Spring Zhou, University of Wollongong and Tava Olsen, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
During COVID, rich countries have used masks and gloves from their medical stockpiles. But not all countries are so fortunate. We found the best way to help. It may not be what you think.
Entrepreneurs need more support.
Shutterstock/Kehinde Olufemi Akinbo
Better financial support is vital for growing populations.
People wait in line for a free morning meal in Los Angeles in April 2020. High and rising inequality is one reason the U.S. ranks badly on some international measures of development.
Frederic J. Brown/ AFP via Getty Images
The United States came in 41st worldwide on the UN’s 2022 sustainable development index, down nine spots from last year. A political historian explains the country’s dismal scores.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director general of the World Trade Organisation.
Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
Quantum leaders are curious, adaptable and tolerant of ambiguity and uncertainty.
There is a U.S. flag on the Moon, but in the future, countries may start to turn access to the Moon and asteroids into serious wealth.
NASA/Neil A. Armstrong
Current trends suggest that powerful nations are defining the rules of resource use in space and satellite access in ways that will make it hard for developing nations to ever catch up.
The risk from heat waves is about more than intensity – being able to cool off is essential, and that’s hard to find in many low-income areas of the world.
Jane Kelsey, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
With the World Trade Organization’s 12th Ministerial Conference – arguably its most important ever – happening next week, attempts to keep it ‘on life support’ may be counterproductive.
John Kerry, the U.S. presidential special envoy for climate, surrounded by other negotiators during COP26.
UNFCCC
The world promised progress at the Glasgow climate conference. Now it has to turn those promises into reality. A former senior UN official describes what to watch for in the coming year.
Countries facing existential risks from climate change, like the Maldives, are demanding faster action and financing to help them survive.
UNFCCC
Women and girls in low-income countries are disproportionately likely to be affected by the plastic waste that’s flooding our planet.
The World Bank’s ease of doing business index incentives countries to do whatever they can to improve their ranking.
Jongho Shin/iStock via Getty Images
Allegations that World Bank officials manipulated country rankings in its much-used ease of doing business index highlight a deeper problem with these types of rankings.
Inequality is highly persistent in South Africa.
EPA-EFE/Nic Bothma