Etikett: Theconversation.com

Once sidelined in the 1970s, psychedelic substances – ranging from esketamine (a ketamine derivative) and psilocybin (the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms) to MDMA – are being reintroduced as potential therapies for severe psychiatric disorders.

Psychedelic antidepressants approved

Esketamine-based antidepressants have been approved in countries such as France and the United States, where dextromethorphan is also used. Australia has gone a step further, granting regulatory approval for MDMA and psilocybin to treat certain psychiatric conditions.

Yet, an analysis led by researchers at the University of Rennes suggests that the scientific evidence supporting these treatments is weak. These substances also carry significant risks, including misuse and vulnerabilities associated with the patient’s mental state.

Not new, but making a comeback

Hallucinogens are now being presented as a breakthrough in the treatment of severe psychiatric disorders, such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, sometimes in combination with psychotherapy).

Despite being presented as innovations, the therapeutic potential of psychedelics is not a new discovery. In the 1960s and 70s, these substances were explored for medical use but quickly fell out of favour due to regulatory restrictions.

Read more:
Addiction à l’alcool : un jour, traiter avec un psychédélique issu de champignons hallucinogènes ou du LSD ?

Now, in 2024, the question remains: Are psychedelics genuinely effective for treating psychiatric disorders? An international panel of experts – two psychiatrists, one addiction specialist, and three psychologists, supported by researchers from the University of Rennes – reviewed clinical trials to provide insights.

Challenges of evaluating psychedelics in clinical trials

Psychedelics such as MDMA and psilocybin have already gained approval in regions such as the U.S., Europe, and Australia. However, assessing their effectiveness presents unique challenges, particularly within the rigorous framework of double-blind trials.

In traditional drug testing, two groups of patients are compared: one receives the drug, while the other receives a placebo or standard treatment. To ensure unbiased results, neither the patients nor the clinicians know who is receiving which treatment.

With psychedelics, this method falters. Their unmistakable effects – hallucinations, altered perceptions, and dissociation – make it nearly impossible to maintain the “blindness” of the study groups, potentially skewing results.

Accelerated approvals compromise scientific rigour

Psychedelics are often considered treatments of last resort for patients unresponsive to conventional therapies. As a result, regulatory bodies frequently rely on accelerated approval pathways to fast-track their availability. Unfortunately, such pathways typically require less robust scientific evidence than traditional approval processes – a trend that raises concerns.

Some flaws in scientific articles

The analysis identified several shortcomings in studies on psychedelic treatments:

Errors were frequently noted, sometimes in the titles of published articles.
The benefits of psychedelics were often exaggerated.
Trials generally involved small patient samples and were conducted over brief periods, limiting their relevance even in late-stage trials.
Researchers failed to adequately address the limitations of double-blind protocols for psychedelics.

Underestimated risks

According to the authors of the article, these gaps have serious consequences: they hinder a thorough evaluation not only of the long-term effects of these compounds but also of the safety risks, particularly those related to severe side effects that may occur in patients during treatment.

Indeed, hallucinogens, due to their varied and still poorly understood mechanisms of action, present significant potential risks that must be carefully evaluated. Using them in psychotherapy introduces additional risks of abuse and coercion, as hallucinogen use can heighten patients’ vulnerability.

Notably, there have been reports of concerning psychiatric side effects (such as dissociation and suicidal thoughts) in individuals treated with esketamine for treatment-resistant depression. Chronic use of ketamine and its derivatives can also lead to urinary disorders. Substances such as psilocybin and MDMA may also cause severe cardiovascular side effects, especially through their metabolites.

Recommendations for safer practices

The authors of the study emphasise the need for stricter regulation and improved clinical trial protocols. They urge health authorities to move away from expedited approval processes and adopt more stringent measures to ensure that the benefits of psychedelics outweigh their risks.

By addressing these concerns, researchers and regulators can better safeguard patients while exploring the therapeutic potential of these powerful substances. Läs mer…

Imagine it’s Monday morning, too cold and too dark, but once that alarm goes off, you know you’ve got to rally. The kids have to get to school. You’ve got to get to work. And, of course, your ever-growing to-do list hangs over your head like a dark cloud, somehow both too threatening to ignore and too threatening to start its tasks.

On days like this, you may be grateful simply to make it through. But then it begins, all over again.

While you can’t escape the grind, you can transform it. The latest psychological research on the good life points the way: By shifting your mindset, you can make your day-to-day more interesting and create psychological richness within your life. Psychological richness describes a robust form of cognitive engagement. It’s distinct from happiness and meaning, but just as important to the good life.

In collaboration with Shigehiro Oishi and his research lab, I’ve investigated whether the field of positive psychology has largely overlooked an important dimension of the good life. As the philosopher on our team, I had two directives. First, I helped to define the concept of psychological richness and understand what distinguishes it from happiness and meaning. Second, I set out to explore why psychological richness is valuable.

Our initial studies found that people value experiences that stimulate their minds, challenge them and generate a range of emotions. Many would choose a life full of these experiences, which we describe as psychologically rich, over a happy life or a meaningful life.

This insight points to the important role psychological richness can play within the good life, but it stops short of explaining why it’s good and why people ought to make space for psychological richness within their lives. These are value-laden questions that can’t be answered through empirical research. Their answers are found instead through philosophical analysis.

My philosophical analysis suggests that psychological richness is good for you because it’s interesting. My book, “The Art of the Interesting: What We Miss in Our Pursuit of the Good Life and How to Cultivate It,” shows how to add psychological richness to your life by making it more interesting.

One of the easiest ways to do this is by embracing a mindset characterized by curiosity, creativity and what I call “mindfulness 2.0.” When you bring these three perspectives to your day-to-day, you transform the grind into endless opportunities to experience the world as interesting. You develop the capacity to enhance your own life.

Mindfulness 2.0: Noticing without judging

What I call “mindfulness 2.0” means bringing nonevaluative awareness to the world around you – paying attention without judging.

Familiar from mindfulness practices, it’s a form of noticing that brings forth details you typically overlook: the texture of a houseplant’s leaves, the faces of the strangers you pass on the sidewalk, the differing heights of the cans on a store shelf. By bringing these details into your awareness, you stimulate your mind, allowing you to engage mentally with your surroundings in an active manner. Noticing things through mindfulness 2.0 is the first step toward having an interesting experience.

A good place to practice mindfulness 2.0 is during your morning commute. Because it’s routine, you probably don’t feel the need to engage much with the details of what you are doing. Instead you’ll find other ways to pass the time, such as listening to the news or your favorite podcast. These activities distract you from the otherwise boring commute by disengaging you from it.

Noticing an intriguing pattern as birds gather overhead can engage your mind as you move through the world.
Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images

But you can also get through the commute by engaging with it to make it less boring. Here’s where the power of mindfulness 2.0 kicks in. Through actively noticing things around you – be it the people clustered at the bus stop, or the traffic patterns created by a stoplight, or a flock of birds swooping overhead – you engage your mind and set yourself up to experience the interesting.

Curiosity: Exploring through questions

Curiosity isn’t just for kids. No matter how much you know, there’s always something to be curious about – especially if you’ve learned to notice the details through mindfulness 2.0.

