World Resources Institute Podcasts Plus

Forests and farmland are part of the lives of more than 700 million people in India, but they need to be kept healthy if those people are to flourish. At a time of climate and biodiversity crises, nature-based solutions are a vital part of the answer. This WRI podcast explores the role of nature-based solutions in India. It is presented by Anjali Koppala, and features Romit Sen, Senior Vice Presid...

Measuring the impact of nature-based solutions (NBS) interventions takes consistent ground-level data alongside independent, verifiable, satellite-based data. When collected together, the door opens for more private sector investment, helping to close the nature finance gap that’s at least $700 billion large. We bring you examples from Bangladesh and India to explore how projects are enticing more...

What do the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries need global leaders to achieve at this year’s COP29 UN climate summit? Experts from the Allied for Climate Transformation by 2025 (ACT2025) consortium — a unique coalition amplifying the voices of climate-vulnerable countries in climate negotiations — discuss their hopes, ambitions and concerns going into this year's climate conference, and ref...

Paving the way to COP29 next month and COP30 in 2025, Brazil hosted an impactful Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) at the beginning of October. WRI experts met with global leaders all week, laying a foundation for Latin American countries to demand enabling regulatory frameworks for renewable energy deployment and financing — two topics that regional expert peers also highlighted during our discussio...

The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) is the annual COP of energy where the major drivers of responses to climate change and clean energy solutions can hammer out what the future global energy system could and should look like. It’s a perfect chance ahead of COP29 to gather, deliberate and plan for a decarbonized planet. WRI experts will be on the ground in Brazil all week (September 30 – October 4)...

China’s impact on global supply chains is unparalleled, so decarbonizing the businesses that set up shop in that country — from fashion sector leaders like Decathlon to food & beverage behemoths like Budweiser – is paramount to meeting international energy targets. In the third episode of this series, you’ll hear about the different strategies the CSP team in China is using to slash Scope 3 emissi...

Delivering healthcare is a 24/7 job. But what happens when the electricity supply – necessary for so many critical procedures and equipment, medications, and operating facilities – is unreliable? Hear how HSBC India partnered with WRI India to finance solar power and battery energy storage solutions for rural healthcare facilities across three Indian states of Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Assam. Cr...

All eyes are on Asia as it attempts to complete a clean energy transition away from fossil fuels. National governments will have to work with the private sector to achieve their ambitious climate goals. That’s where the Climate Solutions Partnership (CSP) comes into play. With financial support from HSBC, WRI researchers are innovating and implementing data-backed solutions to steer more private f...

Looking back on the Asian Development Bank’s Asia Clean Energy Forum (ACEF), WRI experts, Marlon Apanada and Jennie Chen explain the important role that WRI plays as a thought-leader, as well as convening stakeholders and implementing innovating solutions to help Asia achieve its clean energy transition goals. Apanada and Chen explore pre-conference predictions and anticipate upcoming major region...

As ACEF 2024 wraps up, WRI brings you a closer look at the innovative aspects of agrivoltaics that China is tapping into to reach its goal of tripling renewable energy by 2030. Looking beyond the clean energy conference, Shengnian Xu, a research associate in WRI China’s Energy program, sees WRI being well-positioned to help lead the global discussions around critical minerals...a topic that domina...

After the first couple of days at ACEF 2024, WRI experts talk about how their work ties into the forum’s overall goals – specifically about how India’s goal of installing 500 GW of clean energy capacity and Indonesia’s plan to decarbonizing difficult to abate industries can be achieved in a manner that doesn’t leave anyone behind. Nada Zuhaira, a Net-Zero Research Analyst with WRI Indonesia’s Ener...

Ahead of the Asia Clean Energy Forum, or ACEF for short, WRI examines the purpose of the premier conference of clean energy stakeholders on the continent. Marlon Apanada, WRI’s Southeast Asia Engagement Lead, for Energy & Climate explains why the tripling of renewable energy and how Asia develops its critical mineral sector are the two key talking points for 2024.

