World Resources Institute Research Articles

Profiling food waste in the retail sector of developing economies

ABSTRACT Food loss and waste (FLW) continues to have economic, environmental, and reputational risks for retailers. However, standardised baseline data to engage this challenge is often absent in developing economies. We quantify FLW for all the retail outlets from a major retailer operating in southern Africa by using the World Resources Institute’s FLW Accounting and Reporting Standard and its reporting template for three-month trial period. The data enabled us to reflect on the appropriateness of the Standard for retailers in these economies, which proved adequate subject to recommended changes to the template before implementation.

Bucking the Trend: Civil Society and the Strengthening of Environmental Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract In 2021, environmental procedural rights were strengthened in Latin America and the Caribbean when the legally binding Escazu Agreement came into force. This new treaty seeks to implement Principle 10 of the 1992 Rio Declaration, which promotes access to information, participation, and justice in environmental matters. The treaty is empirically and theoretically surprising: it bucks the growing trend of informalization in regional and international cooperation and is more highly legalized than institutional design theory would predict. Applying an interpretivist logic of inquiry and drawing on interviews with twenty-three participants in the negotiations, I argue that this outcome can be explained by an alignment of structural conditions that facilitated an alliance between ambitious state and nonstate actors and enabled their influence throughout negotiations. Applying theories of political opportunities and mobilization structures, I show how a network created by the World Resources Institute influenced the agreement’s design and helped secure a high degree of obligation and precision in Latin America’s first environmental treaty.

Electrifying US School Bus Fleets Equitably to Reduce Air Pollution Exposure in Underserved Communities

World Resources Institute and Equitable Cities investigate how the fuel type and age of school bus fleets may be affecting U.S. communities disproportionately exposed to air pollution. Researchers explore how a focus on equity has brought zero-emission electric school buses to the school districts most harmed by the oldest, most polluting diesel school buses.

Faith-Based Participation in Natural- Resource Governance: Communities Defending Life and Territories in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico

The World Resources Institute and the Laudato Si' Research Institute, Campion Hall, University of Oxford, in partnership with local researchers and communities in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico explore how religious actors shape strategies to find peaceful resolutions to socio-environmental disputes in their regions.

Forest and Natural Vegetation Cover Loss Over 2000 to 2020 in Sri Lanka; A Canopy Density Base Analysis

As one of the most important biodiversity hotspot, forest and natural vegetation areas play an essential role in the global ecosystem. It provides an uncountable number of ecosystem services while controlling the adverse impacts of climatic changes. With the expansion of civilization and fulfilling the infinite needs of man, forests and natural vegetation areas were destroyed, especially for agricultural purposes, development projects and timber. Due to this, the accelerated growth of deforestation and loss of natural vegetation can be observed in Sri Lanka in the past few decades. This study aimed to identify the forest and natural vegetation area loss from 2000 to 2020 with a particular focus on the Canopy Density (CD) of tree cover (>25%, >50% and >75%) in Sri Lanka. The satellite estimated data (30 mx30 m resolution) was downloaded from the 2000 to 2020 time period from the Global Forest Watch (GFW) online platform conducted by the World Resource Institute were used. Spatial and temporal changing patterns of the forest and natural vegetation areas have been identified using descriptive analysis methods (percentage) using MS Excel 2019 software. Results of the study found that in 2000, 61.38 percent of the country was covered with above 25% tree cover CD, while 53.86 percent and 39.76 percent of areas have covered with the tree cover CD above 50% and 75%, respectively. However, when it has come to 2020, these areas have decreased by 52.78 percent (>25% CD), 44.27 percent (>50% CD) and 28.65 percent (>75% CD). During this period, 8.6 percent (>25% CD), 9.59 percent (>50% CD) and 11.11 percent (>75% CD) of the forest and natural vegetation areas of Sri Lanka have lost the country. Throughout this period, 2016 can be identified as a year at risk for deforestation due to its annual deforestation rate (>8.8 percent). The total area of forest cover lost in 2016 is 17799 ha (>25% CD), 15583 ha (>50% CD) and 9865 ha (>75% CD). This is nearly 13 percent of forest cover loss for all three types of CD tree cover areas. According to the calculations of the forest areas that have >75% of CD, Anuradhapura (12.06%), Kurunegala (9.82%), and Monaragala (8.49%) districts are the areas that contributed to forest cover loss in the country during 2000 to 2020. According to the study, the annual deforestation rate is still very high. Hence should be needed to monitor and take action to stop deforestation and achieve sustainability in natural resource management in Sri Lanka. 
 Keywords: Deforestation, Canopy density, Tree cover, Natural resource management, Sri Lanka

