So far climate change action has, perhaps inevitably, settled around individual actions – switching off lights, re-using plastic bottles, and the like. A poll last year found that 40% of the UK population believe recycling is the most important contribution they can make to lower their footprint. (It isn’t – try not flying) It’s so [...]

In his book ‘The Bottom Billion’, Paul Collier outlines four poverty traps that prevent development. I’ve reviewed the book already, but I thought it was worth introducing some of his theory a bit more as part of my ongoing exploration into why some countries remain poor. Conflict The first of the four traps is conflict. [...]

A 34 year old man was killed today when impatient crowds outside a New York Wal-Mart broke down the doors and stampeded into the store. Four shoppers were also hurt in the rush, including a pregnant woman. The shop was due to open at 5am, offering discounts of up to 70% off electronics items, and [...]

I recently noticed that a large number of coffee shops don’t actually do fair trade, and if they do, it is not the “default” coffee, it is something you need to ask for specifically. This seems to be the case with most coffee shops and I think it is also something that needs to change. [...]

I’m getting married today. Paul will be posting, but I’m out of here for a fortnight.