Residents’ Energy Bills
WRI partnered with the city government and local institutions to implement dozens of near-zero carbon demonstration projects, including measures like rooftop solar, building retrofits and more green space.
The ChallengeHousehold electricity consumption in China has doubled over the past decade, significantly increasing carbon emissions. In Shenzhen, home to 18 million residents, the growth of household energy demand has surpassed that of industry, posing challenges to the city’s low-carbon ambitions. Without clear technical guidance and cost-effective solutions, the city has struggled to reduce its emissions while maintaining affordability and quality of life for residents — particularly for low-income and vulnerable groups.
WRI’s RoleWRI China partnered with the city government, the Shenzhen Institute of Building Research, and other local institutions to support the implementation of dozens of near-zero carbon demonstration projects. The projects aimed to rein in Shenzhen’s growing energy emissions while lowering costs and improving quality of life for citizens.
WRI conducted surveys with over 1,000 community members to assess public needs, developed cost-benefit analyses of low-carbon technologies, and provided technical guidance on prioritizing investments such as rooftop solar and building retrofits for energy efficiency. WRI also created a technical guide for near-zero carbon communities, organized six capacity-building events for local practitioners, and facilitated knowledge exchanges with international partners such as the city of Kyushu, Japan. WRI’s recommendations were adopted as part of Shenzhen’s city-wide subsidy policy, while its technical guide influenced local standards for near-zero carbon communities.
The OutcomeShenzhen created 113 near-zero carbon demonstration projects that are creating measurable environmental and socioeconomic benefits. For example, solar installations and building retrofits in one pilot community are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% while lowering household electricity costs by 22% (about $80 per household annually).
Across Shenzhen, demonstration projects will reduce annual CO₂ emissions by 1 million tons, cut the city’s electricity demand by 3.5%, and save residents US$ 280 million in energy costs. Meanwhile, more than 18 million residents, including vulnerable groups, are benefiting from more green space.
The city has also implemented a subsidy policy providing up to 1 million yuan (approximately US$140,000) per community to help scale low-carbon projects citywide while preventing low-income residents from shouldering the costs. Shenzhen’s experience was so successful that it is already being recognized by other Chinese cities, including Shanghai and Sichuan.
shenzhen-china-energy.jpg Cities China Top Outcome: 2024 GHG emissions renewable energy Urban Development Type 2024 Top Outcome Exclude From Blog Feed? 0
Mumbai Allocates One-Third of its Budget to Climate Action
WRI India supported Mumbai’s government in launching a new climate-focused department and allocating one-third of the city’s capital budget to achieving its climate action plan.
The ChallengeMumbai, India is grappling with air pollution, erratic monsoons, worsening floods and landslides, and increasingly extreme heat. Its 17 million residents — around half of whom live in slums — are feeling the effects.
Mumbai launched a pioneering climate action plan in 2022, pledging to slash planet-warming emissions and build resilience to mounting climate change impacts. It was the first city in South Asia with a target to achieve net-zero emissions. But moving from planning to action proved difficult. Like many cities, Mumbai struggled to integrate climate priorities across government agencies and mobilize the finance needed to undertake climate action on such a large scale.
WRI’s RoleWRI India has worked closely with Mumbai’s government since 2021 to assess local climate risks and develop the city's climate action plan. Over the last two years, our focus shifted from planning to implementation, helping build the skills and staff capacity needed to achieve the city’s goals. Specifically, WRI India supported Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in creating a new government department focused on climate action and aligning the city’s budget with climate-friendly priorities.
The OutcomeIn June 2024, Mumbai published its first climate budget, allocating approximately $1.2 billion — over 32% of the city’s total expenditure — to climate action. It was the fourth city in the world to create a climate budget, after Oslo, London and New York.
The funds will support a wide range of projects to reduce emissions, build resilience and improve lives — from installing solar panels at hospitals and markets to creating new urban gardens, improving water management and reducing air pollution. Some of these actions target underserved communities who are most vulnerable to pollution and the threats of climate change.
The city also announced its new Environment and Climate Change Department, which includes over 50 new positions to advance mitigation and adaptation. It will coordinate climate measures across agencies and external partners while helping city staff better incorporate climate considerations into their work.
