Stories to Watch 2024: Explore the major stories shaping the world
- 2. Ani Dasgupta President & CEO World Resources Institute @AniDasguptaWRI
- 3. Source: Copernicus Climate Change Service 2023: Hottest year on record
- 4. Need to reduce emissions by 43% below 2019 levels by 2030 for 1.5ºC future Source: IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report The world is off-track
- 5. Source: State of Climate Action, 2023. Exponential progress is possible
- 6. Source: Compiled by WRI authors A year of elections
- 7. Source: Compiled by WRI authors A year of elections
- 8. President Lula’s day 1 priorities are paying off for the Amazon Elections matter for climate Photo: UNclimatechange/Flickr
- 9. COP28 outcomes Photo: UNclimatechange/Flickr • Just transition away from fossil fuels • Loss & Damage Fund Operationalized • Global Goal on Adaptation • Food Declaration • Local Climate Action Summit
- 10. Global goals must convert to country- level action Photo: Adennysyahputra/iStock
- 11. Spotlight on India • 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030 • 13 million jobs tied to coal • 900 million people eligible to vote Source: IISD, National Foundation for India (NFI), Election Commission of India Photo: ClaudineVM/iStock
- 12. Politics must adapt Photo: Jim West/Alamy Stock Photo
- 13. Climate: Adapting Politics to 1.5ºC
- 14. Voting for a fair, livable future Photo: Sjo/iStock
- 15. Finding new sources of prosperity in a low-carbon world Source: New Climate Economy Photo: kruwt/iStock $26 trillion in net global economic benefits by 2030
- 16. Developing a new climate politics Source: New Climate Economy Photo: emre563/iStock 65 million additional low- carbon jobs by 2030
- 17. How do we bring every person and country onboard? Photo: Jenson/iStock WHAT TO WATCH
- 18. Spotlight on the U.S. Source: The White House Photo: Jim West/Alamy Stock Photo WHAT TO WATCH • Nearly $370 billion in investments • 210,000+ new clean energy jobs in the first 15 months
- 19. Spotlight on Indonesia Source: UNDP Photo: Umar Sahidin/iStock WHAT TO WATCH JETP to mobilize US$20 billion
- 20. How will elected leaders come together to solve a global crisis? Photo: ollo/iStock WHAT TO WATCH
- 21. Will more resources be allocated to emerging economies? Source: NRDC (pledge data as of 2 December 2023) and WRI. WHAT TO WATCH
- 22. Will more resources be allocated to emerging economies? Source: NRDC (pledge data as of 2 December 2023) and WRI. WHAT TO WATCH
- 23. Will more finance be put on the table at COP29? Photo: dszc/iStock WHAT TO WATCH New Collective Quantified Goal
- 24. Will new investments keep climate goals in reach? Source: CPI 2023 WHAT TO WATCH At least $5.9 trillion climate related finance needed annually by 2030
- 25. Will politics help countries get the transition right? Photo: Long Visual Press/Alamy Stock Photo WHAT TO WATCH
- 26. Food: Reforming What Feeds Us
- 28. Some plates are too full, some plates are too empty Source: FAO Photo: Simon Shepheard/iStock 735 million people face hunger while 1/3 of food for human consumption is lost or wasted
- 29. Patterns of consumption are unequal Source: Crippa et al. 2021, WRI World Resources Report 2019, Xu et al. 2021 Photo: Austin Santaniello/Unsplash • Food = 1/3 of global GHG emissions • 2/3 of agricultural emissions are from livestock production alone
- 30. Food system is hungry for land Source: Our World in Data Photo: RDW Environmental/Alamy Stock Photo Drives 3/4 of tropical deforestation
- 31. Feeding the economy Source: World Bank Photo: subhrajoti mazumdar/iStock In India, 44% of the population works in agriculture
- 32. Food finds a foothold in Dubai Source: WRI 2023 Photo: UNclimatechange/Flickr 159 nations representing: • 68% (530 million) of world’s farmers • 77% of global food production • 83% of global emissions from food systems and agricultural GDP
