Showing 1 - 10 of 27
Eyeing climate change, follow science, warily
Oped, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 06/06/2024
» We endlessly hear the flawed assertion that because climate change is real, we should "follow the science" and end fossil fuel use. We hear this claim from politicians who favour swift carbon cuts, and from natural scientists themselves, as when the editor-in-chief of Nature insists "The science is clear -- fossil fuels must go".
Multilateralism in a fractured world
News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 06/06/2024
» Multilateralism lies at the heart of international relations as an enabler of states to converge in an ever-changing world. It is closely linked with the United Nations (UN), setting in motion a rules-based system, embracing international peace and security anchored on international law.
Respect 'laws of nature'
Oped, Editorial, Published on 05/06/2024
» Today marks World Environment Day, initiated in 1973 by the United Nations Environment Programme to create a global platform aimed at inspiring positive change.
Protests of both despair and conflict in Gaza
Oped, Published on 30/05/2024
» These are crazy times. Biblical disturbances in nature, such as the repeated torrential rain in Dubai or the mass fish die-off in Vietnam's overheated reservoir, seem to mirror our overheated politics and social environment.
SEA eyes next 20 years of US-China ties
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 21/05/2024
» What will Southeast Asia be like over the next two decades? Given the unpredictable geopolitical situation, the region will certainly maintain its strategic autonomy in ways that mitigate the ripple effects of the emerging new international order. The multipolar world will be a new ballgame that Southeast Asia has to grapple with. Interestingly, the region's countries also realise that the competition between the US and China is not likely to subside given the tit-for-tat measures they have been conducting with each other. Under such circumstances, what role or leadership can Southeast Asia provide under the Asean roof to ensure that the region will not be marginalised or weaponised? To be precise, how can Asean avoid becoming a pawn in the US-China whirlpool?
Green push needs united approach
News, Published on 20/05/2024
» Bridging the divide between agriculture and forestry is imperative for climate action. The global and national race is on to steeply reduce emissions over the next six years. According to the watershed Global Stocktake report, released ahead of COP28 in Dubai, we face the daunting task of reducing emissions by 43% by 2030 to retain the possibility of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees by the end of the century, and 27% to stabilise at a 2-degree temperature increase. Since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, we have managed only to be on track for a 2% reduction in emissions against 2019 baselines. Each subsequent year, we collectively feel the impacts of a hotter, more volatile climate as new records are set for temperature and natural disasters.
Thai Human Rights Council aspirations
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 17/05/2024
» Thailand's quest for membership of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), Geneva, for the period 2025-2027, is rightly gaining interest among the general public. With a new foreign minister today, it is intriguing to prospect whether there will be more (or less) momentum in the competition towards the winning post -- with elections for the HRC due in New York in October.
A turning point for clean cooking
Oped, Published on 15/05/2024
» For most of her life, Florence Auma Ode cooked over an open fire in her Kenyan home. The resulting smoke coated the walls with a layer of soot and filled her lungs -- and those of her family members -- with particulate matter.
Politicising novel solutions to climate change
News, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 13/05/2024
» Climate studies are increasingly becoming politicised. Harvard University recently shut down a key geoengineering research project because of intense backlash, despite the college's aspiration to become "a global beacon for climate change."
Time for Myanmar aid, trade rethink?
Oped, Published on 11/05/2024
» The Myanmar military's recent defeats in and around the border town of Myawaddy at the hands of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and pro-democracy resistance forces should serve as a wake-up call for Thailand.