Three other cities in the same state — Nashik, Solapur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad); and Bengaluru, another Indian megacity in Karnataka state — have since followed Mumbai’s lead, launching their own climate action plans with support from WRI India. The government of Maharashtra state also recently mandated that 43 cities develop their own climate action plans.
mumbai-climate-action.jpg Cities India Top Outcome: 2024 Air Quality GHG emissions Climate Type 2024 Top Outcome Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 ProjectsLocally Led Projects Restore 50,000 of Hectares of Degraded Land
WRI’s TerraMatch project developed an innovative model for investing in local restoration projects at scale across the world. TerraMatch has supported more than 200 projects that have collectively planted more than 30 million trees and created tens of thousands of jobs.
The ChallengeLand degradation is a massive problem for both people and nature. In 2023, the world’s tropical primary forests lost 3.7 million hectares of tree cover — roughly 10 football fields of forest per minute. Meanwhile, 1 billion people are living on degraded land, suffering consequences like reduced crop yields and loss of livelihoods.
This problem has a local solution: Research shows that community groups and small farmers restore land 6 to 20 times more effectively than international NGOs or national governments while delivering more sustainable and equitable results. Yet many local organizations and individuals cannot access the funding needed to scale their work. Traditional financing mechanisms often exclude these “restoration champions” in favor of larger projects.
WRI’s RoleWRI developed the innovative TerraMatch system: an end-to-end process to select, fund and track local restoration organizations and entrepreneurs.
The model began with the Priceless Planet Coalition. Formed in 2020, the project brought together Conservation International, Mastercard and WRI to restore 100 million trees using TerraMatch. Then in 2021, WRI convened partners including One Tree Planted and Realize Impact to launch TerraFund, harnessing the TerraMatch system to invest in 100 local “restoration champions” across Africa.
Building on the champions’ feedback, WRI refined its financial, project management, and monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) systems to better support them. These successes helped expand the project to include private equity partner Barka Fund and secure additional funding from Bezos Earth Fund and the TED Audacious Project. This eventually led to a second cohort of restoration champions through TerraFund and new restoration funds in India and Brazil.
The OutcomeAcross Africa, 198 projects led by TerraFund restoration champions have attracted more than $32 million in finance, planted more than 21.2 million trees, brought 43,500 hectares of degraded land under restoration, created 58,500 full- and part-time jobs, and provided livelihood and other benefits to nearly 170,000 people. Work through the Priceless Planet Coalition has brought $28 million to restoration champions in six countries, who have planted 10.7 million trees and begun restoring 7,500 hectares.
And the work continues to grow: TerraMatch’s reported metrics and cutting-edge satellite data track, verify and showcase restoration champions’ impacts to help drive additional investment. Success across Africa has inspired stakeholders in India and Brazil to adapt the TerraMatch approach, leading to the Harit Bharat Fund in India and a planned fund for the Brazilian Amazon.
By centering the needs of local restoration champions, adopting innovative financial structures and continuously improving its processes, TerraMatch is building the foundation for a self-sustaining restoration economy. The project aims to help achieve WRI’s goal of restoring 40 million hectares of degraded land by 2027.
nature-rwanda-seedling-nursery.jpg Forest and Landscape Restoration Top Outcome: 2024 Forests deforestation Type 2024 Top Outcome Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Projects3 African Cities Restore Nature to Revitalize Their Rivers
Africa’s cities, from large metropolises to smaller towns, are increasingly characterized by growing urban sprawl. Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, is expanding by about 2,000 people and 5 hectares (10 football fields) every day, according to a World Bank estimate. Kumasi, an intermediary city in Ghana, is growing more than 5% every year — at least twice as fast as the capital city, Accra.
As cities and surrounding farmlands expand further into their hinterlands, they encroach upon watersheds essential to water supply and climate resilience.
Watersheds are the natural area of land that drain into a common body of water. The consequences of their degradation are threefold. Without tree cover and healthy soils to absorb rainfall, cities may lose a critical source for groundwater recharge, leading to water shortages. Not only does the quantity of water suffer, so does its quality. Without strong roots to protect and anchor the soil, sediment and the chemicals within it are washed into nearby water bodies, often the primary source for a city’s drinking water. That same runoff can turn into floodwater.
