World Resources Institute (WRI)

WRI receives hundreds of millions of dollars a year via grants from government agencies, private foundations, and corporations. Some of these donors include the European Climate Foundation, the Shell Foundation, Facebook, the Toyota Mobility Foundation, the Walmart Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. ²³⁴

In 2019, former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who was a board member of WRI at the time, was named by Virginia Giuffre, accuser of child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, of taking part in her sexual abuse. Richardson denied the allegations, however he later resigned from the WRI board for reasons the organization claimed were unrelated ^{5 6 5}

Background and Activities

The World Resources Institute (WRI) is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organization that conducts global research on environmentalist subjects such as climate change and environmentalist energy. The institute has more than 700 “experts” and members of staff and conducts its activities in more than 50 countries around the world including China, where it opened an office in 2008. ⁷ Other WRI offices are located in Brazil, Europe, India, Indonesia, and Mexico. ⁸

The WRI was founded in 1982 by Gus Speth, who created the organization with a $15 million grant provided to him by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (also known as the MacArthur Foundation), a left-of-center foundation that granted an average of just over $200 million each year, between 2000 to 2017, to a large number of left-of-center causes including disarmament, environmentalist policy, and population control. ⁹

The WRI gathers data through independent research and analysis which it then uses to influence policies of national and local governments and business strategies. WRI also tests its programs with governments, companies, and other communities. ¹⁰

Opposition to Nuclear Energy

In 2018, WRI hosted an awards ceremony honoring two activists credited with blocking the construction of a nuclear power plant in South Africa. A WRI news release praised the pair for a “victory that protected South Africa from an unprecedented expansion of the nuclear industry. . .” ¹

Funding

Most of the World Resources Institute (WRI)’s revenue comes from contributions and grants from private foundations, organizations, and companies including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (also known as the Gates Foundation), the Bezos Earth Fund, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. ¹¹

WRI received approximately $86.5 million in contributions and grants in 2017, with total revenue of just under $93.5 million. The institute had $94.5 million in total functional expenses, with just under $6 million going to “executive compensation,” and $24.3 million paying for the 700 staff members’ “salaries and other wages.” WRI had $105 million in total assets for 2017 and Just over $18.5 in total liabilities. ¹¹

The WRI’s income increased in 2018 when it made $140 million in total revenue, with $138.6 million received in the form of contributions and grants. WRI’s expenses also grew but not nearly as much. The institute had $104 million in total functional expenses, paying $4.4 million in “executive compensation,” and $24.6 in salaries and wages. WRI’s total assets also grew to $150 million and its total liabilities rose to $26 million. ¹¹

WRI’s income grew again in 2019 when it made just under $160 million in total revenue, $158 million of which came from contributions and grants including a total of $4.5 million being received in the form of government contributions. It had $120.7 million in total expenses for the same year, paying $5 million in “executive compensation,” and $31 million for salaries and wages. The institute’s total assets climbed again to $183 million, and its total liabilities dropped to $21 million. ¹²

The WRI received $16,047,627 from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany in 2017, as well as $9,217,439 from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, $9,160,427 from the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment, $5,835,411 from the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom, $2,467,680 from the Department of Energy & Climate Change of the United Kingdom, $2,081,000 from the European Climate Foundation, $1,500,000 from the U.S. Agency for International Development, and $691,357 from the U.S. Department of State. ²

WRI also received multiple contributions from government organizations in 2019 including, $23,080,000 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, $13,271,808 from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, $9,559,266 from the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment, $8,655,960.43 from the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and $6,579,803 from the U.K. Department for International Development. ¹³

The Bezos Earth Fund, a left-of-center charitable project launched by billionaire Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in February 2020, selected the WRI as one of its first grantees, promising the organization $100 million over five years. WRI noted that it would use the money to “develop a satellite-based monitoring system to advance natural climate solutions around the world.” ¹⁴

The MacArthur Foundation has awarded a total of $55,516,000 between 1982 and 2020 to the WRI including the initial $15 million in 1982, just over $22.5 million in 1986, $1.2 million in 1998, $1.5 million in 2007, $3 million in 2018, $2.6 million in 2019, and $1 million in 2020. ⁴

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, also known as the Gates Foundation, has provided millions of dollars to WRI between 2000 and 2019 including $1,320,000 in 2011, $2.1 million in 2016, and $1 million in 2019. ³

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, a left-of-center private foundation that has devoted 46.2% of its grants to environmental conservation since its launch in 2000 and provides generous support of left-of-center environmentalist organizations hostile to energy production, logging, and mining, has provided a total of $7,878,315 to WRI since 2014, with the most recent grant being $2,300,000 awarded in 2020. ¹⁵

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, a left-of-center foundation created in 1940 as the charity for the five sons of John D. Rockefeller, contributed $200,000 in 2014, $400,000 in 2015, $150,000 in 2016, $200,000 in 2017, and $500,000 in 2019. ¹⁶

The WRI also lists its major donors; entities that have contributed more than $750,000 between 2016 and 2018. This list includes Bloomberg Philanthropies, Cargill Incorporated, Citi Foundation, ClimateWorks Foundation, the European Climate Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Google, Open Society Foundations, and The World Bank. ¹⁷

The WRI has also received substantial amounts of money from corporations and corporate-linked foundations in 2017, including $940,000 from Cargill, $800,000 from the Shell Foundation, Facebook, the Toyota Mobility Foundation, Tyson Foods, the Walmart Foundation, UPS Foundation, Mars, and DuPont. ¹⁸ WRI also notes that it has also received donations from HSBC, FedEx, the IKEA Foundation, and Microsoft’s AI for Earth. ¹⁹

Controversy

Former Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson resigned from the World Resources Institute (WRI) board in 2019 after Virginia Giuffre, the accuser of child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, named him as taking part in her sexual assault. ⁵ Richardson denied the accusations, but claimed in a statement he “felt it was time to resign” after having served on the board since 2011. Later that year, WRI confirmed to the Huffington Post that Richardson was no longer on the board. ⁵

Leadership

Ani Dasgupta is the president and CEO of the World Resources Institute (WRI). Working with the organization since 2014, Dasgupta previously served as the global director of the WRI’s Ross Center for Sustainable Cities program. Prior to WRI, Dasgupta worked in several positions with the World Bank. ²⁰

Andrew Steer was the previous president and CEO of the WRI before he stepped down in 2021 to serve as president and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund, a left-of-center charitable project formed in 2020 by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. Bezos endowed the Fund with $10 billion at its founding to be disbursed by 2030 to environmentalist projects aimed at combatting climate change. ²¹ As of 2025, Steer stepped down from his position at Bezos Earth Fund, with Doug Varley serving as interim president and CEO. ^{22 23}