When we think about winning the fight against climate change, most people concentrate on reducing greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions from cars, trucks, and other machines powered by fossil fuels. But while these emissions sources are certainly worthy of our attention, another culprit receives far less than it deserves: our food.Farm and food sustainability are important pieces of the climate-change puzzle, but at the moment, climate-sustainable diets are not on the menu.

In the 1940s, the British historian Arnold J. Toynbee predicted that the United States (US) and the Soviet Union would remain the world’s only two great powers.

British members of Parliament will soon have to make one of the most difficult political decisions of their lives. The choice is between approving the Brexit deal that Prime Minister Theresa May has negotiated with the European Union (EU), crashing out of the EU with no deal, or trying to reverse the exit process altogether.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is eager to hold a second summit with United States (US) President Donald Trump. Since their first meeting in Singapore in June, Kim has consistently outmanoeuvred his counterpart.

From farm to fork, the international community is facing growing challenges in eradicating hunger and malnutrition. And yet while some parts of the world are obviously better endowed than others in terms of climate, soil, water, and geography, there is plenty of food to go around. So why is food insecurity a problem for so many people in so many countries?What is missing are conditions ensuring that healthy and nutritious food can reach those who need it.

Can the world end poverty by 2030, the target set by the United Nations (UN) Agenda for Sustainable Development? The UN General Assembly recently reaffirmed this deadline but conceded that meeting it will require “accelerating global actions” to tackle poverty’s causes. As the international community explores new solutions, lessons from the past could be instructive.Poverty reduction has been central to development policy for decades.

On his week-long tour of Asia, United States (US) Vice President Mike Pence has been promoting a vision of a “free and open” Indo-Pacific region, characterised by unimpeded trade flows, freedom of navigation, and respect for the rule of law, national sovereignty, and existing frontiers. The question is whether this vision of an Indo-Pacific free of “authoritarianism and aggression” is achievable.One country that seems willing to contribute to realising this vision is Japan.

It has been three years since world leaders committed to one of the boldest goals ever set in global public health: achieving universal health coverage by 2030. Achieving this objective will mean that every person in every community has access to affordable care, both to prevent them from falling ill and to treat them when they do.The stakes are simply too high not to deliver on this promise.

Technology is often oversold as either a panacea for the world’s problems or an unshakeable curse inflicting disruption and displacement on the most vulnerable. But historically, neither of these characterizations is accurate. From the steam engine to the personal computer, inventions have transformed societies in complex ways. On balance, however, technology has always created more jobs and economic opportunities than it has destroyed. That trend is likely to continue.Why am I so upbeat?

For anyone still undecided about the consequences of global warming, the summer of 2018, one of the hottest on record, should have tipped the scales. Across far-flung longitudes and latitudes, regions are struggling with the fallout from large-scale climate-related events.In the southern United States (US), cities and towns pummelled by Hurricane Florence in September were still drying out when Hurricane Michael brought more flooding in October.