Now in its 16th year, Stories to Watch is a go-to event for policymakers, business leaders, and media in Washington, DC and around the world. Learn more at http://www.wri.org/stw19
26. WILL LEADERS STEP
UP AT UN SUMMIT?
Image: Flickr/jST.
WHAT TO WATCH:
September 2019
27. GREEN CLIMATE FUND REPLENISHMENT:
AMBITION AND REFORM?
Image: Flickr/German Development Institute
WHAT TO WATCH:
October 2019
28. WILL ACTION OUTPACE POLITICS?
Image: Flickr/Steven Vance
WHAT TO WATCH:
500+ companies
take action through
Science Based Targets
Maersk set a
net zero CO2
target by 2050
31. ADAPTATION ISN’T A NEW CONCEPT
Image: Flickr/Tom Gill
2001
IPCC 3rd ASSESSMENT:
Impacts, Adaptation,
Vulnerability
UNFCCC COP 7:
National Adaptation
Programmes of Action
32. CLIMATE IMPACTS ARE HERE NOW
Image: Flickr/Asian Development Bank
Extreme climate-
related disasters
DOUBLED
since early 1990s
43. …BUT, IT ISN’T ADDING UP
Image: Flickr/Tony Armstrong-Sly
• Global leadership scarce
• Perceived as too complicated
• Lack of metrics
• Benefits long-term and not always visible
• Insufficient finance
44. GLOBAL COMMISSION ON ADAPTATION
LAUNCHED IN OCTOBER 2018
Kristalina Georgieva Bill GatesBan Ki-moon
46. ACCELERATING ADAPTATION
Image: Global Commission on Adaptation/Igor Roefofsen
Three major deliverables:
• Flagship report
• Action Tracks
• Year of Action
47. WHAT TO WATCH:
MAKING THE CASE FOR ADAPTATION?
Image: Flickr/United Nations Photo
September 2019
Launch of Global Commission’s
Flagship Report
48. WHAT TO WATCH:
OVERCOMING FINANCIAL BARRIERS?
Image: Flickr/Ryan
Up to
$300 billion
needed annually
by 2030
World Bank
will direct half their
climate investments
to adaptation
49. WHAT TO WATCH:
GROWING RESILIENCE IN AGRICULTURE?
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Three-quarters of
world’s poorest
get food and income
from farming small
plots of land
50. WHAT TO WATCH:
WILL CITIES CHAMPION ADAPTATION?
Image: Flickr/Maria Eklind
October 2019
Copenhagen
C40 Mayors Summit
54. FASHION GETTING FASTER...
Image: Flickr/Toshihiro Gamo
• Average consumer
purchases 60% more
clothing compared to 2000
• Up to 50 “microseasons”
55. …AND LEAVING A TRAIL OF WASTE
Image: Kevin Krejci/Wikimedia Commons
• Every second, one garbage truck
of textiles is landfilled or burned
• Clothes release 500,000 tons of
microfibers in the ocean each year =
more than 50 billion plastic bottles
57. BAD LABOR PRACTICES
Image: ILO/Asrian Mirza
• Forced child labor in more
than 10 countries in 2018
• Half of workers in main
textile manufacturing countries
not paid minimum wage
61. WILL THE FASHION INDUSTRY FOLLOW THROUGH?
Image: Flickr/Nic Raingsey
WHAT TO WATCH:
• 40+ companies
signed Fashion
Industry Charter for
Climate Action
• March 2019
UN Alliance on
Sustainable Fashion
62. WILL FASHION COMPANIES IMPROVE TRANSPARENCY?
Image: ILO/Aaron Santos
WHAT TO WATCH:
Sustainable Apparel
Coalition launching beta
platform for reporting
May 2019
Science Based
Targets guidance for
apparel and footwear
63. WILL EUROPE LEAD ON SUSTAINABLE FASHION?
Image: Flickr/Lorenzoclick
WHAT TO WATCH:
Spring 2019
European circular
fashion regulations
64. HOW WILL EMERGING ECONOMIES RESPOND?
Image: Flickr/Chris Yunker
WHAT TO WATCH:
Used clothing
import ban in
East Africa
70. HIGH COST OF COMMODITIES
Image: lyzadanger/Wikimedia Commons
Tropical forest loss:
• Nearly 50% driven by
commodity production
• 3rd largest source of
carbon emissions
71. ~500 COMPANIES COMMITTED TO
CURB DEFORESTATION
58% of major
commodities
companies have a
forest commitment
72. BUT, IMPACT IS ELUSIVE
Image: Nanang Sujana/CIFOR
• Lack of credible reporting
• Not all actors involved
75. HOW WILL GOVERNMENTS RESPOND?
Image: Flickr/oneVillage Initiative
WHAT TO WATCH:
• Will EU enforce roadmap
to end deforestation?
