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Successful climate policies mean that coal is becoming a less valuable resource. This affects the companies that dig it up. A chapter from the Coal Atlas.

Smoke and fumes from coal-fired power plants make us ill. They are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide each year. Atmospheric and environmental pollution from coal costs billions in health expenses.

Coal is formed from vegetation at high temperatures and pressures, cut off from the air. The older the coal, the more carbon and energy it contains. Deposits are located in all continents.

The European Union’s climate policy aims for lower emissions, lower consumption and an increase in renewable energy. The targets are achievable – but they ought to be more ambitious.

The share of renewable energy in the global power mix is growing fast. Nations and corporations are switching over. However, a complete shift away from fossil energy is still not in sight. A chapter from the Coal Atlas.

The transit potential of the Caspian energy resources is facing challenges: Joining the European Energy Community would be a significant step for the transit countries of South Caucasus to ensure their stability and democratic development.

A sad anniversary is upon us. The 29th of June marks exactly one year since the declaration of the global Caliphate - the Islamic State (previously the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). This anniversary is an occasion to reflect on the impact that the various radical Islamic movements and groups have on Salafis (adherents to a strain of Sunni fundamentalism) in Azerbaijan and just how active Azerbaijani Salafis may be in transnational networks and organizations of Islamic radicals.

"We’d like to retain Hungary as Hungary", says Victor Orbán in January 2015. Xenophobia is significant in his country. How a multicultural and multi-ethnic society became a mono-ethnic and closed one.

It’s really gone that far: Sigmar Gabriel’s already minimal attempt to save Germany’s 2020 climate target of reducing emissions by 40% compared with those of 1990 has been so watered down that it is barely recognizable as a climate policy.

How will the failure of the 2015 NPT Review Conference affect the goal of the weapons of mass destruction free zone in the Middle East? An Essay by Tiara Shaya.