A WEALTH OF CONTENT, CURATED
FT Channels brings expert insights from the Financial Times and our Partners into the most pressing issues of our time. Each series homes in on your personal interests, offering a deeper look into topics that will inspire you.
Companies
A closer look at companies making waves in the global market. Authoritative insights into topics from M&A trends and tech transformation to the businesses helping to build a sustainable future.
Engagement, the new form of shareholder governance
Shareholders have taken a new approach to communicating with wrongdoing companies. Instead of divesting, many have turned to engaging.
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Welcome to the Era of the Activist Accountant
Accountants have become vital advocates in the path towards 'ESG'
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The rise of the Chief Sustainability Officer
As 'ESG' has grown, the role of the CSO has shifted and evolved to match the demand
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Adding social issue to the corporate balance sheet
Business are increasingly factoring in their wider social impact into risk structures as demand for transparency among stakeholders grows
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Why leaders shouldn't shy away from conflict
To develop a cluture of innovation leaders need to know how to have a good fight
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The pandemic has stalled activist investors, but for how long?
Activist investors have had a quiet year, thanks to Covid-19. Even a group of investors renowned for their aggressive tactics were reluctant to publicly attack companies reeling from the impact of a global pandemic.
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Masayoshi Son and the faulty crystal ball
In fairy tales, a crystal ball can be many things: it can reveal the future, but it can also be a malevolent charm.
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How SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son struggled with his crystal ball purchase
Why has Chinese dealmaking fizzled out? Due Diligence’s dynamic duo, James Fontanella-Khan and Arash Massoudi, answer this question in a brilliant comic book style video.
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Small is beautiful: private equity adapts to the pandemic
Digital transformation driven by M&A: what are the legal implications?
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M&A in the wake of Covid-19: strategies for a healthy business
Several months into this global pandemic and businesses are facing a pivotal moment. Government reinforcement from bailouts and support schemes has been quick to land, but despite this injection of liquidity, the global economy will shrink by 5.2 per cent
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The Occidental megadeal that didn’t go quite as planned
M&A is tough. Megadeals can be even tougher. That’s exactly what Vicki Hollub, CEO of Houston-based Occidental Petroleum, discovered with last year’s $55bn takeover of US shale oil producer Anadarko Petroleum.
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How a big deal backfired at Occidental Petroleum
Last year Vicki Hollub, the CEO of Houston-based Occidental Petroleum, pulled off one of the biggest coups in the history of big oil.
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Biodiversity: the risks of living outside nature’s boundaries
From bacteria to blue whales and from fungi to flowers, the loss of Earth’s biodiversity and the subsequent damage to our ecosystem is one of the top ten dangers facing society today.
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Build Back Better: the unmissable opportunity to build a sustainable economic future
A post COVID world is one that will look quite different to a pre-COVID world.
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What toilet paper shortages tell us about supply chains
FT Trade Secrets writer Aime Williams goes on a mission to find toilet roll.
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Sponge Cities - Smart cities for the future
It seems inevitable, in the short-term at least, that Wuhan will be remembered most widely outside of China as the city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak.
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Agriculture's New Apps: Precision Innovation to Feed the World
Precision weather tracking, ‘blood pressure monitoring’ for plants and complex nutrient analysis apps are now the must-have tools for modern farmers.
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When will the corporate dealmaking boom end?
The past five years have seen over $20tn worth of M&A deals thanks to favourable market conditions, as well as resilience in the face of more recent risks.
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Where will Buffett find his next blockbuster deal?
Warren Buffett has long been admired for his investment decisions but a multibillion-dollar writedown at Kraft Heinz earlier this year has left a big blemish on his recent performance.
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The transformational impact of tech
As technology continues to reshape large industrial companies, M&A activity in this sector is on the up. It brings with it a transformation of global workforces and a shift in national identities.
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Taking on challengers: how established consumer goods companies need to rethink their strategy in an evolving market
For big, established consumer-products manufacturers, growing - or even just maintaining - market share has become a bigger task than ever as the rise of so-called challenger brands make inroads into mature markets.
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Could electric power transform aviation?
The number of electric aviation projects is soaring, and with some plans involving aircraft seating more than 100 passengers, this market will not just be for small, light air taxis.
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DYSFUNCTIONAL: exploring sustainability through design
Artist Mathieu Lehanneur discusses his work for new exhibit DYSFUNCTIONAL, created in partnership with Carpenters Workshop Gallery and Lombard Odier.
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Reinventing Energy
The energy sector is undergoing huge transformation, Adrian Del Maestro, Director at Strategy& outlines how our dreams of a cleaner, greener, more efficient world will be driven by the consumer
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Big pharma’s billion-dollar bets
In dealmaking, big used to be better. Banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup dominated the M&A market.
