World Bank President David Malpass announced his resignation in mid-February 2023, and will step down by June 2023—about a year before finishing his five-year term. As several public officials indicated after the announcement, the climate legacy Malpass leaves behind is lacking. Indeed, the Bank itself has also been under scrutiny with recent calls for reform on climate finance.

The Biden Administration quickly announced Ajay Banga as their nominee in mid-February. If confirmed, Banga will step into this role in a high-profile moment, and his own stance on climate issues is already under close examination.

Waters that cross international political borders can drive the countries that share them to conflict—or encourage cooperation between them. Indeed, since the 1940s, overall trends point to a tendency for countries to cooperate over shared water resources, which stands in stark contrast to media portrayals of “water wars.”

Yet instances of conflict over water have increased slightly since 2000. Why? Most of them are fueled by water quantity disputes or the unilateral development of dams or other infrastructure. Institutions often play a key role in facilitating cooperation (and reducing conflict) over shared waters, but their growth and adoption have slowed over the last two to three decades.

Green hydrogen is often portrayed as a key component in the green energy transition, since it is produced with renewable energy through electrolysis – the splitting up of freshwater into hydrogen and oxygen – and it does not emit carbon dioxide when combusted. Yet green hydrogen’s huge potential for the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors (e.g. steelmaking and production of fertilizers) as well as maritime shipping and aviation are not the only promises that it harbors. Green hydrogen’s use as an energy storage solution makes it particularly promising for remote and sparsely populated areas with an abundance of renewable energy resources such as the Norwegian Arctic.

The amount of critical minerals required to develop low-carbon energy technologies is predicted to be six times higher than what is needed today. Yet meeting this demand is necessary to enable a global transition that will address climate change and  comply with agreements such as the European Green New Deal.

Today’s celebration of World Wildlife Day is a perfect time to focus greater attention on the rapidly growing Latin America-to-Asia wildlife trade. It now has reached crisis proportions, with both illegal and legal shipments rising in tandem with China’s economic investment in the region.

Experts link this mushrooming trans-Pacific animal trade to large-scale development projects by Chinese companies. Over the past 15 years, two state-owned Chinese banks have loaned more than $140 billion for infrastructure, road, railway and mining projects in Latin America.

The first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is also a reminder of the long-term challenges faced by that embattled country, including one of the most important resources for human survival: water.

“For Ukrainians, water has been under fire for nearly a decade,” observed Erika Weinthal, Professor of Environmental Policy and Public Policy at Duke University, at a recent Water @ Wilson Series event: “Water and Conflict: Updates from the Russia-Ukraine War,” co-hosted by the U.S. Water Partnership.