Climate Change

Golden Toad Loss Marks Massive Extinction Threat

Those lucky enough to have seen them will never forget.For just a few days every year, the elfin cloud forest of Costa Rica came alive with crowds of golden toads the length of a child's thumb, emerging from the undergrowth to mate at rain-swelled pools.In this mysterious woodland the cloud drapes over mountain ridges and "the trees are dwarfed and wind-sculpted, gnarled and heavily laden with mosses," said J Alan Pounds, an ecologist at the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve in

13 April 2022
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Can City Living Beat Climate Change?

With a whopping 70 percent of humanity predicted to be living in urban areas by the middle of the century, United Nations (UN) climate experts see a huge opportunity to create ideal cities that are walkable, leafy and energy efficient.Urban areas currently account for around 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, notes a comprehensive report on climate change solutions from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released this week.We are in the "urban cent

6 April 2022
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World Reacts To UN Climate Solutions

Campaigners and leaders of countries vulnerable to climate change said Monday's United Nations (UN) report on stemming the climate crisis is an urgent call to action for the rich world.Here is a summary of their reactions.'Immoral' Failure "This collective failure to act at the scale and speed necessary to combat the climate crisis is irresponsible and immoral...

5 April 2022
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No longer A Last Resort: Pulling CO2 From The Air

To save the world from the worst ravages of climate change, slashing carbon pollution is no longer enough – carbon dioxide (CO2) will also need to be sucked out of the atmosphere and buried, a landmark United Nations (UN) report is expected to say on Monday.If humanity had started to curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 20 years ago, an annual decrease of two percent out to 2030 would have put us on the right path.

3 April 2022
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Wind And Solar Reach Milestone As Demand Surges

Wind and solar generated 10 percent of global electricity for the first time in 2021, a new analysis shows.50 countries get more than a tenth of their power from wind and solar sources, according to research from Ember, a climate and energy think tank.As the world's economies rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, demand for energy soared.Demand for electricity grew at a record pace. This saw a surge in coal power, rising at the fastest rate since 1985.

1 April 2022
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The Anatomy Of The Net-Zero Transition

Now that addressing climate change has become a top priority worldwide, economic policymakers and corporate strategists alike are embracing sustainability goals – most notably, “net-zero” greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. But what will it take to get there?

27 March 2022
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Asia’s Emissions-Reduction Plan For The World

World leaders came together in Glasgow last November to map out a path to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. But while the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) was undoubtedly a historic moment, most countries are just beginning their work to meet new goals to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions.That is why the announcement by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Indonesian and Philippine governments at COP26 stood out.

20 January 2022
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Cities And The Climate-Data Gap

With cities facing disastrous climate stresses and shocks in the coming years, one would think they would be rushing to implement mitigation and adaptation strategies.

14 January 2022
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A World Of Growing Disorder

My book, A World in Disarray, was published five years ago this month. The book’s thesis was that the Cold War’s end did not usher in an era of greater stability, security, and peace, as many expected. Instead, what emerged was a world in which conflict was much more prevalent than cooperation. Some criticised the book at the time as being unduly negative and pessimistic. In retrospect, the book could have been criticised for its relative optimism.

7 January 2022
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Is Strategic Cooperation With China Possible?

Looking at the economic landscape at the start of 2022, one cannot help but notice the emergence of new obstacles to a robust recovery. The United States (US), Europe, China, and others face a growing list of remarkably similar short- and longer-term challenges. The pandemic remains the most immediate concern. Without full global vaccination, new COVID-19 variants will continue to emerge, potentially forcing governments to renew partial or full lockdowns.

2 January 2022
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Clouds Over 2022

Despite dips and disruptions from new variants of COVID-19, 2021 turned out to be a relatively positive year for economies and markets in most parts of the world.

30 December 2021
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