Germany's continued obstruction of the TRIPS waiver "means more people will die when they could have been saved if they had access to life-saving vaccines." When German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday for a White House summit to discuss "ending the Covid-19 pandemic," she was greeted outside by a giant puppet of herself alongside dozens of body bags, symbolizing the victims of Germany's ongoing obstruction o...

Carbon dioxide, once emitted into the atmosphere, stays there for hundreds of years. When someone uses an offset to counteract emissions they need to make sure the offset they buy also lasts for centuries. For a company to claim that they are achieving net zero – balancing their emissions with an equivalent quantity of removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – it is essential that any offsets that they use are long-lasting, rather than temp...

From news reports, it might sound like the fossil fuel industry is on the defensive after a landmark court ruling and two shareholder votes challenging the industry's resistance to curbing its greenhouse gas emissions. But how much power do decisions like these really carry when it comes to pressuring the industry to change? As an academic who studies climate finance and is familiar with climate litigation, I think there's something else at work ...

"Big polluters and rich governments should not only reduce emissions to Real Zero, they must pay reparations for the huge climate debt owed to the Global South." A new report published by a trio of progressive advocacy groups lifts the veil on so-called "net zero" climate pledges, which are often touted by corporations and governments as solutions to the climate emergency, but which the paper's authors argue are merely a dangerous form of greenwa...

It takes 3,781 litres of water to make a single pair of jeans.Circular production methods could trim the amount of water and other resources denim consumes.Many leading brands are backing a circular economy for jeans. For millions of people around the world, denim is a wardrobe staple. Yet a single pair of jeans uses 3,781 litres of water in its production lifecycle. Now top brands are having a rethink and backing a circular economy for denim. Bi...

One of my greatest concerns about modern society is that we view everything as separate. We see ourselves as divided not just by our individuality, but also by groupings such as politics, race, religion, sexuality, occupation, wealth, nationality, and geography. We also regard ourselves as separate from nature. Modern society tells us that we are superior to, and detached from, the natural world. As a result, many believe we can continue to ...

What if globally designed products could radically change how we work, produce and consume? Several examples across continents show the way we are producing and consuming goods could be improved by relying on globally shared digital resources, such as design, knowledge and software. Imagine a prosthetic hand designed by geographically dispersed communities of scientists, designers and enthusiasts in a collaborative manner via the web. All knowled...

This week the World Economic Forum is holding its Industry Strategy Meeting 2021.Leaders met to identify opportunities where sectors can collaborate on how industries can drive growth and put stakeholder capitalism into practice.Here are some of the takeaways from the four plenaries. More than 400 participants from the World Economic Forum's communities of Industry Strategy Officers, as well as senior deputies to the CEO Industry Action Groups, c...

Companies with better ESG ratings were in a better position than others in 2020.Only by measuring on common standards, will we be able to deliver a meaningful, quantifiable impact.It will take time for government agencies to fully adopt a unified system and may be difficult, and costly for some companies. 2021 doesn't yet feel that much different from 2020. Infection rates are spiking, healthcare systems are buckling, and people are suffering. Th...

It's hard to imagine navigating modern life without a mobile phone in hand. Computers, tablets and smartphones have transformed how we communicate, work, learn, share news and entertain ourselves. They became even more essential when the COVID-19 pandemic moved classes, meetings and social connections online. But few people realize that our reliance on electronics comes with steep environmental costs, from mining minerals to disposing of used dev...