EDMONTON – Calm discussion of the environment nowadays is about as plausible as reasoned dialogue on witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. C…

NAIROBI – How profitable are the world’s major industrial and agricultural sectors? According to a new report by the London-based consultanc…

BRUSSELS – “When the winds of change blow,” says an old Chinese proverb, “some build walls, and others build wind mills.”These same words cl…

PASADENA – In 2011, the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan’s coastal region. Last year, Hurricane Sandy caused a wall of water t…

BRUSSELS – The need for clean energy has returned to the top of the global economic agenda. China’s new leadership now seems to recognize th…

BEIJING – According to new estimates that will be presented at this year’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, $100 trillion is needed by…

VIENNA – The rapid shrinkage of Arctic ice cover is one of the most dramatic changes in nature currently occurring anywhere on the planet, w…

LONDON – It seems to have become a ritual for United Nations climate negotiations to reach the brink of collapse before an intense, contenti…

GENEVA – Geopolitical insight is often gained through real-life experience, rather than big-picture thinking. Arriving at Charles de Ga…

NAIROBI – What will it cost to save the world’s forests and boost the life prospects of its seven billion people? In a few days, India will …

POTSDAM – In 1845, Captain Sir John Franklin of the British Royal Navy led 128 men on two iron-plated steam ships, Erebus and Terror, into t…

GENEVA – The World Trade Organization and global climate-change negotiations face comparable challenges. Both need to accommodate different …

NEW YORK – The United Nations “Rio+20” Earth Summit this month will be a staging ground to chart the course for inclusive economies, social …

GENEVA – Like a modern-day Pompeii, the streets and buildings of Prypyat stand frozen by a disaster. But, unlike the eruption of Mount Vesuv…

OXFORD – While austerity in Europe faces increasing social resistance, in principle it has the merit of simplicity. As the debate on fiscal …

STOCKHOLM – Particle emissions into Earth’s atmosphere affect both human health and the climate. So we should limit them, right? For health …

VEVEY, SWITZERLAND – How many people in the world’s towns and cities can drink the water in their tap without risking their health? The answ…

SAN JOSÉ – It was once said of the battle to fight climate change that there is no silver bullet – there is only silver buckshot. But, while…

BERLIN – The Fukushima disaster in March reminded the world, 25 years after Chernobyl, that nuclear energy is anything but clean, secure, an…

NEW DELHI – As Asia’s rising powers seek to sustain growth and ensure stability, energy security has moved to the forefront of Asian geopoli…

OSLO – Poverty is not only about not having enough money. It is also about exploitation and oppression, and about armed conflicts and wars t…

HONG KONG – By 2050, Asia will have more than five billion people, while the European Union’s share of the global population will decline fr…

NEW DELHI – China’s frenzied dam-building hit a wall recently in Burma (Myanmar), where the government’s bold decision to halt a controversi…

MANILA – In 1997, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted the Kyoto Protocol – an agreement among signato…

OXFORD – Germany has just crossed the threshold of 20% renewable power – honoring its 2020 commitment to the European Union eight years ahea…