International Environmental Policy

Coal is the fuel that powered the Industrial Revolution and the transformation of economies and societies over the last two centuries. Its benefits have been huge – while the damage it has wrought was ignored for too long.

The forest fires in Borneo and Sumatra are the worst fires in almost 20 years. Experts agree that slash-and-burn agriculture is their immediate cause. What can be done to improve the situation?

Climate change requires urgent action, as hardly any government will deny. Business is also beginning to rise to the challenge. Nevertheless, the voluntary commitments being developed for the climate summit in Paris (COP21) are falling short.

Thomas Fatheuer, Lili Fuhr and Barbara Unmüßig of the Heinrich Böll Foundation set out to explore the basic assumptions, hypotheses and proposed solutions of the green economy and to illustrate and criticize their effects in practice.

Although ASEAN’s efforts to balance economic growth and environmental sustainability are growing, they are often overshadowed by the group’s economic integration agenda.

Las Vegas seems to be an apt place to launch a risky corporate gamble that could destroy the livelihoods of millions of small-scale farmers.

Southeast Asian cities will play a critical role in the unfolding of the ASEAN Economic Community, which is to be launched at the end of 2015. A discussion of the inter-linkages among economic growth, urbanisation, consumption, and the environment.

As the so-called advanced economies fail to fulfill their commitments to stop climate change, people in Vietnam, Myanmar or on the island states of the Pacific have to pay with their lives. Big Oil, Big Gas, and Big Coal need to accept responsibility and start making real contributions.

Empowerment for women and youth is one of the main aims of the Moroccan association "The Human Touch". In this interview Fatima Ahouli, general secretary of the NGO, explains why it is so important to involve local residents in the planning of projects in the field of renewable energies.

Violent conflicts and security crises around the world have many different causes and effects. The vast majority of them, however, are in one way or another related to energy policy. Yet making this link apparent to policy makers has been challenging. Experts from the foreign policy, security and energy communities have been reluctant to fully grasp the security implications of promising green energy technology and market developments.