Our Biggest Stories of 2024
Below, we’ve compiled some of our top stories from 2024. The list includes a visual history of carbon emissions, groundbreaking analyses on water-stressed foods and extreme heat, a global climate action tracker, and more.
We hope you’ll take a look back on this important year for people, nature and climate, and support our work in producing more insightful content in the year ahead.
Analyzing Today's Challenges
Floods and Fires on the Rise
2024 witnessed an onslaught of climate disasters, from record wildfires across South America to deadly floods in Kenya and Brazil. Our experts helped explain why these events are getting worse and how people are building resilience in unexpected ways.
What Could 3 Degrees C of Warming Look Like?
What will happen if the world stays on course for nearly 3 degrees C of temperature rise this century? We modeled future heatwaves and other climate risks in nearly 1,000 of the world’s largest cities to find out. Read more.
1/4 of World’s Crops Threatened by Water Risks
New data on WRI’s Aqueduct platform revealed that one-quarter of the world’s crops are grown in areas where water is highly stressed, highly unreliable or both — threats that could exacerbate hunger. Read more.
Tracking Deforestation Around the Globe
The world lost an alarming amount of trees in 2023: almost 10 football (soccer) fields of tropical primary forest per minute. But there were glimmers of progress, too, like Brazil and Colombia reducing primary forest loss by 36% and 49%, respectively. Read more.
The History of Carbon Dioxide Emissions
Our visual history of carbon emissions shows which countries have contributed most to climate change — and how that list has changed over the last two centuries. Read more.
Exploring Solutions
Small Farmers Are Bringing Brazil's Amazon Back to Life
Small-scale farmers are reviving abandoned palm oil plantations in the Amazon, showing that food production and healthy forests can go hand-in-hand. Read more.
A New Solution to Power Africa
Expanding electricity access in Africa does little good if people can’t afford it. But what if renewable power could also be used to boost people’s incomes, tackling both issues at once? Read more.
领英推荐
Our Health Depends on a Healthy Ocean
From staple foods to cancer-treating drugs, people everywhere rely on the ocean in more ways than they might realize — which means keeping it healthy should be a top priority. Read more.
Is There Such a Thing As Better Meat?
WRI research found that options like grass-fed and free-range meat, which are better for animals, often take a bigger toll on the planet than conventional farming. So, what's really the “better” option? Read more.
Conserving Biodiversity Hinges on Indigenous Rights
Lands managed by Indigenous Peoples and local communities are some of the last biodiversity strongholds. But without secure legal rights, they can't always protect these pristine ecosystems from harm. Read more.
Raising Global Ambition
Tracking Progress on Global Climate Pledges
WRI’s climate commitment tracker takes stock of how countries are progressing on their promises to scale up renewables, halt deforestation, stem methane emissions and more. Read more.
The Climate Action We Need This Decade
The world is on track to cut emissions 1% by 2030. To prevent increasingly dangerous climate change impacts, that number needs to be 42% — a yawning gap, but one that’s still possible to close. We outlined how. Read more.
Climate Action, Despite Trump
President Donald Trump’s re-election was undoubtedly a blow to U.S. climate and environmental action — but not a death knell, say WRI experts. Read more.
Stepping Up National Climate Commitments
2025 will reveal a lot about where climate action is headed, with nearly all countries expected to submit new national commitments for the coming decade. Here’s what to know. Read more.
Denmark Sets a New Bar for Agriculture
Denmark’s groundbreaking agriculture policy is the most ambitious national effort yet to tackle the environmental impacts of farming, setting a new bar other countries should strive to meet. Read more.
Get more stories like this delivered right to your e-mail inbox??
Global Lead- Climate Resilience and Adaptation
2 个月This article is a treasure trove of knowledge and insight. Thanks for all the great work, World Resources Institute! A few highlights for me- use of downscaled climate data to assess resilience challenges for nearly 1,000 cities by Ted Wong, ranking which crops are sensitive to water stress by Liz Saccoccia, and tracking progress on climate pledges by various countries by Nathan Cogswell and others. I also learnt a few other things such as major forest fires in South America in the last two years, how sensitive boreal forests in Canada and Russia are to wildfires, floods in Kenya and how Agroforestry might help reduce water stress there. Congrats Ani Dasgupta and team!
Communication and PR professional
2 个月What a powerful and insightful roundup of the year’s climate challenges and solutions! It’s clear that 2024 has been a year of significant climate disruptions, but also a year where we’ve seen innovative solutions and hope emerging, especially from small farmers in the Amazon and the growing recognition of Indigenous rights in conservation. The stories of resilience, progress, and the urgent need for stronger global climate commitments are all essential reminders that we must act now, not tomorrow. Looking forward to more groundbreaking work from WRI in 2025!?