Circular coffee: the challenge is cultural
Since its launch at the World Coffee Conference in Bangalore at the end of 2023, the Center for Circular Economy in Coffee (C4CEC) has grown to counting about a hundred members, just under half of t...
How China’s clean-tech is cutting emissions around the world
It is hardly news that China has long been at the top of the global clean-tech manufacturing league. According to the latest IEA figures, between 60% and 85% (depending on the supply chains) of manu...
Climate: COP31 gets underway – here’s what we can expect
Antalya – Sun Express flight 133 from Munich to Antalya is packed to the brim: negotiators, activists, journalists, businesspeople and even a few unsuspecting tourists seeking the Mediterranea...
Biodiversity, Devin Murphy: “We need co-ordinated investment to restore species”
The first global review presented and approved in Yerevan shows little measurable progress in the fight against biodiversity loss. According to UNEP report State of Finance for Nature 2026, pri...
From site to sea: where corporate water accountability runs out
A coastal factory can tell you almost everything about the water leaving its premises: volumes, water-quality parameters, permits and monitoring results. Ask it about the sea that water flows into, ...
Alessandra Astolfi: “Ecomondo is becoming increasingly international”
Rimini - The 29th edition of Ecomondo was, as always, a success. The Rimini exhibition centre was packed to bursting point, exhibitors were satisfied, and there was an ever-increasing range of conte...
The Midterms and “the Communists”: What the 2026 Results Could Mean for 2028
President Trump, giving a speech in an Atlanta suburb in summer 2026, mentioned communism or communist fifteen times, starting less than a minute into an hour -long speech. The Secretary of State, M...
Democrats reclaim control of the US Congress
Texas has elected Democrat James Talarico to the Senate for the first time in 38 years, Keisha Lange has become the first Black woman to serve as governor, Abdul al-Sayer is the first Muslim senator...
Interior design, from creativity to the market: interviews by MR65
For the Think Tank section of Renewable Matter #65, we spoke to representatives from the two distinct yet interdependent sides of the world of interior design: on one hand, creativity, design a...
Design has learned to talk about materials: now it must be held accountable
Between declared circularity and the marginal role of health, the furnishing and interior design sector has not yet come to terms with what it produces and the air it leaves behind in our homes. Tod...
A seat at the circular table
Throughout history, furniture has represented a category of material consumption. Just consider the contribution of Egyptian culture, which, as early as its first dynasties, was producing furnishing...
COP17: the overlooked biodiversity negotiations reach consensus to work on finance and implementation
Yerevan - COP17, the Conference of the Parties responsible for implementing the Global Biodiversity Framework, the global roadmap for protecting nature and the ecosystem services on which the human ...
Gruppo CAP: How Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Protect River Health
In Europe, less than half of the rivers are currently in good condition. Various factors are to blame: municipal and industrial wastewater, agricultural fertilisers, waterway fragmentation, climate ...
Biodiversity: Europe spends far too little and continues to fund harmful subsidies
With just four years left to the2030 deadline, global biodiversity negotiations are seeking to move beyond promises and addressing implementation and international finance. From 19 to 30 October, th...
Behind Turkey’s COP31: From Greenwashing to Shrinking Rights
Istanbul - As Turkey prepares to host COP31 in Antalya, criticism is growing over companies that are harming the environment, while sponsoring the summit and having prominent roles in it. The roles ...
COP17, Marco Lambertini: “For businesses, the state of nature is the ultimate indicator”
Yerevan - Finance for biodiversity is at the heart of COP17, both in the political negotiations and in the growing role of private finance. The latter was discussed primarily at side events hosted i...
Trawling in protected areas: the legal battle reaches Italy
On a map, the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea off Tuscany and of the Ionian Sea off Apulia are designated under Natura 2000, the EU network meant to protect vulnerable habitats and species. Underwater,...
Nature loss could put 140M jobs at risk across the EU, UK and Switzerland
Yerevan - Perhaps the Kunming-Montreal Global Agreement on Biodiversity should have been called the ‘Agreement on Food Security and Nature’s Services to the Economy’. Brutal and Ca...
COP17 seeks consensus on nature finance and tackling environmentally harmful subsidies
Yerevan - With the high-level segment of the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP17) now underway, attention is turning to a key issue: financing for nature, including the mobilisation of ...
PFAS: a study finds TFA in the blood of all Europeans tested
This article is part of the thematic channel The Water Observer: subscribe to our newsletter and receive exclusive contents from the world of water One hundred and ten European citizens; not a...