Say you’ve noticed, during your commute, the group of people gathered around the bus stop. Now let your curiosity take off: Was that bus stop always there? How long has that exceptionally weird real estate advertisement been stuck on the seatback? So many people lined up this cold morning. You might wonder if you’d feel a little more connected if you were with them. But then you notice that no one is talking. Do they ride the same bus together, every day, without acknowledging each other?

Through asking questions, you ask your mind to consider something it hadn’t before. You create new thoughts, and if you let your mind keep going, you’ll have an interesting experience, all the while making that same commute. Even better, you’ll have created that interesting experience on your own. You’ve harnessed an ability to enhance your life, an ability that’s completely within your control.

Creativity: Trying something new

While people often think of creativity as a talent, native only to artists or inventors, everyone has the ability to be creative. Creativity is a skill that involves forming new connections with your mind. You’re creative whenever you do something new or different. Whether it is painting a brilliant landscape or wearing a new color combination, developing a new dish or simply tweaking a recipe, it all falls under the umbrella of creativity.

Exploring what your green thumb can coax to flourish is one creative path.
Luis Alvarez/DigitalVision via Getty Images

When you are creative, in big or small ways, you generate novelty within your life, and this puts you on the path toward experiencing psychological richness. Novelty all but forces the mind to think and feel in new ways, stimulating that robust form of cognitive engagement that brings the interesting.

Even just a little bit of creativity will bring novelty to your day-to-day routine. Wear something you don’t normally wear. Add a little flair to your handwriting or choose a different colored pen to write with. Change the patterns on your screen saver. Notice the impact these little tweaks have on your day. Little by little, they’ll add up to make your day just a little more interesting.

Everyone’s experience of what’s interesting is unique. There’s no one interesting experience for all of us, because the interesting depends entirely on how our minds engage, react and respond. Through developing mindfulness 2.0, and bringing curiosity and creativity to your experiences, you train your mind to engage, react and respond in ways that will transform any experience into an interesting one.

This is the power a mindset can bring. It’s a capacity to enhance our lives that anyone can develop. Läs mer…

Imagine a world where food on grocery store shelves is ranked by its healthiness, with simple, research-backed scores. In some countries, that world already exists.

Nutrient profiling systems, or NPSs, support clear front-of-package labels that assess food quality based on nutrient content. Nutri-Score in France is a rainbow-colored system grading foods from A to E. Health Star Rating in Australia is a five-star system rating foods in half-star increments. And the Traffic Light System in the U.K. labels nutrient levels as green, yellow or red.

In contrast, the U.S. lacks a front-of-package ranking system for food. Food Compass was recently developed out of Tufts University to help address this gap and shortcomings in other systems. But it uses nutritional information not currently available for most foods and consumers.

As a gastroenterologist and physician-scientist, I focus on making the latest microbiome and nutrition data more accessible to the public. Drawing on this research, I developed Nutrient Consume Score, or NCS, which rates foods from 1 to 100 using nutritional information available for all foods and incorporates factors important for a healthy microbiome.

But how do nutrient profiling systems work? And how do they compare to other nutrition guides for consumers?

Nutrient cyphers

Each nutrient profiling system uses different scoring algorithms, but most assign positive points to nutrients and foods that are typically underconsumed, such as fiber, fruits and vegetables. Conversely, negative points are given to overconsumed nutrients like sugar, saturated fat and sodium, which are often added to processed foods. These points are combined into a single score: higher scores indicate healthier foods, while lower scores indicate less healthy options.

For example, kale – rich in fiber, potassium and unsaturated fats, while low in sugar, sodium and saturated fats – would earn a high score. In contrast, Twinkies, which are high in sugar, sodium and saturated fats, but low in fiber, potassium and unsaturated fats, would receive a low score. A food like black olives, high in fiber but also high in sodium, would fall somewhere in between.

Clear nutritional information can help inform healthy food choices.
chabybucko/E+ via Getty Images

Nutrient profiling systems work similarly to the Nutrition Facts labels on the back or sides of food packages in helping consumers make informed choices. These labels provide information about a food’s nutrient content, including calories, macronutrients, and key vitamins and minerals. The values are determined through laboratory analysis and nutrient databases based on standardized serving sizes regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

But NPSs differ in that they combine nutrition information into a single actionable score. This means you don’t have to spend time deciphering Nutrition Facts labels, which are often in small print and can be confusing to interpret.

Ultraprocessed profiling

Nutrient profiling system algorithms are all quite similar in their high ranking of unprocessed foods – beans, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables and whole grains – and low ranking of processed foods like hot dogs, soft drinks, cakes and cookies. They help people rebalance their diets that have been skewed by food processing, or the degree to which the ingredients have been altered.

They complement the NOVA classification system developed by researchers at the University of São Paulo, which categorizes foods based on their level of processing. This system introduced the term “ultra-processed foods,” which are foods that have undergone significant industrial processing and contain ingredients not typically found in home cooking.

While NOVA has linked ultra-processed foods to poor health outcomes like obesity, worse mental health, cancer and early death, it treats all such foods equally, overlooking differences like amount of sugar, sodium and other additives.

France’s Nutri-Score rates the nutritional value of foods from A to E.
Laurie Dieffembacq/Belga/AFP via Getty Images

Nutrient profile systems help provide nuance by identifying healthier options within the ultra-processed category. For example, plant-based milks, such as almond or soy milk, may be classified as ultra-processed under the NOVA system, but they can have relatively higher NPS scores if they contain minimal added sugars and salt.

Ratios and bioactives in balance

While nutrient profiling systems can be useful for choosing healthier options, current systems have limitations. They don’t always align perfectly with other research, often overlook the bioactive chemicals that regulate microbiome and body processes, and may rely on incomplete data. Current systems also don’t account for the caloric and health effects of alcohol.

The Nutrient Consume Score I designed aims to address these gaps by incorporating these neglected components of food. For example, it uses food categories as proxies for areas with limited data, including bioactive compounds like polyphenols, omega-3 fats and fermentable fibers. Proxies for bioactive compounds found in unprocessed foods – such as fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, nuts and seeds – are integrated into the score’s core algorithm, which uses nutrient ratios to measure the degree of food processing.

Nutrient ratios – including carbohydrate-to-fiber, saturated fat-to-unsaturated fat and sodium-to-potassium – reflect the natural balance of nutritional content of the cells in unprocessed foods, which research has shown correlate with cardiometabolic health.

Whole foods often have their nutrients in balance.
Halfdark/fStop via Getty Images

For example, the cell walls of plants provide structural strength and are rich in fiber, while their energy vesicles store carbohydrates. Fiber reduces sugar absorption and is fermented into the compound butyrate, which maintains blood sugar and regulates appetite.

The fat profiles of unprocessed foods are similar to the fat composition in cell membranes. Saturated fat-to-unsaturated fat ratios capture how different types of fat, affect inflammation and weight.

Finally, the potassium-to-sodium ratio reflects the natural function of cell membrane pumps, which concentrate potassium inside cells while transporting sodium out. This affects blood pressure as well as microbiome and metabolic health.

