Jeffrey Immelt (Chairman and C.E.O., General Electric)
with WRI President Jonathan Lash [source]

Corporate Leaders Partner on Climate Action
January 22 - WRI has joined major corporations and other leading NGOs in the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a coalition of leading businesses and environmental groups that is calling on the U.S. government to pass legislation that requires significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
more>> watch press conference video >>
A Call for Action, USCAP's recommendations report >>

WRI U.S. Climate Policy Resources
February 14 - Stay informed on developments in United States climate policy with WRI's resources on legislative analysis, briefs, testimony, charts, publications and more. more>>
WRI President Jonathan Lash responds to the 2007 State of the Union>>

WRI Celebrates 25th Anniversary
February 13 - WRI celebrated its 25th anniversary by hosting a fundraising dinner in NewYork. With a theme of The Courage to Lead, the event honored important individuals and institutions that share WRI's commitment to sustainable development: Jeffrey R. Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE; Elizabeth J. McCormack and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and the late Samuel C. Johnson, environmental and business visionary. more>>

Green Guitars
February 9 - A profile of CEO of Hering Instruments Alberto Bertolazzi, 2006 winner of New Ventures Brazil Investor Forum, is featured on WRI's Web site this month. Bertolazzi makes guitars sourced from sustainably harvested Amazonian species. more>>

Policy News: Biofuels
February 1 - As Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman has held the first of several hearings on biofuels in the 110th Congress. WRI's Jonathan Pershing testified at the hearing, pointing out that biofuels need to be subject to strong standards and to be produced from new, cellulose-based technologies if they are to bring real benefits to the climate or to energy security. WRI submitted detailed written testimony in response to the Committee's specific questions.
more>>

Asian Cities Undertake Sustainable Transport Improvements Based on WRI Study
January 18 - Three cities in China, India, and Vietnam are undertaking major sustainable transport policy initiatives based on research from a WRI study. The report, Sustainable Urban Transport in Asia: Making the Vision a Reality, identifies indicators of sustainable transport to help decision makers in Asian cities better understand the current sustainability of their urban transport systems and to develop more structured and quantified approaches to policy making. more>>

The "Missing Middle" In Development

January 30 - A new feature article from EarthTrends explores the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the futures of emerging economies. The analysis argues that SMEs are an important ingredient for stable and equitable growth in national economies, yet they face stifling financial and regulatory barriers, particularly in developing countries. WRI's New Ventures project assists sustainable SMEs in emerging markets in improving their business plans and strategies, leading to company growth and investment. more>>

EarthTrends Update: Forest Certification and the Path to Sustainable Forest Management
February 7 - Forest certification's role in reducing deforestation is analyzed in EarthTrends' January update. The update provides maps, charts and analysis of deforestation and assesses the benefits and challenges of certification as an option for sustainable forest management. more>>

Upcoming Events

February 15-19, San Francisco, CA, USA: Annual Meeting of the American Association for theAdvancement of Science

February 16-17, College Park, MD, USA: Business Engineering Sustainability Workshop

February 19 -21, San Francisco, CA, USA: Cleantech Venture Forum XII

March 4, Cambridge, MA, USA: Social Enterprise Conference2007

March 12-21, Buenos Aires, Argentina: 5th Session of the Committee for the Review of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification(CRIC-5)

EMBARQ at the Transportation Review Board's Annual Meeting
January 21 - EMBARQ, the WRI Center for Sustainable Transport, presented at side events and chronicled developments on a blog at the Transportation Research Board's 86th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. EMBARQ also hosted Transforming Transportation, an associated two-day event exploring how different regions of the developing world have undertaken sustainable transport planning. The event addressed the challenge of developing effective clean transport solutions that can be scaled and replicated easily in a variety of geographical, cultural, or economic contexts. more>>

Using reverse auctions toallocate funding for conservation
January 16 - A new WRI policy noteexplains how reverse auctions can be used as a cost-effective method forallocating funding in U.S. Farm Bill Conservation Programs. Paying for Environmental Performance: Using reverse auctions to allocate funding for conservation outlines the findings and lessons learned from the Conestoga Reverse AuctionProject in Pennsylvania, where a reverse auction was used to allocate funding to agricultural conservation or best management practices based on each's abilityto reduce phosphorus losses. more>>

WRI in the News

The Economist on the greening ofAmerica

Financial Times on MBA programs' environmental curricula

New York Times on USCAP*

Science on USCAP*

Associated Press on the economics of confronting climate change

Voice of America on USCAP

Associated Press on the consequences of live reef fish trade

San Francisco Chronicle on U.S. congressional action on global warming

The New Yorker on USCAP and the IPCC report

U.S. News and World Report on USCAP

Reuters on developing countries and climate

Austin-American Statesman on South by Southwest music festival going carbon-neutral

Vancouver Sun on habitat loss in Canada

Outside on corporate environmentalism

Earth and Sky on mass transit in the U.S.

Economic Times (India) on irrigation

Atlanta Journal Constitution on biofuels

Nepal Monitor on water management

Ecosystem Marketplace on Goldman Sachs' environmental goals

Environmental Finance on Citigroup's Climate Consequences report

*subscription may be required to access