Expertise in biodiversity, agriculture, urban planning show in latest ranking of institutions
The University of Alberta has been named one of the world’s top 15 most sustainable post-secondary institutions for its ongoing efforts to create sustainability on campus and in the local and global community, notably rising from last year’s ranking of 64th in the world. According to the fourth annual Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings, which…
UN estimates that half of 2050 emissions related to food could be cut by things like eating less meat
The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has provided a roadmap to saving the planet. For global food security, we must become better environmental stewards. To reduce gas emissions, we need to adhere to sustainable agricultural practices if we are to meet our 2030 targets, according to the report. And, yes, changes in…
The unrealistic goal to achieve net-zero led to impractical, hypocritical and simply bizarre actions
Last year saw an intensification of the great march to “net zero” emissions, aimed at replacing the 84 per cent of global energy currently supplied by fossil fuels. This unrealistic objective saw actions ranging from the impractical to the hypocritical to the simply bizarre. Here’s my list of what I’ll call the fossil fuel follies.…
No other Nobel Peace Prize winner in recent memory has endured the wrath of the international media, the fury of global think tanks, and the scolding of UN, EU, and U.S. officials as much as Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The Washington Post describes the decision to bestow the Peace Prize on him as “the…
Involving billionaires in the food aid business may lead to a paradigm shift in helping the less fortunate
A recent Twitter conversation between United Nations World Food Program (WFP) executive director David Beasley and one of the world’s richest people, Elon Musk, turned a lot of heads. Beasley invited Musk to give two per cent of his wealth to help WFP save 42 million people from almost certain starvation and death in the…
Former UN commander leads ‘critical conversations’ on impact of moral injury
The term “moral injury” is relatively recent in our understanding of trauma. When Canada’s Lt.-Gen. Roméo Dallaire led United Nations peacekeeping troops in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi that took a million lives over 100 days, few Canadians beyond the military were aware of the severe psychological damage that witnessing such moral…
International politics expert Andy Knight is working on a new book about the changing face of global governance and the transition to a new world order. Tentatively titled International Organization Today, the book will examine how the world has evolved from a simple system of international governance, driven mainly by the United Nations, to its current state of multilateral…
Movement to reduce global emissions toward net-zero is still too slow
With the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow scheduled to open on Oct. 31, global powerhouses are coming up with their annual energy outlooks earlier than the customary November. With climate issues coming to the forefront at the COP26 summit, most of these reports and analyses are meant to help world leaders make decisions. But…
Decision to open the taps and let the markets surge comes just before UN Climate Change Conference
Rapid moves with long-term ramifications are being made on the global energy chessboard. Early last week, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies in OPEC+ opted to stick to their original plan and gradually open the crude oil taps. After their Oct. 4 ministerial meeting, OPEC+ said it had “reconfirmed the production adjustment…
We live in a very diverse world. Not only is each individual unique but, as people from different parts of the world have come into contact, it has become clear that each culture has different priorities. Do we have anything in common? I was very fortunate to have been brought up in a multicultural and…
The University of Alberta has been named one of the world’s top 15 most sustainable post-secondary institutions for its ongoing efforts to create sustainability on campus and in the local and global community, notably rising from last year’s ranking of 64th in the world. According to the fourth annual Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings, which…
