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May 2006, Volume 2, Number 5

Access Initiative participants

April 26 - Indonesia's citizens will have better access to environmental information and a greater chance to influence decision-making about the environment following the government's pledge to join Partnership for Principle 10 (PP10), the association of governments, civil society organizations and international organizations working to implement Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration. Indonesia became the 7th national government -- and the first in Asia -- to join PP10. Indonesia joins the governments of Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Uganda, Ukraine and the United Kingdom as government members. (press release) (Jakarta Post article) (PP10 website)

Indonesia's announcement took place during the first global meeting of The Access Initiative (TAI), the world's largest network of civil society organizations dedicated to ensuring people have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their environment and community. The meeting brought together some 80 TAI partners and supporters from over 40 countries. WRI serves as secretariat for both TAI and PP10.

Caterpillar Logo

April 27 - The Center for Sustainable Transport at WRI, also known as EMBARQ, has received a $7.5 million contribution from the Caterpillar Foundation. The Foundation joins the Shell Foundation, which recently renewed its initial $7.5 million investment in EMBARQ's efforts to meet the sustainable mobility needs of cities across the world. These two contributions form the core of what is expected to total a $43 million philanthropic investment to scale up EMBARQ's sustainable urban transportation projects in some of the world's largest and fastest-growing cities. The funds will be used to support engineering and transportation planning, architectural and design services, communications and transportation management and other services. Over the next five years, EMBARQ plans to replicate its Mexico City success in 13 other locations, including several in Mexico, Porto Alegre in Brazil, Istanbul in Turkey and critical locations in Asia. (press release) (EMBARQ website)
MTV Think: Break the Addiction

April 21 - Following President Bush's State of the Union declaration earlier this year that "America is addicted to oil," MTV announced the network's latest 'pro-social' initiative, BREAK THE ADDICTION, a year-long campaign to engage, educate and empower young people to take simple, daily actions that can have a measurable impact in the fight against global warming. WRI has partnered with MTV to provide expert support to create accurate content on this politically sensitive topic. The campaign launched with a channel takeover on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22, including an on-air, online and wireless messaging campaign about how to help stop global warming, break-ins to regularly scheduled programming that offer environmental lessons, public service announcements, and an MTV News package featuring a leading young environmental activist. (WRI press release) (MTV site)

WRI and The Brookings Institute recently launched a new policy brief series, Tax Reform, Energy and the Environment.The series is designed to educate policymakers and various stakeholders about opportunities to reform the federal tax code in a manner that improves both fiscal health and environmental quality. The first issue, Greening the Tax Code, examines fiscal instruments that both raise revenue and help improve environmental quality. The paper analyzes several different types of pollution taxes, considers current tax expenditures with adverse environmental impacts, discusses ways of integrating these instruments into tax reform packages, and suggests directions for further research. (read the policy brief) (future issues)

EarthTrends focused in April on climate change, the theme for Earth Day 2006. New content includes a feature story on climate trends with links to tips on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, maps of countries which have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, and more. (more here)

Hybrid truck

The New Ventures website this month features Vehizero, one of the many successful enterprises in the NV portfolio of companies pursuing sustainable growth in emerging economies. Based in Mexico and only six years old, Vehizero introduced its hybrid ECCO light truck in February, and plans to begin delivery of the hybrid EggoAlfa taxi in June. Factors like fuel efficiency (up to 60 percent savings in fuel costs) and reduced maintenance are quickly winning over clients. The Vehizero light truck recycles more than 60 percent of its energy, and reduces emissions by 7.2 tons of carbon per vehicle per year. Vehizero hopes to expand its client base in Mexico City over the next couple of years and is considering entering other emerging economy cities. Vehizero is also designing additional hybrid products: a three-ton truck, a 100-passenger bus and a small personal vehicle, which are set to be on the market by 2010. The New Ventures website includes audio clips of interviews with Sean D. O'Hea, one of the company's co-founders. Image credit: Vehizero

WRI has just published the 24-page A Guide to World Resources 2005 that provides a synthesis of the larger report and contains 12 new messages on environmental income and pro-poor governance, based on feedback from readers from around the world to the original report.

World Resources 2005


Malawi's Minister of Mines, Natural Resources and Environment recently called for greater attention to environmental issues by that country's parliament. The minister made the statement at the launch of a new publication entitled, Representing Constituents, Servicing Nature: The Role of an MP in Environment and Natural Resources Management in Malawi, by WRI's partner, the Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy. The launch was also attended by MPs from the Parliamentary Agriculture Committee and members of various nongovernmental organizations in Malawi. The book is one of several case studies on environmental representation undertaken by WRI's partner organizations in Africa. (more here) (pdf of the publication)

April 24 - WRI's Jon Sohn participated in a panel discussion of the World Bank's new framework for promoting investment in clean energy.While acknowledging the framework paper as a useful contribution towards identifying ways forward to promote investment in clean energy, he criticized the document for not clearly setting the context for "clean energy" in terms of associated levels of greenhouse gas emissions and impacts on climate change. Recognising that it was necessary for the Bank to consider a range of approaches to meeting energy needs, Sohn explained the critical importance of remaining "technology neutral" and assessing the full range of carbon and other environmental or social impacts associated with each technology choice. The panel discussion was co- hosted by WRI and the World Bank alongside the Annual Meetings of the World Bank / IMF Board of Governors.

May 1 - The Director of WRI's Climate, Energy and Pollution (CEP) Program, Dr. Jonathan Pershing, has been named the only individual winner in the third annual California Climate Action Registry "Climate Action Champion Awards." Pershing was recognized for demonstrating "exemplary leadership" in addressing climate change. Florence Daviet, an associate in WRI's CEP Program, was also honored with one of the Registry's six Appreciation Awards, designed "to recognize individuals whose help and dedication has been invaluable over the last year." Two companies, BP and Bentley Prince Street, also received awards. (more here)

May 9 - WRI's Dan Tunstall participated as a panelist at a Fordham University discussion on the "Legal Empowerment of the Poor," giving a presentation on the latest edition of the World Resources Report, The Wealth of the Poor: Managing Ecosystems to Fight Poverty. Drawing on examples from the report, he explained how empowering the poor with resource rights can enable them to manage ecosystems better and significantly increase their environmental incomes. Tunstall also emphasized three closely related challenges: scaling up and out community-based natural resource management for the rural poor; supporting nongovernmental organizations that can work with communities and governments to enforce local rights; and increasing the level of investment that donors are willing to make in the rural poor. Other presenters included Naresh Singh, Executive Director of the High Level Commission on the Legal Empowerment of the Poor and Paolo Galizzi, Fordham University School of Law. (presentations available here)


WRI Digest is published monthly by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and sent to subscribers who have opted in. WRI is an independent non-profit organization with a staff of more than 100 scientists, economists, policy experts, business analysts, statistical analysts, mapmakers, and communicators working to protect the Earth and improve people's lives.

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