Many cities that once depended on their watersheds for water now face both increasing scarcity and heightened vulnerability to extreme weather. There are, however, nature-based solutions to help alleviate these problems.
Through a combination of upland foresting and urban greening, watershed restoration efforts are starting to deliver positive results in three African cities:
Kigali, Rwanda Plants Trees to Restore the Nyabarango RiverBy 2050, Kigali is expected to host 3.8 million residents, up more than 200% from 1.7 million in 2022. This growth brings with it growing demand for housing, infrastructure and farmlands, and often comes at the expense of the natural ecosystems that help supply the city’s water.
The heart of Kigali’s watershed is the Nyabarango River, a major tributary of the Nile River that originates in the Nyungwe highlands. As the river approaches the city, once forested areas have become bare and degraded due to people’s growing need for farmland for food and charcoal for cooking and heating. Without natural vegetation to stabilize the landscape, flood risk has increased, as has the risk of deadly landslides.
As the Nyabarongo River snakes through Kigali, its heavy sediment load bears the marks of deforestation and land degradation. Photo by ARCOS NetworkRestoring tree cover in and near Kigali is essential for stabilizing soil, reducing erosion and improving groundwater recharge. WRI’s SUNCASA project is working with IISD and city and local partners to plant a variety of trees on more than 800 hectares across the city.
Efforts include reforestation (planting new trees in previously forested areas) and afforestation (establishing new forest in previously unforested areas). These trees — all indigenous and many fruit-bearing — increase soil moisture retention, prevent surface runoff and increase biodiversity.
Restoring watersheds isn’t only about planting trees, though. It’s also about building resilient livelihoods and empowering local communities to protect the land. Selected in consultation with local leaders and women’s groups, the new trees offer farmers opportunities to build stronger, more resilient livelihoods by providing fruit, medicine and fodder for their cattle.
These restoration initiatives are taking place in parts of the city that are formally designated as forest and conservation zones under Kigali’s 2050 Master Plan. As the city expands in the next few decades, these areas will remain protected by municipal law and land use regulations.
In November 2024, SUNCASA project partners joined local communities to plant more than 5,000 seedlings during Rwanda’s community service day, Umuganda. Photo by ARCOS Network Dire Dawa, Ethiopia Uses Indigenous Trees to Replenish GroundwaterDire Dawa is struggling to establish a pathway to water-resilient growth. Home to half a million people, Ethiopia’s second-largest city faces an unprecedented decline in its groundwater levels. Cities and towns along Ethiopia’s eastern corridor, including Haramaya, Aweday and Harar, also depend on Dire Dawa’s groundwater reserves.
Where groundwater resources were once abundant, the city must now dig wells to depths of 600 meters. By 2037, the city’s population is projected to rise by 50%. And with a new Industry Park and Free Trade Zone that began operations in early 2025, the local administration is facing enormous demands on its water resources.
The Dechatu River remains dry for much of the year, but swells into deadly flash floods during heavy rains, highlighting the growing challenges of deforestation and groundwater depletion in Dire Dawa’s watershed. Photo Credit: WRI/Nuun StudioIntensive farming in the upper catchment of the Dechatu river is one of the biggest contributors to the decline in Dire Dawa’s water table. As farmers clear shrubland and forests to make room for coffee and khat , a popular cash crop that’s used as a stimulant, less and less rainwater infiltrates the soil, depleting underground reserves. Once plentiful in Dire Dawa’s watershed, many indigenous acacia trees have been cut down for charcoal and fodder. These degraded landscapes put urban areas downstream at increased risk of flash floods during the rainy season.
The SUNCASA project is rehabilitating more than 800 hectares with local tree species to boost the water supply and prevent flooding. In 2024, more than 125,000 seedlings were planted in previously barren areas to restore critical recharge zones.
Local women in Dire Dawa’s Harla Kebele plant indigenous trees. Photo by Eden Takele/WRIIn the drylands of the catchment, communities are planting deep-rooting indigenous species like acacia saligna to help rehabilitate barren land. Extremely well-suited to the region’s climate, acacia trees require less water and stabilize the soil.
WRI’s Work Through SUNCASA
Led by WRI and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) with funding from Global Affairs Canada, the SUNCASA project works with local governments, civil society and community associations to foster climate adaptation, economic growth and sustainability.
