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...
Gender gap, Donata Columbro: “The goal is not data, but equal rights and responsibilities”
What do we mean by gender equality in the workplace? An equal number of women and men among employees? Half of leadership roles filled by women and half by men? Are we sure that splitting everything...
Global Risks Report 2026: The “Age of Competition” shapes the future threats
The year ahead opens against a backdrop of accumulated tensions, unresolved crises and shifting global balances. After years marked by pandemics, wars, inflationary shocks and accelerating technolog...
Cory Doctorow: “The creeping digitisation of society brings forth the enshittification of it”
He was the European Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation for many years; he’s on the front lines for digital rights; an essayist, science fiction writer, and one of the most influent...
Trump's aims for Greenland divide Europe and put NATO at risk
The United States has set its sights on Greenland, and the matter can no longer be dismissed as a far-fetched provocation, especially by the European Union. As White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavi...
Meloni, press conference marked by a pragmatism that suggests a slowdown
A three-hour-long press conference, forty questions. Giorgia Meloni picked the traditional start-of-the-year conference to discuss the latest foreign policy shifts by the US, explain the government'...
Attack on Venezuela: how did China react?
“It was a friendly meeting, reaffirming the strong bonds of friendship between China and Venezuela. In good and bad times!” The last words posted on Nicolas Maduro's social media profile...
Trump's energy imperialism is a danger to the future of the human species
Oil's role in the US military action in Venezuela is first and foremost made clear by figures: the world's leading oil producer has attacked the country with the world's largest oil reserves. But it...
Green Events not to be missed in 2026
2026 is shaping up to be a particularly busy year for those working, studying or interested in ecological and social transition. Trade fairs, conferences and festivals are increasingly emerging as p...
7 Transition Economy Stories to Follow in 2026
The year 2026 is shaping up to be a year of transition, in which major economic shifts will enter a harsher and less ideological phase. Between technology, climate, raw materials and finance, the sy...
The 12 most read Renewable Matter articles of 2025
As 2025 draws to a close, it is increasingly clear that this has been a year of transition, marked by overlapping crises, geopolitical uncertainty and structural shifts in the global economy. Climat...
Gen-Z, tariffs and elections: 2025 seen through Asia
While, contrary to popular belief, the famous Chinese anathema ‘May you live in interesting times’ is not Chinese at all, 2025 has certainly been a decidedly “interesting” ye...
Article 6, the first World Bank outcome bond is launched
The World Bank has, for the first time, launched a bond with returns directly linked to greenhouse gas emission reduction outcomes. It is the $200 million Clean Cooking Outcome Bond, which utilises ...
Sèamus Boland: “Poverty is among the factors of political instability in the EU”
The European Union is increasingly under attack. To the east, a new Iron Curtain takes a hybrid and permeable form, with drones, moats and mined areas prepared to stop Russian tanks. To the west, on...
EU Delays Mercosur Deal as Farmers’ Protests Shake Brussels
The European Union has decided to delay the ratification of the long-negotiated free trade agreement with Mercosur until January, following mounting political opposition and large-scale protests by ...
Affordable batteries for solar energy when needed
The issue with solar energy has never been generating electricity, but rather utilising it when needed. For years, photovoltaics have concentrated supply during daylight hours, leaving evening peaks...
Transition and international trade: China’s role at COP30
From Belém - At COP30 in Belém, global trade was for the first time explicitly included in climate negotiations. It was inevitable: the transition is no longer just a matter of climate...
Ukraine, a Top-Secret Reconstruction
The pot is large. In fact, huge: 524 billion dollars. Roughly equivalent to the GDP of the United Arab Emirates. According to the World Bank, this is the cost of rebuilding Ukraine over the next dec...
The importance of social determinants: How inequality makes pandemics more deadly
“The paradox is that a risk that makes us all equal reveals, at the same time, how unequal we are,” reads the book Pandemocracy: A Philosophy of the Coronavirus by Spanish philosoph...
Omnibus I, green light from the European Parliament: EU sustainability and democracy at risk
From Brussels - On Thursday 13 November, the European Parliament green-lit Omnibus I, the legislative package pushed by the European Commission with the avowed purpose of “simplifying” t...