Earth

How environmental change is shaping Southeast Asia.

Earth • STORY OF THE DAY • Aug 22, 2019 • 13 min read

Waste pickers A brief history of Cambodia’s plastic crisis

By Kathrin Eitel • Aug 22, 2019
Cambodia’s plastic waste is kept in balance thanks to an army of waste pickers, who represent the only functioning infrastructure. We look back at how plastic conquered the Kingdom

Earth • STORY OF THE DAY • Aug 09, 2019 • 6 min read

Opinion Guardians of the forest

By Rukka Sombolinggi • Aug 09, 2019
The head of Indonesia’s main Indigenous Peoples organisation calls on the country’s government to live up to its promises on land rights

Earth • STORY OF THE DAY • Jul 31, 2019 • 13 min read

Plastic waste Road to redemption

By Claire Baker-Munton • Jul 31, 2019
Dow Chemical is infamous for the devastating Agent Orange unleashed on civilians during the Vietnam War. Now, the company is putting plastic scrap to work paving new roads for the nation

Earth • STORY OF THE DAY • Jul 30, 2019 • 15 min read

Waste to energy Money to burn

By Claire Baker-Munton • Jul 30, 2019
Limiting global heating means leaving fossil fuels in the ground. But the growing practice of breaking down and burning up the world's plastic waste for its energy potential is challenging this idea

Earth • Jul 24, 2019 • 9 min read
Plastic waste imports

Waste not, want not

The discovery of 1,600 tonnes of illegal plastic waste in a Cambodian port is just the latest example of wealthy nations heaping their trash on countries ill-equipped to handle it
By Paul Millar • Jul 24, 2019

Earth • Jul 18, 2019 • 10 min read
Poverty

Living on the edge

Scraping through the refuse of Yangon’s slums for scraps to sell, children and adults alike find themselves caught between economic crisis in the countryside and a rapidly developing city that threatens to swallow their makeshift homes
By Lorcan Lovett • Jul 18, 2019

Earth • Jul 11, 2019 • 6 min read
Overpopulation

The shrinking world

The world's population explosion has so far been considered one of humanity's greatest threats. But humankind might be shrinking faster than expected
By Hilmar Schmundt • Jul 11, 2019

Earth • Jul 03, 2019 • 14 min read
Endangered wildlife trade

Hunting the hunters

From our print archive: A few unsung heroes try to stem a trade that begins in the forests of Asia and then spans the restaurants and pet shops of the world
By Ben Davies • Jul 03, 2019

FROM THE PRINT ARCHIVE
Earth • Jul 02, 2019 • 11 min read
Climate crisis

Words of warning

The climate catastrophe is the biggest story of our times. Here’s how we intend to tell it
By Claire Baker-Munton • Jul 02, 2019

Earth • Jun 28, 2019 • 15 min read
Plastic waste

The waste land

Southeast Asia is racing to follow China's ban on plastic waste imports. And with Cambodia now forced to clean up its own mess, the Kingdom has a chance to turn piles of plastic trash into treasure
By Evie Breese and Thim Rachna • Jun 28, 2019

Earth • Jun 26, 2019 • 19 min read
Illegal wildlife trade

Prescription for extinction

Traditional Chinese Medicine is a flagship of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. But scientists say demand for medicine containing animal parts could push tigers, bears, rhinos and pangolins to the brink of extinction
By Claire Baker-Munton • Jun 26, 2019

Earth • Jun 24, 2019 • 13 min read
Garment waste

Out of fashion

Enough clothes have already been made to outfit everyone on the planet. But with rampant overproduction leaving more and more fabric waste in landfill, it's time to find a solution
By Amanda Kaufmann • Jun 24, 2019