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March 29, 2025
 

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David Fickling
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.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2022
India’s heatwaves are testing the limits of human survival
Each summer in India is a fresh roll of the dice on whether a freak event will occur that leads to a vast number of deaths.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2022
Only in America can gas prices be turned into a political time bomb
Other countries use tax cuts and subsidies to soften the impact of higher fuel costs on consumers. Congress should bite the bullet and do the same.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2022
Saudi Arabia’s oil-for-yuan bid won’t threaten the dollar
In an increasingly divided world, it makes sense to look for a good alternative to the greenback. Now is not that time.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2022
How China’s 'COVID zero' policy is giving a polish to gold
Gold has mostly traded sideways since the start of the year, and the usual negative correlation between higher U.S. Treasury yields and lower gold prices — and vice versa — has disappeared.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2022
America’s frackers are back, and they’re looking leaner
Oil production this month will rise to 8.54 million barrels a day — just 730,000 barrels below the record in November 2019.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2022
China can have cheap coal or common prosperity. Not both.
Operating 24 hours a day, the only way coal mines can increase output in a hurry is to skimp on maintenance, making for a dangerous situation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2021
A gas pipeline won’t turn Russia and China into buddies
The Power of Siberia 2 pipeline is presented as something akin to a marriage proposal between Russian and China, bringing two leading authoritarian states closer together.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2021
Forget the words of this COP26 deal. Follow the money.
The costs of subsidizing fossil fuels go up with each passing year, making it harder to abandon them even as their damage accumulates.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2021
Why 25 previous conferences have failed to stop climate change
Climate talks are at a disadvantage from the start as their intent is stunningly broad: remaking the energy systems that have powered the planet since the Industrial Revolution.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2021
China’s power crisis will affect industries worldwide
The world has become hooked on cheap Chinese power for making a host of its goods. About half of all metal is produced in China and nearly a fifth of all oil is refined there.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 8, 2021
Pandora Papers show the rich will always find a way
For all the revelations about the shadow global financial system for the wealthy since the ICIJ's first revelations in 2013, it's striking how little has changed.
Japan considers all possible options as Trump threatens new auto tariffs
Subaru cars awaiting export at a port in Yokohama on Thursday.
Massive quake kills at least 150 in Myanmar and Thailand
Medical workers treat a earthquake survivor on a bed in the compound of a hospital in Naypyitaw on Friday, after an earthquake in central Myanmar.
Student suicides in Japan hit all-time high
A volunteer handles an incoming call at the Tokyo Befrienders call center, a suicide hotline center in Japan's capital.
Tourist submarine sinks in Red Sea of Egypt, leaving 6 people dead
The interior of a Sindbad submarine vessel at sea off Hurghada, Egypt, in August 2024, in this still image obtained from video.
Yellow sand blankets cities across Japan
The Meteorological Agency forecast the yellow sand to move away from eastern Honshu by 6 p.m. on Wednesday. But it will continue to cover parts of western Honshu and Shikoku until Thursday morning, it said.
Recent spate of wildfires in Japan and South Korea linked to climate change
Smoke and flames rise from a wildfire in Andong, South Korea, on Tuesday.
Hanami season to have record ¥1.39 trillion economic impact on Japan
Cherry blossoms along a road in Tokyo on Tuesday. The 2025 cherry blossom season is expected to have an economic impact of around ¥1.39 trillion on Japan.
Tokyo Series proves to be big business for MLB — and Japanese companies
An advertisement featuring Shohei Ohtani in Tokyo.
New SDF command will be key for contingency planning, Australian commander says
A Maritime Self-Defense Force SH-60K "Super Auk" from JS Shiranui prepares to land on HMAS Brisbane during Exercise Malabar 2023 while off the coast of New South Wales, Australia.
Japanese wages likely to rise more than 5% again this year
Wages are set for another big increase this year as annual negotiations secure generous agreements.

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