Evaluating the Financial Future of Electric Utilities Using Scenarios Analysis: The Case of Tamil Nadu

This paper analyzes the impact of multiple scenarios on the utility’s financials using Revenue and Tariff Analysis for Electric Utilities (RATE) model. The RATE modeling tool can provide actionable insights into the impact of various decisions on overall demand–supply scenarios, the energy balance, and revenue gaps. The model was customized for application to Tamil Nadu (TN) by World Resources Institute (WRI) in collaboration with Prayas (Energy Group) as a knowledge partner.

Towards AI-Based Condition Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance for Water Smart Pipes: The SANDMAN Approach

Pipes age and corrosion are the main factors of leakage in water distribution networks. According to the World Resources Institute, European countries will face water problems by 2040. If we take Italy as an example, more than 40% of drinking water was lost in 2020 due to leaky aqueducts. Decrepit pipes can lead to environmental concerns, economical losses, and potential public health problems if water gets contaminated. Localizing leakage positions in an accurate way is often a big challenge. On the other side, replacing decrepit pipes is not an easy task and usually costly. An optimal solution to deal with water leakage is to use smart pipes where appropriate sensors monitoring the conditions of the pipes are incorporated in. Digitalization plays a crucial role here. By providing accurate information about the pipes, and use artificial intelligence techniques for data analysis, potential leakages and their corresponding positions can be detected in time, which allows to schedule a maintenance task as soon as possible. The current paper discusses the use of smart pipes combined with predictive maintenance and shows how this combination improves water leakage detection, hence minimizing water waste, and protecting the environment. The solution was validated in an experimental setup put in place by the Italian company EKSO s.r.l in its factory facilities in Rozallo, Italy. The obtained results show the feasibility of the solution and the relevance of using artificial intelligence techniques for predicting degradation in smart pipes.

Design of smart farming communication and web interface using MQTT and Node.js

Abstract The sustainable development goals (SDGs) are a UN agenda that has been approved by all UN member states. The SDGs have 17 targets, one of which is to eliminate hunger. In 2050, the world’s population is expected to reach 9.7 billion people. Improved soil and water management, according to the World Resources Institute, is one of the options for feeding 10 billion people sustainably by 2050. In comparison to conventional farming, smart and precision farming produces higher productivity at a lower cost. Based on the search for literature studies related to the development of agricultural technology, it was found that communication methods and online interfaces still require further improvement. The steps for developing the system are designing the architecture and end-to-end communication flow, designing use case diagrams, designing entity-relationship diagrams, designing user flow diagrams, implementing the system through code development, and finally testing the system. Planned communication and web design for precision smart agriculture are implemented effectively. The MQTT is used to communicate with the Node.js server worker. Data from numeric image feeds and images are directly processed by the system. The server will store all received data, including numeric data and live feeds, for future use. The back end of the website has many functions such as dataset management, device management, user administration, firmware management, control management, and live image feed management are some of the capabilities available. When 100 users access the system simultaneously, the RAM usage on the server is 167 MB. RAM utilization reaches 389 MB when 400 users access the system simultaneously. The limit for simultaneous user connections to the web interface is 400 users. The maximum number of devices that can be connected simultaneously via MQTT communication is 900.

Technical and artistic production by brazilian postgraduate courses with emphasis on Social Sciences and Humanities

Understanding production types helps define the impact of different knowledge areas. Informa-tion from the Sucupira postgraduate database was taken. Cluster and correspondence analyses were conducted to determine the behavior of different areas. Social Sciences (SS), Humanities (H), Letters, Literature & Arts (LLA) were responsible for almost all productions, except for those in scientific journals and events. All areas have a high interaction with the business sector. SS, H, and LLA showed more work for governments (local, state, or federal), which funded products such as computer/mobile apps, books, and chapters. Funding related to art and culture is varied. Demand for maps came from SEEG (System for Estimates of Emissions and Removal of Greenhouse Gases) and WRI (World Resources Institute). The technical, artistic, and cultural sectors cannot be excluded from the evaluation, as they are part of knowledge and have a political and socioeconomic impact.

