Environment
Southeast Asia’s Transboundary Haze: Obstacles to a Regional Solution
The so-called ‘ASEAN Way’ can be an obstacle to effectively addressing regional transboundary issues, and the transboundary haze problem is no exception.
African Continent: Challenges of Climate and Demographic Changes
Impacts of climate change and growing population, as well as the threats to human development – such as poverty, crime and health – could lead to insecurity and instability in African countries.
Canada: Environment and taxpayers face pollution threats
The environmentally precious river remains threatened by the proposed construction of an open-pit gold and copper mine by one of Canada’s most notorious polluters: Imperial Metals.
Bolsonaro’s Environmental Policy: An Increasing Risk
President Jair Bolsonaro’s inauguration in January marked Brazil’s entry into the ranks of nations recently electing far-right leadership. In the first five months of his term, Bolsonaro’s r has drawn particular ire for altering environmental policies.
An unlikely partnership in New Zealand leads the way on biosecurity
Biosecurity New Zealand and Onions New Zealand have begun to work together to ensure that they are prepared for biological threats – a partnership that could serve as an example for other countries.
Environmental, social, and governance trends in Asia
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues traditionally have not been a priority for investors and asset owners throughout Asia as compared to their Western counterparts. However, recent decisions by Japanese pension funds and Chinese policymakers may stimulate more interest throughout the region.
DRC Cobalt: A potential achilles heel of electric vehicles
With the global transition to electric vehicles (EVs), corporations are increasingly forced to rely on cobalt from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where a culture of corruption, unscrupulous mining practices, and political instability threaten supply security.
The outlook for Costa Rica’s electric vehicle revolution
Costa Rica has introduced tax incentives for the electrical vehicle industry, which is likely to experience exponential growth in the next two decades. Risks to investors nonetheless remain.
ASEAN could face a crisis over its appetite for coal
Asia’s developing economies collectively need to invest $14.7 trillion just for power generation by 2030. Coal is filling that gap, with investments pouring in from China and Japan. But are ASEAN governments prepared to face the environmental costs?
The drawbacks of Arctic shipping
The Christophe de Margerie is the first vessel to navigate the Northern Sea Route without an icebreaker escort. This is exciting news for states and businesses interested in exploiting new opportunities in the Arctic. However, the NSR is not as promising at it may seem, and the speed of climate change in the region brings significant risks.
