Blogs and Opinions
-
Crime in the metaverse is very real. But how do we police a world with no borders or bodies?
Thursday 18th of August 2022
The concept of a metaverse is, in many ways, not new. Online, multi-player worlds like Second Life have been around for nearly 20 years. Modern equivalents like Minecraft and Fortnite boast hundreds of millions of users and huge supporting economies.
-
Here’s how two invasive species have cost the world $16bn – and what can be done about it
Thursday 18th of August 2022
Two invasive species, one reptile and one amphibian, have cost the world more than $16 billion in damage, scientists have found.
-
What’s the value of carbon? It depends on how you price it
Thursday 18th of August 2022
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the key to maintaining the earth’s natural balance. But today, carbon dioxide levels are higher than they have been for the past 800,000 years. Experts acknowledge the excess we now produce of the transparent and fundamental compound but governments, companies and the public often compare outdated figures with a very different context.
-
What is the One Health approach – and how can it help pre-empt future pandemics?
Thursday 18th of August 2022
Within less than three years, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared two public health emergencies of international concern: COVID-19 in February 2020 and monkeypox in July 2022.
-
What does the financial future hold for the next generation?
Thursday 18th of August 2022
When asked how children in their country will fare financially when they grow up, a median of 70% of adults across 19 countries say they will be worse off than their parents, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted this spring.
-
New York City drivers could face up to $23 a day congestion charge
Thursday 18th of August 2022
New York City could introduce a traffic congestion charge of up to $23 a day late next year, which a study released on Wednesday projected would reduce the number of cars entering Manhattan by 15% to 20%.
-
What is the climatarian diet, and is it better for the planet than going vegan or vegetarian?
Thursday 18th of August 2022
The food we consume has a massive impact on our planet. Agriculture takes up half the habitable land on Earth, destroys forests and other ecosystems and produces a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Meat and dairy specifically accounts for around 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
-
These 5 cities are showing the world how to thrive in uncertain times
Thursday 18th of August 2022
History shows that when disasters and crises strike, cities often bounce back stronger and more resilient than before. The great Chicago fire famously gave rise to skyscrapers. Infectious disease outbreaks led to public health policies and modern sanitation. The devastation of World War II catalyzed unprecedented investment in housing and infrastructure.
-
In Sumatra, rising seas and sinking land spell hard times for fishers
Thursday 18th of August 2022
On a recent morning in Kampung Nelayan, a village on the northeastern coast of the island of Sumatra, fisherman Heri Gunawan returned home frustrated and dissatisfied.
-
This algorithm can make all the world’s wind farms produce more electricity – for free
Thursday 18th of August 2022
Virtually all wind turbines, which produce more than 5 percent of the world’s electricity, are controlled as if they were individual, free-standing units. In fact, the vast majority are part of larger wind farm installations involving dozens or even hundreds of turbines, whose wakes can affect each other.
-
The Great… Reshuffle, Re-invention, Reassessment? 3 reasons workers are quitting and heading to different sectors
Thursday 18th of August 2022
We’re quitting our jobs in record numbers. Why? Because we’re switching industries, trying new things and taking time out.
-
Explainer: How does a small nuclear reactor work?
Thursday 18th of August 2022
The global threat of climate change is making the need for clean energy more urgent than ever. In the race to reach net-zero emissions and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, nuclear power is gaining increasing support.
-
What you need to know about the global economy this week
Thursday 18th of August 2022
Official figures in the United Kingdom show that the “real value” of wages fell at the fastest pace on record between April and June, as inflation outpaced earnings.
-
Improving socioeconomic conditions in Central America through ESG
Thursday 18th of August 2022
Business leaders gathered last week for a series of high-level events in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to kick off a new initiative that aims to contribute in improving socioeconomic conditions and environmental resilience across the Northern Central American countries.
-
These emerging economies are poised to lead shipping’s net-zero transition
Thursday 18th of August 2022
Shipping accounts for close to 3% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The latest IPCC reports have shown a pressing need to decarbonize all sectors, including heavy industry, and align with the goal of no more than 1.5°C of warming outlined in the Paris Agreement.
-
Africa must act now to address cybersecurity threats. Here’s why
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
The ability to protect the data of partners and clients is today one of the fundamentals behind every business decision. Today’s fluid financial markets provide a plethora of access points for malicious actors to penetrate systems and acquire data. These have to be protected.
-
After heatwaves comes heavy rain. How will the UK’s dry landscape cope?
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
Large areas of the UK have officially entered a drought, as searing summer temperatures grip the European continent. We are currently seeing the introduction of hosepipe bans – a memory from my childhood, though rarely seen in the last two decades.
-
How drought-hit Kenyan herders stopped lions from raiding their villages
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
When Robert Nampaso and more than 30 other Maasai livestock-herding families leased some of their land in western Kenya to a large-scale farmer, they thought the rent would bring in much-needed extra income.
-
Spruce trees have arrived in the Arctic a century earlier than expected. Here’s why
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
As climate change decimates forests in places like Europe and the American west, boreal trees are moving into the Arctic.
