The world is on track to become a very different place in the next two decades. Per capita income levels are rising, the global middle class is expanding, and the global population is set to hit 8.3 billion people by 2030. At the same time, urbanization is happening at an...

As negotiators in Doha move toward a new global climate agreement this week, politicians and planners in the United States are still busy absorbing the lessons of Hurricane Sandy.

With half of all Americans living near the ocean, Hurricane Sandy provides a wake-up call...

On November 14, citizens worldwide who are concerned about our changing climate tuned in to a unique, global event involving hundreds of experts. 24 Hours of Reality: The Dirty Weather Report is a live, online broadcast led by former Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore. (Mr. Gore...

This post was co-authored with Vinod Thomas, Director-General of Independent Evaluation at the Asian Development Bank.

Can extreme poverty be eliminated in the next 20 years? With much of the world still mired in an economic slump, the question might seem ill-timed. Yet, as heads of state arrive...

This post was co-authored with Peter Hazlewood and John Talberth.

As the global summit in Rio approaches, negotiations are still in flux, but some ideas that could advance the global sustainability agenda are gaining momentum.

One such idea is the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which...

The United Nations climate change convention is 20 years old this month. As we see from the just-completed climate talks in Bonn, Germany, we still haven't solved the problem nor even agreed how to solve it. Meanwhile, the impacts of climate change become more apparent, hitting the poorest and most...

After posting double-digit growth in recent years, the clean tech sector -- from solar to wind to electric vehicles -- is sailing into rough waters. Clean energy investment in the first quarter of 2012 is down to levels not seen since the start of the recession in 2008....

In his annual State of the Union address, President Obama declared: "I will not walk away from clean energy."

His words were a sharp rebuttal to critics harping on the Solyndra bankruptcy and others making dire predictions about the downfall of the renewable energy industry.

So, who is...

What are the top environmental and development issues that will shape 2012? On January 10th, I presented the World Resources Institute's 9th annual "Stories to Watch" at the National Press Club. While we can't predict the future, here's a rundown of the key issues to keep an eye on:

1....

This piece was written with Vinod Thomas, Director General, Independent Evaluation, Asian Development Bank.

As we enter a new year, the world continues to be in the grips of dual crises. A stubborn economic downturn with widespread job losses combined with accelerating global warming threatening vulnerable communities. Many argue...

If you believe the doomsday merchants, the scariest thing about this Halloween is the fact that the world's population will pass seven billion on or near October 31.

Population growth, however, is not the biggest skeleton in the closet when it comes to our planet's ability to absorb human...

Vice President Joe Biden had it right in his recent visit to China. Global stability, he declared in an August 18 speech in Beijing "rests in no small part on the cooperation between the United States and China."

The U.S. vice president was referring to economic stability. But...

When it comes to changing the way we use energy, cities are at the center of the action.

Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking at the C40 Summit in São Paulo, Brazil. The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group consists of iconic cities from around the...

Over the past year, the world has witnessed weather events on four continents so extreme that they stretch the limits of modern human experience.

Last summer's flooding in Pakistan inundated one fifth of the country and affected 20 million people. The record Moscow heat wave led to more than 10,000...