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WRI Digest
July 2006, Volume 2, Number 7
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 Mexico City Metrobus Users Breathe Easy
June 20 - Studies conducted by the Mexican National Ecology Institute and the Center for Sustainable Transport-Mexico suggest that users of Mexico City's Metrobus, an EMBARQ project, have a 50 percent lower risk of exposure than regular bus riders to suspended particles, carbon monoxide, and benzene, all considered health hazards. Government Secretary Ricardo Ruiz recently told the Mexico City daily La Reforma that if bus concessionaires and the public agree, the Metrobus model should be adopted in other parts of the city. Guillermo Calderon, head of Metrobus, noted that 6 percent of current users, or approximately 15,000 passengers, had switched from driving their cars to using Metrobus. Metrobus has carried more than 50 million passengers in its first year of operation along Insurgentes Boulevard in Mexico City. EMBARQ is exploring opportunities to replicate the Mexico City success in cities around the world, including Porto Alegre, Brazil, and Istanbul, Turkey. (more) | |
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Paying for Performance
July 12 - WRI's most recent Policy Note explores the allocation of funding in United States Farm Bill conservation programs, and offers recommendations on how to more efficiently and effectively allocate conservation funding. Written largely in the context of United States Department of Agriculture Environmental Qualities Incentives Program (which has one of the largest budgets of the Farm Bill conservation programs), the recommendations apply to the funding of conservation practices in general. The top three recommendations are: 1) Tie conservation payments to quantitative measures or estimates of environmental performance, where possible; 2) Allocate funds based on biggest environmental return in all conservation programs; 3) Standardize the mechanics of conservation program ranking criteria at the national level. (more)
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Korean Companies to Focus on Climate Change
June 29 - WRI has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Energy Management Corporation, representing more than 1,000 member companies, to establish a partnership on regional climate change and energy initiatives in Asia. Key objectives of this partnership are to assist the South Korean government and its industry to adopt the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and to develop and implement regional partnerships and approaches focused on GHG mitigation such as emission trading schemes.
World Bank Excited by Its Future Neutrality
The International Finance Corporation (IFC)'s partnership with WRI during the development of the recently released Hot Climate, Cool Commerce: A Service Sector Guide to Greenhouse Gas Management was a significant contributing factor to the World Bank headquarters' recent announcement of its goal to become carbon neutral by purchasing green, renewable power; and by purchasing carbon offset credits in Moldova and Costa Rica. | |
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Access Flows from Irish Waters
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe recently announced the inclusion of The Access Initiative (TAI) toolkit and a TAI water governance report for Ireland in the Aarhus Secretariat Clearinghouse for Environmental Democracy. The Aarhus Clearinghouse was established in 2004 and provides a forum for the collection, dissemination and exchange of information on laws, policies and good practices relevant to the rights of public access to information, public participation in environmental decision-making and public access to justice on environmental issues. (Irish water study) (Aarhus Clearinghouse website) | |
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Existing Reserves Won't Save Reefs
Coral reefs worldwide are suffering massive declines in their diversity, and the accelerating decay of marine ecosystems has motivated multinational efforts to reduce biodiversity loss. Yet existing marine reserves are insufficient for the protection of coral reef diversity, says a recent article in the journal Science. Although marine protected areas (MPAs) have succeeded on a limited scale, little evaluation has been done of their benefits to diversity at the global scale. The paper provides a global assessment of the extent, effectiveness, and gaps in the coverage of coral reefs by MPAs. The paper cites WRI's recent Reefs at Risk publications. Image (c) Wolcott Henry 2005. (more) | |
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ADB Launches Consultations on Energy Policy
June 22 - In the midst of its recent Clean Energy Week, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched a series of consultations to assess the relevance and future direction of its energy policies. Rapid economic growth in Asia has put pressure on Asian countries to secure their energy supply in order to maintain high growth. This and other developments, such as the surging price of oil, has elevated the need for energy conservation, energy efficiency, and the use of renewable energy as key priorities for developing countries in the region. Meanwhile, climate change has emerged as an important issue requiring immediate mitigation and adaptation. Stakeholders, including Smita Nakhooda of WRI, have urged ADB to emphasise the need for improving governance in energy in order to address the challenges of poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability in energy. (more) | |
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A Giant of a Shrimp Farmer
In 2002, nine years after its founding, a shrimp aquaculture company in Brazil faced the very real prospect of financial collapse. The company focused at that time on raising shrimp through conventional methods, but international prices had suddenly dropped. Primar chose to become the first company to enter the Brazilian organic shrimp industry. The family-owned business, which entered the New Ventures network in 2004, now sustainably produces organic shrimp worth twice their conventional rivals for supermarkets like Carrefour and Wal-Mart by recreating the natural habitat of Brazilian marine life, preserving species while breeding high quality shrimp that are free of pesticides, hormones and pollutants. Primar is further establishing itself as a leader in aquaculture by being the first producer of organic oysters this year. It will also begin incorporating fish into the product line by 2008. (company profile) | |
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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