Solution Tracks

The article argues that climate policy fails because it targets emissions rather than the political and financial power of fossil asset owners, who use tools like tax havens and investor‑state dispute settlement to protect profits and block decarbonization. It proposes shifting the focus to assets by tightening global tax rules, phasing out legal protections such as ISDS for fossil investments, and using green industrial policy to “flip” firms and capital from fossil to renewable sectors, creating pro-climate business coalitions. In a context of geopolitical turmoil and rising protectionism, it contends that strategically designed cooperation and “Goldilocks” levels of protectionism can build a green world order by aligning economic competitiveness with rapid decarbonization.

Futuristic, tech-heavy smart city projects like Dunia Cyber City and The Line assume that deploying advanced technology will automatically solve urban problems, but research shows that high tech scores do not translate into overall liveability or sustainability. The article argues that what really matters is smart governance: long-term, holistic, inclusive, locally adapted, collaborative, people-centred decision-making where technology is only a means to an end. The most successful cities became liveable through decades of incremental, often messy governance that put residents’ needs first, not through utopian masterplans built from scratch by tech visionaries.