By delivering nature-based solutions that restore watersheds, riparian corridors and urban green spaces, SUNCASA’s work is a direct response to climate risks like flooding, heat, landslides and biodiversity loss. By 2027, SUNCASA aims to:
• Rehabilitate more than 2,400 hectares and plant more than 2 million trees across six critical micro-catchments in Kigali, Rwanda;
• Plant more than 1.3 million trees over more than 800 hectares in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia; and
• Restore more than 450 hectares and plant 46,000 trees in strategic sites across Johannesburg, South Africa.
These interventions are designed to center the needs of vulnerable communities while ensuring that cities can continue to rely on their water systems. Gender and social inclusion are core tenets of SUNCASA’s work. Ultimately, the project aims to benefit 2.2 million people, directly and indirectly, by increasing their resilience to climate risk. SUNCASA will also train and support more than 22,000 individuals involved in the project’s implementation.
Local partners include: the city of Kigali, ARCOS Network, AVEGA-Agahozo, and the Rwanda Young Water Professionals in Kigali; the Dire Dawa administration, Hararghe Catholic Secretariat and Haramaya University in Dire Dawa; the city of Johannesburg, Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo, the Johannesburg Inner City Partnership, Zutari, Gender CC, Water for the Future, and the Alexandra Water Warriors in Johannesburg. Learn more.
More than 140,000 papaya, mango and date palm seedlings have been planted, too, alongside other fruit-bearing trees. These trees enhance soil moisture retention, reduce surface evaporation, and, once mature, allow local farmers to sell the fruit and diversify their income streams. This additional revenue stream is especially important for boosting women’s long-term economic resilience.
The project is also rehabilitating riverbanks: People have planted more than 40,000 trees along the Dechatu to create buffer zones and mitigate flood impacts.
Johannesburg, South Africa Expands Green Space to Prevent FloodingJohannesburg is a city of approximately 5.6 million people built at the source of the Jukskei river. The city’s waterways have suffered a near complete loss of habitat. As the Jukskei winds through Johannesburg, pollution from solid waste, industrial discharge and sewage have severely degraded the river’s health. For city residents living in vulnerable or informal neighborhoods, the river poses immense health and flood risks.
One of the biggest contributors to the city’s flood risk comes from invasive species. Eucalyptus, introduced to South Africa in the 1800s, crowds the city’s riverbanks and disrupts the flow of water. In some places, other invasive species like saringa, bug weed and mulberry dominate the riverside — affecting local biodiversity by displacing native species. During months of heavy rainfall, thickets of these aggressive species are part of the reason the river overflows: Without space for stormwater to flow, the Jukskei often bursts its banks and floods nearby neighborhoods like Alexandra and Buccleuch.
That’s why the city and local partners are expanding green spaces in Johannesburg’s dense neighborhoods, bringing nature to the built environment. In the overcrowded Alexandra Township, the SUNCASA project has planted 13,000 trees, informed by spatial analysis and local tree audits. In addition to fortifying the landscape, these trees provide much needed shade, cooling the city and mitigating the urban heat island effect. Project organizers also distribute peach and citrus trees to local households which, when cultivated, can create small pockets of green and produce fruit for their families.
Local communities are also clearing the invasive species crowding the city’s riverbanks. By replacing aggressive plants with ecosystem-friendly trees like wild olives and tree wisteria, SUNCASA is helping to control flash floods, restore soil health and increase the capacity of the city’s waterways while improving both water quality and quantity.
The project complements these natural solutions with cleanups of the river’s excessive plastics and other solid waste. Volunteers and artisans work together to repurpose water bottles, papers, tree logs, bricks and plastic bags into art installations.
Local workers care for young trees on the banks of South Africa’s Jukskei River. Photo by Jenna Echakowitz/SUNCASA Employing Nature-based Solutions in CitiesAs cities in Africa and elsewhere continue to expand, investments in infrastructure and economic growth must go hand in hand with investments in nature. Planning the future must include not only roads, buildings and industry, but also forests, rivers and other natural infrastructure that sustain life and economic progress.
