Achim Steiner is United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Program (UNEP).
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Achim Steiner
Commentaries by Achim Steiner
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Sustainability at a Profit
NAIROBI – How profitable are the world’s major industrial and agricultural sectors? According to a new report by the London-based consultanc…
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Sovereign Environmental Risk
NAIROBI – Until the global financial crisis erupted four years ago, sovereign bonds had traditionally been viewed as reliable, virtually ris…
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The Biodiversity Bargain
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 …
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The High Stakes of Rio+20
NAIROBI – With just weeks to go before the Rio+20 Earth Summit, many are speculating about how many world leaders will show up and what kind…
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Lighting the Dark Continent
NAIROBI – Nineteenth-century European explorers called Africa the “Dark Continent,” because to them it was vast and largely unknown. Today, …
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Protecting Nature’s Nomads
NAIROBI – For the elephants that are returning to southern Angola, after herds were devastated during the country’s civil wars, the battle i…
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Fixing Our Broken Oceans
NAIROBI – Many people know that oceans cover more than 70% of the world’s surface, and that marine fisheries provide food for billions of pe…
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The Renewable Future
NAIROBI – Renewable energy triggers sharply polarized views. For some, it is a costly white elephant; for others, it is humanity’s savior, p…
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The Green Shoots of the Green Economy
NAIROBI – In just two years, the idea of a “Green Economy,” with its links to sustainable development and poverty eradication, has gone from…
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Silent Momentum on Climate Change
NAIROBI – The last two years have been a roller coaster ride in respect to securing a new global treaty to combat climate change. Some even …
Sustainability at a Profit
Lundi Sun: Thank you for your article. The issue I see is in "the how to transform" - misaligned incentive structures and as noted non existent or underdeveloped markets to price the true cost of externalities …
Sustainability at a Profit
Dallas Weaver, Ph.D.: With no market for "externalities", all the speculation about their value is just speculation. Life cycle analysis (LCA) doesn't sum into a single value for dollar accounting (water, energy, CO2, NH3…