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Why oil and gas companies are transforming business models to sell services into your home
Imagine a world in which there is a fridge-sized energy storage battery in the basement of your home, solar panels on your roof and an electric vehicle smart charger installed on your driveway
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The road ahead for autonomous vehicles is longer yet more promising than many believe
Scarcely a week goes by without another major announcement in the world of autonomous vehicles (AVs).
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Distress to Impress
With indicators pointing to the peak of the current financial cycle, an economic downturn could be imminent, bringing with it an uptick in distressed M&A activity.
Read moreClimate
Examining the world’s climate challenges and the latest advances in how to solve them. Expert insights into topics from reducing carbon emissions and greener cities to recycling, biodiversity and sustainable food.
Floating offshore wind tech to open up US waters
58 per cent of the US’s offshore wind resources remain untapped. Could floating offshore wind technology be the solution?
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Who will clean up America's abandoned oil wells?
President Biden wants to give billions in extra funding to clean up abandoned oil and gas wells contaminating the air, soil and groundwater. But why must taxpayers foot the bill?
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This Tesla co-founder has a plan to recycle your EV batteries
The largest lithium mine in the world could be sitting in America's unwanted gadgets. The FT's Patrick McGee reports.
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The Race to Net Zero
Net Zero alignment could create investment opportunities worth $5.5 trillion annually over the next fifteen years.
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The Unexpected Portfolio – a holistic approach to investing for net zero
Many of today’s sustainability focused strategies exclude the companies that will ultimately contribute the most to future CO2 reductions
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Cities increase emissions disclosure
Home to 55% of the global population and accounting for 70% of global emissions, cities are the forefront of the climate challenge
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Scaling innovative ideas for a sustainable world
The collaboration with a cohort of start-ups addressing the world’s most pressing environmental issues – and simultaneously solving multiple problems
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Unlocking the potential of a soil-based economy
Soil stores about 25 per cent of the world’s fossil fuel emissions each year. How can carbon farming become more ecologically and economically viable?
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Can plant-based milk beat conventional dairy?
Plant-based milk makers are whipping up billions in investment and trade with new products, but traditional dairy may prove hard to topple.
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The greenhouses powered by sewage
Innovative greenhouse designs are using waste heat from sewage treatment plants to grow fruit and veg. But can they make enough profit to cover huge costs?
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Biodiversity, the trillion dollar problem plaguing leaders today
The 'E' in ESG is more than carbon, the case for biodiversity
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Why every business leader needs to be thinking about plastic
For every business leader, there is something to be gained by rethinking the traditional approach to plastic
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ESG may sound like a PR spin, but you can't dismiss it
As transparency in businesses grow, 'ESG' concerns heighten among stakeholders
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Lost in acronyms? So is the 'ESG' world
Confusion creates barriers. As stakeholders demand progress, the 'ESG' world of alphabet soup hinders advancement.
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What if the Whales Could Save Us?
Can whales help cool the temperature of our planet? A whale’s body can store up to 33 tonnes of harmful carbon dioxide. When they die and sink to the ocean floor, all that carbon is stored there for centuries...
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How rewilding the oceans can lead to a prosperous blue economy
Oceans are the source of at least 50 per cent of all oxygen produced on Earth. Yet industrial fishing, offshore oil exploration and using the ocean as the world’s dumping ground for plastics and harmful chemicals have placed this fragile ecosystem...
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A revolution in retail recycling?
A revolution in retail recycling? Unwanted goods create mountains of waste and cost retailers hundreds of billions of dollars.
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Can recycling stop the retail waste crisis?
Hundreds of billions of dollars are wasted in customer returns.
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Will zero emissions aviation ever take off?
Intriguing technologies are emerging which could lead to zero emissions aviation.
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The long haul to zero emissions aviation
The long haul to zero emissions aviation. Intriguing technologies are emerging which could lead to zero emissions aviation. Bio and synthetic fuels are viable, but still expensive and not perfectly clean.
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Cracking the plastic crisis?
Investors are getting excited about chemical recycling, but campaigners see it as a distraction
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Forests into Fashion: How the fashion industry is turning to forests for the fibres of the future
Patagonia and Stella Mccartney have been singing the tune of ethical fashion for a few decades, but it wasn't until the past few years that some of the most exciting innovations in environmentally conscious fashion have been launched.
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Is this a new era for old goods? How the second-hand market can promote a circular economy
Could the second-hand clothes market help support a circular economy? With over 80 billion garments being produced every year and garments only being worn 7 times before being thrown away, the fashion industry has a massive negative environmental impact.