A Forest Protection Model Based on Local Wisdom of the Kotabaru Dayak Indigenous Communities in Kalimantan Selatan Forest Conservation

Indonesia's forest management is still unable to fulfill the constitutional mandate, thus driving the rate of forest degradation and deforestation. This very high damage occurred in the concession area, therefore forest management in customary lands must be returned to indigenous peoples who do have constitutional rights. Furthermore, based on previous research conducted by the World Resource Institute, forest management under the control of indigenous peoples runs more effectively than forest management outside the scope of adat and can reduce the rate of forest deforestation. The purpose of this research is to answer 2 (two) main issues, namely; (1) Analyzing forest protection based on local laws of the Dayak Kotabaru indigenous people on environmental sustainability; (2) Finding a forest protection model based on the local law of the Dayak Kotabaru indigenous people in Kalimantan Selatan. The research method used in the first year is an empirical research method that examines the forest protection model based on local laws of the indigenous Dayak community in Kalimantan Selatan. In the second year, using the socio-legal research, discovered the concept of regional policies in forest management based on the values ??contained in the local legal system of the Dayak indigenous people in Kalimantan Selatan.

Lost harvest: examining the association between postharvest food loss and food insecurity in semi-arid Ghana

ABSTRACT According to the World Resources Institute, about one in every four calories produced for human consumption globally is not eventually consumed by humans. In sub-Saharan Africa, postharvest food loss (PHL) alone accounts for 20–30% of annual production, with an estimated value of 1.6 billion USD. Yet, agricultural policies that target improving food security have largely focused on augmenting productivity with little attention to PHL reduction. That notwithstanding, PHL has the potential to undermine several key dimensions of food insecurity. For instance, it can compromise household food reserves and drive food price hikes. Reductions in food quality may also impact food utilization. The prevalence of PHL and its relationship with food insecurity, however, remains underexplored. Using a cross-sectional survey of smallholder farming households (n = 1100) in Ghana, we examined the association between PHL and food insecurity. Our findings show that, on average, 22% of household harvest is lost postharvest. Nested ordered logistic regression analysis revealed a statistically significant relationship between PHL and food insecurity. A unit increase in PHL (OR = 1.08; p ≤ 0.05) was significantly associated with an 8% increase in the odds of being severely food insecure. Our findings provide an empirical basis for the argument that addressing PHL is a viable entry point for addressing food insecurity in the Global South. While it is crucial to pay attention to production concerns, food policy must simultaneously address postharvest management challenges of smallholder farmers. Policies that prioritize investment in contextually relevant and low-cost solutions to postharvest management will be timely.

Risk assessment of circular economy practices in construction industry of Pakistan

The construction industry (CI) is responsible for consuming 3 billion tons of natural raw materials annually. Also, as per the survey by World Resources Institute, the CI accounts for 40 % of the total waste generated globally. The solution to this inefficient resource usage and adverse effects on the ecosystem is implementing Circular Economy (CE) practices in CI. However, the concept of circular construction is in developmental stages. Therefore, it is more prone to damaging risks than traditional construction. The primary aim of this study is to identify and assess the risk related to implementing CE practices in developing country construction sector. To achieve this aim, 25 risks were shortlisted from the literature review and evaluated upon the probability, detection, and severity risk criteria. This study proposed a novel hybrid fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach to analyze the shortlisted risks. Fuzzy Step Wise Assessment Ratio Analysis (FSWARA) is employed to gauge the risk criterion weightage. Moreover, Fuzzy VIKOR (FVIKOR) is used to determine the risks' ranking as per the weightage of the risk criterion. The analyses ranked “lack of political support and incentives for circular construction”, “difficulty in selection of circular construction experts”, “profit uncertainty”, and “circular material quality” as the most critical risks. Therefore, it is recommended for legislative authority to devise a framework that promotes and provides support to circular construction. Moreover, this study fills the literature gap by assessing the risks of CE practices in the CI of Pakistan.

