Weather change and its consequences are inevitable.  Governments and rating agencies around the world have tools  to “motivate” short-term-focused insurers to broaden their risk perspectives, with their executives facing personal liabilities if their coverage reserves fall short. Without more aggressive moves, the rest of the world could end up like Grenada and Jamaica, circa 2004.

Are global corporations cleaning up their supply chains? The debate over the abysmally low wages paid to workers in emerging economies illustrates the difficulty. There are two conflicting narratives, both tied to China.

One year after the Fukushima disaster, nuclear energy policy is moving in two opposite directions. While much of the world, led by Germany, is embracing caution and winding down nuclear energy ambitions, the US, Britain, France and Russia are poised to boost their nuclear estate.

A exposé purporting to show that Bonn-based Fairtrade International (FLO),the world’s largest labeller of ethical goods, had failed in its oversight of a project in west Africa that supplies Limited Brands-owned Victoria’s Secret.  The project  was paying sub-par wages to children labouring in inhumane conditions and helps drive a wedge between FLO and FairTrade USA.

With the shale boom radically altering the energy chessboard, panicked ideologues are resorting to a tired ploy: pitting natural gas against alternative sources as if generating energy is a zero-sum game.

While it’s sometimes hard to distinguish the crackpot from the consequential, many sober scientists believe that even far-out schemes are worth exploring, considering the alternatives.

The costs to society - economically and socially - from setting policies based on fear rather than science are significant. The fear of synthetic chemicals diverts our focus and drains public funds from addressing documented dangers.

The nuclear industry and government officials in Japan are compatriots in what is popularly referred to as the "nuclear power village". Watchdog Nisa is known as a cushy home for Tepco officials either on the way out or the way in.