The Fairtrade Foundation has offered certification to Kit Kat bars sold in UK and Ireland. Is this a brave step for poverty reduction in Côte d’Ivoire or an unwise Christmas present to Nestlé?
Time to snap out of the two degree trance
Vulnerable nations such as Tuvalu made some progress at Copenhagen last week in questioning the right of rich countries to regard two degrees as the safe limit of global warming. More momentum could scupper the talks.
Climate march treads the footsteps of fear
The Wave climate change protest in London created the opportunity to reflect whether the city’s experience of terrorist attacks carries any message for tackling global warming.
Public image of aid threatens climate talks
Critics of the aid industry point to Kenya where rampant government corruption has not stopped the aid flowing. If the Copenhagen talks are to succeed, we need more positive attitudes towards aid.
No more World Food Summits please
The World Summit on Food Security refused to commit to the eradication of hunger by 2025. How can the urgent agendas for human development and climate change advance without this essential foundation?
Climate and sanitation: partners in shame
It may seem far-fetched but success stories in changing sanitation behaviour in developing countries might offer insights for the difficult transition to low carbon lifestyles for the rich.
Deforestation: to be or not to be?
There are good grounds for pessimism on prospects for saving the rainforests. But the link with climate change creates new hope that two environmental calamities can be addressed together.
What if there had been no banking crisis?
Climate change and food security negotiations are stumbling over the reluctance of rich countries to stump up the costs. They have thrown all their resources at a bunch of bankrupt banks.
Population and consumption: two sides of the coin
New UK population projections published this week provoked concerns that food and energy supplies cannot keep up. But it’s not just our numbers that are straining the limits.
Lights out in Nottingham or Nigeria?
Climate Camp protesters at Ratcliffe have a clear message. No more coal. Does this attribute of simplicity compromise the bigger picture of developing countries which lack electricity?