SDG Spotlight – Julio Cordano: The Diplomat Tasked With Restarting the World’s Most Fragile Environmental Negotiation
When governments moved to restart stalled negotiations on a global plastics treaty in Geneva earlier this month, they turned to a diplomat shaped not by a single issue, but by the slow accumulation of trust, credibility, and experience across climate, oceans, and multilateral governance. Julio Cordano, newly elected Chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating […]
Japan’s “Iron Lady” Secures Supermajority: A Mandate for Nuclear, Defense, and Fiscal Expansion
The era of Japanese political hesitation effectively ended on Sunday. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, capitalizing on her “Iron Lady” persona and a fractured opposition, steered the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to a landslide victory that defies recent trends of incumbent fatigue. Projected to secure a supermajority with coalition partner Ishin, Takaichi now possesses the legislative […]
Kristina Wyatt: Scaling Natural Capital in a High-Growth World
In the landscape of climate disclosure and land conservation, Kristina Wyatt has emerged as a rare leader who translates the language of capital markets into the preservation of the physical world. Her appointment in early 2026 as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for The Conservation Fund marks a strategic pivot for both her career […]
Inside the UN Secretary-General Race
The race to become the next United Nations Secretary-General is taking shape, but it is far from settled. With António Guterres due to step down at the end of 2026, the contest is emerging as one of the most consequential leadership decisions in modern multilateral history. It is also still open. Senior diplomats and UN […]
Bitcoin’s Crash Exposes a New Fault Line in Sovereign Finance
The sharp fall in Bitcoin’s price this winter has triggered familiar market turmoil. But for the first time, the consequences are extending well beyond traders and crypto-native firms. Governments now sit on different sides of the same collapse, revealing a critical distinction in how Bitcoin has entered public balance sheets — and how each exposure […]
SDG News Spotlight: Nicolai Tangen, the Man Steering the World’s Biggest Fund
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund delivered a 15 percent return in 2025, adding roughly $247 billion in value in a single year. For the world’s largest sovereign investor, the headline was not only the scale of the gain but its signal. Part of the performance was driven by a rebound in renewable energy infrastructure, reinforcing a […]
Canada Pulls Back on EVs as Carney Rewrites the Rules of Climate Power
Announced this week, Canada scrapped its 2026 electric vehicle sales mandate, abandoning one of its most visible climate policies at a moment when global climate ambition is colliding head-on with trade, geopolitics, and economic realism. The decision drops the requirement that 20 percent of new vehicles sold in Canada be zero-emission by 2026. In its […]
Texas Anti ESG Law Is Struck Down after Wall Street Reframes Its Strategic Pullback
A federal judge has struck down Texas’ anti ESG law as unconstitutional, delivering a legal setback to one of the most aggressive state efforts to police sustainable finance. The ruling affirms that governments cannot punish companies for how they assess risk or express investment views. But the decision arrives after the market has already moved […]
Europe Draws the Line on Carbon Removals While the Rest of the World Hesitates
Brussels, February 2026 — The European Union has done something climate markets have argued about for years but never quite resolved. It has written a rulebook for permanent carbon removals. This week, the European Commission adopted the EU’s first certification methodologies for what it defines as permanent carbon removal. The standard is voluntary, but it […]
Brussels Buys Time: EIB Front-Loads €3 Billion to Secure Eastern Support for Carbon Market
The European Commission is deploying its financial heavy artillery early to prevent a political revolt against the next phase of the Green Deal. In a move designed to preempt social unrest and diplomatic friction, the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced it will “front load” €3 billion ($3.5 billion) to national governments, targeting the most politically […]
