Now in its 15th year, Dr. Andrew Steer, president & CEO, World Resources Institute, unveils insights on the major economic, environment and development stories that will shape the world in the coming year. Will states, cities and business lead on climate action? Will China and India advance their renewable energy goals? Will countries’ tackle air pollution and threats to the ocean? Will drought and famine lead to more conflict?

4. WORLD ECONOMY DOING WELL
Photo: Rafael Matsunaga/Flickr
Dow Jones hits
25,000
January 5, 2018
Global
GDP up
3.6%

5. POVERTY REACHES LOWEST RATE IN HISTORY
Photo: Maria Fleischmann/World Bank. Source: World Poverty Clock (projected)
38 million
people escaped
extreme poverty

6. 2017: HOTTEST NON-EL NIÑO YEAR ON RECORD
Source: NOAA

7. 2017: GLOBAL EMISSIONS RISE
Source: WMO

8. RECORD HURRICANES IN 2017
Photo: Flickr/Antii Lipponen
$135 billion
insurance payouts

9. FLOODING IN SOUTH ASIA
Photo: Flickr/CAN Europe
1,400
people killed

10. BIGGEST FIRES EVER RECORDED IN CALIFORNIA
Photo: Flickr/US Department of Agriculture
1.2 million
acres burned

11. SHAKE UP IN GEOPOLITICS
Photo: Flickr/European Council President

12. How Far Will Trump Go?
A Fossil Fuel Renaissance or Renewable Energy Surge?
Will Momentum on Climate Continue?
Will Businesses & Investors Accelerate
Momentum Toward Sustainability?
Will Mobility Trends Help People & the Planet?
The Ascent of Plant-Based Protein?
HOW DID WE DO IN 2017?
Photo: Michael Fleshman/Flickr

13. INTRODUCING THE McVEGAN
Photo: McDonald’s

15. NEW DELHI POLLUTION “OFF THE CHART”
Source: US State Department

16. #1 ENVIRONMENTAL
HEALTH RISK
1 in 9
deaths
worldwide
Photo: Flickr/CIAT

17. BEYOND HUMAN HEALTH
Photo: Flickr/World Bank Photo Collection
AIR POLLUTION AFFECTS:
• Food production
• Solar energy output
• Climate change

18. WHAT TO WATCH:
Has China Turned a Corner?
Photo: Flickr/Jens Schott Knudsen
2017
Air pollution in Beijing
decreased by 20%

19. WHAT TO WATCH:
Will India Step Up Enforcement?
Photo: Flickr/CIAT
• National and city action plans
• Agricultural burning
• Cleaner fuel standards

20. Photo: Flickr/Kamilokardona
WHAT TO WATCH:
Will People Use Technology
to Demand Clean Air?
COLOMBIA
Purpleair monitors track
air quality in real time

21. WHAT TO WATCH:
Photo: Flickr/ZAMG
Sentinel-5P:
unprecedented detail
Will New Satellites Be a Game Changer?

24. RECORD OIL PRODUCTION
Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy

25. BIG OIL: 5 OF 12 TOP COMPANIES BY REVENUE

26. ENERGY DOMINANCE?
Photo: Flickr/Gage Skidmore
2018
U.S. to produce record
10 million barrels oil/day

27. BUT, DISRUPTIVE FORCES IN PLAY…
Photo: Flickr/American Tobacco Historic District

28. CAR COMPANIES…
Photo: Flickr/Ford Europe
Volvo, Ford, GM
announced
expanding EV fleets

29. GOVERNMENTS…
Photo: Flickr/NatalieMaynor
UK, France, Norway,
Netherlands:
No new gas cars by 2040

30. INVESTORS…
Photo: Flickr/RosieTulips
2017
155 shareholder
resolutions on climate
and sustainability

31. INSURERS…
Photo: Flickr/World Bank Photo Collection
AXA quits oil sands

32. …AND OIL COMPANIES STARTING TO RESPOND
Photo: Flickr/Jonah G.S.
SHELL and STATOIL
commit to reduce
emissions intensity
BP puts
$200 million
towards solar
EXXON agrees
to disclose
climate risk

33. WHAT TO WATCH:
Offshore Drilling: How Far Will It Go?
Photo: Flickr/JournoJen
17 Atlantic and
Pacific governors
oppose offshore
drilling
Florida taken off
list of states for
offshore drilling

34. Photo: Flickr/Kārlis Dambrāns
On deck:
Germany, China, India and California
WHAT TO WATCH:
Will More Governments Ban Gas Cars?

