Patrick Schröder

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Protesters at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, on 7 June 2025. Photo by VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images

ReflexionesNaturaleza

The UN Ocean Conference is taking place in Nice this week at a crucial moment for the world’s oceans, as the US and other countries appear set to accelerate deep-sea mining operations with potentially irreparable damage to marine ecosystems.

The conference, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, aims to deliver on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 – to ‘conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.’ To succeed, delegates must agree on and deliver concrete and ambitious action to halt ocean degradation, protect marine ecosystems, and ensure the sustainable use of ocean resources.

But the window to achieve this goal is rapidly narrowing.…  Seguir leyendo »

A freighter performs a bauxite unloading operation at the ore berth of Yantai Port in Yantai, Shandong province, China on 30 March, 2025. (Photo credit CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

MundoAméricaInternacionalEconomía,

Beyond the shock of its sheer scale, the Trump administration’s extraordinary new tariff regime, announced on 2 April 2025, was notable for the exemptions it contained. Certain critical minerals – including rare earths like Yttrium that is used in permanent magnets, or gallium for microchips – are exempt from the tariffs, whether imported from China or elsewhere.

With this carve-out, President Donald Trump revealed both an important strategic through line in his seemingly erratic policymaking, and a vulnerability. Even within this new aggressive protectionist framework, the US is compelled to recognize its continuing dependence on Chinese-dominated critical mineral supply chains that are essential to high-tech manufacturing, AI development, defence technology and the clean energy transition.…  Seguir leyendo »

Earth and minerals are loaded onto trucks at an open-pit mine near the frontline in the Donetsk Region, Ukraine. (Photo by Pierre Crom/Getty Images)

Europa, , , ,

As Washington pushes for a ceasefire in Ukraine, Kyiv is also under pressure to sign a minerals deal that would grant the US access to its valuable raw materials.

The European Commission, in fear of losing out in the race to secure Ukraine’s rare earths, has made Kyiv a rival offer: a ‘win-win partnership’ to develop its minerals, building on existing cooperation and positioned as ‘mutually beneficial’ in contrast to Washington’s focus on extracting wealth as payment for its war support.

But rather than competing for access to Ukraine’s minerals, the US and the EU should pursue a joint US-EU-Ukraine minerals partnership.…  Seguir leyendo »

Aerial view of the core module of China's Linglong One, the world's first commercial small modular reactor (SMR), installed in Hainan Province of China on Aug. 10, 2023. Luo Yunfei/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images

ReflexionesNaturaleza, ,

Enthusiasm for a new generation of nuclear technology has gripped politicians across the world. The United Kingdom is the latest country to take action, with the Labour Party government set to revise planning rules in February 2025 with a goal of restoring the country’s position as “one of the world leaders on nuclear”. Key to this plan is accelerating the deployment of a new generation of miniature nuclear and small modular reactors (SMRs)—compact units that generate less power than traditional nuclear reactors but can be assembled onsite.

Similarly, in Australia, as part of the Australian campaign for a federal election expected in late April, the Coalition Party led by Peter Dutton unveiled a plan in December 2024 to adopt nuclear energy as a solution for providing efficient and affordable electricity.…  Seguir leyendo »

Residents look at their burned Altadena home after the massive wildfire in Los Angeles, California on January 13, 2025. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu)

ReflexionesNaturaleza,

On his first day back in office, Donald Trump signed executive orders to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accords and revoked a host of other climate policies that were implemented by the Biden administration. These moves deepen vulnerabilities for communities worldwide – and for a United States that itself is unprepared for the challenges ahead.

The escalating impacts of climate change, such as the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, are stark reminders that the impacts of extreme weather events transcend political and social boundaries. Yet, in the face of these shared threats, politicizing climate action and perpetuating climate denial continue to distract from the urgent challenges posed by a world that surpassed the 1.5°C warming threshold in 2024, the hottest year on record.…  Seguir leyendo »

Environmental activists demonstrate in front of the Bexco convention center in Busan on November 29, 2024 (Photo by ROLAND DE COURSON/AFP via Getty Images)

ReflexionesNaturaleza,

Negotiations aimed at securing a legally binding international treaty to combat the growing scourge of plastics pollution ended in division in the South Korean city of Busan at the weekend.

Governments will make a further effort early next year to reach agreement – though the challenges for achieving a better result in 2025 will require renewed commitment from all parties involved.

The Intergovernmental Negotiations Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC) had a clear mandate from the United Nations Environment Assembly in 2022 to conclude the negotiations by the end of 2024. However, the lengthy and complex process was marked by intense debates and competing national interests.…  Seguir leyendo »

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the Bundestag on June 26, 2024 in Berlin, Germany - with former finance minister Christian Lindner seated behind him. (Photo by Michele Tantussi/Gett

EuropaUnión Europea

As Europeans were still processing Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 US presidential election, an acrimonious break up occurred 4000 miles east of Washington DC.

Reports had been circulating for weeks about the fragile state of Germany’s ‘traffic light’ coalition government led by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, consisting of the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Green Party, and liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP).

