WRI Publications Feed: People & Ecosystems

Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment Two: Reducing Food Loss and Waste

Sarah Parsons — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 16:11:56 -0400

Summary

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that 32 percent of all food produced in the world was lost or wasted in 2009. This estimate is based on weight. When converted into calories, global food loss and waste amounts to approximately 24 percent of all food produced. Essentially, one out of every four food calories intended for people is not ultimately consumed by them.

Food loss and waste have many negative economic and environmental impacts. Economically, they represent a wasted investment that can reduce farmers’ incomes and increase consumers’ expenses. Environmentally, food loss and waste inflict a host of impacts, including unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions and inefficiently used water and land, which in turn can lead to diminished natural ecosystems and the services they provide.

Big inefficiencies suggest big savings opportunities. We estimate that if the current rate of food loss and waste were cut in half―from 24 percent to 12 percent―by the year 2050, the world would need about 1,314 trillion kilocalories (kcal) less food per year than it would in the business-as-usual global food requirements scenario described in The Great Balancing Act, the first installment of this World Resources Report working paper series. That savings–1,314 trillion kcal–is roughly 22 percent of the 6,000 trillion kcal per year gap between food available today and that needed in 2050. Thus, reducing food loss and waste could be one of the leading global strategies for achieving a sustainable food future.

In this paper, we profile a subset of approaches to reducing food loss and waste that experts suggest are particularly practical and cost-effective, that could be implemented relatively quickly, and that could achieve quick gains. We also recommend a number of cross-cutting strategies to further galvanize commitment to reducing food loss and waste.

Reducing Food Loss and Waste is the second in a series of working papers that we’ll roll out over the course of a year. Each subsequent paper will take a detailed look at a potential solution that could help achieve a sustainable food future. These installments will set the foundation for and culminate in the World Resources Report 2013-2014: Creating a Sustainable Food Future. To learn more about the series and sign up to receive updates, visit the World Resources Report website.

Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment One: The Great Balancing Act

Sarah Parsons — Wed, 29 May 2013 14:15:01 -0400

Summary

How can the world feed more than 9 billion people by 2050 in a manner that advances economic development and reduces pressure on the environment? This is one of the paramount questions the world faces over the next four decades.

Answering it requires a “great balancing act” of three needs—each of which must be met simultaneously.

First, the world needs to close the gap between the amount of food available today and the amount required in 2050. According to new WRI analysis, we’ll need about 60 percent more food calories in 2050 than in 2006 if global demand continues on its current trajectory. This gap is in part a function of increasing population and wealth. The United Nations projects that the global population will likely grow from 7 billion in 2012 to 9.3 billion by 2050. At least 3 billion more people are likely to enter the global middle class by 2030, and they will almost certainly demand more resource-intensive foods like meat and vegetable oils. At the same time, approximately 870 million of the world’s poorest people remain undernourished even today.
Second, the world needs agriculture to contribute to inclusive economic and social development. Agriculture employs more than 2 billion people around the world—more than 28 percent of the global population. And according to the World Bank, growth in the agricultural sector can reduce poverty more effectively than growth arising from other economic sectors. We need a strong agricultural sector if the world is to develop in a way that reduces poverty, alleviates hunger, generates revenue and jobs, and benefits women.
Third, the world needs to reduce agriculture’s impact on the environment. For instance, agriculture was responsible for approximately 24 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2010 and therefore contributes to climate change. Agriculture is the dominant driver of tropical deforestation. Furthermore, agriculture accounts for about 70 percent of all the freshwater withdrawn from rivers, lakes, and aquifers.

There is no silver bullet to accomplishing the great balancing act. But there are potential solutions. When combined effectively, these solutions could close the food gap, contribute to global development, and reduce food’s environmental impact.

