Results for Opinion

The Juliana v United States trial is about more than the environment; it will have far-reaching implications for intergenerational justice more broadly. Consider the issue of public debt. There have always been moral objections to one generation burdening the next with excessive debt, effectively limiting young people’s future liberty by impinging on their ability to form families, educate children, and create wealth. By Robert Dugger.

Kau Fale Alea, ko ho’omou tali e lipooti ‘a e ‘atita ‘oku tatau ia mo ha’amou pehee ‘oku mo’oni e lipooti ‘a e ‘Atita, ka ki he Kapineti mo e PM ke hoko atu pe ‘enau ngaue ta’e Faka-lao mo Ta’e-Faka-Konisitutone ka tau toki sio he ta’u fo’ou ki he palopalema ‘a e fonua. – ‘Inoke Fotu Hu’akau.

The murder of Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate on October 2 has focused attention on the Saudi regime. And yet the strong response to Khashoggi’s brutal murder stands in stark contrast to the relative indifference the West has shown to the vastly larger number of victims of the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen. Saudi airstrikes have killed thousands of civilians, including children who died when school buses were bombed. Now those deaths are themselves heavily outnumbered by the toll of the widespread famine engulfing Yemen “much bigger than anything any professional in this field has seen”. By Peter Singer.

This kind of behaviour by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet members is no laughing matter any more, they are pussyfooting around with the most dangerous situation our nation ever experienced in the last 100 or so years. - 'Inoke Fotu Hu'akau.

As scientists have conclusively shown, in the last decade, we have entered a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, in which human activity – in particular, economic activity – has been the dominant factor influencing Earth’s climate and environment. In the Anthropocene, our planet’s life-support system is changing faster than ever. By Johan Rockström, Jørgen Randers, and Per Espen Stoknes

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body tasked with providing scientific evidence and consensus on climate change and its implications for decision-makers and the public, has just issued its latest, long-awaited report. The challenge it presents to all of us is huge. By Monica Araya and Carlos Manuel Rodriguez

Does human nature exist? The answer has implications for anyone concerned about ethics. In an era defined by amoral political leadership and eroding social values, thinking about the essence of humanity has never been more important....Views on human nature affect views on ethics. And today, our ethics are a mess. By Massimo Pigliucci.

The addictive qualities of sugar are embedded in its economics. Not everyone who is exposed to sugar becomes addicted; but, as with alcohol, many do. In fact, sugar’s allure is a big reason why the processed food industry’s current profit margin is 5% (up from 1%), and why so many of us are sick, fat, stupid, broke, depressed, and just plain miserable. Robert H. Lustig.

Emergency management efforts will struggle to keep pace with the havoc wrought by climate change, owing to a dangerous disconnect between knowledge and action, even as the scientific evidence piles up. Leaders in most countries consider the status quo to be politically safer. Even weather reports on television typically fail to mention climate change as an underlying cause of severe meteorological events. By Vinod Thomas