By prioritizing watershed restoration and conservation, city leaders can ensure that urban growth is water-resilient and creates lasting benefits for people, nature and climate.
african-cities-restore-nature-revitalize-rivers.jpg Freshwater South Africa nature-based solutions Water Security Forest and Landscape Restoration Freshwater Type Vignette Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Projects- Water Security
- Scaling Urban Nature-based Solutions for Climate Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SUNCASA)
- Cities4Forests
On the Road to Sustainable Transport, Climate Finance Can Speed Progress
Transport is one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 24% of carbon emissions worldwide. Nearly three-quarters of those emissions come from road vehicles. Solutions like electrification and increased public transport can reduce the transport sector’s emissions, but they come at a hefty cost — particularly for low- and middle- income countries, which account for 82% of the world’s population.
To reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the International Energy Agency calculates that carbon emissions from the transport sector need to drop 50% by 2035. For that to happen, not only do we need to boost the percentage of electric cars on the road — from 10% today to more than 85% in just a decade — but we also need a fundamental shift in how people move.
The world needs significantly more public transport, and buses in particular, to reach net zero. By 2035, electric buses need to make up 60% of total bus sales around the world to stay on track, a sharp increase from the current 4%. Reliable and frequent public transport is currently available in only 37% of the world’s urban areas, despite the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals calling for all urban dwellers to have such access by 2030. Reaching net zero will also depend on shifting more travel behavior toward walking and cycling, ensuring these modes are convenient, safe and accessible.
Meeting these goals will require significant investment. As urbanization continues to accelerate — particularly in Africa and Asia — transport demand will grow, increasing the pressure to secure resources and act fast to avoid locking cities into unsustainable development patterns. Because infrastructure and new technologies are expensive and have particularly high upfront costs, low- and middle-income countries, which often face higher interest rates and debt burden than other countries, have unique challenges in transitioning to more sustainable transport systems.
Global climate finance can help ease this burden.
The transport sector currently receives $334 billion a year from public and private sources, but that amount needs to increase to an estimated $2.7 trillion by 2050 to meet the reduction goals for global transport emissions. In developing countries (excluding China), the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance estimates that the transport sector will need $575 billion per year by 2030 to reach those goals.
The new climate finance goal agreed to at the UN climate summit (COP29) —$300 billion per year by 2035 for all sectors—falls very short of these requirements and shows how much work remains in the years ahead. But, despite this limited commitment, and even stiffer headwinds in global politics that have developed since COP29, some hopeful trends are emerging. Multilateral development banks, for instance, have been steadily growing the amount of climate finance they offer, with the total reaching $125 billion in 2023. This is especially significant for transport, given that 16% of lending by multilateral development banks since 2000 has gone to the sector.
Moving forward, it will be important for national leaders, city officials, banks and development institutions to understand, through a sector-specific lens, how finance can be harnessed and scaled up to meet emissions reduction needs and increase climate resilience. To that end, a recent WRI working paper examined more than 800 transport projects in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and analyzed 14 case studies to highlight opportunities for, and barriers to, accessing climate finance for sustainable transport in low- and middle-income countries.
The State of Climate Finance for TransportIn its current state, climate finance for transport takes many shapes. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change defines it as financial resources —from public, private or alternative sources — that support efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. In practice, financial flows are tagged as “climate” according to the provider’s intent or the nature of the project they are financing.
Blended finance, which combines private bank lending with lending from philanthropies or development banks with the goal of reducing perceived risks and increasing investor confidence, supported about 30 of the transport projects we examined. Bogotá, Colombia, for example, purchased a new fleet of 401 electric buses using $134 million in development finance from the Inter-American Development Bank Invest and private sources.
Green bonds are another important financial instrument to raise funds, but their applicability to low- and middle-income countries is currently limited. In our research, nearly two-thirds of the transport projects that used green bonds were developed with well-established capital markets. Low- and middle-income countries saw relatively few, likely due to economic and political instability creating a perception of these countries being high-risk. Additionally, many subnational governments are unable to issue bonds. Addressing these structural barriers in low- and middle-income countries can help enable equitable access to not just green bonds, but also to other forms of financing.