Ultimately, the story of supply chains is a story about people. We spoke with a dozen different supply chain experts from around the world who guided us through the relationships between large corporations and the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that make up their supply chain. As we wrap up this three-part series, our guests explain what companies stand to gain by working more intentio...

The approach that many corporations take with their supply chains passes the environmental and monetary costs down to the small businesses and workers that rely on them. These workers are far more vulnerable to supply chain disruptions – which are becoming more frequent and more destructive as climate impacts worsen. In part two of this three-part series, we discuss the ways that large companies a...

Modern supply chains are global, complex, and touch nearly everyone in some way — you’re either part of the production process for a given commodity, a consumer of that product or service, or both. However, current supply chain practices fail to properly value our natural resources and the people working within them. Over the course of three episodes, you'll hear from a dozen experts who will expl...

What do climate-vulnerable countries want from the forthcoming COP28 conference? In this podcast Nicholas Walton talks to Mark Bynoe and Maria Laura Rojas, two members of the ACT2025 grouping, a coalition amplifying the voices of vulnerable countries in the climate negotiations. What are they hoping for, what are their concerns, and how optimistic are they ahead of COP28?

Carbon Dioxide Removal promises to be an important tool in fighting climate change, but how can countries best use it as they reduce their emissions? WRI recently published a working paper on the challenges and questions surrounding carbon dioxide removal, such as equity, its role in mitigation, and how its use can be monitored. In this WRI podcast Nicholas Walton asks the authors - Katie Lebling,...

What are the big stories to watch for 2023? In this World Resources Institute podcast Ani Dasgupta and Nicholas Walton discuss four: the longer term impact of Russian's invasion of Ukraine on energy; what the re-election of President Lula in Brazil means for tropical forests; why 2023 is a big year for climate finance; and how is the Inflation Reduction Act affecting the US and beyond? You can see...

What is being done to stop marine biodiversity loss? Marine ecosystems are essential for all life on earth, providing benefits ranging from food to economic and recreational opportunities and more – with 3 billion people depending directly on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods. However, it is being lost at an alarming rate. COP15 in Montreal saw governments from around the world...

The evidence continues to mount that the climate crisis is urgent, and action needs to be taken now to avert it and to minimise its impacts. Nowhere is this more true than for those vulnerable countries who are most at risk from its impacts. Many of these countries are part of a grouping called ACT2025, which tries to ensure that their voices are heard. So what exactly do they want? In this podcas...

Tackling climate change and its impacts is complex and multifaceted, and involves everything from simply reducing the fossil fuel emissions in energy generation through to looking at agricultural land use. And then there’s the role of the circular economy in making a decisive impact on tackling climate change. That’s the subject of a new report led by the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Eco...

Why is climate finance such an important issue, and how does it affect the world's most climate-vulnerable countries? In this podcast we look at the Pacific island nation of Fiji, which is on the frontline of climate change-related impacts such as coral bleaching, sea level rises, and extreme weather events. Fiji's attempts to meet this challenge were dealt a severe blow by Cyclone Winston and the...

The World Resources Institute is now 40 years old, but how have the world's climate challenges changed in that time? And how has WRI evolved to meet them? In this podcast, Ani Dasgupta talks about 4 decades of climate action, about technology, growing global awareness of climate change, and the need to make sure climate action is about equity as well as carbon reduction. Former WRI presidents Gus...

Is it possible to predict conflict? That's what the Water, Peace and Security Partnership's machine learning early warning tool sets out to do. Four times a year the predictions are analyzed and turned into a quarterly report. In this third WPS quarterly report podcast we look at the water stresses facing Iraq, from water shortages to water quality, and hear why they're undermining governance in t...

The Inflation Reduction Act that has been signed into law by President Biden is seen as good news for US efforts to combat climate change. But what are the international implications of the Act? In this short podcast the President of WRI, Ani Dasgupta, talks about how the Act will add momentum to international climate action with Nicholas Walton. You can find out more here: * 6 benefits from the I...