The building boom in China and worldwide demand for consumer goods containing ilmenite has enriched criminals who specialise in stealing sand - sometimes whole beaches. NICK MEYNEN investigates
Filmmaker, campaigner and environmental pioneer Helena Norberg-Hodge talks to Jemima Roberts about her latest film - The Economics of Happiness - the damage globalisation is doing, and what can be done to counter it
From India to Indonesia pepper farmers are increasingly vulnerable to harvest failures, food price crashes and price fixing, an investigation by Frederik Johannisson & Peter Bengtsen of Danwatch has revealed
A sneak preview of Helena Norberg-Hodge's epic documentary which examines how 'going local' is a powerful strategy to help repair our fractured world - ecosystems, societies and individuals
What few have stopped to consider in the continuing 'battle' against Somali pirates is what industrialised nations have been doing to the country's fishing grounds for years
The uniting of 800 million rural workers against the loss of their traditional way of life gives lie to globalisation’s claims to beneficence. Resistance is far from futile, says Ed Hamer
Dressing poorer countries in our designer cast-offs while we invest in shabby sweatshop chic? Invest in their infrastructure, not vetements, argues Joe Turner
Rich industrialised countries have a responsibility to help others stick to their green responsibilities, argues Helena Norberg-Hodge, not collude in helping shirk them
Revenues obtained from the often illegal extraction and supply of commodities such as timber and diamonds are directly bankrolling corrupt regimes and armed insurgency groups, and fund the purchase of weapons and other contraband goods that perpetuate cycles of conflict.
Must-have handbags? shoes to die for? From cheap trinkets to luxury car interiors, Jim Wickens discovers the startling facts behind what we buy into when we buy leather goods.
The world’s favourite precious metal is hiding a dirty little secret. Laura Sevier reports on the truth behind the glitter, and asks whether gold can ever be green
Sometimes it’s good to take a peep at what the enemy is up to. I spent last weekend reading the New York Herald Tribune, and I’ll sometimes look at The Economist. Both these publications are excellent in their way – the Tribune is far superior in writing and information to The Times, for example – but essentially feed the greed of a business-minded readership anxious to figure out what is going on in the world, the better to profit from it.
Don’t be afraid of the recession, says Andrew Simms , it may just be the lucky break we need to get our heads around a more sane economy and a better quality of life
Economist Herman E Daly argues that our future depends on a new economic model, one that needs to be defined by the dynamic balance – the steady state – of the natural world upon which it depends.
‘This is the Indian dream!’ shouts Mohit, clutching a tattered plastic bag as he joins the impatient throng gathering at Hall A of the Auto Expo in New Delhi. Around us more than 100,000 Indians are aggressively jostling for space and a precious glimpse of the £1,200 Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car. It is a vehicle that, put simply, costs less than the optional DVD player on the new Lexus LX470 SUV.