Articles

How can we merge all the things that are happening right now, on Lesbos, in Kabul and in Ahrweiler, and map them on our own timeline? How do we know what is important for our present time? Melanie Wilke and Hannah Gruber ellaborate on the societal contexts behind the ever-present lack of time, particularly in relation to health and healthcare.

The build-up to the UN Food systems Summit 2021 has underlined why systems thinking is essential and action is required now, both concerning the ending of hunger and tackling the web of issues that contribute to sustainability.

The European Commission's Fit-for-55 package proposal to go to 100% zero emission car sales from 2035 shows a serious commitment for reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, and will put European industry in the driving seat to dominate the new global electric vehicle (EV) market. While this move could democratise the purchase of EVs, policy-makers need to take a small extra step to ensure early build up of EVs to drive cost reductions and fully guarantee that chargers are available in the right locations.

Ros Taylor presents a critique of the new law that allows the English police to crack down on protest and seize the vehicles of Roma, Gypsies and Travellers who stop on private ground. The public do not seem to be particularly bothered – though that may change as the scope of the legislation becomes apparent.

In her 2021 State of the Union address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appealed to Europe’s soul, which, she said, has been tested to the core in times of multiple crises. The team of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union did its own soul-searching, pointing at the good, the not-so-good and the missing in von der Leyen’s speech.

The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will kick off in October 2021 in Kunming, China. What is the importance of biodiversity in China and what are the Chinese government's goals for COP 15? Lili Fuhr, Head of the International Environmental Policy Division, spoke with our Beijing Office Director, Paul Kohlenberg.

While the EU's Fit-for-55 Package includes many important files, the European Commission postponed legislation on methane a particularly potent greenhouse gas to December 2021. This article summarises the issues at stake and argues that without stringent regulation on this gas, the Fit-for-55 Package will fail to reach climate goals.

Those most affected by the negative consequences of large-scale industrialized food production must play a vital part in discussing how to transform it. The world therefore needs a people’s Food Systems Summit that aims to end hunger and malnutrition, protect ecosystems, and provide small farmers with a decent livelihood.

In regulating online spaces, if we treat the problems of harmful content as separate from the problems of harmful systems, we risk not solving either. Addressing disinformation and online violence against women requires a holistic regulatory response. 

In the run-up to the German federal election of 26 September 2021 (BTW21), we take a look at the nuts and bolts of the German political and electoral system.