The expectation had been that the coalition would hold on for a few more weeks and might even be given a new lease of life by Trump’s re-election. Instead, it collapsed on the day Trump’s win was confirmed.…  Seguir leyendo »

A stretched Hummer limousine is advertised for sale Los Angeles on March 16, 2009. Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

ReflexionesNaturaleza, ,

2023 was the warmest year ever recorded, and large SUV and pickup truck sales reached new records, too, responsible for more than 20 percent of the growth in global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In the U.S. market alone, more than 12.3 million new SUVs and pickup trucks were sold, which accounted for more than 79 percent of new vehicle sales. The trend has continued in 2024. In the first half of the year, more than 7.3 million SUVs and pickup trucks were sold, up 3.2 percent compared to 2023.

According to International Energy Agency data, if SUVs were a country, they would be the world’s fifth-largest emitter of CO2.…  Seguir leyendo »

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists gather near a poster of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, during a rally in Dhaka on 7 August 2024. (Photo by AFP).

MundoAsia

The resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after anti-government protests has been celebrated by many in Bangladesh as a ‘second liberation’. Yet the ousting of the world’s longest-serving female leader also marks the most critical political situation in the country since the revolution in 1971. The turmoil reflects underlying fissures in Bangladesh’s politics, economy and security situation.

To address these issues, the military-led interim government will need to focus on building political consensus, stabilising the economy and rebuilding the legislative, judicial and executive state institutions to ensure accountability.

The need to build political consensus

Under the 15-year leadership of Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s political system had become highly skewed – the country has essentially become a one-party state that favours groups affiliated with the ruling Awami League.…  Seguir leyendo »

A woman protects herself from the sun with with a handheld fan in Rome on July 13. Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images

EuropaUnión EuropeaUE a debate

In the lead-up to the European Parliament elections in June, during which far-right parties across Europe made gains while green parties and liberals suffered losses, the EU’s Green Deal, launched in 2020, and environmental policies generally were attacked—blamed for the economic downturn in many European countries, as well as inflation and the energy price crisis. Opposition to climate targets and the Green Deal has also been a theme in the recent French national elections. The policy platform of the far-right Rassemblement National—which won the first round of the elections—contains many proposals that would see backpedaling on existing greenhouse gas reduction targets, and a moratorium on wind energy development.…  Seguir leyendo »

A field with solar panels in front of the RWE Weisweiler power plant in Eschweiler, Germany on March 21. Oliver Berg/picture alliance via Getty Images

EuropaUnión EuropeaEconomía

On Feb. 6, the European Council and European Parliament made a significant agreement in the fight against climate change. The Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) establishes a benchmark for the European Union to manufacture 40 percent of expected demand in clean technologies by 2030. As well as onshore and offshore wind, hydro, and geothermal, this figure would include solar. In parallel, the EU’s Solar Energy Strategy aims to scale up generating capacity in solar from 263 gigawatts (GW) today to almost 600 GW by 2030—an increase of more than 140 percent that will make solar the largest source of electricity production in the EU.…  Seguir leyendo »

French farmers stop their tractors on the A16 motorway near L'Isle-Adam, on January 30, 2024, as French farmers maintain roadblocks on key highways into Paris (Photo by SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images)

Europa

As many countries prepare to go to the polls in 2024, the need for a transition to Net Zero emissions has become a key political battleground. In Europe, the sustainability of farming practices is the latest flashpoint, intertwining political interests, ideologies and food supply.

Farmers’ protests have spilled into the streets of Paris, Berlin and Brussels, transforming urban centres and turning motorways into battlegrounds where the clashes between agricultural interests, sustainability policies, economic inequality and nationalist manipulation play out.

In France, the EU’s biggest agricultural producer, a blockade of 800 tractors has surrounded the capital to ‘ starve Paris’. The farmers’ grievances range from government taxes, cheap imports and water storage issues to price pressures from retailers and red tape from regulations, particularly around the controls on nitrogen fertilizer and pesticides.…  Seguir leyendo »

Garment workers block a key intersection as they protest in Dhaka on November 12, 2023. (Photo by Abdul Goni/AFP via Getty Images)

MundoAsia,

Bangladesh’s general election, scheduled for January 7, will likely be plagued by controversy and violence.

Growing anti-government sentiment, rooted in calls for the reinstatement of a neutral caretaker government abolished in 2013, has become intertwined with the grievances of the country’s strategically important textile sector.

Thousands of opposition leaders have been arrested following a major rally in October. This comes amid growing frictions with the West: the US imposed visa restrictions on several Bangladeshi nationals in 2021 for ‘undermining the democratic election process’ and the 2023 Civicus Monitor Report has recently downgraded Bangladesh’s civic space to ‘closed’, its lowest category.

Bangladesh’s 2018 general election was not considered free and fair by many observers, following a near unanimous victory for the ruling Awami League party, which secured 293 of 300 seats.…  Seguir leyendo »

Mayada Adil, Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals, speaks at the opening session of the second Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit in September. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

InternacionalONU

In the lead-up to the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the outlook for the future of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seemed rather bleak.