In The Great Balancing Act, we propose a “menu” of these potential solutions. Some menu items reduce projected growth in consumption, such as decreasing food loss and waste. Other menu items increase food production, such as restoring degraded lands back into agricultural productivity. No item on the menu can achieve a sustainable food future by itself, and the relevance of items will vary between countries and food chains. But the combination of solutions should help feed the world while contributing to poverty reduction, gender equity, ecosystem conservation, greenhouse gas emission reductions, and sustainable freshwater management.

The Great Balancing Act is the first in a series of working papers that we’ll roll out over the course of a year. Each subsequent paper will take a detailed look at a potential solution that could help achieve a sustainable food future. These installments will set the foundation for and culminate in the World Resources Report 2013-2014: Creating a Sustainable Food Future. To learn more about the series and sign up to receive updates, visit the World Resources Report website.

Watch a narrated slideshow introducing The Great Balancing Act, or view our powerpoint presentation.

Tuning In: Tracking Wood from Honduran Forests to U.S. Guitars

Sarah Parsons — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:30:14 -0500

Executive Summary

This study focuses on two supply chains for mahogany that originate in remote biodiversity-rich forests in Honduras. These supply chains were selected because they involve small forest community cooperatives that, compared with industrial operations, have a lower capacity to respond to market requirements for legal wood, including the U.S. Lacey Act.

The study describes two approaches used to minimize the risk of sourcing illegal wood. The first approach was to establish strong relationships with the suppliers and the second was to prefer certified wood. The main lessons from this study are:

The Lacey Act requirements had little or no impact on the way the buyers managed risk for these specific supply chains, because the buyers established supply chain control systems prior to 2008 to (a) secure a long-term supply of the product, and (b) implement corporate environmental/ social responsibility policies.
Supply-chain control systems, such as barcode tracking and chain-of-custody certification, are useful tools for enhancing assurances of legality. Long-term relationships with suppliers and commitments from buyers have been important for the successful implementation of these approaches, and critical to minimizing the risk of illegal wood.
Intermediaries and facilitators play a key role in building and strengthening the technical and administrative capacity of the cooperatives to harvest and process timber.
The community cooperatives in these supply chains face various challenges: inadequate law enforcement, competing land-use pressures, drug trafficking, and competition with illegal logging. Yet the sustained demand for high-value species such as mahogany provides a powerful incentive to maintain and strengthen forest community operations.
The supply-chain control approaches highlighted in this study work, in part, because of the high value of the end product, and, because of the financial assistance of external donors that have invested in building the technical capacity and social development of the community cooperatives. In-depth analysis to understand the financial viability of the operations without such support is needed.
Although the long-term financial sustainability of the community cooperatives is unclear, the perceived community and biodiversity benefits, along with the buyers’ interest in securing a long-term supply of legal wood, are strong incentives for all stakeholders to ensure their continued viability.

This issue brief is based on a review of relevant documents, visits to the field sites and processing facilities, and a series of interviews with stakeholders. A complementary video is available at the Forest Legality Alliance website.

Case Study: IKEA's Response to the Lacey Act--Due Care Systems for Composite Materials in China

Sarah Parsons — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:05:57 -0500

Executive Summary

This study focuses on IKEA and the company’s production of composite products (board materials such as particleboard, Medium Density Fiber Board (MDF), etc.) in China. The study describes the internal systems of IKEA and how they work to ensure that the material sourced can be shown to have been purchased with an adequate level of due care to help ensure legality. Specifically, the study looks at how composite products made up of a large percentage of waste material supplied by diverse small producers within a weak governance context can be imported into the USA while showing that a high level of due care was attained.

The study shows how IKEA is adapting its operations to meet the requirements of a challenging procurement situation and the company’s understanding of how they can show adequate levels of due care.

