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As most countries miss deadline to demonstrate openness on petroleum, mining revenues, an international initiative that seeks to promote more openness about how countries profit from their oil, gas, and mining resources should not weaken its modest membership standards because governments are (…)

Corporate globalization in the ‘real’ world economy lay behind what appeared at first to be a strictly financial crisis. It was hooked on debt, a deadly vice which eventually crushes everything in its grip, to the point where no-one knows the value of anything. So it could be that, in August (…)

Groups like Conservation International are among the most trusted "brands" in America, pledged to protect and defend nature. Yet as we confront the biggest ecological crisis in human history, many of the green organizations meant to be leading the fight are busy shoveling up hard cash from the (…)

Ben Amunwa looks at how the settlement of the Wiwa v Shell case affects the ongoing Niger Delta crisis, and the settlement’s implications for human rights, environmental justice and the control of resources in the region. Read more

Something important is happening in Cleveland: a new model of large-scale worker- and community-benefiting enterprises is beginning to build serious momentum in one of the cities most dramatically impacted by the nation’s decaying economy. The Evergreen Cooperative Laundry (ECL)—a worker-owned, (…)

A ‘normal’ working week of 21 hours could help to address a range of urgent, interlinked problems: overwork, unemployment, over-consumption, high carbon emissions, low well-being, entrenched inequalities, and the lack of time to live sustainably, to care for each other, and simply to enjoy life. (…)

WHAT began as a service aimed at empowering marginalised people like Kamlesh from East Delhi is being increasingly eyed by the corporates. If this happens, the entire microfinance (MF) concept could be turned on its head. Read more

Nearly 10 years after Argentina’s economic collapse sparked a movement, worker-run cooperatives endure another crisis. Report from Argentina on the state of the workers’ co-op movement there, which sprouted in the aftermath of the country’s 2001 economic collapse. Divisions within the movement, (…)

The birthplace of the World Social Forum (WSF), conceived as an alternative to international meetings pursuing free-market economics, Brazil is on its way to becoming a major economic power, analysts say. The question is, what kind of model will it adopt to avoid the behaviour it has previously (…)

Four years on from nef’s “Growth isn’t Working”, this new report goes one step further and tests that thesis in detail in the context of climate change and energy. It argues that indefinite global economic growth is unsustainable. Just as the laws of thermodynamics constrain the maximum (…)

In 2006-08, Maharashtra (India) saw 12, 493 farm suicides. That is 85 per cent higher than the 6,745 suicides it recorded during 1997-1999. And the worst three-year period for any State, any time. The dismal truth is that very high numbers of farm suicides still occur within a fast decreasing (…)

This report takes a new approach to looking at the value of work. We go beyond how much different professions are paid to look at what they contribute to society. We use some of the principles and valuation techniques of Social Return on Investment analysis to quantify the social, environmental (…)

The blame game Martin Khor, Blame Denmark, not China, for Copenhagen failure, The Guardian: The decision to override the multilateral process and hold a secret meeting of select nations ruined any chance of success Mark Lynas (British, adviser to the Maldives delegation), How do I know China (…)

Today’s food is well travelled. A pack of green beans in a Northern supermarket may have journeyed 6000 miles, or 60. But while food miles loom large in our carbon-aware times, transporting it counts for less than you might think. And there is a far bigger picture. Food is more than a plateful (…)

This sixth report from the Working Group on Climate Change and Development argues that our chances of triumphing over climate change will rise dramatically if we recognise that there we need not one but many models of human development.
Featuring contributions from Dr Rajendra Pachauri (…)

An inexplicable pricing regime and skewed export-import policies bring about a crisis for sugarcane farmers and consumers alike. From Rs.17 a kilogram barely six months ago to Rs.42 a kg now, sugar is fast running out of the common man’s reach. The crisis is likely to turn worse because a (…)

Creative, accessible, and illuminating introduction to the con of carbon trading by UK cartoonist Kate Evans. Download pdf

In her new book, Barbara Ehrenreich traces the origins of contemporary optimism from nineteenth-century healers to twentieth-century pushers of consumerism. She explores how that culture of optimism prevents us from holding to account both corporate heads and elected officials. Read more here (…)

Immanuel Wallerstein comments on the global financial crisis from a long-term historical perspective, and on the opportunities it offers for global justice movements (Harold Wolpe Lecture, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 5 November 2009). Read more

The notion that somehow we can transform the world by shopping is a debilitating one, and it’s one that George Monbiot has recently done a fine job of skewering. In his latest, he references a piece in the journal Nature in which it appears that consumers who buy green goods feel that their (…)