Europe has introduced a new set of rules for the financial sector focused on sustainability, social and environmental change. The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation was designed to increase transparency in sustainable investment markets and covers a broad range of environmental,...
When war separates people, arts reunite them. That was the goal celebrated last Saturday in Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California, where dancers impacted by the war in Ukraine danced together for the first time since the invasion, on February 24th. The one-night-only special ballet performance, Reunited in Dance, was simulcasted for visitors in the plaza in front of the concert hall because tickets were sold out...
The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 after waging a 20-year insurgency with support from Pakistan and, to some extent, from Iran. Now that the Taliban is in charge, the direct and indirect influence of Islamabad over Afghanistan is profound. In fact, many observers question the national legitimacy of the Taliban because they are seen as a proxy for Pakistan. The Taliban is the product of Pakistan’s...
Attention is valuable, especially that of children. Unfortunately, that value, a profoundly human value, is undermined by the business world's idea of valuation, a concept focused exclusively on commercial or monetary value. Insofar as markets are informational mechanisms, they undermine perception and damage mental health, especially that of children. The exquisitely sensitive human attentional system evolved to aim itself at Nature, not to be targeted by revenue-seeking interruptions, distractions, and...
The original plan was to hike for three weeks along the India-China-Nepal border. Two former professional associates – Indian Special Forces officers – had agreed to take me. Technical climbing has never interested me, but I have been a lifelong hiker, going on weeks-long hikes over the years in the Alps, the Wrangell-St. Elias mountains in Alaska, the Pyrenees, the Cascades, the Rockies, the Burundi Highlands, the Southern Alps of...
UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently visited India. In more ways than one, it was a significant visit. For a start, it underscores India’s rising geopolitical importance. After 75 years of independence, in the words of Guterres, India is finally a global “powerhouse.” The secretary-general lauded the country’s contribution to sustainable development goals. In his words, “India’s recent development journey is characterized by high impact programmes delivered at scale. This includes...
I have come across two fine books that are essential reading for our fraught times, especially given the amount of misinformation, propaganda and “infowars” in the media. In their book War in Ukraine, Medea Benjamin and Nicolas Davies align all the pertinent facts a reader needs to know about the origins of a brutal but avoidable conflict and the political events that have accompanied its unfolding. They define the geopolitical...
