Worldwatch Institute

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The Worldwatch Institute is a globally-focused environmental research organization. Based in Washington, D.C., the institute was founded in 1974 by Lester Brown. Christopher Flavin is the current president. Current researchers include Erik Assadourian, Zoe Chafe, Robert Engelman, Hilary French, Gary Gardner, Brian Halweil, Michael Renner, and Janet Sawin. The Institute also lists a number of Senior Fellows, including Christopher Bright, Eric Martinot, Mia MacDonald, Danielle Nierenberg, and Sandra Postel.

Since 1984, the institute’s annual The State of the World report has provided an annual assessment of urgent global environmental problems and the innovative ideas proposed and applied across the globe to address them. The 2008 version of this report focuses on innovations in sustainable economics, including emissions trading, renewable energy investment, and efficient production.^[1] The institute also published Vital Signs until 2007, tracking several social, environmental and economic trends annually. In 2008, it was replaced by Vital Signs Online, an electronic database of trends. Worldwatch Institute publications have been published in more than three dozen languages by its global partners in 40 countries.