The reduction of CO2 emissions be possible? / Robert Douglas Cairns, Professor, McGill University

The agricultural sector is responsible for 72% of global water withdrawals, and is the biggest employer of the world’s most vulnerable and poor populations. Still, close to 84% of smallholder farms in low- and middle-income economies are located in water-scarce regions, with less than one third of them having access to irrigation (UN, 2024). These small-scale farmers also bear the heavy weight of land degradation and climate crisis. It is estimated that food production will need to ...

The earth’s average surface temperature in May 2024 was higher than any other May on record, marking the twelfth consecutive such record-breaking month. According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, May’s temperature was 1.52 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, while temperatures over the past twelve months have averaged 1.63°C above (Figure 1). Global sea surface temperatures have also set records over the past fourteen months.   Consider the e ...

Le constat est désormais parfaitement connu : une quantité croissante de ressources minérales sera nécessaire au cours des années et décennies à venir si nous voulons réussir notre transition énergétique et, délaissant les énergies fossiles, ainsi parvenir à la neutralité carbone. Plus de lithium, de manganèse ou de sulfate de nickel pour les batteries Li-ion des véhicules électriques légers, plus de silicium pour les panneaux photovoltaïques, de terres rares ou de zinc pour les éol ...

Interview publié sur philonomist.com   Si la récente crise qui a secoué la Nouvelle-Calédonie part d’un conflit politique, elle s’inscrit dans un contexte économique difficile. L’industrie du nickel, qui représente 90 % des exportations de l’archipel et emploie près d’un Calédonien sur quatre, est au point mort. Le « pacte nickel » proposé par le gouvernement pour relancer la filière tarde à être adopté. Comment comprendre cette situation, alors que la Nouvelle-Calédonie possède u ...

Carbon trading have long been touted as a silver bullet to channelise climate finance to African countries lacking the capital to support climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. The erstwhile ‘Kyoto Protocol’ and its successor ‘The Paris Agreement’, though much more comprehensive and wider in scope, both recognize the importance of carbon trading (a form of carbon pricing) in combatting climate change, and in the Paris Agreement the same is enshrined under Article 6 and its sub-c ...

Africa has a wealth of natural resources, including minerals, agriculture, and energy commodities, which provides an opportunity for the financialization of these commodities on the continent, a concept that has gained global attention and sparked debate on the potential benefits and drawbacks. Although the financialization of commodities has been studied in various contexts, including in African countries, challenges such as liquidity constraints and market readiness have emerged a ...