Dreams of a ‘Green Utopia’ Wither in the Maghreb

When the Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII), an alliance of 21 major European corporations, first unveiled plans to install a network of solar thermal, photovoltaic, and wind plants across the North African Maghreb region to generate electricity, the project was greeted as a ‘green utopia’.

Germany Grapples with Diversity

With a persistent undercurrent of discrimination against foreigners, ‘Gastarbeiter’ (guest workers) and citizens of colour, despite the fact that 20 percent of its population - roughly 16 million residents - are from an immigrant background, Germany is faced with the urgent task of rethinking its ambivalence towards diversity.

Merkel Meets Netanyahu amid Tense Relations*

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been holding tense talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel as plans to build thousands of new settler homes on occupied Palestinian land strain ties with key allies.

Asylum Seekers Protest in Silence

Terrible images are filtering in from the German Bavarian city of Wuerzburg, where one woman and six men have sewn their mouths shut, threading fishing wire through their lips to symbolise a point of no return in their hunger strike.

Germany’s Energy Revolution Hits Potholes

When the German government decided last year to phase out nuclear energy by 2022, following the catastrophe at the Fukushima power plant in Japan, it was clear that the process would require extraordinary effort, not only in further developing alternative energy sources, especially renewables, but also in upgrading the country-wide electricity grid.

For an Ailing Planet, the Cure Already Exists

The planet's climate recently reached a new milestone of 400 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in the Arctic.

Will Rio+20 Spark a Green Revolution?

Think of Rio+20 as the hothouse to grow the green ideas and values humanity needs to thrive in the 21st century.