CIRSD Recommends
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Contribution of life in soil ‘remains largely underestimated’, says UN agriculture agency
Even though soil organisms play a crucial role in boosting food production, enhancing nutritious diets, preserving human health, and combating climate change, the real contribution of these tiny life forms remains largely underestimated, the UN agriculture agency (FAO) said on Friday.
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Brexit: Are both sides running out of road to make a deal?
These are unsettling days for those of us watching, waiting and occasionally nail-nibbling, constantly calling sources, perpetually checking social media, for hints that an EU-UK trade security deal is nigh - or off the table completely this year.
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Pubs and venues may turn away people not Covid-vaccinated, says minister
Customers who have refused a Covid-19 vaccine could be turned away by hospitality and sports venues, the government’s vaccine minister has suggested, as he discussed the idea of using technology to reopen the economy.
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The Unprecedented Challenge of Coronavirus Vaccine Distribution
The countries that get the vaccine first will also be the first to end their lockdowns, open up schools and restaurants and restart their economies.
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How to Save Democracy From Technology
Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Twitter, already powerful before the COVID-19 pandemic, have become even more so during it, as so much of everyday life moves online. As convenient as their technology is, the emergence of such dominant corporations should ring alarm bells—not just because they hold so much economic power but also because they wield so much control over political communication.
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Market milestone: Dow closes above 30,000 for the first time ever
The Dow Jones Industrial Average roared past a major milestone and closed at a new record high after US President Trump gave the green light to the transition of power to President-elect Biden’s administration.
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Why U.S. Security Depends on Alliances—Now More Than Ever
To achieve defense in depth, simply strengthening the U.S. military is not enough; nor the even more urgent task of strengthening U.S. diplomacy and other civilian elements of national power. Enhancing national security must start with the fundamental truth that the United States cannot protect itself or its interests without the help of others.
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Climate change: Biden should establish a carbon price benchmark
A carbon price benchmark — which could be set initially at $50 per ton and rise over time — would reflect the benefits of reducing the pollution causing climate change. Biden would ensure that decision-makers across government rigorously consider the benefits of mitigating climate change in their every action. Explicitly accounting for the climate impacts of their decision-making would deter them from moving forward with activities that impose significant climate damages.
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A deep dive into Zero Hunger: farming the seas
With the world population expected to rise to 9.7 billion by 2050, food production will need to keep pace, and experts believe the Ocean can provide much of the sustenance we need. The second story in our two-part series on aquaculture focuses on the opportunities for significantly scaling up fish farming.
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Covid-19: Oxford University vaccine shows 70% protection
The coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford stops 70% of people developing Covid symptoms, a large-scale trial shows.
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Climate crisis: ‘Nowhere near the finish line’
“The European Union, Japan and the Republic of Korea have pledged carbon neutrality by 2050, along with more than 110 other countries”, he elaborated. “China says it will do so before 2060”.
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Repairing the World The Imperative—and Limits—of a Post-Trump Foreign Policy
Asuccessful candidate for president of the United States has plenty of choices to make. He can select his vice president, the members of his cabinet, and the text of his inaugural address.
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This Is How Ukraine Will Destroy the Rule of Law While Claiming to Defend it
In the year following his election, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s approval has fallen from 73 percent to a new low in the latest local elections. Although several run-off elections have yet to be held, it is already clear that the president’s party, “Servant of the People,” suffered a major defeat, being unable to win a single mayoral race or even a majority in any regional parliament or city council.
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U.S. formally exits global climate pact amid election uncertainty
The United States formally exited the Paris Agreement on Wednesday, fulfilling an old promise by President Donald Trump to withdraw the world’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter from the global pact to fight climate change.
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US election 2020: Why don't we know the result yet?
In fact, because of the time it takes to count the huge number of postal votes cast during this pandemic election, it could take days.
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US Election 2020: Americans choose between Trump and Biden
Americans are voting in one of the most divisive presidential elections in decades, pitting incumbent Republican Donald Trump against his Democratic challenger Joe Biden
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US Senate elections: the key races that will determine power in Washington
The Democrats face a tough challenge to reclaim control of the Senate, up against the Republicans’ 53-47 majority. With 35 seats up for re-election it will probably come down to seven key races
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Understanding 'aerosol transmission' could be key to controlling coronavirus
We should still wash our hands, but growing evidence suggests one of the main ways Covid-19 spreads is through the air
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Rewild to mitigate the climate crisis, urge leading scientists
Restoring degraded natural lands highly effective for carbon storage and avoiding species extinctions
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Heads in the Sand: Why We Fail to Foresee and Contain Catastrophe
We are living in a time of crisis. From the immediate challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic to the looming existential threat of climate change, the world is grappling with massive global dangers—to say nothing of countless problems within countries, such as inequality, cyberattacks, unemployment, systemic racism, and obesity.
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Trump vs. World, Round 2
As president, he took a hammer to the international order, for better or worse. A special report on how a second term could truly reshape the globe.
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West Needs New Ideas, Not Just New Voices
Increased space for minorities is welcome, but shouldn’t be confused with genuine intellectual diversity and openness of thought.
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The Lies That Infected Trump
Like other world leaders who have contracted COVID-19, US President Donald Trump could easily have avoided being infected by observing normal public-health strictures. But Trump’s anti-scientific dispensation has deeper roots in recent American politics and culture.
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EU tussle over climate change ambition hots up after Parliament vote
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Parliament has voted in favour of a legally binding target for the European Union to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030, against 1990 levels, according to vote results released on Wednesday.
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Armenia Needs to Sue for Peace Now: The Alternative is Even Worse
From the author: In writing about tragedy, Aristotle speaks of the moment of reversal—the inflexion point of misfortune, as it were, that marks the onset of the tragic unraveling. Irrespective of whatever sympathies one may hold for Armenia, the sage advice that needs to be proffered by friends and allies alike, given the evidently unfavorable geopolitical circumstances that do not appear to be reversable, is this: your maximalist position is no longer tenable; the time to sue for a negotiated peace is now.
