Maps & Data

Many companies are wary to confront an uncomfortable topic — that we can’t continue on the current path of unchecked consumption without draining the world’s resources in just a few decades.

Although the burning of fossil fuels generates most of the potential emissions from most reserves, emissions from production and processing operations (known as “upstream emissions”) can also be important, depending on the reserve type and technologies used.

Degraded lands—lands that have lost some degree of their natural productivity through human activity—account for over 20 percent of forest and agricultural lands in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Tenure-secure indigenous and other community forestlands are often linked to low deforestation rates, significant forest cover, and the sustainable production of timber and other forest products. New WRI research shows that securing indigenous forestland is also a low-cost, high-benefit investment and therefore makes good economic sense.

The Paris Agreement cleared the final hurdle to enter into force on October 5, 2016, after the European Union submitted its instrument of ratification to the United Nations and the two thresholds of 55 countries and over 55% of global emissions were reached.

As communities around the world face a growing water crisis, the need for lower-cost means to secure ample and clean water is becoming increasingly important.