A new report from World Resources Institute’s (WRI) The Access Initiative reveals that Asian countries are not effectively telling people if the water they use for drinking, farming and fishing is polluted or dangerously toxic.
Asia
Industrial facilities release upwards of 400 million tons of toxic pollutants into the world’s waters each year. For many of Asia’s poorest communities who depend on local waterways for drinking, bathing, farming and fishing, they need to know whether their water is polluted or dangerously toxic.
Improving communities’ health and environment through their right to access information and participate in decision-making
China's national government set a goal for half of the country's new buildings to be green certified by 2020. Three pioneering cities show how local governments and developers can deliver.
WRI recently helped convene a workshop in Fiji to learn about tracking progress towards adaptation goals laid out after Paris.
Encroaching on Land and Livelihoods: How National Expropriation Laws Measure Up Against International Standards
Encroaching on Land and Livelihoods examines whether national expropriation laws in 30 countries across Asia and Africa follow the international standards established in Section 16 of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the...
The new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has committed to being "lean, clean and green." Will its new Environmental and Social Framework achieve that goal? Researchers Gaia Larsen and Sean Gilbert investigate.
A history of deforestation has made Vietnam, China and South Korea especially vulnerable to coastal storms, floods and sandstorms. In the face of these crises, all three nations are pursuing the same solution&mdashrestoring degraded landscapes.
Mapping Tree Plantations with Multispectral Imagery: Preliminary Results for Seven Tropical Countries
Tree plantations continue to expand worldwide to meet demand for timber, wood fiber, fruits, and vegetable oils such as palm oil. Many countries report national statistics on the area of land in plantations, but the extent and locations of these plantations are often not documented. This study...
Because palm oil production is a major driver of deforestation in the humid tropics, it poses potential reputational risks to companies associated with it. But how should businesses trace palm oil in their supply chains? One way is to look at palm oil mills.