Social Impact
How climate change affects communities, migration, health, and social justice
STATEMENT: COP17 Advances Finance but Falls Short on Global Drought Action
ULAANBAATAR (August 29, 2026) — The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP17 in Ulaanbaatar concluded with the announcement of a $1.3 billion finance portfolio for land restoration and drought...
When oil sets the price
This is a guest post by Camilo Sánchez, a communications strategist working for Greenpeace International. We are living through a cost of living crisis that is being treated as if...
What the Paris Agreement Was Built to Do — and Why It Still Matters
The Paris Agreement is now in its second decade — and facing its toughest geopolitical environment yet.When the accord was adopted in 2015, it was a breakthrough. For the first...
A New Energy Governance Structure Is Coming to Western U.S. Markets — Here's What to Know
Across the U.S., people are facing an electricity affordability crisis. One in three Americans is foregoing necessities like food and medical care to pay rising utility bills. A variety of...
When School's Out, Electric School Buses Can Help Keep the Power On
From smallholder farms in Africa to the busy streets of Bogota, communities are reshaping the way the world designs its cities, uses energy and produces food. These examples show not...
How Public Finance Can Help Scale Responsible Critical Mineral Supply
As demand soars for critical minerals like cobalt, copper, lithium and nickel, policymakers face a dual challenge: scaling supply quickly and responsibly. This tradeoff exacerbates environmental and social risks related...
To Protect Its Water, a Wyoming Town Is Investing in Forest Restoration
Every time someone in Wyoming turns on the tap, there’s a good chance their drinking water begins in a forest. From the snow-covered summits of the Wind River Range and...
Updated Decomposition Tools Can Help Integrated Assessment Modelers Better Analyze and Compare Their Results
Researchers and practitioners participating in the seventh assessment cycle of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) can now rely on updated scenario decomposition tools to accelerate scenario troubleshooting and...
These 10 Countries Are Scaling Up Renewable Energy the Fastest
Renewable energy has grown exponentially over the past two decades thanks to government policy and falling prices, far faster than many experts expected. Today, building new solar and onshore wind...
From Pilot to Citywide Change: What it Takes to Scale Climate Action
The low-lying schoolyard of Shuang Wen School (P.S. 184M) in New York City’s Chinatown tells a quiet story of transformation. Once an expanse of asphalt, this schoolyard and the surrounding...
From Neighbors to Networks: Organizing for a Just Recovery and Resilient Communities
Click here to register for Part 2 of the webinar on September 14, 2026 The Climate Justice Alliance’s Just Recovery Working Group and movement partner Survival Bloc present the webinar...
Connecting People Across Sectors to Restore Ethiopia's Landscapes
Healthy landscapes are vital for food security, water resources, biodiversity, livelihoods and climate resilience. But restoring landscapes at scale isn’t just about planting trees. It requires institutions, sectors, private-sector actors...
New Research Finds Building Homes Near Jobs and Transit Could Save Millions in Public Dollars
February 5, 2026 – The United States is facing a housing crisis. Many policymakers are seeking solutions.New research by The Pew Charitable Trusts, led by experts from the New Urban...
Pastoralists Are Protecting Many of the World's Remaining Rangelands
As the sun sets on the vast grasslands of Mongolia’s Eastern Steppe, herders can often be seen guiding sheep, goats, cattle, camels and horses across the open landscape, moving steadily...
Out of Pocket: The real cost of fossil fuels (and AI) on our household bills
This is a guest blog by Rebecca Stoner, Senior US Communications Campaigner at Oil Change International, a research, communications, and advocacy organization working to expose the true costs of fossil...
With 'Agrivoltaics,' Farmers Can Grow Both Food and Energy
Visitors to Roundabout Meadows farm in rural Virginia are greeted by rows of tomatoes, squash, peppers, eggplants and leafy greens. But not long ago, this land faced a very different...
New Global Freshwater Assessment Finds Action Is Failing to Keep Pace with Mounting Pressures
August 11, 2026 — Systems Change Lab today launched its new Freshwater System, bringing together the latest evidence to track global progress across the transformations needed to protect the world’s...
WRI's ProTana Project Starts First Seedling Planting Across Four Watersheds in Ethiopia
August 10, 2026 — The first seedling planting campaign of the Protecting Water Supplies and Catchments in Ethiopia’s Tana Subbasin (ProTana) project took place in July. It’s the project’s first...
A Total Greenwash
Last week, as wildfires tore through southern Europe, TotalEnergies did something that made headlines for all the right reasons. The company announced it would cover fuel costs for French firefighters...
NUMO Helps Build Thriving, Resilient Cities in the US With 'Community Connectors' Program
August 6, 2026 – From 2023 to 2025, NUMO, the New Urban Mobility Alliance, hosted by WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, collaborated with 15 communities in small and midsize...
Changes to Our Power: What South Africa's New Electricity Pricing Reforms Mean for Us
It is a tough time to be in South Africa trying to keep the lights on. Across the country, households are feeling the squeeze as electricity costs continue to rise....
The Best Defense Against 'Natural' Disasters Is Nature Itself
I’ve watched in horror as Europe burns.Ferocious wildfires have swept through Spain, France and now Greece, scorching towns and forests and spewing toxic smoke. Hundreds of thousands of people have...
Lessons From Nepal: Partnerships to Scale Crop Residue-Based Feed for Food Security and Climate
August 5, 2026 — Livestock is central to income and food security for many rural households across South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. But in many places, the feed available for...
The Latest Data Confirms: Forest Fires Are Getting Worse
The latest data confirms what we’ve long feared: Forest fires are becoming more widespread and destructive around the globe. Updated data from researchers at the University of Maryland shows that...
It's Not Enough to Electrify More. We Must Electrify Better.
At 5 a.m., an electric bus glides out of its depot after charging overnight, ready to carry children to school without spewing diesel fumes. As the city stirs, heat pumps...
This UN Tax Conference might sound boring
Today, government negotiators will sit down in New York for the fifth round of talks at the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation. It is the sort of conference...