Research currently under peer review shows that the Nutrient Consume Score compares favorably with other systems. Derived from nutrition data from nearly 5,000 Americans, NCS sores are linked to blood pressure, waist circumference and weight. NCS has also been incorporated into a smartphone app intended for public use, currently in beta testing.

Empowering smart choices

While nutrient profiling systems are a promising tool for healthier food choices, they come with important caveats. Most studies testing how well they work focus on how two factors relate to each other rather than whether one directly causes the other. Correlation doesn’t prove causation.

Further studies are needed to assess whether these systems influence buying habits, consumption trends, and health outcomes like weight and blood pressure. Additionally, individual dietary needs can vary, and personalized algorithms could help refine these scores for tailored recommendations.

Despite these considerations, nutrient profiling systems are promising tools to combat rising rates of metabolic disease. Their use in Europe demonstrates their potential to shift consumer purchasing habits and inspire food companies to create healthier products.

Americans may one day see similar front-of-package labels in the U.S. Until then, smartphone technologies can offer a practical way to help consumers make smarter choices today. Läs mer…

On Dec. 31, while many people are preparing for their New Years Eve parties, some Roman Catholic Christians will also mark the feast day for St. Silvester.

Little is known for certain about Silvester’s life, but he lived during a transformational period in the history of Christianity. From 314-335 C.E., Silvester was the bishop of Rome: what we now call the pope, although the role was not so powerful at the time. “Pope” comes from the Greek word for “father,” and was widely used by bishops until the fifth century, when the bishop of Rome began to monopolize the title.

Silvester’s era was one of both turmoil and transition for Christians living in the Roman Empire, as some Christian communities emerged from persecution into a powerful alliance with the Roman state. His story is deeply intertwined with this alliance, which would fundamentally change the trajectory of the movement initiated by the figure of Jesus of Nazareth three centuries earlier. Christianity would now become the faith of kings, states and empires.

A change in fortune

Trustworthy details of Silvester’s life are hard to come by. The “Liber Pontificalis,” a catalog of papal biographies that began to be compiled in the sixth century, tells us that he was from Rome and the son of an otherwise unknown man named Rufinus.

As a young man, Silvester lived through the persecutions initiated under one of the co-emperors at the time, Diocletian, which began in 303 C.E. These persecutions continued for several years after Diocletian stepped down.

Though many people picture early Christians being constantly persecuted by the Roman state, historians doubt these claims. The persecutions that began under Diocletian, however, are an exception. During this period, the state expected Christians to sacrifice to the gods for the well-being of the empire, or face consequences – sometimes violent ones.

A mural from the Ubisi Monastery in Georgia depicts Diocletian with St. George before his martyrdom.
Titus Project via Wikimedia Commons

According to the Christian theologian Augustine, some Christians later accused Silvester of having “betrayed” his faith during this period. Silvester was accused of turning over Christian sacred books to the Roman authorities and making offerings to the Roman gods.

The persecution came to an end in 313, when the co-emperors Constantine and Licinius signed the Edict of Milan, which granted tolerance to Christianity in the empire. Just a year later, Silvester became the bishop of Rome.

Constantine quickly became a major patron of Christians, though the extent to which he practiced Christianity is debated. With imperial support came a massive Christian building campaign in Rome – so much so that most of Silvester’s biography in the “Liber Pontificalis” consists of lists of all the churches that Constantine gifted to the city.

Christian controversies

Both before and during Silvester’s time as the bishop of Rome, there were many different Christianities in the empire. This diversity was troubling to Constantine, who wanted to promote unity and order in his domain. As such, he began to convene councils of Christian clergy to sort out contentious issues.

In 314, the year that Silvester became bishop, the emperor called the Council of Arles to address a dispute that had arisen among African bishops – what has become known as the Donatist Controversy. At issue was whether a priest who had betrayed his faith during the persecutions retained a valid ordination.

Silvester, though the bishop of an important city, did not attend, but sent representatives in his stead. It may be that, even at this early date, there were already rumors about what Silvester might have done during the persecutions.

An icon from the Mégalo Metéoron Monastery in Greece shows the Council of Nicea, with Arius at the bottom.
Jjensen/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Around 10 years later, shortly after Constantine had become the sole ruler of the Roman world, he called another council in Nicaea, in modern-day Turkey. This time, he wanted Christian leaders to address an emerging rift centered on the ministry of a charismatic cleric named Arius. Silvester did not attend this council either, but again sent representatives.

The council eventually adopted what has been called the Nicene Creed, a statement of faith that remains important for many modern Christians. However, the council did not resolve the split around Arius. In fact, Constantine would later be baptized by a supporter of Arius, Eusebius of Nicomedia.

These decades when Silvester presided over the church transformed Christianity from a persecuted group into allies of the state. This alliance made theological differences between Christians even more fraught, since the force of the empire might now be wielded against one’s foes.

Rewriting history

But why, given these huge shifts, was Silvester not seen as a major player in the politics of his day?

This was a question that dogged later Christians – in fact, they invented stories about Silvester that put him right in the center of the action.

In the fifth century, an anonymous author wrote a biography now known as the “Acts of Silvester,” which made Silvester seem central to Constantine’s conversion to Christianity.

In the Acts, Constantine starts as a persecutor of Christians, for which God curses him with leprosy. Silvester, who had been in exile on a mountain near Rome amid the persecutions, is recalled to the city after Saints Peter and Paul visit Constantine in a dream. Silvester hears Constantine’s confession of faith, cures him miraculously of his leprosy, and then baptizes the emperor.

Just like that, Constantine now had a proper baptism from an orthodox bishop, not an Arian heretic.

A detail from ‘Baptism of Constantine,’ by Giovan Francesco Penni.
Vatican Museums via Wikimedia Commons

A century later, the “Liber Pontificalis” would claim that it was Silvester, not Constantine, who called the Councils of Arles and Nicaea. The text also credited him with a series of legal rulings. These changes to Silvester’s story elevated him to a major player in the events of his day. They also supported a growing effort to invest the bishop of Rome with the kind of authority that modern popes hold.

Donations and dragons

Legends about Silvester only grew with time – and even include a battle with a demonic dragon. But perhaps the most infamous legacy of Silvester is connected to the so-called “Donation of Constantine.”

This forged document was first drafted in the eighth century C.E. The Donation states that Emperor Constantine had bequeathed to the Roman bishop – at the time Silvester – control of the city of Rome, the western Roman Empire, huge tracts of land under imperial control, and authority over churches in the other centers of the Christian world, Constantinople.

For centuries, this document would undergird papal claims to both ecclesial and civil power. In the 15th century, German cardinal Nicholas of Cusa and the Italian scholar Lorenzo Valla showed the Donation to be a forgery, but by that point popes had already amassed the authority and wealth now associated with the office.

A mosaic depicting the ‘Donation of Constantine’ in Rome’s Basilica Santi Quattro Coronati.
Peter1936F/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Though the precise details of Silvester’s life will likely remain a mystery, the times he lived in were pivotal for the history of Christianity and the West. While he was bishop, Christianity took its first steps toward a longstanding alliance with imperial and state power. Over time, Silvester’s story was embellished to not only justify this alliance, but to argue that the church should have political power.

Today a powerful block of Christian nationalists in the United States seeks similar power. For some, inspiration for this political project is based on the idea of a natural alliance between church and state – starting with Constantine, but justified by traditions invented around the life of Silvester. Yet this alliance was an accident of history, not foreordained. Over time Christians in the Roman Empire invented reasons for why the church should align with the state – and, eventually, become the state. Läs mer…

The coming 12 months can’t promise the bumper crop of elections we saw during 2024, when countries home to about half the world’s population headed to the polls. Still, voters will cast ballots in several important elections throughout the year – and many of the themes persist: the impact of inflation, the rise of the populist right and the fallout of war in Europe and the Middle East.

Only a fool or charlatan will pretend to predict the future, so it’s usually best to avoid election forecasting. So instead, The Conversation asked experts on five countries – Canada, Germany, Chile, Belarus and the Philippines – to explain what is at stake as those nations go to the ballot.

Belarus (Jan.26)

– Tatsiana Kulakevich, associate professor of instruction, School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, the University of South Florida

Alexander Lukashenko, Europe’s longest-serving authoritarian ruler, will run for his seventh term on Jan. 26, 2025 – and he is not expected to lose.

No real opposition will participate in the upcoming elections against Lukashenko, who has run the country since 1994.

Four other persons seeking nomination include the head of the Liberal Democratic Party, Aleh Haidukevich, who ran in the 2020 elections, but withdrew his candidacy then in favor of Lukashenko; Hanna Kanapatskaya, a former member of parliament, entrepreneur and candidate in the 2020 Belarusian presidential election; Aliaksandr Khizhnyak, the chairman of the Republican Party of Labor and Justice; and Siarhei Syrankou, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus. But all have expressed their support for Lukashenko and his key policies.

Current conditions in Belarus do not allow for free and fair elections. Belarusians living abroad will not be able to vote. After the mass protests in 2020’s election, the Belarusian authorities stopped setting up polling stations at diplomatic missions.

That year, protesters claimed widespread election fraud in favor of Lukashenko and argued that most people actually supported Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, his main opposition rival, who now leads the opposition in exile from Lithuania.

2020 elections resulted in mass protests in Belarus.
Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Repression continues in the wake of the 2020 protests, with over 1,200 political prisoners currently detained. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Belarusians have fled the country.

If Lukashenko wins the 2025 presidential election, Belarus will likely continue to serve as a key ally of Russia, hosting Russian nuclear weapons and providing a launchpad for military operations, as seen in the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Germany (Feb. 23)

– Garret Martin, Hurst senior professorial lecturer of foreign policy and global security, American University

The German public knew that it would be called upon to vote in a federal election in 2025. But the recent collapse of the German coalition government means that the vote will happen on Feb. 23 – seven months ahead of the anticipated schedule.

Indeed, after weeks of fighting over the budget, Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner in early November. As a result, Lindner’s Free Democratics party left the coalition, meaning that the two remaining parties – Scholz’s Social Democrats, or SPD, and the Greens – no longer command a majority in the German parliament. This left the chancellor with little choice but to look for snap elections. And after losing the confidence vote on Dec. 16, Scholz got that outcome.

The February election will take place in a particularly challenging global context for Germany. Besides the ongoing war in Ukraine straining Berlin’s diplomatic and economic position in Europe, Germany is also sandwiched between the continued industrial competition from China and the prospect of Donald Trump launching a trade war. All of this is adding to Germany’s ingrained woes.

Its economy has been stuck since COVID-19 hit, and the country is facing a second year of recession.

Domestically, the various parties will joust over the hot-button topics of migration and funding greater investment at home. But spending more will be politically fraught – Germany’s constitutional “debt brake” currently forces the government to keep a balanced budget.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a vote of confidence on Dec. 16, 2024.
Maja Hitij/Getty Images

Polls suggest that Scholz faces a major challenge to stay on as chancellor. His approval rating has been dismal, and his party is polling well behind the center-right Christian Democratic Union and its Christian Social Union sister party. The SPD is in a tight race for second place with the far-right Alternative for Germany, which is hoping to capitalize on its recent successes in state elections.

Barring a major surprise, Friedrich Merz, the leader of the Christian Democratic Union, will become the next chancellor. But forming a stable coalition that can command a majority could prove challenging.

Philippines (May 12)

– Lisandro E. Claudio, associate professor of Southeast Asian studies, University of California, Berkeley

Since the end of the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, Philippine presidents have been restricted to single six-year terms but face midterm elections in which Filipinos elect local officials, district representatives to the lower house and 12 nationally elected senators – 2025 is one such year.

On paper, these senatorial races amount to a referendum on the sitting president. But it’s more accurate to think of them as displays of the incumbent’s awesome control over political machines. Most senatorial candidates who win have the president’s backing.

And there’s no reason to think this dynamic won’t prevail in the May 2025 election. Surveys, which have tended to be more accurate in the Philippines than in the U.S. in recent years, show President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s senatorial bets could win as many as nine or 10 of the 12 open positions.

Protesters destroy an effigy of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Manila on Dec. 10, 2024.
Jam Sta Rosa/AFP via Getty Images

This will be important for Marcos Jr., who needs to consolidate his power amid a feud with Vice President Sara Duterte, the daughter of Rodrigo Duterte, the previous occupant of the presidential palace who presided over a ruthless and bloody drugs crackdown. Though she ran as Marcos’ ally – vice presidents are elected separately – in 2022, the marriage of convenience quickly fell apart once it became clear that Marcos didn’t have Duterte in mind as his successor.

A Marcos-dominated senate would increase the likelihood of a conviction should Duterte undergo an impeachment trial for alleged mismanagement of confidential funds.

Not only would a conviction remove her from office, it would also bar her from running for president in 2028. And a restoration of vindictive Duterte power could mean trouble for the Marcoses – one of Asia’s most corrupt families, with many skeletons in its closet.

Marcos Jr. must bury the Duterte dynasty while he still can. In a place like the Philippines, where voters are often asked to choose between the lesser of two evils, such a resolution would be welcome to many.

Canada (Before Oct. 20)

– Patrick James, dean’s professor emeritus of political science and international relations, USC Dornsife

It is looking increasingly likely that a federal election in Canada will take place well ahead of the constitutionally mandated deadline of Oct. 20, 2025.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, well down in the polls even before a series of jarring events, now faces the possible – or even likely – fall of his fragile coalition government.

Trudeau, recently taunted by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as the “governor” of Canada and threatened with a 25% tariff, experienced another shock on Dec. 16: Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned over irrevocable differences on key policy issues.

Trudeau may become the latest political casualty among global leaders committed to the priorities of the contemporary left rather than the populist right.

The Liberal leader is a long-standing champion of the cultural left and advocate of strong action over the threat of climate change. The result has been massive levels of government spending and soaring deficits.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, Trudeau’s likely chief rival in the 2025 election, has built a huge lead in the polls that appears based on public anger over high inflation and other material shortcomings.

The end of the road for Justin Trudeau’s brand of liberalism?
Dave Chan/AFP via Getty Images

Trudeau is embattled both from within and beyond Canada. Trump demands that Canada move away from what he has called exploitation of the U.S. in trade and calls on Canada to step up border security in particular and defense spending in general.

Poilievre calls for a shift back toward Canada’s abundant fossil fuels to improve the economy – a direct threat to Trudeau’s climate change agenda.

The coming election may even be about the identity of Canada itself. Will Trudeau somehow hold onto power and continue to implement a socialist agenda after the election? Or will Poilievre win and shift the country toward a more conservative populism? Or, again, will another coalition government come into place, with a set of policies that end up pleasing no one?

Pressure on Trudeau to resign, at this time of writing, seems to be approaching an overwhelming level. Time will tell – and maybe very soon.

Chile (Nov. 16)

– Jorge Heine, professor of global studies, Boston University

Chile’s presidential election is due to take place on Nov. 16, 2025. Given its ballotage system – meaning that candidates need 50% plus one of the votes to be elected, something which no presidential candidate has managed to do in the first round since 1993 – a runoff will likely take place on Dec. 14. That will be between the top two candidates.

The incumbent president, Gabriel Boric, is barred from running for a second consecutive term. Elected in 2021 at the age of 35 – making him Chile’s youngest-ever president – Boric has had great difficulty enacting the program of his Broad Front, a left-wing coalition with a platform of sweeping political, social and economic changes. This is in large part due to the coalition’s lack of a parliamentary majority.

In fact, Chile under Boric has the dubious distinction of being the only country to have rejected not one but two different constitutional texts submitted to the electorate – one for being too left-wing, the other for being too right-wing – placing Chile in a constitutional cul-de-sac.

Yet, after several years of upheaval that started with a 2019 social uprising – the most serious in Chile’s two centuries of independent history – and continued into the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit Chile badly, the country has now regained a modicum of political and economic normalcy. Foreign investment is up, but so is crime, which has become a major concern to voters.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric is unable to run again.
Cristobal Basaure Araya/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

In keeping with a Latin American – and worldwide – trend, most polls point to a likely 2025 win for the opposition, the right-wing coalition Chile Vamos, led by the former mayor of Providencia, Evelyn Matthei, who ran for the presidency and lost in 2013 against Michelle Bachelet.

The ruling coalition has found it difficult to come up with a strong candidate to face Matthei. Two of the likeliest ones – Bachelet herself and Tomás Vodanovic, the mayor of Maipú, a Santiago suburb – have indicated they are not interested, and a third one, Home Affairs Minister Carolina Tohá, is hampered by perceived difficulties in bringing the law-and-order situation under control.

That said, the ruling coalition did better than expected in the October 2024 local and regional elections, and an opposition win in 2025 is by no means a done deal. Läs mer…

“I’m tracking my macros.”

“I’ll pass on that, it doesn’t fit in my macros.”

“I’m on the Macro Diet.”

Macros seem to come up often in the corners of the internet and social media devoted to people trying to lose weight, improve their health, look better and feel better about themselves. But what the heck is a macro?

With more information than ever available at your fingertips, and more diets out there than you have fingers and toes to count on, it’s no wonder you might be confused. As an exercise science specialist interested in physical health and nutrition, I’ve got you covered.

“Macros” is just a shorthand term for macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates and fats. They’re the nutritional building blocks that all foods are made up of in various ratios.

Nutrition labels let consumers know about the macros and other nutrients in packaged foods.
Jaidan899/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

If you look at a nutrition label, you’ll see that macros are measured in grams. But it’s important to understand that the calories per gram for each macro aren’t the same. Protein and carbohydrates each have 4 calories per gram, while fat has 9 calories per gram. In other words, fat provides more than twice the amount of energy per gram compared with protein and carbohydrates.

People rarely eat proteins, carbohydrates or fats in isolation. For example, while chicken is widely considered a source of protein, it also contains fat. Almost every food contains more than one macronutrient.

What macros do and where to find them

Beyond its job building muscle, protein also plays other critical roles in the body: as a component of enzymes, transporting nutrients and producing hormones. Sources of protein include animal meats, eggs, fish and seafood, and dairy. While animal sources have the highest protein content, plant food sources, such as whole grains, legumes such as beans, and nuts and seeds also contain protein. You don’t need to consume animal products to get adequate protein in your diet.

The 2020-2025 federal dietary guidelines for Americans recommend at least 46 grams of protein for adult females and at least 56 grams for adult males, although this may be too low for older adults, pregnant and lactating women, and people with high levels of physical activity.

Carbohydrates are the body’s preferred energy source. They’re found in bread, rice, pasta, fruits, dairy products, legumes and starchy vegetables. Simple sugars also fit into the carbohydrate category, and those are the ones to limit.

As for fats, there are different types: polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, saturated and trans fat. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated have the greatest health benefits and are found in things such as nuts and seeds and fish. Omega-3s are essential fatty acids that can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and are found in fatty fish such as salmon and nuts such as walnuts.

Artificial trans fats are created by an industrial process. You’ll see them listed as partially hydrogenated oils on nutrition labels for fried and baked goods. They increase the risk of heart disease and death.

Modern nutrition advice focuses on balance.
miodrag ignjatovic/E+ via Getty Images

Do calories matter?

In a word, yes, calories matter. But calories from different sources do affect the body differently.

For example, 2,000 calories of junk food and soda are not going to help with appetite control the same way that 2,000 calories of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats and lean proteins will. Fiber, for example, is found in fruits, vegetables and whole grains and has been found to be a potent appetite regulator.

The good news is that the most important thing for weight management is caloric balance and consistency. In fact, evidence suggests that there is no “optimal” diet that can be applied to everyone, and that various weight loss strategies – different macronutrient distributions, intermittent fasting and so on – all balance out over the long run.

If you’re attracted to a dietary approach that relies on tracking your macros, focus on getting a healthy balance of protein, carbs and fat. Läs mer…

In 2024, space exploration dazzled the world.

NASA’s Europa Clipper began its journey to study Jupiter’s moon Europa. SpaceX’s Starship achieved its first successful landing, a critical milestone for future deep space missions. China made headlines with the Chang’e 6 mission, which successfully returned samples from the far side of the Moon. Meanwhile, the International Space Station continued to host international crews, including private missions like Axiom Mission 3.

As an aerospace engineer, I’m excited for 2025, when space agencies worldwide are gearing up for even more ambitious goals. Here’s a look at the most exciting missions planned for the coming year, which will expand humanity’s horizons even further, from the Moon and Mars to asteroids and beyond:

Scouting the lunar surface with CLPS

NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative aims to deliver science and technology payloads to the Moon using commercial landers. CLPS is what brought Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander to the Moon in February 2024, marking the first U.S. Moon landing since Apollo.

In 2025, NASA has several CLPS missions planned, including deliveries by companies Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines and Firefly Aerospace.

These missions will carry a variety of scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to different lunar locations. The payloads will include experiments to study lunar geology, test new technologies for future human missions and gather data on the Moon’s environment.

An illustration of Firefly’s Blue Ghost Lander, which will bring scientific instruments to the lunar surface.
NASA/Firefly Aerospace

Surveying the sky with SPHEREx

In February 2025, NASA plans to launch the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, or SPHEREx, observatory. This mission will survey the sky in near-infrared light, which is a type of light that is invisible to the naked eye but that special instruments can detect. Near-infrared light is useful for observing objects that are too cool or too distant to be seen in visible light.

SPHEREx will create a comprehensive map of the universe by surveying and collecting data on more than 450 million galaxies along with over 100 million stars in the Milky Way. Astronomers will use this data to answer big questions about the origins of galaxies and the distribution of water and organic molecules in stellar nurseries – where stars are born from gas and dust.

NASA’s SPHEREx observatory will make the most colorful cosmic map.
NASA/BAE Systems

Studying low Earth orbit with Space Rider

The European Space Agency, or ESA, plans to conduct an orbital test flight of its Space Rider uncrewed spaceplane in the third quarter of 2025. Space Rider is a reusable spacecraft designed to carry out various scientific experiments in low Earth orbit.

These scientific experiments will include research in microgravity, which is the near-weightless environment of space. Scientists will study how plants grow, how materials behave and how biological processes occur without the influence of gravity.

Space Rider will also demonstrate new technologies for future missions. For example, it will test advanced telecommunication systems, which are crucial for maintaining communication with spacecraft over long distances. It will also test new robotic exploration tools for use on future missions to the Moon or Mars.

Space Rider, shown in this illustration, will provide a reusable space transportation system for routine access to and from low Earth orbit.
ESA

Exploring the Moon with M2/Resilience

Japan’s M2/Resilience mission, scheduled for January 2025, will launch a lander and micro-rover to the lunar surface.

This mission will study the lunar soil to understand its composition and properties. Researchers will also conduct a water-splitting test to produce oxygen and hydrogen by extracting water from the lunar surface, heating the water and splitting the captured steam. The generated water, oxygen and hydrogen can be used for enabling long-term lunar exploration.

This mission will also demonstrate new technologies, such as advanced navigation systems for precise landings and systems to operate the rover autonomously. These technologies are essential for future lunar exploration and could be used in missions to Mars and beyond.

The M2/Resilience mission is part of Japan’s broader efforts to contribute to international lunar exploration. It builds on the success of Japan’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, mission, which landed on the Moon using a precise landing technique in March 2024.

An illustration of the Resilience lander and rover on the lunar surface.
ispace

Investigating an asteroid with Tianwen-2

China’s Tianwen-2 mission is an ambitious asteroid sample return and comet probe mission. Scheduled for launch in May 2025, Tianwen-2 aims to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid and study a comet. This mission will advance scientists’ understanding of the solar system’s formation and evolution, building on the success of China’s previous lunar and Mars missions.

The mission’s first target is the near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa. This asteroid is a quasi-satellite of Earth, meaning it orbits the Sun but stays close to Earth. Kamoʻoalewa is roughly 131-328 feet (40-100 meters) in diameter and may be a fragment of the Moon, ejected into space by a past impact event.

By studying this asteroid, scientists hope to learn about the early solar system and the processes that shaped it. The spacecraft will use both touch-and-go and anchor-and-attach techniques to collect samples from the asteroid’s surface.

After collecting samples from Kamoʻoalewa, Tianwen-2 will return them to Earth and then set course for its second target, the main-belt comet 311P/PANSTARRS. This comet is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

By analyzing the comet’s materials, researchers hope to learn more about the conditions that existed in the early solar system and possibly the origins of water and organic molecules on Earth.

Solar system flybys

Besides the above planned launch missions, several space agencies plan to perform exciting deep-space flyby missions in 2025.

A flyby, or gravity assist, is when a spacecraft passes close enough to a planet or moon to use its gravity for a speed boost. As the spacecraft approaches, it gets pulled in by the planet’s gravity, which helps it accelerate.

After swinging around the planet, the spacecraft is flung back out into space, allowing it to change direction and continue on its intended path using less fuel.

Spacecraft can fly by a planet to get a boost using gravity.

BepiColombo, a joint mission by ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, will make its sixth flyby of Mercury in January 2025. This maneuver will help the spacecraft enter orbit around Mercury by November 2026. BepiColombo aims to study Mercury’s composition, atmosphere and surface geology.

NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, which launched in October 2024, will make significant progress on its journey to Jupiter’s moon Europa. In March 2025, the spacecraft will perform a flyby maneuver at Mars.

This maneuver will help the spacecraft gain the necessary speed and trajectory for its long voyage. Later in December 2026, Europa Clipper will perform a flyby of Earth, using Earth’s gravity to further increase its momentum so it can arrive at Europa in April 2030.

The ESA’s Hera mission will also perform a flyby of Mars in March 2025. Hera is part of the Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment mission, which plans to study the Didymos binary asteroid system. The mission will provide valuable data on asteroid deflection techniques and contribute to planetary defense strategies.

NASA’s Lucy mission will continue its journey to explore the Jupiter Trojan asteroids, which share Jupiter’s orbit around the Sun, in 2025. One key event for Lucy is its flyby of the inner main-belt asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson, scheduled for April 20, 2025.

This flyby will provide valuable data on this ancient asteroid’s composition and surface features, which can help researchers gain insights into the early solar system. The asteroid is named after the paleoanthropologist who discovered the famous “Lucy” fossil.

ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or JUICE, mission will perform a Venus flyby in August 2025. This maneuver will help JUICE gain the necessary speed and trajectory for its journey to Jupiter. Once it arrives, JUICE will study Jupiter’s icy moons to understand their potential for harboring life.

2025 promises to be a groundbreaking year for space exploration. With NASA’s ambitious missions and significant contributions from other countries, we are set to make remarkable strides in humanity’s understanding of the universe. These missions will not only advance scientific knowledge but also inspire future generations to look to the stars. Läs mer…

Brian Blank is a finance scholar and Fed watcher who researches how companies navigate downturns and make financial decisions, as well as how markets process information. Brandy Hadley is a finance professor who leads a student-managed investment fund and studies corporate decision-making and incentives. Together, they’re also the resident economic oracles at The Conversation U.S., and their forecast for 2024 held up notably well. Here, they explain what to expect from 2025.

New year, new questions

Heading into 2024, we said the U.S. economy would likely continue growing, in spite of pundits’ forecast that a recession would strike. The past year showcased strong economic growth, moderating inflation, and efficiency gains, leading most economists and the financial press to stop expecting a downturn.

But what economists call “soft landings” – when an economy slows just enough to curb inflation, but not enough to cause a recession – are only soft until they aren’t.

As we turn to 2025, we’re optimistic the economy will keep growing. But that’s not without some caveats. Here are the key questions and risks we’re watching as the U.S. rings in the new year.

The Federal Reserve and interest rates

Some people expected a downturn in 2022 – and again in 2023 and 2024 – due to the Federal Reserve’s hawkish interest-rate decisions. The Fed raised rates rapidly in 2022 and held them high throughout 2023 and much of 2024. But in the last four months of 2024, the Fed slashed rates three times – most recently on Dec. 18.

While the recent rate cuts mark a strategic shift, the pace of future cuts is expected to slow in 2024, as Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested at the December meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. Markets have expected this change of pace for some time, but some economists remain concerned about heightened risks of an economic slowdown.

When Fed policymakers set short-term interest rates, they consider whether inflation and unemployment are too high or low, which affects whether they should stimulate the economy or pump the brakes. The interest rate that neither stimulates nor restricts economic activity, often referred to as R* or the neutral rate, is unknown, which makes the Fed’s job challenging.

However, the terminal rate – which is where Fed policymakers expect rates will settle in for the long run – is now at 3%, which is the highest since 2016. This has led futures markets to wonder if a hiking cycle may be coming into focus, while others ask if the era of low rates is over.

Inflation and economic uncertainty

This shift in the Federal Reserve’s approach underscores a key uncertainty for 2025: While some economists are concerned the recent uptick in unemployment may continue, others worry about sticky inflation. The Fed’s challenge will be striking the right balance — continuing to support economic activity while ensuring inflation, currently hovering around 2.4%, doesn’t reignite.

We do anticipate that interest rates will stay elevated amid slowing inflation, which remains above the Fed’s 2% target rate. Still, we’re optimistic this high-rate environment won’t weigh too heavily on consumers and the economy.

While gross domestic product growth for the third quarter was revised up to 3.1% and the fourth quarter is projected to grow similarly quickly, in 2025 it could finally show signs of slowing from its recent pace. However, we expect it to continue to exceed consensus forecasts of 2.2% and longer-run expectations of 2%.

Fiscal policy, tariffs and tax cuts: risks or tailwinds?

While inflation has declined from 9.1% in June 2022 to less than 3%, the Federal Reserve’s 2% target remains elusive.

Amid this backdrop, several new risks loom on the horizon. Key among them are potential tariff increases, which could disrupt trade, push up the prices of goods and even strengthen the U.S. dollar.

The average effective U.S. tariff rate is 2%, but even a fivefold increase to 10% could escalate trade tensions, create economic challenges and complicate inflation forecasts. Consider that, historically, every 1% increase in tariff rates has resulted in a 0.1% higher annual inflation rate, on average.

Still, we hope tariffs serve as more of a negotiating tactic for the incoming administration than an actual policy proposal.

Tariffs are just one of several proposals from the incoming Trump administration that present further uncertainty. Stricter immigration policies could create labor shortages and increase prices, while government spending cuts could weigh down economic growth.

Tax cuts – a likely policy focus – may offset some risk and spur growth, especially if coupled with productivity-enhancing investments. However, tax cuts may also result in a growing budget deficit, which is another risk to the longer-term economic outlook.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks at a press conference on Dec. 18, 2024.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Getty Images

Count us as two financial economists hoping only certain inflation measures fall slower than expected, and everyone’s expectations for future inflation remain low. If so, the Federal Reserve should be able to look beyond short-term changes in inflation and focus on metrics that are more useful for predicting long-term inflation.

Consumer behavior and the job market

Labor markets have softened but remain resilient.

Hiring rates are normalizing, while layoffs and unemployment – 4.2%, up from 3.7% at the start of 2024 – remain low despite edging up. The U.S. economy could remain resilient into 2025, with continued growth in real incomes bolstering purchasing power. This income growth has supported consumer sentiment and reduced inequality, since low-income households have seen the greatest benefits.

However, elevated debt balances, given increased consumer spending, suggest some Americans are under financial stress even though income growth has outpaced increases in consumer debt.

While a higher unemployment rate is a concern, this risk to date appears limited, potentially due to labor hoarding – which is when employers are afraid to let go of employees they no longer require due to the difficulty in hiring new workers. Higher unemployment is also an issue the Fed has the tools to address – if it must.

This leaves us cautiously optimistic that resilient consumers will continue to retain jobs, supporting their growing purchasing power.

Equities and financial markets

The outlook for 2025 remains promising, with continued economic growth driven by resilient consumer spending, steadying labor markets, and less restrictive monetary policy.

Yet current price targets for stocks are at historic highs for a post-rally period, which is surprising and may offer reasons for caution. Higher-for-longer interest rates could put pressure on corporate debt levels and rate-sensitive sectors, such as housing and utilities.

Corporate earnings, however, remain strong, buoyed by cost savings and productivity gains. Stock performance may be subdued, but underperforming or discounted stocks could rebound, presenting opportunities for gains in 2025.

Artificial intelligence provides a bright spot, leading to recent outperformance in the tech-heavy NASDAQ and related investments. And onshoring continues to provide growth opportunities for companies reshaping supply chains to meet domestic demand.

To be fair, uncertainty persists, and economists know forecasting is for the weather. That’s why investors should always remain well-diversified.

But with inflation closer to the Fed’s target and wages rising faster than inflation, we’re optimistic that continued economic growth will pave the way for a financially positive year ahead.

Here’s hoping we get even more right about 2025 than we did this past year. Läs mer…

Airline travel is a major contributor to anthropogenic climate change, amounting to about 4% of all global greenhouse gas emissions every year. Airlines must take specific measures to reduce, and ideally neutralise, their greenhouse gas emissions and environmental footprint. The airline industry and air travellers are aware of this. However, the question of who should pay for the transition to green air travel is still under debate.

Charging consumers for benefits is not new. For example, the user-pays principle has been adopted to fund road infrastructure through road tolls.

But if the findings of our survey of airline travellers in South Africa are anything to go by, airline users don’t want to pay for airlines to become more environmentally friendly.

We are social science researchers who want our research to inform real life practices. Finding a gap in the research on green business models for airlines, we set out to explore the environmental consciousness and consumer behaviour of domestic air travellers. Our aim was to find out whether green initiatives by airlines make a difference to people when choosing which airline to fly with.

Our research centred on the South African airline industry, where we surveyed domestic air travellers who were jetting off from the OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg.

OR Tambo airport in South Africa.
Martin Harvey/Getty Images

We found that even though not all airline passengers were sure how air travel worsens climate change, they all agreed that airlines must find ways to become environmentally friendly. However, passengers don’t want to pay for this.

Our research helps create a better understanding of the relationship between environmental consciousness and willingness to pay for green travel. This will help airlines assess all the different ways they can lessen the environmental impacts caused by air travel.

Paying more for environmentally friendly flights

We used social media surveys to get 394 air travellers to tell us how they chose the airlines they flew with. Most were female (60.4%) and primarily leisure travellers (62%). Almost 70% of the participants flew with low-cost carriers.

We found that air travellers believed airlines should strive to conserve the environment and reduce their negative impact. We were curious about whether travellers would be willing to pay “green premiums” (extra charges to offset carbon emissions) for this. Only 31.5% were in favour of this and 23.6% were indifferent. Of the people we interviewed, 41.9% were against paying a green premium, with one saying “don’t touch my pocket!”

Read more:
Airline emissions and the case for a carbon tax on flight tickets

We also explored the idea of a “green class” ticket, where eco-conscious consumers would pay extra for a greener flight option. But again, most air travellers believed the airline industry, not the passengers, should cover the expenses of climate change mitigation.

This view was aligned to those of Australian air travellers in another study where air travellers psychologically distanced themselves from the “cost” of emissions from their flights.