-
Why London’s children are being offered polio vaccine boosters
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
In June, the UK Health Security Agency reported that poliovirus had been detected in sewage in north and east London between February and May 2022.
-
Here’s a better way to save the world’s endangered marine animals
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
Subject to overfishing, marine megafauna – such as sharks, rays, and turtles – are among the world’s most threatened species groups. Somewhat paradoxically, these species also have widespread appeal.
-
The hidden cost of employee turnover
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
Henry Ford was onto something.
-
Does fake news create online echo chambers? New study has surprising results
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
People who read fake news online aren’t doomed to fall into a deep echo chamber where the only sound they hear is their own ideology, according to a revealing new study from Wharton.
-
ESG could build or break trust in companies. Here are 5 ways to do it right
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
The environmental, social and governance (ESG) movement is at a make-or-break moment. Investor interest has grown to historically high levels, partly thanks to the expectations of a new generation of investors (millennials and Generation Z).
-
Expanded access to solar power in Africa can stimulate economic development – but there are risks
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 aspires to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030. But in Africa, around 600 million people continue to live without access to electricity. Seeking to reach as many of these people as quickly as possible, African governments are signing agreements with foreign firms to deliver off-grid solar products to millions of households.
-
Why making your product’s code free is a competitive advantage
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
Conventional wisdom suggests that successful software companies are built on proprietary data and code. However, in the past few years, the success of open source (OS) business models has challenged that view.
-
This is how long people across Europe can expect to work
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
Whether you love your job—or dream of retirement—most of us want to know how long our working lives will last. The next generation of Europeans are expected to work for an average of 36 years, although there are big differences between countries.
-
Businesses have a role to play in achieving global food security. This is what they can do
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
Ores mined in war zones have long been subject to heightened attention when it comes to sustainability and reputational risks. Yet in 2022, it is the production and sourcing of ‘soft’ commodities, such as wheat, that are increasingly under scrutiny.
-
This is the state of climate ambition around the world
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
Countries can be more ambitious in their climate pledges, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says.
-
Here’s why food stores are ditching ‘best before’ labels
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
Tomatoes, apples, potatoes and pears are among 500 food and plant products to have “best before” dates removed from their packaging by a supermarket in the United Kingdom.
-
Digital trust: How to unleash the trillion-dollar opportunity for our global economy
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
Building digital trust into our global digital economy can unleash trillions of dollars of opportunities. But if we don’t know for certain who we are interacting with online, we cannot have trust. Digital identity must therefore be the foundational element to our digital economy and here is why.
-
Food systems need to be more sustainable. Engaging global stakeholders can help
Wednesday 17th of August 2022
In many regions of the world, particularly in developing nations, people are increasingly dependent on vulnerable food systems. The effects of climate change – warmer temperatures, rising sea levels, extreme weather events – all undermine longstanding agricultural practices, impact livelihoods and threaten to significantly increase hunger. Recent global developments continue to exacerbate food distribution and supply chain issues and contribute to rising commodity prices.
-
How one fund is tackling health access – and prosperity – for thousands
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
During times of great change, when it’s hard to find the silver linings, how can you be an agent of good?
-
House prices and rents have soared in the EU since 2010. Will rising interest rates pull them back down?
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
House prices in the European Union have gone up far more steeply than the cost of renting a home in the past decade, according to a study of long-term real estate trends in the bloc.
-
Biochar: The gardener’s friend that could help slow global warming
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
A soil improvement practice common among household gardeners is offering another way to slow greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that cause global warming.
-
Women are leading the restoration of the world’s second largest tropical rainforest – here’s how
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
The Congo Rainforest in Africa is the second largest tropical rainforest in the world – but it could be completely gone within 80 years because of deforestation.
-
How the responsible use of AI can create safer online spaces
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an everyday reality and business tool spurred by computer advancement, data science and the availability of huge data sets. Big tech companies – Google, Amazon and Meta – are now developing AI-based systems. The technology can mimic human speech, detect cancer, predict criminal activity, draft legal contracts, solve accessibility problems, and accomplish tasks better than humans. For businesses, AI promises to predict business outcomes, improve processes and deliver efficiencies at substantial cost savings.
-
What are the EU’s fastest-growing jobs now? And what will they be in the future?
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
Europe’s economy has been battered by some serious headwinds in recent years, but unemployment rates have not been hit as hard, according to new figures.
-
View from China: Why dialogue and collaboration is key for a global post-pandemic recovery
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
We sit in the midst of arguably one of the most challenging global realities, where economic and geopolitical systems have been weakened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
-
Scientists create a more sustainable LED from fish scales
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
Scientists have discovered that by microwaving fish waste, they can quickly and efficiently create carbon nano-onions (CNOs)—a unique nanoform of carbon that has applications in energy storage and medicine. This method could be used to make cheaper and more sustainable LEDs in the future. The researchers from Nagoya Institute of Technology in Japan published their findings in Green Chemistry.
