Energy
Zimbabwe struggles to keep the power on
Along the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia sits Lake Kariba, where low water levels have interrupted power supply to both countries — profoundly impacting the economy.
Guyana’s discovery of oil reserves has the nation split between boosting the economy and preserving the environment
Scheduled blackouts roll South Africa into electricity crisis
A Chinese company strikes a deal with the Taliban to extract oil from Afghanistan
Lights out in Pakistan as energy-saving move backfires
Lula empowers Brazil's Indigenous peoples with their own ministry. But environmental protection remains a key concern.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has made good on a series of campaign promises to defend the Amazon and empower Indigenous peoples. He already signed an executive order to relaunch a billion-dollar Amazon fund, where foreign governments can contribute to forest protection, among six other orders.
The world kept warming in 2022. Is the 1.5-degree Celsius target within reach?
Limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is the most-repeated goal in the fight against climate change. But as each new year is among recorded history’s hottest, is it still a viable one?
Mexico’s clean energy plan could run into trouble at leaders’ summit
The North American leaders will be discussing immigration and the recapture of the son of drug cartel kingpin “El Chapo.” But also high on the agenda: a dispute over energy.
An unseasonably warm winter in Europe threatens ski resorts, tourism
Countries across Europe are experiencing unseasonably warm weather this January, causing a headache for ski resorts and broader concern for what it might mean for the year ahead.
A bakers’ rebellion looms in France to defend baguettes
Due to soaring electricity costs, bakers in France can’t afford to turn on their ovens to bake bread. They’re demanding help from the government and threatening the unthinkable — to turn off their ovens.
Barcelona’s children find safety in numbers as they bike to school in herds
Across Spain's Barcelona province children are getting to school in organized convoys of bikes, dubbed "bicibus," or bicycle-bus. As with traditional bus lines, each bicibus route has stops where other cycling students can join along the way. Parents, teachers and other volunteer adults ride, too, to ensure the kids’ safety.
Negotiators meet in Uruguay to map out global plastics treaty
With a 2024 completion deadline that was voted on in March, the future treaty aims to reduce plastics pollution on a global scale. Organizers plan to mitigate the costs and effects of plastic production as a whole and engage workers’ concerns within the industry.
Land issues at the heart of Uganda’s oil showdown
Residents in Uganda's oil-rich Hoima district say their land is up for grabs as an ambitious oil pipeline project plans to run more than 800 miles from the western part of the country all the way to neighboring Tanzania.
Why African countries like Uganda are investing in fossil fuels
Uganda is seeking to develop and refine its oil in partnership with the French energy company Total, and a state-owned Chinese corporation.
Global demand for lithium is changing Chile's Atacama Desert
In the past 10 years, the global demand for lithium has skyrocketed, and the production increase of electric vehicles is expected to raise this demand by at least 300% in the next 10 years. Chile meets about a third of the lithium demands, and plans to boost its production in the next few years.