Regulation has been given an unfairly bad name. As a top physicist who became an Energy Secretary and took an interest in fridges found out, the right regulation can do the opposite of what economists expect: accelerate innovation and cut costs, as well as cutting emissions.

Under the principle of the lawfulness of data Processing outlined in Chapter 2: Basic principles of data protection, a legitimate legal basis is required in order for Personal Data Processing operations to take place.

The year 2021 saw extreme weather events outside the range of what experts had thought possible, signs of a growing acknowledgement among scientists of the need to take risk assessment more seriously, and the launch of a new initiative that might finally tell heads of government what they need to know.

At any moment in time, you can ride a bike with least effort by cycling in first gear. But if you want to ride around the block with least effort, first gear will not be ideal. By failing to distinguish between these two different situations, economists have recommended the worst possible climate change policy to governments. Contrary to their belief, emissions trading will achieve decarbonisation at maximum cost, and minimum speed.

In science, to be ‘conservative’ is to understate your findings. In insurance, it means the opposite: erring on the side of overstatement of risks. For a clear assessment of the risks of climate change, we need these two cultures to meet in the middle. This requires a separation of tasks: between those who gather information, and those who assess risk.

Traditional economics tells us that to meet policy goals, government should only do the minimum needed to fix a ‘market failure’. A new understanding shows that when the goals are innovation and change, a ‘do the maximum’ approach can be more effective. We should stop aiming to achieve ‘decarbonisation at least cost’, and instead aim to move to the clean economy at maximum gain.

Cash and Voucher Assistance are a set of promising tools for supporting processes of survival and recovery from Humanitarian Emergencies. The terms Cash and Voucher Assistance, Cash Transfer Programming, cash-based interventions and cash-based assistance can be used interchangeably and are understood to encapsulate all types of cash transfers, i.e. both vouchers and cash, and all types of physical and digital delivery mechanisms.

The UK’s desire to prove its international relevance after Brexit, together with the COVID pandemic, produced a unique opportunity: a two-year Presidency of the UN climate talks for the country that has long been the most active in climate change diplomacy. A chance to test a new approach – after thirty years of slow progress, better late than never.

Humanitarian Organizations assist the most vulnerable populations in extremely challenging circumstances. For reasons of efficiency, accountability, and out of a desire to help as many people as possible, Humanitarian Organizations increasingly rely on digital technology in their programmes. The livelihood and safety of vulnerable populations often relies on the assistance provided by these organizations. As a result, individuals have very little agency in whether to accept the assistance and whether to participate in these digital systems if they wish to accept the assistance. Digital systems bring data protection and privacy risks. Especially for vulnerable populations, these risks might be significant. Therefore, humanitarian organizations have an obligation not just to safeguard individuals’ livelihood in the short term, but also to uphold data protection as well as privacy rights and the dignity of the people they help.

In recent years, “Blockchain” has become a buzzword and various organizations, including in the humanitarian sector, are trying to find a use for this technology. It has been argued that Blockchain could improve efficiency in humanitarian programmes involving, for example, financial transactions and supply tracing. It has also been suggested that Blockchain could enhance transparency and trust in information integrity. However, achieving such improvements could be offset by a number of practical and data protection challenges. These are discussed below, along with any anticipated benefits and risks.

A movement is gathering to overthrow the intellectual incumbents of economics. Started by students, advanced by academics, and funded by philanthropists, until recently it has remained largely unnoticed by governments. Now the world’s largest emerging economies are starting to take an interest. For the sake of avoiding dangerous climate change, the revolution cannot come too soon.

The first twenty years of international negotiation on climate change took an approach that was guaranteed to fail: attempting to solve an immensely complex issue through a single, legally binding agreement. The history of diplomacy in trade and security shows that success requires a different approach: breaking a problem up into manageable parts, and growing agreement gradually, strengthening it as parties’ interests increasingly converge.