Economy

2026 will be a turning point for climate litigation

In 2026, the courts will be the new battleground for the climate crisis. This is not a metaphor: Ukraine is preparing to file the first claim for climate reparations in history against Russia, ...

Safer Tap Water Thanks to Water Safety Plans

Ensuring high-quality drinking water is one of the most pressing challenges for public health and environmental sustainability. But what does guaranteeing "safe" water mean? Until a few years ago, r...

Anthrofood 2050: Food Anthropology Enters the Public Arena with an Eye to the Future

It is rare for the anthropological community to choose, with a collective voice, to occupy the public square to intervene in systemic emergencies, abandoning the comfortable detachment of the observ...

Trump keeps digging the grave of transatlantic diplomacy in Davos

“Who the hell wants to defend a licence agreement for a piece of ice?” This may not be the most important sentence in Trump’s long speech in Davos today, 21 January, but it is perh...

Water, between governance and technological innovation: the 2026 events

In 2026, water will be the testing ground for transition. No longer a sectoral issue, but rather an invisible infrastructure that holds together climate, production, cities, agriculture and social s...

Startup, Molg: towards circular production for electronics

Molg, a technology company operating at the intersection of robotics, design and sustainability, was founded with the aim of enabling a “circular manufacturing” model for electronic prod...

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...

Certifying gender equality also strengthens a company's stability

Although gender equality is now a central topic in public debate, dominating the news on a daily basis, some confusion still remains regarding the real implications behind this concept, often viewed...

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...