Serfs: the hidden cost of food in global supply chains
In the European Middle Ages, the term “serfdom” referred to a legally defined status that fell somewhere between slavery (servus) and free man, in that the individual was not considered ...
Michele Merola: “Sustainability in cosmetics is not just for show”
This article is part of our Beauty and Cosmetics feature: discover it here A varnished wooden cap with an aluminium screw – not FSC-certified, non-separable at the end of its life, and imposs...
The Chinese Century
Back in the day, when you wanted to glimpse into the future, you’d head to San Francisco or Las Vegas. Today, you travel to Shanghai, Hong Kong, Chengdu or Hangzhou. Robotics, AI, renewable en...
CBAM: the challenges of international accreditation
This article is part of the thematic channel The Carbon Observer: subscribe to the newsletter Who monitors emissions from a steel mill in Wuhan on behalf of Europe when we import material...
Forests, climate and the timber supply chain: turning a crisis into an opportunity
This article is part of the thematic channel The Carbon Observer: subscribe to the newsletter Global warming may be ignored, like many governments have decided to do, but it will not stop...
An Orderly Chaotic World
Some of the most fascinating explanations are often found in the etymology of a word. When Jean Baptiste van Helmont first coined the word “gas” in the 17th century, he took it from &chi...
Energy and geopolitics, Francesco La Camera: Crises accelerate the transition
Geopolitical tensions have once again brought energy to the forefront of global debate. The escalation in the Middle East, with the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran and the i...
CCS, how to resolve the incomplete carbon management chain
This article is part of the thematic channel The Carbon Observer. Subscribe to the newsletter or update your preferences. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is often described as a singular, monolith...
Conflict in Iran: reactions from the US and the energy markets
The peaceful weekend of the US capital, which woke up to its second day of war on a sunny Sunday, contrasts with the scenes seen in Tehran, Tel Aviv, and various capitals of the Gulf countries. Unti...
KEY 2026 grows and eyes Europe next: “Transition is a system, not one single technology”
Twenty-four pavilions, 125,000 square metres of exhibition space, and 1,056 exhibiting companies, including 315 from abroad. These are the numbers behind Key – The Energy Transition Expo 2026,...
The Board of Whatever
World diplomacy reduced to a curtain-raiser. That's how one could sum up the first meeting of Donald J. Trump's Board of Peace, held on Thursday, February 19, at the Donald J. Trump United States of...
Stopping the rise of the lakes in the Rift Valley
Last year, around five thousand people were displaced by the rising water level of Lake Naivasha, 50 kilometres from Nairobi. Similarly happened on Lakes Nakuru and Lake Baringo, located further nor...
Trump revokes scientific ruling on greenhouse gas emissions
"Today, the Trump administration repealed the endangerment finding: the ruling that served as the basis for limits on tailpipe emissions and power plant rules. Without it, we’ll be less safe, ...
Massimo Labra: “Biodiversity is Italy's real productive asset”
Biodiversity is not just about agriculture, fishing or forests. It affects every business, even ones that don't realise it. This is one of the clearest messages from the new Business and Biodiv...
Introducing: The Carbon Observer
This article is part of the thematic channel The Carbon Observer. Subscribe to the newsletter or update your preferences. The CO₂ market has moved into a new phase: no longer a business for ...
The secret weapon of timber construction
This article is part of the thematic channel The Carbon Observer. Subscribe to the newsletter or update your preferences. The construction sector is one of the most polluting in Europe. Accord...
Will the Board of Peace replace part of the United Nations?
Is Donald Trump creating a new international organisation in his own image, as an alternative to the United Nations? Over the past few days, the US president has sent invitations to a number of worl...
Crisis
Misinformation, social polarisation, extreme weather events, inequality, erosion of human rights, armed conflicts, pollution. According to the highly influential analysis of systemic risks publ...
My Rivers
My childhood memories are tied not only to strolls under the porticoes of Saronno, a small town in the Milanese hinterland, but also to the local stream, the Lura. Largely covered over, the peculiar...
Critical Raw Materials, the complex European challenge
Strategic critical raw materials are the Achilles heel of European industrial recovery. Commonly known by the acronym CRM, they are essential for the EU's competitiveness, as well as for clean energ...