WRI Publications Feed: Markets & Enterprise

Methodology and Database--Public Financing Instruments to Leverage Private Capital: Focus on Multilateral Agencies

Sarah Parsons — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:41:59 -0400

These documents are drawn from WRI’s working paper, Public Financing Instruments to Leverage Private Capital for Climate-Relevant Investment: Focus on Multilateral Agencies.

This working paper is part of WRI’s Climate Finance series, which tackles a broad range of issues relevant to public donors, intermediaries, and recipients of climate finance. A subset of this series examines how public funds can leverage private sector investment in climate-relevant projects to help meet developing countries’ significant investment needs.

Access other publications in this series.

Survey of Public Financing Institutions' Use of Instruments

Sarah Parsons — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:28:14 -0400

This document is drawn from Appendix I in WRI’s working paper, Public Financing Instruments to Leverage Private Capital for Climate-Relevant Investment: Focus on Multilateral Agencies. It maps the types of financial instruments used by various development financial institutions, export credit agencies, and climate funds to support their operations. This listing may serve as a useful reference for public sector decision-makers evaluating the broad toolkit of options available to support private sector climate change mitigation and adaptation projects in developing countries.

Public Financing Instruments to Leverage Private Capital for Climate-Relevant Investment: Focus on Multilateral Agencies is part of WRI’s Climate Finance series, which tackles a broad range of issues relevant to public contributors, intermediaries, and recipients of climate finance—that is, financial flows to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change impacts. A subset of this series examines how different types of public climate finance providers and intermediaries–or international finance entities like the proposed Green Climate Fund–can meet the significant investment needs of developing countries by mobilizing private sector investment. This subset focuses on how the public sector can finance and mobilize private sector investment and acknowledges the importance of overarching support for complementary climate change policies that create attractive market conditions domestically.

Access other publications in this series.

Aligning Profit and Environmental Sustainability: Stories from Industry

Sarah Parsons — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:11:22 -0500

Executive Summary

Many large companies have established sustainability goals and targets, and it is becoming increasingly common for these goals to address significant environmental challenges like climate change. More efficient use of natural resources, like energy, reduces operating costs and therefore makes business sense. In response to consumer preferences, some companies are also taking steps to reduce the environmental impact of their products and services as well as their supply chains. However, despite some progress, strategies that are good for business and good for the environment are not getting to scale.

To begin to understand why this is, WRI interviewed sustainability managers from a cross-sector sample of eight multinational companies. This research showed that using a “sustainability lens” to evaluate business opportunities has helped companies grow revenue and gain competitive advantage. It also identified four main barriers preventing the improved scale-up of environmentally sound business practices. Based on the experiences of the companies WRI interviewed and WRI’s own perspectives, four actions have been identified that could help overcome these barriers and better scale financially-sound corporate investment in environmental sustainability (see Table 1).

Aqueduct Metadata Document: Yellow River Basin Study

Sarah Parsons — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:43:16 -0500

Summary

Prior to the creation of the global Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, indicators were developed and tested in a number of river basins worldwide. The results of the Yellow River Basin Study helped inform and shape the global Aqueduct Water Risk Framework. The Yellow River Basin study contains 14 indicators of water quantity, water variability, water quality, public awareness of water issues, access to water, and ecosystem vulnerability.

Aqueduct Metadata Document: Yangtze River Basin Study

Sarah Parsons — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:33:33 -0500

Summary

Prior to the creation of the global Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, indicators were developed and tested in a number of river basins worldwide. The results of the Yangtze River Basin Study helped inform and shape the global Aqueduct Water Risk Framework. The Yangtze River Basin study contains 14 indicators of water quantity, water variability, water quality, public awareness of water issues, access to water, and ecosystem vulnerability.

Aqueduct Metadata Document: Orange-Senqu River Basin Study

Sarah Parsons — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:27:06 -0500

Summary

Prior to the creation of the global Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, indicators were developed and tested in a number of river basins worldwide. The results of the Orange-Senqu River Basin Study helped inform and shape the global Aqueduct Water Risk Framework. The Orange-Senqu River Basin study contains 14 indicators of water quantity, water variability, water quality, public awareness of water issues, access to water, and ecosystem vulnerability.

Aqueduct Metadata Document: Colorado River Basin Study

Sarah Parsons — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:16:28 -0500

Summary

Prior to the creation of the global Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, indicators were developed and tested in a number of river basins worldwide. The results of the Colorado River Basin Study helped inform and shape the global Aqueduct Water Risk Framework. The Colorado River Basin study contains 12 indicators of water quantity, water variability, water quality, public awareness of water issues, access to water, and ecosystem vulnerability.

Case Study: Aqueduct Informs Owens Corning Corporate Water Strategy

Sarah Parsons — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 10:27:57 -0500

Executive Summary

The World Resources Institute (WRI) Markets and Enterprise Program conducted a global water stress assessment with Owens Corning, a leading producer of glass-fiber reinforcements and residential and commercial building materials. This working paper aims to help Owens Corning and other companies deepen their understanding of external water supply-related threats and inform on how to shape improvements to their corporate water strategy. WRI plotted Owens Corning facilities worldwide on global maps of current and projected water stress using the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas. WRI concluded that Owens Corning facilities are evenly distributed across areas of high, medium and low stress. The Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas provided new metrics and an improved methodology for Owens Corning to determine water supply-driven risks to its operations. The results also allowed Owens Corning to rank its facilities worldwide based on their exposure to current and projected stress, prioritize areas for additional internal and external investment, and enhance the company’s overall corporate water strategy.

Aqueduct Water Risk Framework

Sarah Parsons — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:02:28 -0500

This working paper describes the Aqueduct Water Risk Framework, the indicators it includes, and the methodology used to combine them into aggregated, comprehensive risk scores. The Aqueduct Water Risk Framework includes indicators of water quantity, water variability, water quality, public awareness of water issues, access to water, and ecosystem vulnerability.

Aqueduct Global Maps 2.0

Sarah Parsons — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 16:11:20 -0500

Summary

This working paper provides data sources, methodology, and maps for Aqueduct’s Water Risk Atlas of 12 global indicators grouped into three categories of risk and overall risk. Aqueduct’s Water Risk Atlas of global maps includes indicators of water quantity, water variability, water quality, public awareness of water issues, access to water, and ecosystem vulnerability.