Global efforts to achieve these ambitious targets by 2030 had lost momentum, weakened by an unprecedented combination of wars, waves of populist nationalist politics, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Global Sustainable Development Report 2023 showed that only about 12 per cent of the SDG targets are on track and some 30 per cent of targets had either seen no movement or regressed below the 2015 baseline.

The sheer scale of the gap in financing required to achieve the SDGs, which the OECD estimated at $3.9 trillion in 2020, seemed to deepen the gloom.…  Seguir leyendo »

Wind turbines at Romeral Eolic park in Toledo in Spain on 10 March 2023. Photo: Oscar del Pozo/AFP/Getty Images.

Europa

It was possibly a coincidence when both the UK and the EU published their updated strategy documents on critical raw materials in the same week. The UK government published the Critical Minerals Refresh on 13 March 2023 which reinforces the government’s commitment to the Critical Minerals Strategy. Three days later, the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act and the EU Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) were released alongside each other on 16 March 2023.

These different policies aim to ensure the sustainable supply of critical raw materials which are vital to the digital economy and net-zero transition. The key issues addressed in the strategies include the dependency on imports of critical materials – such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earth metals – and key technologies – such as batteries and solar photovoltaics – as well as increased vulnerability to price volatility and potential supply disruptions.…  Seguir leyendo »

Tuvalu, a low-lying South Pacific island nation of about 11,000 people, has been classified as extremely vulnerable to climate change by the United Nations Development Programme. Photo: Getty Images.

MundoAsiaReflexionesNaturaleza, ,

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent 10-day tour of the Pacific Islands has put China’s Pacific strategy into the global spotlight. Drawing attention to growing US-China strategic competition in the region, the tour has raised the spectre of securitization of the South Pacific. But such concern is overshadowing a long-standing Pacific call for security from a threat of a different kind.

‘Climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific,’ according to the 2018 Boe Declaration on Regional Security, outlined by the Pacific Islands Forum. The need for climate security was re-emphasized recently by Fijian Defense Minister, Inia Seruiratu, who stated, ‘The single greatest threat to our very existence is […] human-induced climate change.…  Seguir leyendo »

Here a critcally endangered sea turtle attempts to make its way past a disposed plastic bottle on Samandag Beach in Hatay, Turkiye on 2 September 2021. Photo: Ozge Elif Kizil/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images.

ReflexionesNaturaleza,

With the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the world has shifted into a period of renewed geopolitical conflict. The multilateral system and its institutions – cornerstones of the existing global order – are straining to deal with these rapidly changing circumstances. These are new challenges for global sustainability. Yet, an important element to the solution to this conflict, could also be a green one.

Sustainability as a megatrend

As the invasion of Ukraine was unfolding, the latest UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) met in Nairobi, Kenya, where world leaders agreed a set of resolutions to create a legally binding treaty to stop the global plastic pollution crisis.…  Seguir leyendo »

A guard is seen behind fences delineating the closed-loop 'bubble' set up by China as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images.

MundoAsia

In times of rising geopolitical tension around the world, this year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing could have been seen as an opportunity to improve diplomatic dialogue and people-to-people engagement between China and the West. Instead, deteriorating relations between both sides in recent months, have contributed to a widening ideological rift, while at the same time, consolidation of the China-Russia alliance.

Though the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has maintained its position that the Olympics are not about politics, in the build-up to the tournament in China this year, national boycotts as a result of the country’s worsening human rights record in Xinjiang, began to increase in number.…  Seguir leyendo »

Solutions for resilient semiconductor supply chains

InternacionalEconomía

Semiconductor shortages have become a critical technological vulnerability and a potential national security threat for major economies including the United States, China, and Europe, as all countries and many industries rely on Taiwan for cutting-edge semiconductor devices.

The ongoing supply chain shortage of chips is also becoming a chokepoint for the clean energy transition around the world. But circular economy solutions could help reduce systemic risks and address these multiple challenges.

The current crisis of global microchip shortages that started in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to continue well into 2022 and beyond. Furthermore, there are new long-term supply chain risks on the horizon stemming from US-China geopolitical dynamics and resulting trade decisions.…  Seguir leyendo »

Russian authorities imposed a state of emergency in northeast Siberia in August 2021 as wildfires engulfed the Yakutia region following record-breaking temperatures. Photo: Getty Images.

ReflexionesNaturaleza,

The impacts of a changing climate pose a serious threat to global security and rethinking traditional security concepts, understanding the interconnected demands of climate security, sustainable human development and regenerative economic systems are all needed to address arguably the most serious threat to global security we face.

The impact of a changing climate on security

There is no doubt that climate change is fast becoming a major security risk. Severe weather events, mass migration, diminishing global freshwater supplies and changing disease vectors are adding to old and new security concerns as a result of their potential to exacerbate fragile situations and increase the vulnerability of countries – particularly countries already affected by conflict.…  Seguir leyendo »