The coast of South Africa’s Eastern Cape, near the Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve, is a picture of calm. Clouds rest on the horizon, and gentle waves turn the sand into a reflection of the blue sky. But this serenity faces a threat—one driven by the demands of a warming climate and an economy rooted in fossil […]
Tag: sustainability
ASEAN Navigates Techno-Geopolitics of AI in U.S.-China Showdown
As artificial intelligence (AI) cements itself as a cornerstone of global power, Southeast Asia finds itself at the center of a complex and high-stakes rivalry between the United States and China. Established in 1967 amid Cold War tensions, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was designed to foster regional stability and cooperation, helping its […]
Africa in G20: New Promises for Inclusive Climate Action?
The recent G20 conference, held in India in early September, took an unexpected turn when the African Union (AU), consisting of 55 nations, received an invitation to join the ranks of the world’s most influential economies. As a result, the G20 transformed into the G21, with 19 member nations alongside two political and economic entities […]
The Bottom Line on Saudi Arabia’s “The Line”
The 2021 “Largest Survey of Public Opinion on Climate Change” carried out by the United Nations Development Program found that a majority of people across every age group, nationality, economic standing, and education level classify climate change as an emergency. Consequently, people everywhere are turning to their leaders—whether that be governments or the corporations that […]
Paradise Lost: Agriculture, Water, and the Future of the Golden State
When the first forty-niners began to trickle into California in search of gold, the Central Valley was a fertile expanse of grasslands and marshes home to thousands of deer, tule elk, and grizzly bears — an American Serengeti. Within a century, the region radically transformed into a cornucopia of industrial agriculture to feed the state’s […]
What Lead’s Rise and Fall Can Teach Us About Microplastic Pollution
We have reached a point in our planet’s history where what we do will have effects that may outlast us entirely. In the relatively short amount of time humans have been catastrophically polluting, we have had several moments where we realized our harmful effects were too great and needed to be resolved. Those moments are […]
What Debt-for-Nature Could Mean For Developing Countries
In 1842, Charles Darwin referred to the Belize Barrier Reef as “the most remarkable reef in the West Indies.” With its gleaming turquoise waters, verdant clusters of mangroves and rainbow of brightly-colored coral rising from the seafloor, it is plain to see why. In addition to its aesthetic appeal, the site is home to multiple […]
California is burning wrong — listen to native tribes and burn it right
“You have to understand fire. You have to respect fire. You can’t be afraid of it.” – Ron W. Goode, Tribal Chairman, North Fork Mono Tribe Fires have long been a fixture of California, but over time they have become increasingly intense and disruptful, with “megafires” becoming more and more frequent. While fires are key […]
Dam Shame: Examining China’s Hydro-Hegemony
It was done in a panic. As Japan’s rapid and devastating invasion of China continued inward, Chinese President Chiang Kai-Shek turned to the Yellow River, a symbol of Chinese civilization, to accomplish what his soldiers could not. In early June, 1938, Chinese troops were ordered to destroy the dykes along the river with the hope […]
Electoral Breakthrough or Electoral Persistence? Forecasting AfD’s Future in the German Parliament
The Western world breathed a sigh of relief after the triumph of the young independent centrist Emmanuel Macron over Marine Le Pen, leader of the right-wing National Front, in the French presidential election. His victory was hailed as a sign that the emerging tidal wave of populism that had culminated in the Brexit Vote and […]