While climate finance funds a wide range of transport project types, the vast majority —75% of the 839 we examined — involved land transport. Of those, one-third involved building, rehabilitating and/or maintaining roads, highways and bridges, and improving connectivity among modes. This includes promoting multimodality across roads, railways and ports. Meanwhile, only 130 public transport projects and roughly 60 electric vehicle projects accessed climate finance. This highlights a gap in accessing climate finance across modes, even as electric mobility gains momentum and attracts increasing investments in recent years, underscoring the need for greater support for public transport and broader low-emission and sustainable mobility solutions.
More broadly, just 20% of accessed projects were related to boosting adaptation and resilience, a percentage that doesn’t match the rapidly growing need to enhance resilience in the transport sector.
At the same time, some projects in low- and middle-income countries show significant promise for accessing climate finance.
The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, for instance, includes a 21-kilometer (13-mile) corridor of dedicated bus lanes running in the center of the city, train-like bus stations, and improved walking and cycling infrastructure. The project, a private-public partnership that included $121 million from the African Development Bank, is the first of its kind in Tanzania and East Africa.
A similar project also opened this year in Dakar, Senegal, but with all electric buses —another first. That project included a World Bank guarantee of 19.9 million euros to Meridiam, a private investor and asset manager specializing in public and community infrastructure, to secure its equity investments into the system. Such guarantees of public capital could spread risks and help attract private capital.
And India’s national government is procuring 10,000 electric public buses, bolstered by a payment security mechanism aimed at reducing risk.
Another example, off the coast of East Africa, shows the importance of grant funding in an adaptation project. With $36.5 million in funding from the African Development Bank, the country of Comoros is rehabilitating 29 miles (47 kilometers) of road to protect against sea erosion.
Such public-private partnerships have worked to boost project efficiency and sustainability. While concessional loans and grants from multilateral development banks and development finance institutions have been critical in getting projects off the ground, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, mechanisms like payment security systems that emerge from these partnerships can reduce financial uncertainty and enhance contract viability.
Barriers for Low- and Middle-Income CountriesDespite these success stories, significant challenges remain. To begin with, low- and middle-income countries often lack the policies and regulatory frameworks that could enable climate finance. For example, informal public transport in Africa is often loosely regulated and organizing owners to access credit is difficult. Limited governmental capacity exists for project preparation and implementation, as illustrated by the fact that the Dar es Salaam BRT transit agency set up its contract with a private operator. Poor coordination among transport, climate and finance ministries further impede the identification and execution of bankable transport projects that could attract private sector participation.
Transport projects that receive climate funding consistently have high up-front costs, which can be a deal breaker for many low- and middle-income countries. If new technologies like electric buses are not purchased through pooled procurement, for instance, they can end up being more expensive than diesel buses — a contributing factor to the perception that transport projects are high-risk to investors.
Then there are issues around the quality of finance. While development finance is increasingly considering the impacts of climate change, a better understanding of how finance can align with the goals of reducing emissions and improving resilience is essential. Climate finance should not just be measured by the amount of money provided, but also on its impact, with careful attention to ensure it does not exacerbate debt distress in lower-income countries that may already face high debt burdens. Grants and concessional finance (which has more favorable terms, such as lower interest rates) are critical for these countries. This is particularly true for climate investments like adaptation projects that may offer less immediate economic returns or require longer repayment periods.
Multi-stakeholder action on climate finance can help overcome these challenges. Governments can draft new policies in support of national public transport or an electric vehicle roadmap, for example. They can also set up national payment security mechanisms to make projects more appealing to private investors. Creating private financial entities that replicate successful projects and establishing common tracking frameworks to bring efficiency and scale would also help.
Despite the overall inadequacy of COP29’s climate finance outcome and the withdrawal of the United States from international climate leadership — indeed, perhaps because of this retreat — sectoral players should continue to improve on the delivery of climate finance. Sustainable mobility investments can show how “climate” investments are, in reality, often investments in much more than just greenhouse gas reductions. They can also serve people, improving livelihoods and economies, while working toward a more just and sustainable world.
electric-bus-bogota-colombia.jpg Cities Integrated Transport Urban Mobility electric mobility transportation climate finance Finance Cities Featured Type Finding Exclude From Blog Feed? 0 Related Resources and Data Access to Climate Finance in Low and Middle-Income Countries: 14 Case Studies in the Transport Sector Projects Authors Ben Welle Yiqian Zhang