author

 
Menu
Search
 
June 30, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Kate Abnett
The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has exposed many countries' heavy dependency on oil and gas imports.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 28, 2026
Nations meet to discuss fossil fuel exit as Iran war drives up prices
The gathering will focus on practical steps to shift economies away from fossil fuels, rather than setting new global targets of the kind agreed to at U.N. climate summits.
Oil storage containers and facilities in Germany. The cost of the EU's fossil fuel imports has risen by €6 billion since the start of the Iran war, putting massive upward pressure on the continent’s power prices.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Mar 19, 2026
Iran war energy shock sparks global push to reduce fossil fuel dependence
Ideas include expanding nuclear energy and renewables, growing strategic stockpiles and domestic production, and diversifying foreign sources of supply.
A crude oil tanker near the terminal Kozmino in Nakhodka Bay near the port city of Nakhodka, Russia, in 2022. Hungary ​and Slovakia, still reliant on Russian oil imports, are strongly opposed to any permanent ban.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 25, 2026
EU to propose permanent ban on Russian oil after Hungary election, document shows
The timing was ‌designed to prevent ‌the oil ban from becoming a major factor in Hungary’s election campaign, EU officials said, with the country strongly opposed to any ban.
Volunteers wade through a flooded street after Storm Leonardo passed by Alcacer do Sal, Portugal, on Feb. 5.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Feb 17, 2026
EU ill-prepared for worsening climate change, advisers say
The EU should urgently step up its investments to protect people and infrastructure from floods, ​wildfires and severe heatwaves, independent advisers said.
Signage during the COP30 Leaders Summit at Parque da Cidade, the main venue for the COP30 summit, in Belem, Para state, Brazil, on Nov. 6
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 18, 2025
Clamor for change builds inside the world’s COP30 climate negotiations
More than 30 years of talks on global action to tackle climate change have led to progress, including renewable energy expansion and scaled-up climate funds, but not enough.
Empty seats of the United States delegation during the High-Level Segment (HLS) at the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belem, Brazil, on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 18, 2025
COP30 delegates dig into toughest issues as climate talks enter final week
China, India and other developing nations are flexing more muscle, with EU influence hobbled and the U.S. altogether absent.
A tree burns during a wildfire in Castelo Novo, Fundao area, Portugal, in August.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 7, 2025
How sickly forests are felling Europe’s climate ambitions
Numerous governments have warned that Europe’s forests are absorbing far less CO2 emissions than hoped.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a press conference to members of the international media, ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), Val de Caes Naval Base, Belem, Brazil, on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 5, 2025
Brazil’s Lula promises ‘COP of Truth’ as U.N. warns of dangerously high emissions
Despite three decades of global negotiations, countries will not prevent warming from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius — the main goal of the Paris Agreement brokered a decade ago.
A wildfire burns in Garano, northwestern Spain, on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 27, 2025
Record wildfires burn more than 1 million hectares of EU land this year
Spain and Portugal have been worst hit and together accounted for around two-thirds of the EU’s burnt area.
A man walks on a beach in Nice, France, amid a heavy rain storm. European governments are ramping up their own data collection systems to monitor climate change and weather extremes.
WORLD
Aug 2, 2025
Europe is breaking its reliance on American science
Amid Trump’s cuts, European governments are ramping up their own data collection systems to monitor climate change and weather extremes.
Firefighters work to tackle a wildfire spread at Les Pennes-Mirabeau, near Marseille, southern France, on July 8
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / EXPLAINER
Jul 15, 2025
How climate change is fueling wildfires in Europe
Wildfires have burnt 227,000 hectares of land since the beginning of the year — more than double the average for this time of year over the past two decades.
While leaders, researchers and activists at the third United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, took steps to tackle overfishing and pollution threatening delicate ecosystems and the people who depend on them, getting countries to agree to better governance has been challenging.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jun 17, 2025
Investors want clear ocean management rules to scale up funding
The lack of a clear governing framework and robust ocean-related data has stymied private sector finance to date.
A plastic bottle lies on the sand at Maccarese beach in Italy in 2018.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jun 10, 2025
Development banks to invest €3 billion in ocean plastics fight
Plastic waste entering the water could triple to up to 37 million metric tons per year by 2040, from around 11 million tons in 2021, the U.N. estimates.
The United Nations General Assembly Building in New York in 2015. An internal U.N. document shows the U.S. is opposing draft reforms of the world's financial system intended to help developing countries.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025
U.N. document shows U.S. seeks to weaken global development finance efforts
It opposes draft reforms of the world’s financial system intended to help developing countries, including around taxation, credit ratings and fossil fuel subsidies.
An LNG tanker is guided by tug boats in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, on April 14, 2022. The European Union is looking at ways to make it easier for U.S. gas exports to comply with its methane emissions rules.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 21, 2025
EU explores tweaking methane rules for U.S. gas to help trade talks
The European Commission is looking at using flexibilities in how it applies the bloc’s methane rules, which could benefit U.S. liquefied natural gas exporters, sources say.
A scientist tests glacier samples in Columbus, Ohio, in 2021. The threat to academics' livelihoods at universities including Yale, Columbia and Johns Hopkins has given Europe's political leaders hope they could reap an intellectual windfall.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 11, 2025
Brain drain? Trump cutbacks force scientists to seek jobs in Europe
The threat posed by Donald Trump to academics’ livelihoods at top U.S. universities has given Europe’s political leaders hope they could reap an intellectual windfall.
Cargo ships are loaded with containers at the port of Bangkok on April 3.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 10, 2025
U.S. exits carbon talks on shipping and urges others to follow
A State Department spokesperson confirmed that Washington would not be “engaging in negotiations” at the U.N.’s International Maritime Organization.
A drone view shows a tree on fire in Humaita, Amazonas state, Brazil, on Sept. 8.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 19, 2024
Can a COP29 deal clean up scandal-ridden carbon offsets?
Carbon trading is seen as one way for richer countries to meet their emissions reduction targets.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev speaks at the Opening Ceremony of the United Nations climate change conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 13, 2024
COP29 host Azerbaijan hits out at West in defense of using oil and gas
Some observers of the COP29 negotiations said the president of Azerbaijan’s remarks did not bode well for a strong result from the two-week summit.
People leave the venue during the United Nations climate change conference, known as COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 12, 2024
COP29: U.S. climate envoy says work will continue despite Trump’s return
“For those of us dedicated to climate action, last week’s outcome in the United States is obviously bitterly disappointing,” Podesta said at the summit.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
LGBTQ+ families are building lives Japanese lawmakers still struggle to see
Haru Ono founded Nijiiro Kazoku in 2010 after forming a same-sex stepfamily. She said the impetus for founding the organization was that she couldn’t find much reliable information out there for families such as hers in Japan.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency
New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER