The World Resources Institute (WRI) is a Liberal based,non-governmental global research organization which seeks to create equity and prosperity through sustainable natural resource management. It was established in 1982 with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation under the leadership of James Gustave Speth. WRI is an independent, non-partisan and nonprofit organization with a global staff of more than 450 scientists, economists, policy experts, business analysts, statistical analysts, mapmakers, and communicators developing and promoting policies with the intention of protecting the Earth and improving people’s lives.