In The News

Companies Call for Tougher Climate Action

Richard Black October 26, 2011
Climate change and its many disruptions are not good for business – and corporate leaders are calling on governments to move quickly to stem climate change. Leaders of nearly 200 major companies are calling for a tougher response from nations convening in Durham for the annual global climate meeting, reports BBC News. The initiative’s name, 2C Challenges, refers to the effort to prevent average...

Floods Threaten Global Trade Hub

Pavin Chachavalpongpun October 24, 2011
Monsoon rains and typhoons have contributed to record flooding that saturates Thailand. Bangkok is under threat even as authorities try to relieve pressure by reinforcing levees, draining fields and releasing floodwaters into the sea. Most of Thailand is affected with rice fields submerged, food prices climbing, and supply-chain operations of multinational firms like Western Digital and Toyota...

Economic Fixes Should Not Worsen Environmental Crisis

Dodo J. Thampapillai October 19, 2011
During economic crises, political leaders often urge suspension of environmental protections to save jobs. That is a mistake, argues economist Dodo J. Thampapillai, with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, because the economy ultimately depends on a healthy environment and sustainable use of resources. The current financial crisis presents an opportunity...

New Zealand Oil Spill Ship Captain Charged

October 13, 2011
The cargo ship Rena ran aground off the port of Tauranga in New Zealand, and its captain has been charged with taking unnecessary risks. The accident is New Zealand’s worse environmental disaster in decades, with leaking oil hitting popular beaches and marine wildlife areas over the course of a week. The ship ran aground 5 October. Heavy swells continue to batter the grounded vessel, hampering...

Illegal Logging: From the Rainforest to Your Dining Room

Patrick Winn October 12, 2011
The non-profit Environmental Investigation Agency reports far-reaching corruption in Vietnam’s logging industry: Much of the lumber is illegally smuggled into Vietnam from protected jungles in Laos and later exported as furniture to the United States. Though illegal imports to Vietnam amount to about 15 to 20 percent of total Vietnamese timber imports, the United Nations estimates that within...

Burma Delivers Rebuff to China

Bertil Lintner October 3, 2011
Ever since the brutal Burmese suppression of democracy movement in the late 1980s, China has emerged as the principal backer of the military regime that renamed the country Myanmar. Sanctioned by the West, the military regime depends on China for trade, arms supplies and infrastructure aid. Now a presidential announcement suspending the Myitsone Dam project on the Irrawaddy River, a joint...

The Four Horsemen of Economics

Stewart Wallis September 28, 2011
Humans are not necessarily stuck with the unsustainable, unstable economic constructs they have created. Political systems can shape local and global economies, either deliberately or by default. Stewart Wallis, executive director of the New Economics Foundation, urges nations to work in concert to address crises that promise to arise with greater frequency and severity – whether extreme weather...