Transforming Streets into Public Spaces Using Menged Le Sew as a Driver

Addis Ababa, the traffic-choked capital of Ethiopia with an ever-growing population, faces an urban crisis regarding road safety and mobility in recent years. To tackle these challenges, the government of Ethiopia and collaborative stakeholders launched a movement called Menged Le Sew (Streets for People), which takes place once a month since December 2018 in Addis Ababa and a few other cities in Ethiopia. The government's strategy to restrict cars once a month gives people an opportunity to reclaim public spaces. Residents of the cities use the open streets for different activities such as, participating in various sports, exercising, health campaigns, active mobility, and serving as a playground for children. To further promote the campaign nationwide and increase its longevity and aimed at serving as a guidebook for stakeholders organizing similar Menged Le Sew events, a toolkit was recently developed and launched by the Addis Ababa Traffic Management Agency and the World Resources Institute, Africa. However, the complexity of urban mobility, rising urbanization, and cross-sectoral interdependence necessitate a management strategy that blends new forms of governance and cooperation while emphasizing public participation to find and execute strategies to promote systemic change. Even though the movement has already started bearing fruit, to make the gains more sustainable and to race with the extremely growing mobility and urbanization challenges, this paper suggests a new framework and strategies of street experiments, taking the already existing and widely accepted movement (Menged Le Sew) as a potential ground. The study introduces the urbanization and mobility crisis in the country, then discusses the context of car-free days as a pathway for the sociotechnical transition towards sustainable mobility and proposes a framework for the actualization of this transition.

The carbon footprint of government health department fleet vehicles in Johannesburg, South Africa – a case study

ABSTRACT The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that climate change is caused by human activities. This case study presents findings on the vehicle use by the Department of Health in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng province, South Africa. The objectives of this study are to estimate the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of government fleet vehicles and to identify mitigation measures to reduce the vehicle carbon emissions. Both the World Resource Institute Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) and the United Kingdom Department of Environmental Forestry and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) methodologies were used. The study revealed that the government fleet vehicles emitted 1362 t CO2e for a five year period (2010 − 2014), which is equivalent to $ 9 071 of the South African carbon tax. Various measures to reduce CO2e emissions were recommended, money saving from fuel and potential revenue generating opportunities were identified, including the use of hybrid vehicles.

Changes in Climate Vulnerability and Projected Water Stress of The Gambia's Food Supply Between 1988 and 2018: Trading With Trade-Offs.

BackgroundThe coexistence of under- and overnutrition is of increasing public health concern in The Gambia. Fruits, vegetables and pulses are essential to healthy and sustainable diets, preventing micronutrient deficiencies and non-communicable diseases, while cereals significantly contribute to energy intake. However, environmental changes are predicted to intensify, reducing future yields of these crops if agricultural productivity and resilience are not improved. The Gambia is highly climate-vulnerable and import-dependent, but the extent of its reliance on other climate-vulnerable countries for its supply of nutritionally important crops is currently unknown.MethodsWe used United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization data, with novel origin-tracing algorithms applied, to analyse The Gambia's supply of cereals, fruits, vegetables and pulses between 1988 and 2018. The climate vulnerability of countries was assessed using Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN) index scores, and projected water stress (2040) assessed using World Resources Institute (WRI) scores. Multilevel generalized linear mixed-effects models were used to identify changes in the overall climate vulnerability and projected water stress of supply.ResultsBetween 1988 and 2018, The Gambia's supply of cereals, fruits, vegetables and pulses diversified, with the proportion domestically produced falling (Cereals: 61.4%–27.7%; Fruits: 93.0%–55.7%; Vegetables: 24.6%–16.3%; Pulses: 100.0%–76.0%). The weighted-average ND-GAIN scores improved (indicating less climate vulnerability) for supply of all crops except cereals, but the weighted-average WRI score for supply deteriorated (indicating increased projected water stress) for all crops except vegetables. When just considering imports, weighted-average ND-GAIN scores deteriorated for fruits and cereals while showing no significant change for other food groups, and the WRI score deteriorated for cereals only.ConclusionsDespite some notable improvements in the environmental vulnerability of The Gambia's supply of nutritionally important crops (particularly vegetables), considerable, and in some cases increasing, proportions of their supply are produced in countries that are vulnerable to climate change and future water stress. This may have implications for the availability, affordability, and hence consumption of these crops in The Gambia, ultimately exacerbating existing nutritional challenges. Exploring the options to strengthen supply resilience—such as altering trade patterns, agricultural techniques and diets—should be prioritized.