Four main lessons have been identified and are explored in this paper:

Lesson 1: The implementation of the Lacey Act means that responsible procurement is no longer voluntary but is now mandatory.
Lesson 2: Each company must understand the supplying country’s laws and associated risks so that it can define its own level of appropriate traceability.
Lesson 3: A risk assessment can help determine the level of traceability required to ensure confidence in any forest product supply and ensure that a reasonable level of due care can be shown.
Lesson 4: To be able to complete the declaration form, a company needs to understand its supply chain fully. Good information management is key, and a proactive approach to the management of the supply chains is required. It is no longer enough to just rely on trust: a company must now ask questions and back this up with on-the-ground audits.

Atlas Forestier Interactif du Congo - Interactive Forest Atlas of Congo (Version 3.0)

Sarah Parsons — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 20:19:07 -0500

À Propos de cette Publication

L’Atlas forestier interactif du Congo est un système d’information forestière hébergé par le Ministère de l’Économie Forestière et du Développement Durable de la République du Congo (MEFDD) et géré par une équipe conjointe composée des représentants du World Resources Institute (WRI) et du MEFDD. Organisé autour d’une plateforme SIG (Système d’information géographique), l’Atlas facilite l’accès à une information objective et actualisée du secteur forestier congolais. L’un de ses principaux objectifs est de renforcer la gestion forestière et l’aménagement du territoire en rapprochant et regroupant les différentes catégories d’utilisation du sol sur une plateforme unique et standardisée. L’équipe conjointe MEFDD-WRI actualise la base de données de l’Atlas forestier au fur et à mesure que de nouvelles informations deviennent disponibles et les publie périodiquement sous formes de rapport, posters et application cartographique en version DVD et en ligne.

Le présent rapport fait partie intégrante de la troisième version (Atlas V3) de la série d’Atlas forestiers interactifs du Congo. Il fournit au lecteur des informations sur l’affectation des terres et les types d’occupation des sols dans le Domaine Forestier National au 31 décembre 2011. Il donne également un aperçu de l’évolution des forêts de production, ainsi que des données actualisées sur les aires protégées et les infrastructures forestières (routes et pistes d’exploitation). En fin, il met en évidence les zones de conflits d’usage potentiels émanant des chevauchements entre le domaine forestier (concessions forestières et aires protégées) et les zones d’exploitation minière, ainsi que les orientations et applications futures de l’Atlas.

About this Publication

The Interactive forest Atlas of Congo is a living forest information system hosted in the Ministry of Forest Economy and Sustainable Development of the Republic of Congo (MEFDD), and managed by a joint team including members from MEFDD and the World Resources Institute (WRI). Built on a geographic information system (GIS) platform, the Atlas provides unbiased and up-to-date information on the Congolese forest sector. One of its main objectives is to strengthen forest management and land use planning by bringing all major land use categories onto the same standardized platform. While the underlying forest Atlas database is kept up-to-date as new information becomes available, periodic publications of the data and database are made publicly available through the Atlas report, poster, and online and CD/DVD mapping applications.

This report is companion to the third version (Atlas V3) of a series of Interactive Forest Atlases of Congo. It provides the reader with the land use allocation and land cover types in the National Forest Estate as of December 31st, 2011. It also gives an overview of the evolution of production forests, as well as updated information about protected areas and forest infrastructure (logging roads). Finally, it highlights areas of potential conflicts from overlapping between the forest domain (forest concessions and protected areas) and mining concessions, and outlines future directions and applications of the Atlas.

Influence of Coastal Economic Valuations in the Caribbean: Enabling Conditions and Lessons Learned

Sarah Parsons — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 13:55:24 -0500

Executive Summary

Across the Caribbean, national economies are heavily dependent on coastal ecosystem services. Coral reefs, mangroves, and other coastal ecosystems provide fish habitat, attract tourists, and protect shorelines from storm damage. However, coastal habitats continue to degrade due to local and global pressures. For example, more than 75 percent of the Caribbean’s coral reefs are currently threatened by human activities. These threats to coastal ecosystems stem from both a lack of awareness of the benefits these ecosystems provide and the costs of insufficient protection, and a lack of political will to protect and sustainably manage these ecosystems. Many of the activities that damage coastal ecosystems arise from shortsighted and poorly informed decisions that fail to take long-term ecosystem values and the full range of benefits from coastal ecosystem services into account.

