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Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 14 hours ago
    • China
    • Australia
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability
    • Technology

    If Australia is serious about becoming a renewable energy superpower, China must be part of the answer

    Caroline Wang
    A focus on risks shouldn’t blind us to the opportunities in the global green transition.
  • 10 Apr 2025
    • Asean
    • Climate change

    The US has backed out of the Just Energy Transition Partnerships. Southeast Asia should double down

    Melinda Stuart
    The region has a chance to take charge of its own clean energy solutions.
  • 8 Apr 2025
    • Climate change

    The world needs Indigenous voices at COP30 and beyond

    Ray Minniecon , 'Alopi Latukefu
    As the climate crisis deepens, Indigenous leadership is essential.
  • 3 Apr 2025
    • Trade
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability

    Troubled waters, polluted skies: Will a global shipping tax finally take off?

    Georgia Hammersley
    A historic levy on ship emissions is within reach, but disagreements over its size and use threaten to sink the deal.
  • 28 Mar 2025
    • Climate change

    Paris without Trump: A win for the planet?

    Melanie Pill
    Rather than setting off a cascade of countries withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, the US president may have achieved the opposite.
  • 26 Mar 2025
    • Australia
    • Energy
    • Climate change

    Can public banks fund renewable energy exports?

    Christian Downie , Maxfield Peterson
    Export credit agencies face hurdles in mobilising finance for renewable energy.
  • 21 Mar 2025
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability
    • Technology

    The Asia-Pacific is heating up – literally

    Akash Sahu
    The law of the concrete jungle is testing humanity’s survival instincts.
  • 20 Mar 2025
    • Asia
    • Indonesia
    • Vietnam
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability

    Southeast Asia’s critical role as a green industrial leader

    Trang Nguyen , Jannata (Egi) Giwangkara
    The region’s industrial transformation remains the key for long-term economic prosperity – and the world’s climate goals.
  • 12 Mar 2025
    • Asia
    • Asean
    • Japan
    • Singapore
    • Australia
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability
    • Technology

    Artificial intelligence and sustainability in the Asia-Pacific

    Melinda Stuart
    With the right strategies, AI and clean energy can work in harmony, driving progress without compromising the planet.
  • 10 Mar 2025
    • Climate change
    • Public Opinion

    What happened to the youth climate movement?

    Isabelle Zhu-Maguire
    With the world rapidly losing sight of Paris Agreement targets, let’s bring back the fight.
  • 7 Mar 2025
    • Climate change

    Climate pledge delays: The world can’t afford more hot air

    Georgia Hammersley
    Last-minute extension stretches deadline for national climate plans to later this year, raising hopes for stronger pledges
  • 20 Feb 2025
    • Climate change
    • Middle East

    Empowering Middle East’s youth is key to climate resilience

    Hajrah Nasir
    And that means overcoming financial and cultural barriers to participation.
  • 17 Feb 2025
    • Climate change
    • United Nations
    • Pacific Islands
    • United States

    What the Pacific has said about Trump’s Paris pull-out

    Isabelle Zhu-Maguire
    Listen to the region and the message is clear – wrong way, go back.
  • 17 Feb 2025
    • Asean
    • Indonesia
    • Climate change

    Indonesia’s climate retreat puts the region’s green future at risk

    Mutiara Indriani
    Jakarta’s ambivalence is a litmus test for ASEAN’s climate solidarity.
  • 13 Feb 2025
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • Migration
    • Multiculturalism

    Population decline: Future shock no more

    Richard Yetsenga
    Planning for the worst is more advisable than hoping for the best.
  • 10 Feb 2025
    • Climate change
    • International law

    The world court decision that might decide the future of our planet

    Melanie Pill
    The International Court of Justice has been asked to clarify responsibility for meaningful efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
  • 7 Feb 2025
    • China
    • Australia
    • Foreign Policy
    • Climate change
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • United States

    The old theories don’t fit the new world order

    David Morris
    A workable and sustainable internationalism will need to grapple with questions of diversity and multipolarity.
  • 6 Feb 2025
    • Climate change
    • United Nations
    • Pacific Islands
    • China and the Pacific
    • Fiji
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Samoa
    • Solomon Islands

    The global contest for the Pacific

    Michael Wesley
    Geopolitical fears of growing Chinese influence in Oceania are not the only interest Australia has in the region.
  • 17 Jan 2025
    • Climate change
    • Pacific Islands
    • United States

    Trump’s climate retreat will cost America influence in the Pacific

    Oliver Sinclair
    So much for the solemn declarations of “family”. 
  • 20 Dec 2024
    • Defence & Security
    • Climate change
    • Pacific Islands
    • United States

    Trump’s relations with the Blue Pacific

    Tarcisius Kabutaulaka
    The second Trump administration will find a region different from when last in office.
  • 19 Dec 2024
    • Aid & Development
    • Development Assistance
    • Climate change
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • United Nations
    • United States

    What a Trump second term holds for global development

    Alexandre Dayant
    Judging by track records, there's a bumpy road ahead for aid, health and climate funding.
  • 18 Dec 2024
    • Aid & Development
    • China
    • Indonesia
    • Southeast Asia
    • Taiwan
    • Russia
    • Trade
    • Climate change
    • Technology
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Solomon Islands
    • United States

    What I’ll be watching for in 2025

    Susannah Patton , Melanie Pill , Sam Roggeveen , Robert Walker , Mihai Sora , Hilman Palaon , Oliver Nobetau
    Lowy researchers gaze at their crystal balls – with questions, more than answers, for the year ahead.
  • 9 Dec 2024
    • Aid & Development
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia
    • Australian Defence Force
    • Australian Foreign Aid
    • Diplomacy
    • Climate change

    Australia is out to lunch on disaster diplomacy

    Fleur Johns
    Despite multiple strategies, frameworks and partnerships, Canberra still lags on regional disaster relief.
  • 3 Dec 2024
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • United Nations

    COP29: The climate finance fudge

    Stephen Grenville
    Acrimonious debate in Baku amounted to a lost opportunity, squabbling over funds when action is needed everywhere for the energy transition.
  • 29 Nov 2024
    • Climate change
    • Environment

    How “the land of fire” raised the temperature for global climate negotiations

    Ryan Neelam , Georgia Hammersley , Melanie Pill
    Trust at COP29 in Azerbaijan was in short supply.
  • 28 Nov 2024
    • Climate change

    Climate COP out: Weak finance goal and fossil fuel stalemate fail the most vulnerable

    Melanie Pill , Georgia Hammersley
    The Presidency of Azerbaijan lived up to expectations of weak leadership.
  • 28 Nov 2024
    • Energy
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • Sustainability

    Is it time to change the clocks to harness the power of solar?

    Joseph Webster , Frank Willey
    Shifting to “solar alignment time” could lower energy costs, enhance supply reliability, and mitigate climate change.
  • 27 Nov 2024
    • Climate change
    • Technology
    • United Nations
    • Pacific Islands
    • Fiji
    • Nauru
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Samoa
    • Solomon Islands
    • Tonga
    • Tuvalu

    The Pacific disinformation playbook

    Meg Tapia
    A surge in connectivity has exacerbated the region’s challenges, undermining trust in science and government.
  • 25 Nov 2024
    • Global Economy
    • Energy
    • Resource security
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability

    Critical minerals and the case for human rights in the just transition

    Fiona David , Shannon Hobbs
    Poor labour standards uncovered in the nickel industry should serve as a warning not to repeat past industrial mistakes.
  • 25 Nov 2024
    • Indonesia
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • Sustainability

    Cutting coal power: Indonesia's test case for turning a climate pledge into reality

    Tiza Mafira , Khalifa Akbar
    The technical, financial and legal hurdles to get an Indonesian coal-fired power plant off the grid.
  • 22 Nov 2024
    • Diplomacy
    • Climate change

    End game at COP29: Green talks in the “Blue Zone”

    Ryan Neelam
    The best hope is that the final hours are following a predictable pattern of brinkmanship.
  • 21 Nov 2024
    • Diplomacy
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • United Nations

    Zooming in on climate change: The experience of a virtual COP29 attendee

    Isabelle Zhu-Maguire
    Flying thousands of delegates across the globe has its own environmental cost – so how effective are global negotiations conducted online?
  • 19 Nov 2024
    • Cyber Security
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability
    • Technology

    Tech and AI are changing the climate equation – for the worse

    Miah Hammond-Errey
    If not addressed, the skyrocketing growth of AI and cloud computing will derail emissions commitments.
  • 18 Nov 2024
    • Energy
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability

    A long way to go to zero

    Selwyn Parker
    Southeast Asia’s fast-growing economies still rely on coal.
  • 14 Nov 2024
    • Australia
    • Australia and Climate Change
    • Climate change

    Who holds a hose? Climate change as a national security risk in Australian federalism

    Danielle Ireland-Piper
    The lines on a map might not be the sole legal determinant for an effective response to disasters and the consequences of climate change.
  • 8 Nov 2024
    • Climate change
    • United States

    What Trump’s win means for global climate negotiations

    Ryan Neelam
    The US election result casts a shadow over next week’s UN climate talks in Azerbaijan. But the world can’t afford to down tools.
  • 8 Nov 2024
    • Australia
    • Australia and Climate Change
    • Climate change

    Climate calamity: The fine line between fact and fiction

    Tom Barber
    A post-apocalyptic Australia, ravaged by unliveable temperatures, isn’t that far-fetched.
  • 5 Nov 2024
    • Climate change

    It’s the politics, stupid: Three key reasons for slow progress on the new UN climate finance goal

    Melanie Pill
    The issue of who pays, how much and within what time frame are major sticking points between parties.
  • 4 Nov 2024
    • Climate change

    What to watch for at COP29: Expectations and challenges

    Georgia Hammersley
    Global climate action is once again in the hands of an authoritarian petrostate.
  • 24 Oct 2024
    • Aid & Development
    • Climate change
    • Multilateral Development Banks

    A new multilateral bank, not an American “Marshall Plan” alone, is the key to a clean energy future

    Michelle Lyons , Roland Rajah , Grace Stanhope
    The numbers don’t add up for the United States to make itself the global hub for green technology.
  • 24 Oct 2024
    • China
    • Energy
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • Sustainability
    • United States

    China’s cleantech investment in the US: Leg-up or security threat?

    Henry Storey
    Security hawks have struggled to articulate a compelling case for completely pulling up the drawbridge.
  • 11 Oct 2024
    • Southeast Asia
    • Thailand
    • Climate change

    Thailand’s path to climate resilience

    Genevieve Donnellon-May
    While the government has taken steps to address the effects of climate change, efforts must be scaled up.
  • 7 Oct 2024
    • Global Economy
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • Sustainability

    Unhealthy competition in green technology

    Jenny Gordon
    Trade with China in green technology is essential if the world is to meet its 2050 emission reduction goals. Why is this so hard to do?
  • 3 Oct 2024
    • India
    • Pakistan
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability

    Parting the waters: India v Pakistan

    Ambika Vishwanath , Ruth Gamble
  • 2 Oct 2024
    • Climate change
    • International law
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • United Nations

    What lies beneath: There’s more to cables than geopolitics

    Cynthia Mehboob
    The undersea cable industry is left to tackle the challenges, while policymakers engage in national security power plays.
  • 27 Sep 2024
    • Australia
    • Australia and Climate Change
    • Climate change

    The logic of first mover disadvantage: Why Australia won’t save the planet

    Mark Beeson
    Acting on climate change will inescapably involve sacrifices for the collective good.
  • 11 Sep 2024
    • Climate change
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • Sustainability

    Meeting the need: Recommendations for a new Loss and Damage fund

    Melanie Pill , Georgia Hammersley
    Avoiding mistakes made by other funds will be key to better supporting the most climate-vulnerable.
  • 22 Aug 2024
    • Asean
    • Indonesia
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • Sustainability

    Southeast Asia’s great haze: Laggards and leaders

    Pia Dannhauer
    Indonesia is the region’s biggest producer of haze, so why was it the last to ratify ASEAN’s pollution prevention agreement?
  • 21 Aug 2024
    • Climate change
    • United Nations
    • Pacific Islands
    • New Caledonia
    • Tonga

    Polycrisis in the Pacific: How leaders will respond at the PIF Summit in Tonga

    Mihai Sora
    A tiny capital will be host to a huge regional agenda.
  • 20 Aug 2024
    • Asean
    • Australia and Asia
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • International law

    Australia–ASEAN maritime cooperation: A focus on the whole risks losing sight of the parts

    Thư Nguyễn Hoàng Anh
    Tailored programs accounting for individual country needs will have greater influence.
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