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David Fickling
A demonstration is held in Hong Kong on Thursday over the release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 24, 2023
The Fukushima hysteria has a lesson for the nuclear renaissance
From the reaction prior to the Fukushima release across Asia, you’d think Tokyo was embarking on a program to poison the region’s water supplies.
A young girl drinks water from a faucet in Bamako. At a site just 55 kilometers from Mali's capital city, pure hydrogen gas seeps from the ground like crude oil or methane.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2023
Natural hydrogen could change the world, if we understood it
We know next to nothing about how natural hydrogen is produced, let alone how to extract and transport it most efficiently.
India is facing a potential future food crises due to severe climate change despite its per capita carbon emissions being lower than some countries such as Germany. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 25, 2023
India’s food security is being choked by climate change
A warming planet is destabilizing the cycles of rain and sun that are keeping India fed.
An extreme heat warning in Death Valley, California, on July 15
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2023
Our civilization was built for a climate that’s vanishing
Weather disasters linked to climate change like those unfolding across the northern hemisphere will affect more and more of us.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2023
Shipping needs nuclear power to solve its emissions problem
The shipping industry’s energy needs far exceed the capacity of green sources like solar and wind. There is only one clean alternative: nuclear power.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2023
What a smoky U.S. can learn from past climate denialism in Australia
National disasters, such as the bush fires in Australia and now Canada and the U.S., can sway voters — but the shift is often only slight.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 31, 2023
Just how safe is Fukushima’s ‘contaminated’ water?
To build the clean energy sector the world needs, nuclear power advocates must sway public opinion their way. Just crashing through won’t cut it.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2023
Why natural disasters seem worse than our most dire predictions
It’s human nature to latch on to the most easily available snippets of information, particularly when it comes to understanding climate change.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2023
A torrid summer risks stalling Asia’s climate goals
Predictions of a season of heatwaves have sent coal stockpiles soaring. Eventually, all that carbon will be burned.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2023
OPEC+’s shock production cut is a capitulation to oil’s decline
Oil producers want more cash from the market. Choosing not to expand output is good for prices, but signals little confidence in demand.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2023
Peak emissions are just the start of the climate battle
Fossil-fuel pollution may be declining faster than anyone anticipated, but most of the world's carbon is locked up in places you'd least expect.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2023
We’re not even close to running out of green minerals
A U.S. Geological Survey suggests concerns over the securing of materials needed to shift to cleaner energy such as lithium, cobalt, copper and others may be overblown.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2022
Shipping’s oil era is coming to an end
It's a good start, but reducing shipping's carbon footprint it's not the holy grail of decarbonization. That would entail plugging the industry into the emerging hydrogen economy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2022
Climate change costs are eating up the money needed to avert it
Rich countries need to meet their ODA commitments, which would more than double the money available to avert the effects of climate change.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 5, 2022
Peak oil has finally arrived. No, really.
With the U.S. Fed's willingness to send the U.S. economy into a recession to bring inflation back on target, oil production may soon enter terminal decline as a result.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2022
Pakistan could have averted its climate catastrophe
Decades of corruption and underinvestment have led to massive flooding in Pakistan. Only significant expenditure can avoid another disaster.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 24, 2022
The rich-poor divide on clean power is getting wider
Rich nations can green their own economies all they want. If they don't provide the funds to repeat the trick around the world, it will all be in vain.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2022
Climate won Australia's election. Wielding power will be harder.
Voters have identified their issue. Whether new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese can deliver is an open question.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 20, 2022
The global safety net against hunger is frailer than you think
Political upheaval can accelerate food insecurity, particularly when the system is based on shaky foundations.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2022
Obesity is stalking poor countries where hunger once reigned
Low-cost calories are at the heart of the next big health crisis — and we have no systems in place to deal with the fallout.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?