G7 Summit Results Disappointing: More about China than COVID or Climate Change
Update 14 June, 8:30 pm: Just out, the communiqué from the NATO meeting in Brussels attended by President Biden. At the urging of the American President, the language is stronger than the one used by the G7 leaders that had
G7 Summit: More High Stakes Than Ever – Will it Deliver?
Courtesy of the pandemic, the G7 meeting - hosted by the United Kingdom this weekend on the Cornish coast in southern England, calling together the leaders of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan - is going to
The Rich Don’t Pay Their Taxes Yet They Pollute The Most
“The secret IRS files” is a trove of never-seen-before tax records showing how the 0.01%, billionaires like Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch, and Mark Zuckerberg, actually get away with paying nearly no taxes. Just obtained from the US tax
The Climate Emergency: Can Europe Be a Model for the World?
The EU Green Week is coming, from May 31 to June 4, so it seems appropriate to talk about Europe’s unique role in climate change. Europe is divided along geopolitical and economic lines, between the haves and have-nots, between the
Victory for Climate Movement: Oil Giant Shell Condemned by Dutch Court
For the first time in history, a major oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, has been ordered by a court in The Hague - the country where Shell is headquartered - to follow the Paris Climate Agreement and cut its carbon
Global Health Summit: Can Europe End Vaccine Inequities?
The leaders of the richest part of the world, the G20, announced yesterday that they, along with big drugmakers, would do more to end Covid vaccine inequities. This happened at the Global health summit in Rome, a special event organized
A (Non) Modest Proposal for the G20: A Sustainable World Commission to Achieve the SDGs
The next G20 Summit Meeting of heads of state will be held in Rome on Oct. 30 and 31, 2021, under the Italian G20 Presidency. The agenda, with the title “People, Planet, Prosperity”, addresses major obstacles to achieving a sustainable
Can the New US and EU Climate Goals Save the World?
The last week in April was marked by the announcement of new, more ambitious climate goals from two of the world’s largest polluters, the United States and Europe. Could they be a turning point in the fight against climate change?
2040: “A More Contested World” Says U.S. Intelligence
In a just-published “Global Trends” report subtitled "2040: A More Contested World", produced by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) for President Biden, we learn that 20 years from now, the world will be a far hotter and more desperate place.
Europe under Fire from China: The Montenegro Case
Liberal democracies are increasingly under fire from the world’s two autocratic giants, Russia and China, and policy responses from Western governments appear oddly uncoordinated - at least for now. Let me count the ways: In the past few days, Russia
Turkey’s Erdogan: A Double Whammy Against Europe and Women
This time Erdogan, the Turkish dictator out to destroy any remnants of democracy in his country, has managed something of a master coup: He has offended not only Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission chief but Europe as a
Seaspiracy: Shocking Revelations but Wrong Data and Wrong Message
After the award-winning 2014 Cowspiracy documentary funded by Leonardo di Caprio and the 2017 What The Health film, now we have from the same people Seaspiracy - out on Netflix since 24 March 2021. Cowspiracy argued that animal farming is