David Fickling

As if the world’s rainforests didn’t have enough problems to contend with, even the transition to zero-carbon power is threatening to level them. Industrial mining ate up 3,265 square kilometers (1,260 square miles) of tropical forest between 2002 and 2019, according to a recent study in the…

If you’re looking for an emblem of why Pakistan will struggle to recover from the floods that have killed more than 1,000 since June, consider its latest bailout from the International Monetary Fund agreed Monday. The infusion of $1.16 billion might help unlock enough cash to get the country…

If you’re looking for an iconic example of humanity’s ability to harness nature to produce clean energy on a massive scale, it’s hard to ignore the Three Gorges Dam. Built through the 2000s just as China’s rise was at its most headlong, the world’s largest power station can generate 22.5…

Gold, according to financial markets lore, is a pretty simple beast. For all its complexities, at bottom what it likes is a weak dollar, turmoil, and lower interest rates. Falls in the greenback mathematically raise the price of dollar-denominated commodities. Turmoil makes investors head for…

As quickly as it blew up, the food crisis of 2022 appears to be receding. Red spring wheat rose to nearly $13 a bushel in March, prompting the world’s biggest wheat importer, Egypt, to devalue its currency. It’s now trading around $8, a fall of more than a third. Indonesia halted exports of…

Regional powers have been watching China’s growing influence in the Pacific with rising alarm, and casting around for ways to counter it. After Beijing signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands earlier this year and offered a similar deal to other Pacific Island nations, efforts stepped up a…

China’s growing influence in the microstates of the Pacific Ocean has raised alarm among the powers that traditionally dominated the region — Australia, New Zealand, and the US. If they want to halt Beijing’s advance, they’re going to have to start offering more in return. A security pact with…

Last month, sanctions on Russia upended the oil market, the world’s biggest commodities trade. Now, Group of Seven leaders are proposing to repeat the trick with the second-biggest trade, gold. Don’t expect the same reaction. Between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen first…

To look at the way richer countries are spending money on the energy transition, you might think we’re within reach of bringing climate change under control. Investment in clean energy has only accelerated in the years since Covid-19 struck. In the second half of the last decade, it grew at a 2%…

In commodity markets, there are few phenomena more feared than a corner. If a few traders become too dominant, they can at times set prices at will by withholding supply, driving values to ridiculous levels. That’s what happened when the Hunt brothers cornered the market in silver in 1980,…