Dubai Is Building the World’s Largest Concentrated Solar Power Plant
They like to do things big in Dubai, including a newly-approved concentrated solar power project that will generate 1,000 megawatts of power by 2020—and a whopping 5,000 megawatts by 2030. The Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA) has announced the launch of the world’s largest concentrated s…
Sustainable Development and Sustainable Business: Two Sides of the Same Coin
The UN General Assembly committed to “eliminate poverty in all its forms everywhere” by 2030, when it met in New York last year. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were launched with much fanfare, endorsed by heads-of-state, celebrities and CEOs. Thanks, to a campaign on Twitter, Instagram and…
Youth unemployment in the Mediterranean region and its long-term implications
Europe’s Mediterranean neighbourhood has become a focal point of attention due to the refugee crisis. With over a million people arriving in Europe in the course of 2015, the question of how to address the growing immigration pressures has become a central political issue. Countries around the Medit…
A Green Homes Revolution is Happening around the World: Terri Wills, World Green Building Council
When we think of green buildings, we often picture towering office buildings with green walls and state-of-the-art technologies – such as the iconic Empire State Building retrofit or the EDGE office building in Amsterdam – with shiny LEED or BREEAM plaques at reception, boasting of their environment…
Brexit Explained: All You Need To Know About the UK Referendum
On June 23, 2016, British voters will decide whether they want to leave the European Union, a possibility widely referred to as “Brexit.” Polls indicate that the result of the referendum is wide open, with the Remain camp and the Leave camp neckandneck in recent public opinion polls…
Why Do Terrorists Commit Terrorism?
AFTER a terrorist attack like the one in Florida on Sunday, one of the first questions people always ask is: Why? Why would someone take the lives of innocent civilians who are total strangers? That is a question to which I have long sought an answer. But my search has led me instead to another ques…
It happens on the pavement: Putting cities at the center of countering violent extremism
In March alone, at least nine cities across three continents were hit by terrorist attacks. Municipalities—from megacities to tertiary cities—continue to bear the brunt of such attacks: in the short term, they provide first response and take essential security measures; in the longer term, they suff…
The World Could End AIDS if It Tried
The world has made so much progress in reducing the spread of AIDS and treating people with H.I.V. that the epidemic has receded from the public spotlight. Yet by any measure the disease remains a major threat — 1.1 million people died last year from AIDS-related causes, and 2.1 million people were …
Rethinking Robin Hood
International development aid is based on the Robin Hood principle: take from the rich and give to the poor. National development agencies, multilateral organizations, and NGOs currently transfer more than $135 billion a year from rich countries to poor countries with this idea in mind. A more forma…
The distance to school is not only about the distance you walk
In a recent major survey undertaken by the Campaign for Female Education (Camfed) in Tanzania and Zimbabwe, low academic self-esteem was the second most frequently expressed reason for dropping out of school among marginalized girls, after poverty-related issues. Girls lack the confidence to engage …