“Every time there’s a big change, American workers get the short end of the stick, whether it’s deregulation, outsourcing, or free trade.” What is being done to ensure that the decarbonisation process is different?Read the full article
“Just a few years ago, the region’s trade unions were not interested in climate change or just transition. They were interested in wages, social dialogue, pension reforms, tax reforms, etc. But over the last four years or so, people have begun to understand why a just transition is so [...]Read the full article
In response to growing demand for the precious metals needed to fuel energy transition, companies are developing technology for exploring and mining the ocean floor and applying for licenses to do so. But international legislation protecting these ecosystems is still [...]Read the full article
Joseph Baines:Commodity traders wreak havoc on global markets and profit from ecological and social devastation. Can they be stopped?Read the full article
Beijing has used the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to boost its global image. And to strengthen its foothold in the MENA region, its interests, long limited to securing the flow of oil, have been broadened to include a range of areas, stretching from culture to [...]Read the full article
Jesús A. Núñez Villaverde:“No sufficiently solid legal framework currently exists to prevent the potential problems that lie ahead, include the possibility of direct violent clashes.”Read the full article
With the world gradually moving away from coal, Pakistan continues to rigorously extract from its estimated three million tonnes of reserves. But primitive working conditions and poor enforcement of existing laws led to the deaths of at least 208 miners in [...]Read the full article
Gold prices have risen steadily over the past two years, reaching an all-time high in mid-2020. In the Brazilian Amazon, men come to seek their fortunes on forest land that the federal government should protect, but which, more and more, is succumbing to the pressures of [...]Read the full article
Jesús A. Núñez Villaverde:Rapid technological progress and human need have brought us to a point where space mining and space tourism have already moved beyond the realms of science fiction and into the realms of the possible, becoming real options in the here and [...]Read the full article
Mexico is reluctant to part with fossil fuels. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s energy strategy is firmly committed to new hydrocarbon projects and the generation of dirty energy, to the detriment of renewable sources such as wind and solar [...]Read the full article
Jesús A. Núñez Villaverde:With its bid to join the space race, the United Arab Emirates is not only seeking to bolster its national pride, its human capital and its dream of regional hegemony, but also to improve its chances of competing in a highly demanding niche market, and even to whitewash its image as an [...]Read the full article
The issue of the materials used to produce low-carbon technologies is of fundamental importance and has been the subject of widespread discussion. The water consumption needed for the extraction of minerals and the manufacture of these technologies is also essential, yet far less [...]Read the full article