Economic valuation can contribute to better informed and more holistic decision making about resource use and identify opportunities for effective conservation. Over the past 30 years, the economic valuation literature on the Caribbean’s coastal and ocean resources has increased substantially. More than 200 coastal economic valuation studies of the monetary value of marine ecosystem goods and services in the Caribbean currently exist. However, despite this wealth of valuation studies and estimates, it is not clear whether these efforts have had a meaningful impact on policy or decision making concerning the management and use of these valuable natural resources; to date, there has been no assessment to address this critical question. It is also not immediately clear why some valuations have been more influential than others.

To get a more complete picture of the influence of past coastal valuations in the Caribbean, and to identify the key “enabling conditions” for valuations to influence policy, management, or investment decisions, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Marine Ecosystem Services Partnership (MESP) conducted semi-structured interviews with more than thirty marine conservation and valuation experts. Several of these interviews took place in the five countries where WRI had conducted coastal valuations. WRI also reviewed past valuation studies in the Caribbean that informants identified as influential. The findings of this review are based on expert opinion and documented cases of influence. Given the large number of total valuations and the difficulty of tracking influence, this review is not exhaustive. This paper identifies a number of variables that likely influence policy, management, and investment outcomes; however, it does not identify the extent to which each variable contributes to influence. We encourage future research on this topic.

Overall, we found that although valuation studies have helped raise awareness about the economic importance of coastal ecosystems in the Caribbean, few have actually had a positive influence on conservation and management- oriented policy, legislation, or investment in the region. We identified only 13 valuation studies that have influenced policy. For example, valuation helped to convince the government of St. Maarten to establish the country’s first national marine park, and the government of Belize to legally ban bottom trawling. Still, these success stories highlight the potential for economic valuation to have influence. We were able to draw out key contextual, procedural, and methodological conditions that likely led to success.

The elements increasing the likelihood of policy influence included:

a clear policy question;
local demand for valuation;
strong local partnerships and stakeholder engagement;
good governance with high transparency;
opportunities for revenue-raising;
effective communications and access to decision makers and/or media; and
a clear presentation of methods, assumptions, and limitations.

This analysis suggests that getting the methodology right—a principal concern of economists—is only part of the equation. Valuation practitioners who aspire to achieve impact must also consider wider contextual and procedural factors (such as governance and stakeholder engagement) when assessing the likelihood that their valuation will be influential. Furthermore, absolute accuracy is not always essential, as many stakeholders use valuation results as a ballpark figure to guide decision making. For this reason, valuation should be done on a scale appropriate to the policy question, minimizing costs as far as possible. More precise valuation may be necessary for questions relating to fees and taxes. In all cases, clear presentation of methods, assumptions, and limitations is critical in order to address critiques and legitimize results.

In the Caribbean, interest in ecosystem valuation to inform smart choices about coastal resource conservation and management and associated land use continues to grow. However, based on the results of this analysis, it is clear that valuation practitioners need to do much more to ensure that valuation studies have greater influence. In order to achieve more meaningful impacts, greater effort is necessary to strategically choose, design, and execute valuation studies; communicate valuation results to target audiences; and share successes and failures of influence with other practitioners. We conclude with next steps for building on this analysis, including:

Conduct further consultations with experts and decision makers in the Caribbean and beyond to enlarge the catalog of valuation success stories, and explore additional opportunities for qualitative and quantitative analysis of trends and causality.
Develop standardized approaches to monitor and evaluate the influence of coastal valuations.
Research the “return on investment” of economic valuation for coastal conservation and management in relation to other conservation tools.

