The World Resources Institute is a global research non-profit organization established in 1982 with funding from the MacArthur Foundation under the leadership of James Gustave Speth. WRI's activities are focused on seven areas: food, forests, water, energy, cities, climate and ocean.
Organization
The World Resources Institute maintains international offices in the United States, China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, and Brazil. The organization's mission is to promote environmental sustainability, economic opportunity, and human health and well-being. WRI partners with local and national governments, private companies, publicly held corporations, and other non-profits, and offers services including global climate change issues, sustainable markets, ecosystem protection, and environmental responsible governance services. WRI has maintained a 4 out of 4 stars rating from Charity Navigator since 1 October 2008. In 2014, Stephen M. Ross, an American real estate developer, gave the organization US$30 million to establish the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities.
Initiatives
WRI's activities are focused on seven areas: food, forests, water, energy, cities, climate and ocean. WRI initiatives include:
The Access Initiative, a civil society network dedicated to ensuring that citizens have the right and ability to influence decisions about the natural resources.
Aqueduct, an initiative to measure, map and understand water risks around the globe.
CAIT Climate Data Explorer, offering chart tools for historic GHG data, Paris contributions and more. this is being integrated into the similar platform
Global Forest Watch, an online forest monitoring and alert system.
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol provides standards, guidance, tools, and trainings for business and government to quantify and manage GHG emissions.
LandMark, a platform providing maps and information on lands that are collectively held and used by Indigenous peoples and local communities
Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy, a public-private collaboration platform and project accelerating focusing on building the circular economy. PACE was launched during the 2018 World Economic Forum Annual meeting; from 2019, WRI is supporting the scale-up of PACE and establish an Action Hub in The Hague.
Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance, a partnership of NGOs, customers, suppliers and policymakers working to increase global use of clean and renewable energy. It has 300 members including Google, GM, Facebook, Walmart, Disney and other large companies, and reached 6 GW capacity in 2018.
The Science Based Targets Initiative helps companies transition to a low-carbon economic profile by setting greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in line with climate science.
