The Week at Chatham House: Reinventing the Plastic Bottle, Bruno Le Maire on Brexit, Russia Prepares for the Polls plus the Global Electricity Transition…
The latest international news and analysis this week.
Reinventing the Plastic Bottle
By 2050, more plastic than fish could be in our oceans, while global sales of single-use water bottles are expected to increase by more than 20 per cent in the next three years. Yet despite numerous initiatives and public campaigns, less than half of the plastic bottles bought in 2016 were recycled. Does this call for a reinvention of the plastic bottle as we know it?
The Hoffmann Centre for Sustainable Resource Economy at Chatham House welcomed a dynamic panel of experts who highlighted original ideas, technologies and scalable practical solutions that could disrupt current patterns of plastic bottle use and disposal.
Designer Sophie Thomas also exhibited her latest work at the event, including hand-blown glass sculptures representing the breakdown of plastic in the ocean, and a collection of plastic waste washed up at Kamilo Beach in Hawaii.
Bruno Le Maire on Brexit
Nearly a year into Emmanuel Macron’s presidency, France’s economy and finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, discussed his views on what a post-Brexit Europe will look like.
Looking ahead, he considered the future of UK-France cooperation and the importance of continuing a close relationship between the two countries on the world stage. Elsewhere, Georgina Wright outlined her thoughts on the latest EU proposals on Brexit.
Russia Prepares for the Polls
As Russia prepares to head to the polls in the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for 18 March, Mathieu Boulègue and Roman Osharov outline five things you should know.
Although Vladimir Putin’s victory is not in doubt, anticipated low voter turnout and the ongoing US investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US elections will likely have an impact on the Kremlin, they argue.
The Global Electricity Transition
World electricity is undergoing a hectic transition from centralized generation, mainly based on fuel, to more decentralized generation based on renewables. What will the impact of this be on the trade of resources worldwide?
Undercurrents Podcast
And finally, in the latest episode of a new Chatham House podcast series, Ben Horton and Agnes Frimston interview experts about the critical underlying issues shaping modern society.
In this week’s episode, Ben speaks to Champa Patel about President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs in the Philippines and the prospects for the preliminary examination launched recently by the International Criminal Court. Agnes then discusses UK defence policy and wider European security with Andrew Dorman, who also gives an insight into publishing with International Affairs.