The results of this review will inform WRI and our partners’ efforts to produce a standardized framework for economic valuation of coastal ecosystems in the Caribbean. A standardized valuation framework would help produce comparable and credible values across the Caribbean, legitimizing their use among decision makers and increasing their uptake. Drawing from this review, the framework will also contain advice on how to make future economic valuations as influential as possible, so they can realize their potential to catalyze positive changes in policy, management, and investment—helping both to restore the productivity and increase the economic contributions of coastal resources, while safeguarding the Caribbean’s valuable coastal and marine resources for future generations.

Sustainable Procurement of Wood and Paper-Based Products: Version 3

Sarah Parsons — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 21:03:53 -0500

Find out more at http://www.SustainableForestProducts.org.

Version 3 of this guide incorporates the most up-to-date developments on the legality of forest products, new technological developments to control wood and paper supply chains and increase their transparency, and an expanded chapter on the social implications of forest products.

Decisions regarding the purchase and use of wood and paper-based products can have far-reaching, long-term impacts on the forests where they are harvested and the people and industries that depend on those forests for their livelihoods and raw materials.

This joint WRI/WBCSD publication provides information about 10 key issues procurement managers might address as they develop and implement their procurement policies:

Origin: Where do the products come from?
Information accuracy: Is information about the products credible?
Legality: Have the products been legally produced?
Sustainability: Have forests been sustainably managed?
Special forests: Have special forests been protected?
Climate change: Have climate issues been addressed?
Environmental protection: Have appropriate environmental controls been applied?
Recycled fiber: Has recycled fiber been used appropriately?
Other resources: Have other resources been used appropriately?
Local communities and indigenous peoples: Have the needs of local communities or indigenous peoples been addressed?

The guide also characterizes a selection of helpful tools and explains the maze of terminology around sustainable forest products.

Interactive Forest Atlas of Cameroon (version 3.0)

Sarah Parsons — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:20:28 -0400

The Interactive Forest Atlas of Cameroon is a living forest information system hosted in the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF) and supported by a joint team including members from MINFOF and the World Resources Institute (WRI). Built on a geographic information system (GIS) platform, the Atlas provides unbiased and up-to-date information on the Cameroonian forest sector. One of its main objectives is to strengthen forest management and land use planning by bringing all major land use categories onto the same standardized platform. While the underlying Forest Atlas database is kept up-to-date as new information becomes available, periodic publications of the data and database are made publicly available through the Atlas report, poster, and mapping application.

This report and associated material is the third in a series of Interactive Forest Atlases of Cameroon. It provides the reader with the land use allocation and land cover types in the National Forest Estate through June 2011, recent trends in production forests, and an expanded discussion of recent developments with community forests. Updated information on protected areas and the public and private road network is also featured, along with preliminary information about mining concessions likely to affect Cameroon’s forests. Additionally, this report highlights several practical examples of its uses and outlines future directions and applications of the Atlas.

À PROPOS DE CETTE PUBLICATION

L’Atlas forestier interactif du Cameroun est un système d’information forestière opérant en continu hébergé par le Ministère des Forêts et de la Faune (MINFOF) et géré par une équipe conjointe composée de représentants du MINFOF et du World Resources Institute (WRI). Basé sur le Système d’Information Géographique (SIG), l’Atlas fournit des informations objectives et actualisées sur le secteur forestier camerounais. L’un des objectifs principaux de l’Atlas est celui de renforcer la gestion forestière et la planification de l’affectation des terres en réunissant sur une plate-forme unique les principales catégories d’affectation. L’équipe conjointe MINFOF-WRI actualise la base de données de l’Atlas forestier au fur et à mesure que de nouvelles informations deviennent disponibles et les publie périodiquement sous formes de rapport, posters et application cartographique.