-
Plastic pollution: These are the top emitters of microplastics in our oceans
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
The problem of microplastics in the planet’s oceans and waterways has been brought to light through a number of alarming studies and reports over the past few years. That they are essentially everywhere has been made quite plain. But where are they coming from, and what can be done to reduce or eliminate their further dissemination? A ‘global evaluation of sources’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature revealed that the biggest source of microplastics in the world’s oceans are synthetic textiles.
-
How vulnerable are the world’s ice sheets to climate change?
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
The eastern two thirds of Antarctica is covered by an ice sheet so large that if it melted the sea would rise by 52 metres. Most scientists had once thought this ice sheet was largely invulnerable to climate change, but not any more. And our new research, published in Nature, reveals the dire consequences if we were to awaken Antarctica’s sleeping giant.
-
What is Langya henipavirus? And should we be worried?
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
A new virus, Langya henipavirus, is suspected to have caused infections in 35 people in China’s Shandong and Henan provinces over roughly a two-year period to 2021.
-
This chart shows how central bank interest rates have changed
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
During the pandemic, central banks in both advanced and emerging market economies took unprecedented measures to ease financial conditions and support the economic recovery, including interest rate cuts and asset purchases.
-
What causes monkeypox and how can we stop the spread?
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
Since May of this year, more than 26,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported worldwide – prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it a public health emergency.
-
6 ways businesses can prepare for the metaverse era
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
When it comes to “the metaverse,” few business leaders would consider themselves experts. Some may wonder if it even matters to their companies. The short answer: yes, it does.
-
Why the European Union is opening a Silicon Valley ’embassy’
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
The European Union is opening a new office in California’s Silicon Valley, giving European regulators direct access to major digital technology companies—and vice versa.
-
Augmented tech can change the way we live, but only with the right support and vision
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
Superheroes have been dominating big and small screens for a while, but there’s a subtle change happening. Many children expect to develop superpowers themselves.
-
5 technologies that will transform our lives
Monday 15th of August 2022
The speed and scale of technology-led change over the last 20 years is mind-boggling. We have shaped a world where information moves at lightning speed at a near-zero cost to the far corners of the earth. This makes connecting and collaborating possible at a scale that was previously considered science fiction.
-
Is climate denialism dead?
Monday 15th of August 2022
One thing distinguishing the US Congress that just passed landmark climate legislation: 7% fewer “climate deniers” than the previous session, and 23% fewer than the Congress convened less than six years ago, according to a running tally.
-
Men make 48% more than women in some sectors of the gig economy, study shows
Monday 15th of August 2022
Women working in the fast-growing gig economy are being paid far less than men, according to a study of freelance workers in the US.
-
COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this week
Monday 15th of August 2022
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 590.3 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths has now passed 6.43 million. More than 12.45 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.
-
France’s ‘monster blaze’ and other environment stories you need to read this week
Monday 15th of August 2022
Firefighters have managed to halt the spread of a “monster” blaze in southwest France, allowing authorities to reopen a stretch of highway to traffic ahead of a busy travel weekend. Reinforcements from across Europe helped local firefighters tackle the blaze which has ravaged forests in France’s Gironde region since 9 August and forced 10,000 people to evacuate their homes.
-
The office of the future: A whole new (floor) plan
Monday 15th of August 2022
This article was originally published by McKinsey & Company, www.mckinsey.com. Copyright (c) 2021 All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission.
-
Which European capitals have the most green spaces?
Monday 15th of August 2022
Having green spaces in urban areas is important on multiple counts. They not only provide communities with places to relax, exercise and socialize, but they also bring wildlife to the area and help in the fight against global warming through carbon dioxide sequestration. Tree cover can even lower the temperature of a city by several degrees during heat waves through providing shade and a process called evapotranspiration.
-
Has Vanuatu just made the most significant change to any country’s climate change commitments?
Monday 15th of August 2022
Pacific island state Vanuatu has submitted a “groundbreaking” update to its commitments under the Paris climate accord to include phasing out fossil fuels and a costing of how it aims to tackle destruction caused by rising seas and wild weather.
-
How sustainable are the contents of your shopping cart? A new database has answers
Monday 15th of August 2022
A massive new study has estimated the environmental impact of 57,000 grocery store items. The researchers are among the first to assess the impact of products with multiple ingredients, and their work has the potential to pave the way for wide-spread use of eco-labels on foods.
-
The UK is turning back to cash as prices soar
Monday 15th of August 2022
More Britons are turning to cash to manage their budgets as prices soar, the Post Office said on Monday after it saw a record level of withdrawals over its counters in July.
-
The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the world. How concerned should we be?
Monday 15th of August 2022
The Earth is approximately 1.1℃ warmer than it was at the start of the industrial revolution. That warming has not been uniform, with some regions warming at a far greater pace. One such region is the Arctic.
-
See it my way: Top tips for persuading others
Monday 15th of August 2022
Nano Tools for Leaders® — a collaboration between Wharton Executive Education and Wharton’s Center for Leadership and Change Management — are fast, effective tools that you can learn and start using in less than 15 minutes, with the potential to significantly impact your success.