News
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WRI Brasil Sustainable Cities has been closely collaborating with the city to provide technical support and improve safety for the most vulnerable users
Photo by Dante Busquets/Flickr.
The number of traffic fatalities in Sao Paulo, Brazil fell by 20.6 percent from 2014 to 2015, resulting in 257 saved lives. This is the lowest rate since 1998, when the Brazilian Traffic Code was first released.
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Porto Alegre, Brazil. Photo Credit: Benoit Colin/WRI
Today, the Building Efficiency Initiative (BEI) of WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities announces the launch of a new resource for knowledge on building efficiency at http://www.buildingefficiencyinitiative.org/. The online platform will equip policy makers, building owners and managers, practitioners and other professionals with the tools and information they need to create better buildings for better cities.
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Public and private sector actors discussed what it will take to create the country’s next generation of buildings
Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City. Photo by Dan/Flickr.
Globally, buildings account for 40 percent of total energy consumption and 33 percent of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In order to reduce energy consumption and combat climate change, the Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB) consortium is working to scale up an innovative kind of building—one that meets 100 percent of its energy needs through on-site renewables on a net annual basis.
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Event brought local and national representatives together to discuss how cities can move toward a future of safe cycling
Istanbul is looking to expand its network of bike lanes and promote cycling to improve public health and well-being. Photo by EMBARQ Turkey.
Istanbul, Turkey is notorious for its traffic congestion and, according to the Traffic Index Data by TomTom, is the most congested city in the world. If residents continue to depend on private vehicles to meet their mobility needs rather than using public transport, cycling or walking, congestion will not improve. However, there is opportunity for change.
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The event focused on the opportunity of vehicle standards for improving air quality and reducing emissions in cities
Streets of Manila. Photo Credit: Stefan Munder/Flickr
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 3.7 million premature deaths resulted from outdoor air pollution in 2012. A major share of this air pollution comes from vehicle emissions in cities. In the Southeast Asia region, for example, traffic produces 36 percent of the city’s local air pollution.
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C40, the Citi Foundation and WRI to convene public & private sectors for financial collaboration April 5-7 at the Museum of Tomorrow
Photo by Christian Haugen/Flickr.
Rio de Janeiro (16 March, 2016) – Today, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) and the City of Rio de Janeiro announced a first-of-its-kind global financing forum to accelerate city climate action. The C40 Financing Sustainable Cities Forum – hosted along with the Citi Foundation and WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities – will bring together senior decision-makers from financial institutions, the private sector and more than a dozen city governments from across the globe.
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Decision makers and city leaders discussed the Compact of Mayors as a platform for local action in Fortaleza, Brazil
Experts and representatives of cities debate the commitment of municipalities to climate change through initiatives such as the Compact of Mayors ( Photo Credit: Mariana Gil/WRI Brazil Sustainable Cities)
COP21 in Paris was an historic landmark for the fight against climate change, uniting 196 nations under a long-term goal to keep the rise in global temperatures at 1.5°C by 2100. However, many cities made their own commitments as well. Over 400 cities have joined the Compact of Mayors in a pledge to reduce emissions.
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Bringing together public and private actors, the workshop focused on adapting global models to the Indian context
New Delhi, India. Photo Credit: Design for Health/Flickr
India’s rural population is on the decline, and people are increasingly moving to cities. The population of Delhi, for example, is expected to grow 30 percent, making the city the second most populous urban area in the world by 2030. This rapid growth has raised significant concerns about the future of quality of life for Delhi’s residents.
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WRI Cities Research Seminar Series
Shanghai, China. Photo Credit: Johnas/Flickr
World Resources Institute (WRI) is focusing the next World Resources Report on the challenge of creating productive, sustainable and equitable cities. As part of this initiative, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities invites eminent practitioners and researchers to present their work in a series of seminars. The WRI Cities Research Seminar Series is intended to engage important stakeholders, partners and thought leaders to share ideas and collaborate with us as we continue to develop the World Resources Report.
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Sarika’s leadership is helping to reduce traffic fatalities in cities and make streets safer for all
Biking in Gurgaon, India. Photo Credit: Michael Cannon/Flickr
Out of the 1.3 million lives that are lost due to traffic crashes worldwide, more than 10 percent (140,000 thousand) are in India, despite the fact that the country only has 2 percent of the world’s motor vehicles. Furthermore, urban areas in India account for 20 percent of the country’s total road traffic fatalities, and the majority of those fatalities are pedestrians and cyclists.
