Opinion

Egypt’s Solar Energy Plans Are Heating Up

Participating in an initiative to finance rooftop solar power units, National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and Banque Misr are offering loans to citizens in Egypt. As a preliminary stage, the initiative is being offered only within specific areas of Cairo. However, plans include expanding soon into Egypt’s other governorates. Energy Committee Head Magid Eldeen Almanzlaoy …

Egypt’s Solar Energy Plans Are Heating Up Read More »

Moving Towards Global Unity

The recent events in Ukraine have been described as the most serious international diplomatic incident to have occurred since the end of the cold war. To those familiar with the power politics of that earlier time, the signs are eerily familiar; a sovereign country being destabilised by the actions of two competing power blocks; an …

Moving Towards Global Unity Read More »

Educating Students for the World of Tomorrow

It is a question which is of concern to all high school students and to all parents of teenage children. What will I do after school? For some the choice will be obvious; they will have a desire to follow a certain career path, or to enter a specific field of study. However, the majority …

Educating Students for the World of Tomorrow Read More »

Time for a New Politics of Sustainability

The major defining feature of politics in our current day and age is the division between the political left and right, with the political spectrum popularly being perceived as a progression from communism on the extreme left, through socialism, liberalism, and conservatism, to fascism on the extreme right. The terms left and right are believed …

Time for a New Politics of Sustainability Read More »

Short Termism and the Human Brain: How We Tune Out the Long-Term Consequences of Our Actions

Sometime between fifty and one hundred thousand years ago, the ancestors of modern-day homo sapiens are believed to have left their African homeland and begun their relentless expansion across the world. Within a comparatively short time period, early humans had extended their influence to every continent. Life is believed to have existed on this planet …

Short Termism and the Human Brain: How We Tune Out the Long-Term Consequences of Our Actions Read More »

Private Wealth vs Common Wealth | Building a Sustainable Economy

Private wealth.. what’s that all about? Well it’s easy to explain.  It wealth, that is to say assets and money, which is owned and controlled by a private individual or privately owned organisation for their private gain.  Easy. What about common wealth, what’s that?  Well it’s sort of the opposite, where assets and money are …

Private Wealth vs Common Wealth | Building a Sustainable Economy Read More »

Wealth Distribution – An Unemployment Centric Perspective (Private)

Wealth distribution discussions are frequently focused on the amount of pay that people deserve, but I have a different perspective to share with you. For example: The liberals argue that the middle class is struggling, but the wealthy are earning from a few times more, to hundreds of times more money than hard working middle …

Wealth Distribution – An Unemployment Centric Perspective (Private) Read More »

Social Business Good, Corporate Social Responsibility “Largely Nonsense”

A New York Times business feature on PepsiCo’s support of Mexican corn farmers has thrust a glowing light on the firm’s business practices, while simultaneously beating the anachronistic drum against the value of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Reporter Stephanie Strom provides an interesting overview of how over 300 poor farmers in San Gabriel, Mexico have …

Social Business Good, Corporate Social Responsibility “Largely Nonsense” Read More »

Where Carbon Footprint Reporting Meets Greenwashing

As we forge deeper into 2011, the number of CSR reports from fiscal 2009 and 2010 that cross my desk with headlines boasting corporate enterprise carbon footprint reductions in the 5%-12% range is astounding. Here’s a quick sample: Reckitt Benckiser (RB) plc (2010): Reduction of 11% KPMG (2009) : Reduction of 7% While it’s certainly …

Where Carbon Footprint Reporting Meets Greenwashing Read More »

End the Witch Hunt for Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Microfinance

There’s no doubt that the news from Andhra Pradesh, India about indebtedness crippling microfinance clients is troubling. SKS, India’s largest microfinance bank, raised cash last year by selling shares at 95 times their initial value. And now comes an increased chorus from politicians in Andhra Pradesh about fraud, corruption and impoverishment linked to SKS — …

End the Witch Hunt for Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Microfinance Read More »

George Clooney’s New Satellite Sentinel Project in Sudan to Uphold Human Rights

A new human rights project, initiated by George Clooney, will combine satellite imagery analysis and field reports with Google’s Map Maker technology to deter the resumption of war between North and South Sudan according to CSRwire’s press release.   The Satellite Sentinel Project will use satellite imagery analysis and crowd-sourced mapping to monitor the tense border …

George Clooney’s New Satellite Sentinel Project in Sudan to Uphold Human Rights Read More »

Wind Power’s Greatest Enemy — The Changing Winds of Political Economy

Following the Democrats’ “shellacking” in the November midterm elections, the American conversation has now accelerated in its derision of government. After the Republicans used a belligerent cry of consumer cost escalation to defeat cap and trade — a market concept the GOP initially embraced over a carbon tax model —  US energy policy remains antiquated, …

Wind Power’s Greatest Enemy — The Changing Winds of Political Economy Read More »