Features

FORMA Taps Satellite Data to Monitor Tropical Forests, Slow Global Warming

Forest destruction accounts for about 15% of global carbon emissions, mostly in tropical forests in developing countries. Payments for forest preservation will be a hot issue in Copenhagen in mid-December, but timely monitoring of tropical deforestation has stumped the global community. Until now. CGD’s new Forest Monitoring for Action (FORMA) Internet tool has up-to-date information for Indonesia down to the square kilometer—and plans to eventually cover all tropical forests. FORMA can help people in wealthy countries and developing countries alike verify that the carbon stored in protected forests remains in the trees and out of the atmosphere.

ACCESS FORMA

Focus Climate Talks on Energy Rights, Not Emissions

Satellite Image of Earth

Climate talks in Copenhagen are now acknowledged to have failed before they began. CGD president Nancy Birdsall and senior fellow Arvind Subramanian, a columnist for India’s top financial daily, argue for a new way of thinking about climate fairness that focuses not on emissions cuts but on meeting developing countries’ energy needs in a climate-friendly manner.

Learn more

Raj Shah Can Transform U.S. Assistance—If the White House and State Back Him

Birdsall praises Raj Shah, Obama’s nominee for USAID administrator, saying he will bring “tremendous talents—smarts, a passion for development, and strategic thinking—to the helm of USAID.” But Shah can only succeed in modernizing U.S. foreign assistance, she says, with solid backing from the White House and State Department, including a seat on the National Security Council. Sheila Herrling reports on the nomination.

READ THE BLOG AND COMMENT

Latest
CGD Blogs Recent Posts