35. WHAT TO WATCH:
Will Development Banks
Drop Oil?
Photo: Flickr/World Bank Photo Collection
WORLD BANK:
No upstream oil & gas investment by 2019

36. WHAT TO WATCH:
How Will Saudi Aramco IPO Be Valued?
Photo: Flickr/RosieTulips

37. WHAT TO WATCH:
Will Others Follow the World’s
Largest Pension Fund?
Photo: Flickr/JournoJen
NORWEGIAN PENSION FUND ($1 trillion):
Advised to divest from oil

38. Photo: Flickr/Martin Schachermayer
WHAT TO WATCH:
Will Oil Companies Follow Through?

41. ONE ADMINISTRATION THAT WON’T…
Photo: US Environmental Protection Agency
• Clean Power Plan
• Vehicle Emissions
Standards
• Social Cost of Carbon
• Paris Agreement

42. BUT WE ARE STILL IN!
Photo: Flickr/David Yu
15
U.S. states
455
U.S. cities
1,700+
U.S. businesses

43. THE WORLD IS MOVING AHEAD

44. THE WORLD IS MOVING AHEAD

45. GLOBAL CO2 EMISSIONS NEED TO DECLINE RAPIDLY
Source: Carbon Crunch

46. Who Is Going to Lead?
Photo: Flickr/European Council
WHAT TO WATCH:

47. Photo: Flickr/Gustavo M
3.5%
rise in CO2
in 2017
2018
Launch of
national carbon
market
WHAT TO WATCH:
Which Way for China’s Emissions?

48. WHAT TO WATCH:
Source: India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE); Bridge to India
Note: all year sin the chart are fiscal years: 1 April – 31 March
Will India’s Renewable Energy Growth Keep Pace?

49. WHAT TO WATCH:
Will US Subnational Action Add Up?
Photo: Flickr/WRI
REPORT RELEASE
September 2018

50. NEW GLOBAL REPORT
September 2018
WHAT TO WATCH:
What Will the New Climate Economy Find?

51. Photo: Flickr/Matthew Paulson
September 12–14, 2018
San Francisco, CA
WHAT TO WATCH:
Will 2018 Summit Lead to More Action?

52. WHAT TO WATCH:
US Midterm Elections:
Who Comes Out on Top?
Source: US Today/ Inside Elections
435
House
seats
34
Senate
seats
36 Governors

53. WHAT TO WATCH:
Source: Citizens Climate Lobby
Will Bipartisan Support for Climate Grow?
62
Members
of Climate
Solutions
Caucus
x 66

54. WHAT TO WATCH:
COP24: Will Countries Ramp Up Ambition?
Photo: Flickr/Kamil Porembinski
• Talanoa Dialogue
• Paris Rulebook
• Pre-2020 Issues

56. Photo: International Monetary Fund Follow

58. Photo: The Economist

59. THE PATH TO 1.5–2°C RELIES ON CO2 REMOVAL
Source: UNEP

60. THE PATH TO 1.5–2°C RELIES ON CO2 REMOVAL
Source: UNEP

61. THE PATH TO 1.5–2°C RELIES ON CO2 REMOVAL
Source: UNEP

62. A MASSIVE CHALLENGE
Source: UNEP 2017

63. A SPECTRUM OF STRATEGIES
Photos: Flickr/AgriLife Today/WRI/United Soybean Board; ClimeWorks, Roger Aines

64. A SPECTRUM OF STRATEGIES
Photos: Flickr/AgriLife Today/WRI/United Soybean Board; ClimeWorks, Roger Aines

65. A SPECTRUM OF STRATEGIES
Photos: Flickr/AgriLife Today/WRI/United Soybean Board; ClimeWorks, Roger Aines

66. NATURAL STRATEGIES ARE READY TO SCALE
2 billion
hectares potential for
landscape restoration

67. DIRECT AIR CAPTURE & STORAGE
Photo: ClimeWorks
3 COMPANIES AT
THE FOREFRONT:
• Carbon Engineering
• ClimeWorks
• Global Thermostat

68. ENHANCED WEATHERING
Photo: Flickr/Michel G.

69. WHAT TO WATCH:
What Will the IPCC Report Say
About Negative Emissions?
Photo: Flickr/Takver
OCTOBER 2018
Global Warming of 1.5ºC
report launch

