Climate Change and Climate Action

Taking on the temperature

Paris is certainly a leader in the effort to confront climate change and has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050; it recently released a comprehensive “urban cooling strategy” to prepare for the extreme heat that has cost lives and livelihoods in the recent past.

The Chinese export we should be targeting: Climate change

By David Yellen

The Trump Administration’s trade war with China has aimed to reduce the trade deficit, but the volleys of tariffs between the US and China have impacted industries from railways to energy, and even required an aid package to keep the agriculture industry afloat. However, US trade policy should instead focus on a more menacing and enduring Chinese export, one that it does not send to the United States but whose emissions […]

Iran’s troubled quest for food self-sufficiency

By David Michel

Modern Iran has been shaped by a long history of chronic food insecurity. In 1917-1918, during World War I, drought ravaged harvests while occupying British, Ottoman, and Russian troops requisitioned much of remaining food supplies.

Urbanization and the growing demand for cooling in a warming climate: Buildings as a critical resource

By Robert F. Ichord

One of the key drivers of increasing global electricity demand is urbanization. New technologies and investment are critical to keep urban areas cool.

In the face of climate change: Challenges of water scarcity and security in MENA

By Amal A. Kandeel

Renewable freshwater resource constraints constitute one of the most critical challenges to sustainable development and human security in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Climate change is expected to exacerbate this challenge.

Gender equality has a vital role to play in protecting our oceans

By Peter Thomson and Isabella Lövin

To solve the challenges facing the oceans, gender parity has to be embedded in the solutions.

Nuclear power could be the key to a secure future, senators say

By David A. Wemer

The potential for nuclear power plants to provide substantial emissions-free energy on a reliable and cost-effective basis will be key to addressing a range of challenges facing the United States, from climate change to economic competition, US Sens. Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said on May 21.

How climate change could exacerbate conflict in the Middle East

By Sagatom Saha

Global warming will do the Middle East no favors. Evidence abounds it will be the region that climate change will hit hardest. Summer temperatures across the region are expected to increase more than twice the global average.