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A new pathway to greener aluminium?
Aluminium is lightweight, durable, and 100% recyclable. It’s also a key input for numerous industries. But today, the aluminium sector contributes about one per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
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A new plan to address the growing appetite for greener aluminium
Amidst the growing appetite among companies and investors for disclosure of environmental, social and governance data, the London Metal Exchange plans to launch a platform which trades ‘low-carbon’ aluminium.
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Pulling carbon dioxide out of thin air
Agriculture’s entire food chain could account for up to 37 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.
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Direct air capture: the technology that could help alleviate climate change
It sounds at first like science fiction: giant machines that suck carbon dioxide directly out of the air.
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Bacteria: a weapon in the fight for sustainable food
How Denmark's Chr. Hansen is using natural products in the transition towards a sustainable economy
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Can food innovation save the climate?
Alice Ross, the FT’s Deputy News Editor outlines the impact agriculture is having on the environment, and what can be done to alleviate the damage.
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Can we save the world’s climate by investing in food innovation?
Agriculture’s entire food chain could account for up to 37 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.
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Carbon farming: fighting New Zealand’s agricultural emissions
Agriculture accounts for almost half of greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand. It’s one reason the government is encouraging farmers to grow trees for carbon credits, which can then be sold, mainly to large companies looking to offset their emissions.
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Behavioural nudging: an effective way to promote food sustainability?
We may not realise it, but every day, decisions we make about food could be influenced by behavioural nudges.
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Food proves hard for ESG investors to digest
Food is at the nexus of practically every major sustainability issue: what we eat today determines not just our own health tomorrow, but also that of the planet.
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What’s the real carbon footprint of your food?
If you’re living in the UK, surely an apple imported from NZ has a bigger carbon footprint than one grown at home? Not necessarily, because factors at every stage of a food’s life cycle contribute to its overall carbon footprint, not just transport.
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Pollination 2.0: Could machine learning save the bees?
Bees are the guardians of global food security performing 80 percent of all pollination worldwide, but a phenomenon called colony collapse disorder is seriously threatening their numbers and impacting food production.
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When summer destinations meet social isolation
The coronavirus pandemic prompted a huge drop in carbon emissions. As the travel industry begins to rebuild and the summer holiday season hits its peak, how do we ensure a green recovery?
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Restoring biodiversity by rewarding farmers
Demand for dairy is putting pressure on biodiversity; there’s no quick fix, but in the Netherlands a collaborative scheme across the value chain is unlocking sustainable entrepreneurship in an attempt to develop future-proof solutions.
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Buying more ugly food: an imperfect waste solution?
Every year, around 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted, enough to end world hunger many times over. One often-mooted solution to the problem is buying more so-called ugly food.
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Fighting agricultural pests, the natural way
The Netherlands is the world’s second largest exporter of food. But right now, its livestock sector is facing a controversial environmental challenge: reducing its nitrogen emissions.
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Tackling Dutch agriculture’s emissions headache
The Netherlands is the world’s second largest exporter of food. But right now, its livestock sector is facing a controversial environmental challenge: reducing its nitrogen emissions.
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Audio feature: on the frontline of deforestation in the Amazon
Lessons from Brazil could have wider implications for global food production. This is the first audio feature for a series of FT Special Reports on sustainable food and agriculture.
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Decarbonisation: plotting the path to net zero
There is limited time left to reduce emission levels and mitigate climate change risks, but the path to net zero will bring with it significant investment opportunities
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A world without waste: how gold mining is going green
Recycling precious metals and minerals from used electronics can help make today's consumption patterns more environmentally sustainable.
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The pandemic will forever transform how we live
From homeworking to healthcare, Covid-19 has forced society to adapt in ways that should endure
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Coronavirus could help push us into a greener way of life
For all its horror, the pandemic may change our habits when nothing else could
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Alternative meat industry moves beyond the burger
Cell- and plant-based meat start-ups are developing ‘cuts’ of steak and chicken
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Curbing the great sand grab
Up to 50 billion tonnes of sand a year is being mined, dredged and even stolen to satisfy the global appetite for infrastructure, according to the UN, and it’s disappearing faster than it can be replenished.
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From Garbage to Gold: Tales of the e-waste pioneers
At first glance, the business of recycling and reusing small electronics sounds neither glamorous, nor lucrative.
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Can we break our addiction to plastic? The future of packaging.
Roughly a quarter of the 348 million tons of annual plastic production worldwide now goes into packaging, according to Plastics Europe and UK conservation charity the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, making it the single biggest use of the material
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Entrepreneurs hope microbes hold the key to a food revolution
Start-ups are utilising bacteria and fungi to generate protein and boost agriculture.