Female representation on boards of directors and environmental disclosure: evidence of the Brazilian GHG protocol program

PurposeThis study aims to identify a relationship between the presence of women on the board of directors (BOD) of Brazilian companies and the firms’ disclosure and participation in projects or initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.Design/methodology/approachThe research used an adaptation of the model by Ben-Amar et al. (2017), added two other gender variables and analyzed a sample of 42 companies listed on the Brazilian stock exchange that participate in the Brazilian GHG protocol program. As for the models with the variables of interest, the most significant was the female percentage, Blau’s index, the dummy of female presence, the number of women on BOD, total years with the woman on board and the number of committees the board women were.FindingsThe results for the sample showed that women were present on the BOD 475 times, against a male presence of 4,538 times. Empirical evidence confirms the research hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between the presence of women on the BOD and the likelihood of participation in the Brazilian GHG protocol program.Research limitations/implicationsThe fact that few companies are listed on Brasil, Bolsa and Balcão and participate in the Brazilian GHG protocol program. Therefore, the impact of these findings may be reduced when compared with countries presenting more listed companies that have joined this type of program to diminish GHG emissions.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on accounting, discussing carbon accounting in the field of environmental accounting and emphasizing that climate change-related risks greatly influence business and corporate assets. According to an article published by the World Resources Institute Brasil (2019), Brazil is the seventh country with the highest GHG emissions in the world.

THE QUALITIES OF HUMAN BEING

1. The sources of electricity production such as coal, oil, and natural gas have contributed to one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. It is essential to raise the standard of living by providing cleaner and more reliable electricity . India has an increasing energy demand to fulfill the economic development plans that are being implemented. The provision of increasing quanta of energy is a vital pre-requisite for the economic growth of a country. The National Electricity Plan [NEP] framed by the Ministry of Power (MoP) has developed a 10-year detailed action plan with the objective to provide electricity across the country, and has prepared a further plan to ensure that power is supplied to the citizens efficiently and at a reasonable cost. According to the World Resource Institute Report 2017 , India is responsible for nearly 6.65% of total global carbon emissions, ranked fourth next to China (26.83%), the USA (14.36%), and the EU (9.66%). Climate change might also change the ecological balance in the world. Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) have been submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. The latter has hoped to achieve the goal of limiting the rise in global temperature to well below 2 °C . According to a World Energy Council prediction, global electricity demand will peak in 2030. India is one of the largest coal consumers in the world and imports costly fossil fuel . Close to 74% of the energy demand is supplied by coal and oil.

Chasing World-Class Urbanism: Global Policy versus Everyday Survival in Buenos Aires

Chasing World-Class Urbanism: Global Policy versus Everyday Survival in Buenos Aires

Influence of China’s Overseas power stations on the electricity status of their host countries

ABSTRACT China has become a major investor and constructor of electrical power plants in developing countries. However, the impacts of China's overseas power stations (COPSs) on the developing countries hosting them are poorly understood. Here, a novel method is proposed to evaluate the influence of COPSs in 80 host countries. First, their electricity consumption from 1971 to 2017 was estimated using data provided by the World Bank, International Energy Agency, and World Resources Institute. Regression analysis was then used to predict consumption from 2018 to 2025. Finally, three parameters were used to evaluate the influences of COPSs. The results show that: 1) COPSs significantly increased the total installed capacity of 35 of the host countries by > 20%. 2) The power generated by COPSs is greater than the growing demands of 32 of the host countries. 3) COPSs will increase the per capita electricity consumption of all 80 host countries. 4) Among the 437 COPSs existing in 2000–2019, renewable power plants (including hydropower) were most numerous, accounting for 51.3%. This proportion increased significantly after 2013 and renewable plants will continue to dominate as China will no longer invest in new coal-fired power stations after 2021.

Do not transform food systems on the backs of the rural poor.

Even prior to COVID, there was a considerable push for food system transformation to achieve better nutrition and health as well as environmental and climate change outcomes. Recent years have seen a large number of high visibility and influential publications on food system transformation. Literature is emerging questioning the utility and scope of these analyses, particularly in terms of trade-offs among multiple objectives. We build on these critiques of emerging food system transformation approaches in our review of four recent and influential publications from the EAT-Lancet Commission, the IPCC, the World Resources Institute and the Food and Land Use Coalition. We argue that a major problem is the lack of explicit inclusion of the livelihoods of poor rural people in their modeling approaches and insufficient measures to ensure that the nature and scale of the envisioned changes will improve these livelihoods. Unless livelihoods and socioeconomic inclusion more broadly are brought to the center of such approaches, we very much risk transforming food systems to reach environmental and nutritional objectives on the backs of the rural poor.