• How will Bolsonaro’s
policies play out in Brazil?
• Will Indonesia’s progress
continue?
76. WILL COMPANIES DOUBLE DOWN
ON 2020 COMMITMENTS?
Image: Mokhamad Edliadi/CIFOR
WHAT TO WATCH:
May 2019
Tropical Forest Alliance
Assembly in Colombia
77. WILL BETTER MONITORING PROMOTE PROGRESS?
Image: Flickr/European Space Agency
WHAT TO WATCH:
• GFW Pro Launch
• Satellite Monitoring
• Accountability Framework
78. WILL SPOTLIGHT ON BIODIVERSITY ADD PRESSURE?
Image: Flickr/European Space Agency
WHAT TO WATCH:
2020
Beijing Biodiversity COP
83. “THE PROJECT OF THE CENTURY”
Note: There is no timeline associated with China’s commitments
84. CHINA PUSHES FOR AN
ECOLOGICAL CIVILIZATION
Image: UN Photo/Loey Felipe
“Green Belt and Road…incorporates eco-
environment protection into all aspects
and whole process of Belt and Road”
Guidance on Promoting Green Belt and Road
85. BUT, ENERGY INVESTMENTS AREN’T
ALIGNED WITH CLIMATE GOALS
Note: Fossil Fuels include Oil, Gas, Petrochemical, and Fossil Fuel Generation
86. LAND USE CONCERNS
Image: Flickr/ Neil Turner | Source: WWF
1,739 key
biodiversity areas
in BRI route
87. WILL BELT AND ROAD FORUM PRODUCE
SUSTAINABILITY GUIDELINES?
Image: The Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/Wikimedia Commons
WHAT TO WATCH:
88. WILL CHINA RAMP UP RENEWABLE
ENERGY INVESTMENTS ABROAD?
Image: Flickr/Seungho L
WHAT TO WATCH:
$470+ billion
Renewable energy
investment needs by
2030 in BRI countries
89. WILL NATIONAL CLIMATE PLANS
INFORM BRI INVESTMENTS?
Image: Flickr/Moign Khawaja
WHAT TO WATCH:
99. WILL MORE BIG COMPANIES MOVE IN?
Image: Flickr/Luis Tamayo
WHAT TO WATCH:
• Ford acquires e-scooter and bikeshare company Spin
• Uber and Lyft add scooters and bikes
• General Motors designing electric bikes for 2019
100. HOW WILL CITIES REGULATE?
WHAT TO WATCH:
• Permits and pricing
• Reduce oversaturation
• Improve safety
Image: Pixabay
101. LAUNCH OF THE
NEW URBAN MOBILITY ALLIANCE
WHAT TO WATCH:
Image: Shutterstock
112. WHAT ACTION WILL WE SEE FROM U.S. CLIMATE ALLIANCE?
WHAT TO WATCH:
113. WILL MORE UTILITIES GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE?
Image: Flickr/nmmacedo
WHAT TO WATCH:
Xcel Energy:
Carbon-free by 2050
DTE Energy, Consumers Energy:
80% carbon reduction by 2050
Will other major utilities follow suit?
114. WILL MORE STATES ADOPT CARBON PRICING?
Image: Flickr/Consumers Energy
WHAT TO WATCH:
• New Jersey to rejoin RGGI
• Virginia to cap power sector
• Oregon to adopt economy-
wide carbon price?
• Who’s next?
115. WHAT ABOUT TRANSPORTATION?
Image: Flickr/VDOT
WHAT TO WATCH:
• Transport largest source
of U.S. GHG emissions
• 9 Northeast & Mid-Atlantic
states design program to
cap and reduce transport
emissions
116. WILL ELECTRIC VEHICLE MARKET CONTINUE TO GROW?
WHAT TO WATCH:
Source: InsideEVs.com
US EV sales
jumped 81%
in 2018
117. WHAT WILL CONGRESS DO?
Image: Flickr/wbeem
WHAT TO WATCH:
• Support for
carbon pricing?
• Infrastructure deal?
• More funding for
clean technologies?
118. WILL GROWING CLIMATE MOVEMENT
EXPAND WHAT’S POSSIBLE?
Image: Whitehouse.gov
WHAT TO WATCH:
“The people are ahead of the Congress.
The Congress must join them.”
–Speaker Nancy Pelosi
119. WHAT ABOUT 2020 CONTENDERS?
Image: Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons
WHAT TO WATCH: