WRI Digest
March 2006, Volume 2, Number 3

The Evidence is Overwhelming
March 13 - WRI released a review of last year's major climate research. The studies indicate how changes due to human-induced climate change are already having quantifiable effects on the environment.

The review comes to three critical conclusions:

• Taken collectively, the studies suggest that the world may well have moved past a key physical tipping point.
• The science tells us the effects of climate change are at a scale that adds enormous urgency not only to the efforts to prevent additional change, but equally important, to efforts to adapt to the impacts already occurring.
• The science makes it clear that additional climate impacts will result even if emissions of greenhouse gases are halted immediately.

Mexico Honors Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
February 22 - Mexico's environment ministry honored fifteen major companies using the Mexico GHG Program, established with WRI assistance, to voluntarily report their greenhouse gas emissions. The companies recognized include CEMEX, PEMEX, and Ford de Mexico. The GHG emissions reported by the fifteen companies represent roughly 25 percent of total national emissions generated by heat and electricity generation and industrial processes. The first of its kind in a developing country, the Mexico GHG Program was established in 2004 by the Mexican Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources, WRI and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. (WRI press release here)

Launch of Carbon Capture and Storage Project
February 28 - WRI launched its new carbon capture and storage (CCS) program with a stakeholders' workshop in Washington, DC. CCS is increasingly viewed as an essential component of any strategy to stabilize greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a safe level. CCS involves purifying carbon dioxide from a mix of industrial or power plant gases, compressing it for transport to a storage site, injecting it deep underground into stable geological formations, and monitoring its behavior to ensure safe isolation for hundreds or thousands of years. (more here) Image credit: Kinder Morgan CO2 Company

Measuring Capital for the 21st Century
February 28 - WRI's Dan Tunstall participated in a panel discussion on the World Bank's recent Where is the Wealth of Nations? report. WRI took the opportunity to compare the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment's accounting of ecosystem services with the "Millennium Capital Assessment" chapter of the report, which takes stock of the various forms (human, financial, natural) that wealth takes in different countries. Among other recommendations, WRI challenged the World Bank to invest in collection of data and in studies that estimate the value of natural resources, to better inform government decisions about natural resource rights and uses.

Upcoming Events

• March 20-31, Curitiba, Brazil: Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of Parties 8

• March 23-24, Curitiba, Brazil: Conference on The Role of the Private Sector on Implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity

• April 25-27, Bangkok, Thailand: The Access Initiative Global Meeting

• May 23-25, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States: 2nd National Water Quality Trading Conference

EarthTrends Environmental Essay Competition, Redesign
February 20 - EarthTrends, WRI's online environmental information portal, announced an environmental essay competition for full- or part-time undergraduate or graduate students. Winners will receive a cash prize of up to $500, with essays to be published on the EarthTrends website. EarthTrends has also redesigned their homepage, which nowincludes an "Ask EarthTrends" forum, and news briefs relevant to current events and EarthTrends data. A large number of updated variables and this month's feature story on infectious diseases round out the new offerings.

Korean Translation of "Closing the Gap"
The landmark Closing the Gap: Information, Participation, and Justice in Decision-Making for the Environment has been released in Korean, the first foreign-language translation of the work. The original publication, released in English in 2002, addresses the status of access to information, participation, and justice in nine countries -- Chile, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda, and the United States. The publication answers the questions, "What have national governments done -- and what do they still need to do -- to create effective systems of public participation in their countries?" (English, Korean versions here)

New Ventures Launches
New Website
March 13 - WRI's New Ventures program has redesigned its website to make it easier to navigate current information about investment opportunities in environmentally sustainable businesses in developing countries. New content includes a calendar of upcoming events, announcement of MBA projects for summer 2006, and a searchable portfolio of more than 100 New Ventures companies.

WRI announces New Board Members
March 14 - At its board meeting, WRI announced the addition of Gretchen Long and Dr. Diana H. Wall to its board of directors. Ms. Long has served on boards including Environmental Defense, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, National Outdoor Leadership School, and Rails to Trails. Since 1996, she has been a trustee and chair of the National Parks Conservation Association, and also serves on the boards of the Land Trust Alliance, the Sonoran Institute, and Scenic Hudson. Dr. Wall is Senior Research Scientist at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University. Her present work focuses on the contribution of soil biodiversity to healthy, productive soils and thus to society, and the consequences of human activities on soil sustainability. (press release here) Frances Beinecke, Julia Marton-Lefevre, David Buzzelli, and Michael Deland are departing.