After the Bundestag elections—a change of climate?
Angela Merkel was labelled the ‘climate chancellor’. But powerful coal and car industries limited her achievements. Will her successor break free?
The myth of green capitalism
Rallying behind market-based measures to address climate change allows the owners of capital yet another way to avoid a reckoning.
Ecosocialism: more than another Third Way
The old left was too slow to see beyond materialist consumption. But an ecosocialism can underpin coalitions with the green parties which filled the gap.
To stop global heating, tax multinationals better
The rapid, radical decarbonisation needed to save the planet will cost a lot. Taxing multinationals and the wealthy properly can help pay for it.
Time is running out for a new agricultural model for the global south
Jayati Ghosh is baffled that at a coming food summit the UN should partner with the World Economic Forum, not its own specialist agencies.
Norway’s oil and money up for grabs in the coming election
Norway’s electorate has an existential choice to face about its Oil Fund, associated with domestic prosperity but looming climate catastrophe.
Not seeing the wood for the trees—the EU’s environmental blunder
Supporting a conversion to wood burning has unwittingly incentivised power plants to increase greenhouse gases.
National egoism versus planetary responsibility
Tackling the climate crisis is fundamentally incompatible with our understanding of sovereignty.
Climate change: labour’s neglected role
The Paris Agreement’s goals can not be fulfilled if neoliberalism prevails—which means only labour’s participation can bring success.
Maximising the potential of the European Green Deal
The European Green Deal doesn’t deserve uncritical support—but nor does it need sniping from the sidelines.
Amazon no longer absorbs carbon—has the world reached the point of no return?
The news that the Amazon rainforest is no longer a carbon sink puts a further big question-mark against the EU-Mercosur trade deal.
Pollution: no acceptable levels
‘Zero pollution’ is a very good goal for the European Union to adopt—but only if zero means zero.
A first tango in Glasgow?
A new transatlantic relationship is critical to any hope of global realisation of the goals of the Paris agreement.
People v Shell: from ‘corporate social responsibility’ to legal accountability
The successful action by citizens and NGOs in a Dutch court against Shell has sent a frisson through corporate boardrooms—with reason.
The climate X factor
The climate and biodiversity crises we face demand not only carbon-neutral energy sources but also a circular economy.
Ethical consumerism meets ‘eco-awakening’
If consumers are not given the tools to go green, then their eco-awakening could doom the climate.
How to achieve a ‘health renaissance’
Health and the environment have often been seen as costs on ‘the economy’. The pandemic has shown they are its foundations.
The climate verdict of the German Constitutional Court
A ruling last week by the German Constitutional Court in favour of ecological NGOs has major significance—and not just for Germany.
Climate scientists: concept of net zero is a dangerous trap
The US has joined the EU in committing to net-zero emissions by 2050—and the latter to 55 per cent net lower emissions by 2030. Scientists fear the ‘net’ could, once more, displace urgency.
From the wealth of nations to the health of nations
A new report sets out a blueprint for a European wellbeing economy.
A long-overdue step on EU sustainability reporting
A draft directive on sustainability reporting begins to address the challenge of turning the corporate tanker towards a zero-emissions 2050.