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What If I don't Buy A House...Ever?
Whilst the traditional home ownership model is no longer viable for many, it hasn’t dampened the appetite for city centre living, nor impacted the growing desire for a smaller environmental footprint.
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How cities can heal themselves
As urbanisation accelerates and infrastructure decays, researchers are working out how cities can heal themselves. As the FT’s Nikou Asgari explains, they are carrying out tests on materials that repair themselves and an army of maintenance robots that ca
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Revolution not evolution
Warming oceans, shrinking ice sheets, and rising sea levels are just a few of the irrevocable signs of climate change, most of which have been caused by human activity.
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What If?
An investor with ownership in a large forest faces numerous choices, ranging from farming the land, to building houses, to simply selling all the wood
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Absorbing Risk: How cities are turning into flood water sponges
Cities across the world are turning themselves into vast sponges.
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Is technology controlling you?
We may think we’re in control of our technology but the FT’s Rana Foroohar believes it may be controlling us. A recent study found that 4 in 10 Americans are suffering from addictive behaviour linked to their phones.
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Who are the Ostriches and Eagles?
Didier Rabbatu, Head of Equities at Lombard Odier Investment Managers explains why businesses embracing change and embedding sustainability will soar like Eagles, whilst companies clinging to a dated mindset - sticking their heads in the sand like Ostrich
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Globalisation: Is this the end?
President Trump seems determined to tear apart the global economy by erecting tariff walls and promoting bilateral trade deals. Does this mark the end of globalisation?
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The great battery race
Lithium is becoming increasingly crucial to battery supply chains in the growing electric vehicle market and battery producers are scrambling to secure access to raw materials.
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A wide-ranging exploration of significant economic trends - global, regional and sectoral. Insightful comment on topics from globalisation, digital supply chains and trade wars to sustainability, ESG investing and the future of payments.
Could the pandemic lead to a fairer economy?
The coronavirus pandemic is a tragedy, but the FT’s Martin Sandbu believes it could also be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to rebuild better economies that work for everyone.
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A post-Covid economy designed for everyone
The pandemic has brought the economic polarisation seen in many countries sharply into focus. We’ve seen many of those in humbler occupations that we all depend on marginalised by Covid-19.
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Build it green: Is data the key to green financing?
Primary school completion rates hit nearly 100% in Sudan and Tanzania with the installation of solar panels. This is how greener infrastructure can create fairer societies and boost economic growth.
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How coronavirus is changing global shipping routes
The pandemic has put intense pressure on the flow of ships from Asia to the west.
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Trade and the environment: why it's not all about air miles
Senior FT trade writer Alan Beattie explains how the true environmental cost of trading flowers, meat and fruit globally is becoming clearer as debate focuses on the carbon footprint of these products and their contribution to global warming.
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The rise and fall of global trade from the Romans to coronavirus
Senior FT trade writer Alan Beattie on the forces behind the surge and collapse of globalisation, from the Roman and Mongol empires to Donald Trump and Covid-19
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Mastering the art of sustainable architecture
In a nation where space is at a premium, the Dutch are leaders in creating environmentally friendly buildings. From repurposed redundant structures to modular, transportable studios and floating neighbourhoods, the FT’s Helen Barrett explores three comple
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The digital technologies transforming the supply chain
Whether they’re tracking the origin of valuable assets or allowing consumers to discover more about the sustainability of their purchases, digital technologies are making the supply chain ever more efficient, and transparent.
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Conscious capitalism
The so-called ESG business space is currently reckoned to be worth more than some $32tn. The FT’s Gillian Tett explains that companies are realising they cannot afford to ignore issues like climate change, income inequality and a whole range of governance
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Repricing risk
Christine Korwin-Szymanowska, Partner at Strategy& believes the global insurance industry is on the cusp of a seismic transformation, estimating the value of disruption coming to the UK insurance sector to be worth £30bn.
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Can we build smarter people using AI?
Theoretical neuroscientist and entrepreneur Vivienne Ming believes that AI and what she calls “augmented intelligence” mean we’ll eventually have people who are artificially smarter than others.
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Hotels in fifty shades of green
Who wants to worry about taking care of the environment when they’re on holiday? No one, according to Xenia zu Hohenlohe, partner at Considerate Group, which is which is why she thinks hotels should do the job for their guests.
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Creating a circular economy for fashion
Waste in fashion is on a massive scale, and less than one per cent of recycled textiles are converted into new, wearable materials. But very gradually, that may be changing.
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