70. WHAT TO WATCH:
Will Natural Approaches Attract More Investment?
Source: CS/WWF/McKinsey

71. WHAT TO WATCH:
Will the First Zero Emission Gas
Power Plant Work as Expected?
Photo: Net Power and CB&I

74. 2017: LARGEST HUMANITARIAN CRISIS SINCE WWII
Photo: Flickr/Hugh Macleod / IRIN
83 million
people needed
emergency food
assistance

75. FOOD: WATER’S BIGGEST CUSTOMER
Photo: Pixabay/Qui Nguyen Khac
Agriculture accounts
for 69% of global
water withdrawal

76. WATER RISK WIDESPREAD
Aquduct Water Risk Atlas

77. MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA AT HIGH RISK
Source: Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas

78. 2040: WATER STRESS ON THE RISE
Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas
33 countries
to face extremely
high stress

79. SYRIA’S WAR—PRECEDED BY DROUGHT
Photo: Flickr/U.S. Department of State
• 1.5 million rural Syrians
migrated to cities
• Climate change made the
drought 2–3X more likely

80. TROUBLED WATERS IN LAKE CHAD REGION
Photo: Espen Røst / Bistandsaktuelt
• Lake Chad has shrunk by
95% since 1960s
• 2.4 million people displaced
• Herder/farmer conflict rivals
Boko Haram threat

81. Will UN Security
Council Adopt
Climate Resolution?
Photo: UNAMID/Flickr
WHAT TO WATCH:

82. WHAT TO WATCH:
How Will Countries
Manage New Mega-Dams?
Photo: Jacey Fortin
GRAND ETHIOPIAN
RENAISSANCE DAM:
• $5 billion project
• Africa's largest
hydroelectric dam

83. WHAT TO WATCH:
Cities Facing Water Crises?
Photo: Aloysius/Pixabay
Cape Town “Day Zero”
• April 2018
• 4 million residents’
taps run dry?

84. WHAT TO WATCH:
Will Integrated Data Lead to
Better Management?
Source: Aqueduct Food

85. WHAT TO WATCH:
Can the Data Revolution
Help Prevent Crises?
Resource Watch
Launching April 2018

88. THE OCEAN IN HOT WATER
• US EPA: Average Global Sea Surface
Temperature, 1880-2015
Source: US EPA
Over 30% of man made co2 emissions

89. CORAL BLEACHING CRISIS
Photo: Flickr/Oregon State University
50%
of coral reefs lost
due to bleaching
Coral
bleaching
4x
as frequent
than 1980s

90. DROWNING IN PLASTIC
Photo: Flickr/Susan White/USFWS
~9 million tons
per year
More plastic than fish
in the ocean by 2050

91. FISHING BEYOND THE OCEAN'S LIMITS
Photo: Flickr/-JvL-
31% overfished
58% fished to capacity

92. GROWING WAVE OF AWARENESS
JANUARY 2016
SDG14
Life Below Water
Photo: Flickr/gpparker
1,400 Commitments
at The Ocean
Conference of the UN
UN Special Envoy
for the Ocean
JUNE 2017 SEPTEMBER 2017

93. WHAT TO WATCH:
Progress on Plastic?
Photo: Flickr/Jedimentat44
• 40+ countries have banned, restricted
or taxed use of plastic bags
• UN proposed ban on plastic in the ocean

94. WHAT TO WATCH:
Will New Leadership Emerge?
Photo: Flickr/floheinstein
January 22–26
Davos, Switzerland

95. Photo: Thomas Mues/Flickr
Key ocean assets worth
$24 trillion
WHAT TO WATCH:
Will a Blue Economy Narrative Take Hold?

96. WHAT TO WATCH:
Will G7 Leaders Unite?
Photo: Flickr/European Council President
June 8–9
Charlevoix, Canada

97. WHAT TO WATCH:
Will Negotiations Begin for
UN Treaty on the High Seas?
Photo: Flickr/Joanna Penn
Must protect 30% by 2030 to
achieve ocean sustainability

101. TECHNOLOGIES TO WATCH:
Will Blockchain Help Green Supply Chains?
Photo: Flickr/Corey Templeton

102. TECHNOLOGIES TO WATCH:
Will Tree-Planting
Drones Take Off?
Photo: BioCarbon Engineering

103. TECHNOLOGIES TO WATCH:
Self-Driving Pizza Trucks?

104. TECHNOLOGIES TO WATCH:
Does Utility-Scale Energy
Storage Catalyze Renewables?
Photo credit: hoesim

105. Source: Boston Dynamics
Robots?
TECHNOLOGIES TO WATCH: