Banks are at the heart of the carbon business, originating and funding emission reduction projects, trading allowances and offsets, and creating structured products. But just as many projects become more capital intensive, will financial meltdown and recession put the brakes on the business? Writer Geraldine Lambe.

In true corporate fashion, many private companies are transforming the global water scarcity threat into an opportunity introducing new technology and financial products. Writer Silvia Pavoni.

The world has yet to descend into an anarchic series of food-related riots, as some feared it might. Crop prices have eased, but this is no time for governments to rest on their laurels. Writer Charlie Corbett.

Everywhere we look, one of our most vital resources is allowed to go to waste – and governments’ misguided environmental policies are not helping. By Peter Brabeck-Letmathe.

Latin America is a fertile region for renewable energy development but government support is sadly lacking. John Rumsey reports from Rio de Janeiro on how banks are getting involved in project investment.

IT operations are energy-hungry and eco-unfriendly, making trading operations – banks’ most IT-intensive functions – increasingly unsustainable. But some improvements are being made. Michelle Price reports.

A slew of eco-friendly developments shows that markets, investors and corporates are taking the environment seriously. Innovation has moved beyond clean energy funds into advisory services and structured products, but can market participants counter scepticism that market mechanisms are the best way to cut emissions? Geraldine Lambe reports.

Sir David King is that rare creature who can happily straddle the academic, government and business worlds. In fact, his aim is to encourage them all to move in tandem in dealing with environmental problems. He talks to Geraldine Lambe.

Engineering and technological marvels are cropping up all over the world as ambition and demand for ever-more advanced infrastructure grows, writes Silvia Pavoni.

Peter Wise reports on the Portuguese firms that are making a name for themselves on the international stage.