How airlines can go green

Among other measures, airlines could use more fuel-efficient aircraft or sustainable aviation fuels. But this requires a large capital outlay and, for South African domestic aircraft, might only happen over a long period of time, especially if there was no increase in ticket prices to fund it.

Knowing how air travellers feel about the environment is useful for airlines in their strategic decision making for green business models, which maximise environmental benefits beyond the level that can be achieved through traditional business models.

Air travellers are price-sensitive yet they value protecting the environment. This means airlines should offer green services that consumers perceive as valuable. These could include environmentally friendly products like reusable water bottles or biodegradable wet wipes. By making these products easily available, plane travellers can make greener choices with minimal effort.

Firstly, green attributes could become marketable items to air travellers and the airline could develop a green image from these efforts. In other words, passengers might start choosing airlines that become environmentally friendly over other, less-green airlines.

Secondly, cheapest airfares could be replaced with value for money, while doing something good for the environment. Airline marketers could clearly communicate the value that consumers can derive from any green services.

Finally, green efforts could also include reducing waste on-board, recycling on-board waste, reducing paper boarding passes and serving fair trade and organic products.

Green initiatives can generate extra revenue for airlines. But they shouldn’t just be a way for airlines to make more money. Instead, airlines should incorporate green initiatives so that they stand out from competitors. In the future, airlines that fail to include environmental practices in their operations and marketing strategies could lose market share and find that passengers opt for other, environmentally friendly airlines.

Airline marketers should design and implement education programmes about the environmental impacts of flying. This will mean that the air travellers who haven’t considered the environmental consequences of their flying habits become more aware. These education programmes could also showcase anything the airlines do to reduce their carbon footprint.

Read more:
Flight shame won’t fix airline emissions. We need a smarter solution

Research has found that some airlines use eco-labels to share their product’s environmental information with consumers. An eco-label informs airline travellers about the environmental impact of their travel choices by showing the carbon emissions, the fuel efficiency, sustainable practices or offset initiatives from their flight. This allows travellers to make consumption decisions that are both well-informed and sustainable, without compromising their freedom of choice.

We argue that once consumers are exposed to knowledge, this awareness can lead to a heightened sense of responsibility and more environmentally responsible purchasing decisions. To meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5˚C, emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.

To achieve this, airlines and air travellers must all play their part in reducing environmental impact – even if those efforts touch their pockets! Airline travellers can no longer be simply passengers, oblivious to the impact of their actions. They should accept that the burden of flying greener is also theirs to carry. Läs mer…

Young African voices are gaining popularity on social media the world over, using these platforms for comedy and political debate – and often for political debate that’s also funny.

One of the new generation of TikTok celebrities in Africa is Charity Ekezie, a Nigerian humourist and journalist. She’s gained 3.3 million followers on TikTok (and 570,000 on Instagram). Her skits poke fun at the world’s perceptions of the continent as backward and barbaric.

Rowland Chukwuemeka Amaefula is a theatre and performance scholar who has analysed Ekezie’s TikToks, her sarcastic brand of humour and how she uses social media as a space for politically relevant performance. We asked him about his study.

Who is Charity Ekezie?

Charity Chiamaka Ekezie is a journalist, influencer and content creator. She studied mass communication in Nigeria before working at a radio station for three years.

Like many Nigerians who took to social media to escape boredom during the COVID-19 lockdown, Ekezie began making creative videos and sharing them. Before TikTok became popular in the country, she had been creating informative content on Facebook and YouTube (where she has almost 1 million subscribers) for years.

She gained fame when she participated in a TikTok trend showcasing the cultural outfits of different African countries. The video went viral. This wasn’t just because of the beautiful cultural dress she displayed but also because of unprovoked attacks from non-Africans who deride her African origin. They posed questions that suggested that Africa is a continent (though some thought it was a country) lacking in resources, technology and modern comforts.

She responded by producing acts that answered these ignorant questions, using humour to mock them. The more questions she was asked, the more videos she produced. Her acts enlighten non-Africans who disrespect and stereotype Africans even when they have not travelled to or read up on life in the continent.

What are her TikTok skits about?

She enacts funny responses to actual questions asked by non-Africans on her social media feeds.

Although she seemingly accepts these stereotypes in her performances, her actions unseat them and cast light on negative perspectives. Asked if there is candy in Africa, for example, she answers that there is, in fact, no candy in Africa – Africans kiss bees and suck their honey out when they want something sweet to eat. She does so standing in front of a table full of candy and eating some.

She gives hilarious explanations of how Africans can smell good without perfume, co-habit with wild animals, drink saliva in place of water, or travel long distances by foot. She explains that clean water, cars, aeroplanes or tarred roads don’t exist on the continent – while appearing alongside these things.

A common question she’s asked is about whether it’s safe to visit Africa. In one TikTok she admits that Africa is not safe. In fact, she says, glancing around nervously, a lion is roaming in her vicinity as she speaks. She advises that if the person were to visit Africa, they must be sure to ask for some vanishing lotion at the “border of Africa” so that wild animals won’t see them.

So, Ekezie uses sarcasm as a major instrument for refuting negative stereotypes. Sarcasm is the use of remarks that clearly mean the opposite of what they say. It can be a biting form of humour.

Her responses seem to confirm the wild imagination of the questioner, but in fact reveal the question to be bizarre – and deserving of a bizarre answer. It is through audience laughter in the form of online comments – especially from her followers of African descent – that naive enquirers realise how meaningless their stereotypes and misconceptions are.

What is your analysis of Ekezie’s social media acts?

My study views Charity Ekezie’s TikTok performances as important contributions to ongoing efforts at decolonisation. That’s to say, they undo the damaging effects of colonial rule and European views imposed on Africa.

Before social media, several notable cultural producers were engaged in addressing similar long-standing attempts to demonise Africa. Among these I include Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, Botswana academic Peter Mwikisa, British dramatist Robin Brooks and Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

What is spectacular about Ekezie’s strategy is its hilarious nature. I analyse a selection of her TikTok acts to show that her approach is less combative and more entertaining. She dispels ignorant views in a playful way that places the joke on the questioner. She flips the script.

She highlights the need for people who are genuinely ignorant about the continent to carry out basic research before going public with their views. But her comedy goes further. She uses an accessible medium to refuse misconceptions and re-make perceptions of the lived experiences of Africans. I call it a form of political refusal. She refuses to accept typecast narratives pigeonholing Africans as barbaric.

Why does this matter?

Ekezie’s acts are important because they interrupt conscious efforts at demonising Africa and Africans. When such wanton or ignorant attacks are left unanswered, they harden into mainstream portraits.

These portraits simplify the complexity of life in African countries and diminish human beings to stereotypes. Judging by their responses, many of the non-Africans who engage with Ekezie do not even know that Africa is not a country but the second largest and second most populous continent, composed of 54 heterogeneous countries.

This is given added significance by the fact that she is part of a rise in pan-African content on social media and that many of the leading voices are those of African women. Angella Summer Namubiru from Uganda, for example, produces similar content to Ekezie.

These new TikTok stars produce pointedly political perspectives that push back against widespread negative portrayals and projections about Africa – and affirm the creativity, joy and complexity of African life. Läs mer…