Janet Ranganathan

Let me 'fess up. The state of the environment sometimes gets me down. But to be fair, Earth's vital signs would drive any respectable emergency room doctor into a state of utter panic. Globally, two thirds of ecosystem services, such as freshwater, pollination, natural hazard regulation, have been degraded in...

This post was written with Kevin Kennedy, Director of the U.S. Climate Initiative at the World Resources Institute.

Shale gas is a game-changer for global energy supply. It is already transforming the U.S. energy outlook, and is expected to deliver over 40 percent of domestic gas production by...

This piece was written with Pankaj Bhatia, Director of the GHG Protocol Initiative.

Yesterday, the GHG Protocol launched two new global greenhouse gas accounting standards - for corporate value chains (scope 3) and product life cycle emissions that will empower businesses to better measure, manage,...

In a survey of global businesses, 86 percent described responding to climate risks or investing in adaptation as a business opportunity. So finds a new report jointly released this week by the UN Global Compact, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Oxfam and the World Resources Institute.

Already, businesses...

Last month IPIECA, the global oil and gas industry association for environmental and social issues, along with the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the International Association for Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) released their revised guidance on corporate sustainability reporting. This was the first update to...

Imagine a boat with 195 passengers on board traveling at 20 knots.

The boat develops a small leak that at first no-one notices. As it gets bigger, water starts to rise in the boat, which doesn't have enough lifeboats for everyone on board.

At first the passengers can't even...

Nestled near the end of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (HR 4173) is Section 1504, two and half pages of text that aim to bring much needed transparency to the extractive resources industry, especially its operations in the developing world.

President Obama's recent

Limited transparency around corporate sustainability risks can lead to investments that are bad for the environment, and investors' bottom lines.

Yesterday BP abandoned its hope of bidding on a potentially lucrative exploration license in Greenland. The implication is that its tarnished reputation is undermining its...

Can forest-rich countries learn from the mistakes of extractive projects and avoid unleashing their own resource curse?

For poor developing countries, exploiting natural wealth such as minerals and metals should prove a blessing, offering the potential to generate huge revenues and help lift them out of poverty. Instead many have...

Though it is easy to forget in the city-centered 21st century, human well-being is utterly dependent on the natural world. To state the obvious, we cannot survive without fresh water, food, and fuel. Yet every day, countless decisions are made whose ripple effects will degrade or destroy the vital goods...

Investing in ecosystem services will help MDBs improve the livelihoods of the poor.

World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick declared the demise of the term "Third World" in the run up to this weekend's spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank. Instead, he rightly said, we must recognize that...

For decades, environmentalists have described shrinking forests as the planet's "green lungs." In Copenhagen, governments appeared to agree with this comparison when they offered life support to preserve carbon-trapping tropical forests in the form of a major cash infusion. But can pumping money into forests save the climate?...

Two upcoming Senate bills could have a big impact on the Democratic Republic of Congo, by exposing how its 10-year conflict is being funded.

When Hillary Clinton visited the Democratic Republic of Congo this week, she called attention to the exploitation of the country's vast natural resources to fund...

On May 26, shareholders at Chevron's annual meeting in California will vote on a resolution urging management to assess the company's compliance with the environmental laws of every country in which it operates. The vote has been triggered by pension fund investors anxious over the oil giant's liabilities in an...

All eyes are on Wall Street as it completes another roller coaster week of financial turmoil. Can things get worse? Actually, yes.

The chronic degradation of our planet's life support system is producing what could be termed a "subprime development" crisis. Its consequences, while less publicized, may ultimately far...