- 33. Will countries follow up on their food commitments? Photo: KuntalSaha/iStock WHAT TO WATCH
- 34. Will countries and companies take action to reduce methane emissions? Photo: James_Gabbert/iStock WHAT TO WATCH Global Methane Pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030
- 35. Will enough finance flow to forest nations? Photo: WRI Brasil/Flickr WHAT TO WATCH Progress toward Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests to halt deforestation by 2030
- 36. Will countries change the way they consume? Photo: Eivaisla/iStock WHAT TO WATCH
- 37. Will restoration commitments bear fruit? Photo: WRI/Flickr WHAT TO WATCH
- 38. Will food stay on the menu of climate solutions? Photo: WRI Brasil/Flickr WHAT TO WATCH
- 39. The Grid: Leadership for Critical Infrastructure
- 40. Source: Ember Electricity Data Explorer The clean energy revolution is accelerating
- 41. 3x renewable energy capacity needed by 2030 Grids are the keystone of the energy transition Photo: Spitzt-Foto/Flickr
- 42. Source: World Energy Investment 2023. Notes: *Estimated values for 2023. NZE = IEA Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario Huge gaps in grid investments 80 million kilometers of new or upgraded power lines will be needed by 2040
- 43. Source: Africa Electricity Grids Explorer (World Bank), Africa Energy Outlook 2022 (IEA) Connecting people to the grid Fewer than 60% of people in Africa connected to national grids
- 44. Source: IEA 2023 40% of all electricity in Nigeria was from generators
- 45. Years before expensive investments are realized Smoothing out lumpy investments Photo: ollo/iStock
- 46. How will countries and their leaders frame and prioritize investing in grids? Photo: reisegraf/iStock WHAT TO WATCH
- 47. Spotlight on Uruguay Source: Ember Electricity Data Explorer, CEIC Data WHAT TO WATCH Electricity prices fell by 1/3 between 2010 and 2021
- 48. Will we connect grids across borders? Source: Guo et al. 2022 Photo: zhaojiankang/iStock WHAT TO WATCH Could reduce CO2 emissions by 10% through greater efficiency
- 49. Will access to land hamper grid expansion? Source: Autumn Statement 2023 and Finance Bill 2023-24 Photo: Windmill Images/Alamy Stock Photo WHAT TO WATCH UK proposals would take thousands off energy bills for people living near new power lines
- 50. Will we modernize the machine? Photo: Agencja Fotograficzna Caro/Alamy Stock Photo WHAT TO WATCH
- 51. Will grids help unlock the full potential of clean energy? Photo: Peter Schatz/Alamy Stock Photo WHAT TO WATCH
- 52. Heat: Tackling the Silent Killer
- 53. 1/2 a million heat-related deaths a year Hurricanes get the headlines, but extreme heat is a hidden killer Source: Zhao et al. 2021 Lancet Planetary Health Photo: johnemac72/iStock
- 54. Source: Global scale projections from the IPCC Interactive Atlas, Wouters et al. 2017 The clean energy revolution is accelerating • Life-threatening heat and humidity are expected to impact up to 3/4 the global population by 2100. • Cities will face double the level of heat stress compared to rural surroundings.
- 55. How will leaders protect the most vulnerable from heat? Photo: AndresGarciaM/iStock WHAT TO WATCH
- 56. Will action at the community and city level lead the way? Photo: WRI Ross Center for Cities WHAT TO WATCH • Progress from Local Climate Action Summit • Local, sub-national and national governments need to coordinate action
- 57. Can passive cooling help turn down the heat in cities? Photo: Luis Echeverri Urrea/iStock WHAT TO WATCH
- 58. Will local adaptation get a global boost? Photo: Matus Beno/Alamy Stock Photo WHAT TO WATCH Progress on the Global Goal on Adaptation has been slow
- 59. Will leaders protect their communities from the silent killer? Photo: fcafotodigital/iStock WHAT TO WATCH