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Featured Insights Selected by Our Experts

The Next AI Era: Technology, Regulation, and Geopolitics
Commentary Ryan McGrath Commentary Ryan McGrath

The Next AI Era: Technology, Regulation, and Geopolitics

September 19, 2025 | John Mulligan, Executive Director

On a recent video call conducted almost entirely in a language I don’t speak, I gave myself a challenge: could I build a real-time translator using AI before the call ended? With only partial comprehension and a handful of tools, I improvised a solution by combining open-source software and NVIDIA’s CUDA libraries, the company’s parallel computing platform that powers most advanced AI systems.

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Bridging the Biodiversity Finance Gap: Green Finance as a Catalyst for Global Sustainable Development
Commentary Ryan McGrath Commentary Ryan McGrath

Bridging the Biodiversity Finance Gap: Green Finance as a Catalyst for Global Sustainable Development

June 18, 2025 | Deborah Lehr, Chair and CEO

The global community stands at a critical juncture where the loss of biodiversity is not only an environmental concern but a profound economic and developmental challenge. Biodiversity underpins ecosystem services that are vital for human survival, including food security, disease regulation, and climate stability.

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From Picnic Nuisance to Ecological Champion: It’s Time We Value Pollinators
Commentary Hailey Hartigan Commentary Hailey Hartigan

From Picnic Nuisance to Ecological Champion: It’s Time We Value Pollinators

June 12, 2025 | Deborah Lehr, Chair and CEO

June is National Pollinators Month, a timely reminder that the birds, bees, bats, and butterflies we often overlook—or even fear—are actually among the most critical workers in our global ecosystem. These pollinators are more than fleeting visitors to summer picnics or creatures we instinctively shoo away.

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When Mistakes Need a Manual: China’s Guidance on Acceptable Decision-making
Commentary Ryan McGrath Commentary Ryan McGrath

When Mistakes Need a Manual: China’s Guidance on Acceptable Decision-making

June 9, 2025 | Deborah Lehr, Chair and CEO

In China, a nation known for five-year plans and centrally choreographed actions, it turns out that what’s really hard to plan for is fear of action. In the last year, Chinese authorities quietly released what can be described as guidance for “getting things wrong the right way” – policy guidelines outlining which mistakes by government officials are permissible and which are not.

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Biodiversity Crime Is a Global Security Threat. It’s Time We Treated It Like One.
Commentary Hailey Hartigan Commentary Hailey Hartigan

Biodiversity Crime Is a Global Security Threat. It’s Time We Treated It Like One.

We are living through an unprecedented collapse of biodiversity. Scientists estimate that species are going extinct at a rate not seen in human history, with one million plant and animal species now at risk of disappearance. While climate change and habitat loss are well-known culprits, there is another, less visible force helping to accelerate this crisis: biodiversity crime. 

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Returning to Huzhou, China's Living Laboratory for Green Finance
Commentary Hailey Hartigan Commentary Hailey Hartigan

Returning to Huzhou, China's Living Laboratory for Green Finance

Huzhou always leaves me quietly inspired. I've now visited six times, and each return reveals something new—not only in policy or innovation but in the air, the water, and the spirit of the city itself. Nestled beside the tranquil Taihu Lake and just an hour's high-speed train ride from Shanghai, Huzhou has become one of the most dynamic places in China, where environmental vision meets real-world use.

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