Le présent rapport représente la troisième version de la série d’Atlas forestiers interactifs du Cameroun. Il fournit au lecteur des informations sur les affectations et les types d’occupation des terres dans le Domaine Forestier National jusqu’au mois de juin 2011. Il donne également un aperçu sur les tendances récentes de l’évolution des forêts de production, ainsi que des développements récents dans le domaine de la foresterie communautaire. Il offre en plus les données actualisées sur les aires protégées et le réseau routier public et privé, et donne de façon subsidiaire des informations préliminaires sur les concessions minières susceptibles d’empiéter sur le domaine forestier. En fin, ce rapport met en exergue des exemples pratiques d’utilisation de l’Atlas et donne un aperçu de ses orientations et applications futures.

Reefs at Risk Revisited in the Coral Triangle

Sarah Parsons — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 10:53:54 -0400

Summary: Reefs at Risk Revisited in the Coral Triangle

Download the 2011 global analysis of threats to coral reefs, Reefs at Risk Revisited

The World Resources Institute produced the report in close collaboration with the USAID-funded Coral Triangle Support Partnership (CTSP). Reefs at Risk Revisited in the Coral Triangle was adapted from WRI’s 2011 global analysis of threats to coral reefs, Reefs at Risk Revisited, and supplemented with more recent and detailed data for the Coral Triangle region.

Threats to coral reefs in the Coral Triangle are much higher than the global average. More than 85 percent of reefs within the Coral Triangle Region are currently threatened by local stressors (such as overfishing, pollution, and coastal development), which is substantially higher than the global average of 60 percent. Nearly 45 percent are at high or very high threat levels. When the influence of recent thermal stress and coral bleaching is combined with these local threats, the percent of reefs rated as threatened increases to more than 90 percent, which is substantially greater than the global average of 75 percent.

Reefs at Risk Revisited in the Coral Triangle studies current and future threats to the Coral Triangle’s reefs, evaluates social and economic vulnerability to reef degradation and loss throughout the six countries, examines reef management initiatives, and identifies solutions to help safeguard reefs.

Building an Inclusive Green Economy for All

Christine Potochny — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 12:07:17 -0400

Foreword

While significant development progress has been achieved over the past two decades, with almost 650 million people moving out of extreme poverty in developing countries between 1990 and 2008, nearly 1.3 billion women, men and children have been left behind living on less than US$1.25 per day. Even greater numbers suffer other forms of poverty and deprivation, and inequality both within and across countries has increased. Looking ahead, the challenge of overcoming poverty and inequality will be greatly compounded by ecosystem degradation, climate change and economic disruption, which disproportionately impact the poor and most vulnerable. These increasingly interlinked crises threaten hard-won development gains and prospects for continued progress. While calls for action have multiplied, the world’s collective response has fallen far short of what is needed.

At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, the Poverty-Environment Partnership (PEP) launched the influential publication Linking Poverty Reduction and Environmental Management, with the core message that sound management of the environment is vital to fighting poverty and inequality and to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). A decade later, as the global community prepares for the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, moving toward an inclusive and green economy is receiving growing political attention as a promising path to sustainable development and poverty eradication.

Examples of the green economy in practice show great potential for delivering a “triple bottom line” of job–creating economic growth coupled with environmental protection and social inclusion. However, there are significant barriers to realizing this potential on a large scale. To build an inclusive green economy that is equitable and sustainable will require carefully designed policies and targeted investments that enable low and middle-income countries and the poor to contribute to and benefit from the transition. Of particular importance is the need for governance and policy reforms that extend to poor people secure rights over the environmental assets that underpin their livelihoods and well-being, and that ensure a greater voice in decisions affecting how these assets are managed. At the same time, policies and measures such as green protectionism and aid conditionality that could adversely impact low and middle-income countries and people living in poverty must be avoided if the benefits of an inclusive green economy are to be realized.

This joint Poverty-Environment Partnership paper aims to stimulate a dialogue among developing country policymakers, development partners and other stakeholders on how best to support country-led efforts to build inclusive green economies. Through a shared commitment to putting into place the building blocks of a green economy for all, real and lasting progress can be made towards overcoming poverty and inequality and achieving sustainable human development.