©earth.org For many, putting ‘green economy’ and ‘China’ in the same sentence is an oxymoron. Push the idea to ‘leader in global climate governance’ and eyebrows will start raising. A new report from LSE’s Grantham Research Institute stands to do just that. It suggests that as part of this new role, China would champion a shift away from pursuing growth purely in GDP terms towards a wellbeing economy, both kinder to ourselves and the planet. Is China then such an unlikely contender to lead the next stage of the global response to climate change? President Xi Jinping announced at the 75th ..read more

Paris, 07/03/2023. Photography by Emma Carmichael. Amid a faltering protest momentum, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced that the government would bypass Parliament and make into law a controversial pension reform proposal. The pensions law, a campaign promise of President Emmanuel Macron, was controversial even before the use of the executive powers afforded by the article 49.3 of the Constitution. Macron and Borne have put their reputation on the line, and faced two failed motions of no-confidence, in the hope of finalising their pension reforms. In his second presidential ..read more

The Mekong River is the key to the livelihoods of more than 60 million people living on its shores from China and through Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. The river fosters rice agriculture and fisheries, it is the main trade route and sustains the local economies as well as the survival of the villages’ traditions. Yet several threats are weakening the ecosystem of the River and its people. The intense construction of dams along the Mekong and the race of hydropower, is eroding the regional ecosystems while looming over the communities. Down the river, the rising sea levels are poisoning ..read more

Presidential elections and controversy On February 25th, 2023, millions of people across Nigeria made their way to the voting booths to decide which candidate would take the country’s reigns by the end of May. Just a couple of days later, the polls would point to Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressive Congress (APC) party as the victor of a historical election for the African country. The former Lagos governor entered the election race as somewhat of a clear favourite, with a broader network and support group, a larger budget to run mass advertising and a significant amount of political expe ..read more

Source: WTO In the summer of 2022, then prime minister Liz Truss introduced a multi-million pound aid package for African countries struggling with food shortages triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine. This seemingly altruistic act exposes a deep hypocrisy at the core of almost all wealthy countries’ agricultural policies. When politically convenient, short-term solidarity with the developing world is loudly proclaimed. When meaningful long-term assistance is requested, time and time again pleas for help fall on deaf ears. Via their excessive use of agricultural subsidies, higher income na ..read more

Image source: Sâmia Bomfim, flickr Three weeks ago, over 123 million Brazilians voted in the first round of what has been called the most important presidential election of the world’s fourth-largest democracy. Though voters were given twelve options for their vote — including a null vote — it was no surprise that the two frontrunners were current president Jair Bolsonaro and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known mononymously as Lula. The two candidates couldn’t be more different and are at the centre of the country’s polarising political divide. Far-right populist and former ..read more

Shocked by the death of its longest reigning monarch, the United Kingdom has woken up to a prime minister that is likely to break the record for the shortest time in office. As we all know by now, Liz Truss and her outgoing chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng recklessly introduced the fairy-tale mini-budget that crashed the pound, scared investors and overwhelmingly lost the trust of the British public. In a classic case of have your cake and eat it too, Lis Truss thought she could both cut taxes and increase public spending. By spooking precisely the market she dearly depended on to cover the fis ..read more

Rights: piggybankscoins US dollar hegemony poses a difficult trade-off for the world’s economies. Increasingly exposed to exchange rate fluctuations and shifting trade patterns, a broad spectrum of countries will have to accept persistent inflation or risk painful recessions. The US’s historic and contemporary economic dominance has perpetuated an outsized importance in the world economy, with the vast majority of global trade, investment, and credit all valued in dollar terms. Commercial banks use the dollar as an intermediary and a benchmark when exchanging most currencies, while central ban ..read more

Street performances by Abolishion in 2019 — Nur Photo via Getty Images In a world of heightened political discourse, trafficking victims, particularly those who have been sexually exploited, occupy a unique space outside the traditional area of topical discussion. National rows persist over healthcare, taxation and culture wars yet, when it comes to topics like sex trafficking, there is a sense in which ‘the public’ can unite itself and universally condemn such atrocities. For many of us from more privileged backgrounds the impacts of human trafficking are certainly an issue, but an issue ..read more

In one of the 20th century’s most renowned novels, George Orwell invites us to imagine a future where the world is under the control of a totalitarian regime, warning society against totalitarianism and the values promoted by totalitarian leaders. The novel is set in Oceania, a totalitarian state led by the Party and its leader, Big Brother, and constantly at war with Eurasia and Eastasia. Individuals have been brainwashed to pay absolute obedience to Big Brother, who controls them, their actions, and their thoughts. Through 1984, Orwell invites the reader to examine the present and question ..read more