The Real Story

Italy’s right-wing nationalists on the rise

Italians go to the polls on 25 September after the collapse of the country’s 69th government in just 77 years. Polls suggest a conservative coalition - likely led by the right wing nationalist Brothers of…

Can Russia’s economy survive?

Just two weeks after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine the conflict has already begun reshaping the world. The bombardment of Ukrainian cities has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and forced millions to…

Europe’s energy future beyond Russia

The war in Ukraine has cast a spotlight on Europe's energy dependency on Russia. Nearly half of Europe’s gas, along with petroleum and coal, come from the Russian Federation. But with no resolution to the…

France’s place in the world

This week the French president Emmanuel Macron travelled thousands of kilometres across Europe in a diplomatic effort to avert an escalation of the war in Ukraine. He met Presidents Putin and Zelensky in Moscow and…

Climate change: A risk to food security?

While agriculture remains one of the biggest contributors to climate change, it is also most exposed to its adverse effects. Scientists say that extreme weather events will become more frequent and more intense as global…

What’s going wrong in the Balkans?

It’s been more than two decades since the war in Bosnia ended. It remains one of the darkest chapters in modern European history and cost over 100,000 lives. Since the Dayton Agreement was reached in…

Fortress Europe: Who gets to come in?

The European Union is at loggerheads with Belarus over the arrival of thousands of migrants. It alleges that President Lukashenko has created a deliberate crisis by facilitating the migrants' travel into Belarus and onwards to…

Who pays to fix climate change?

"The UN Climate Conference in Glasgow is being described as a make-or-break moment for humanity. The purpose of the gathering is to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to 1.5…

Climate change: Lessons from Denmark

Denmark is at the forefront of the global effort to fight climate change. It has committed to cut emissions by 70% below 1990 levels by 2030. It also wants to be carbon neutral by 2050…

How green is nuclear energy?

Is nuclear energy ‘sustainable’ and deserving of tax breaks? It’s a question dividing member states of the European Union which is considering what role nuclear should play in efforts to wean the continent off fossil…

Methane: The other greenhouse gas

The latest UN climate report concludes that while carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main driver of global warming, another gas - methane - is likely responsible for between 30-50% of the current rise in temperatures.…

Hydrogen: A climate game-changer?

"With less than six months to go before the next big climate conference (COP26) in Scotland, the world's major polluters are under pressure to significantly increase their ability to cut greenhouse gas emissions. One of…