Sunita Narain introduces the first comprehensive Indian study to look at nutritional claims made (or not made) by junk food makers, and how they compare with the benchmarks for recommended daily intakes of salt, sugar, carbohydrates and fats issued by India's National Institute of Nutrition and the World Health Organization.

Ensuring that patients in the developing world get access to the medicines they need remains an unfulfilled desire. This is true in spite of the significant progress over the last decade in providing treatment to poor people suffering in particular from the "big three" pandemics, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The reasons for this access gap are manifold, which points at a need for multiple responses by a diverse set of actors: policymakers, businesses, civil society at large, as well as development partners at national and international levels alike.

Health is a crucially important social and economic asset - a cornerstone for human development. Three of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) call for specific health improvements by 2015: reducing the child and maternal mortality and slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

The Killer Jeans Campaign, launched in November 2010, called on major brands and retailers to stop sandblasting, a method of giving jeans a worn-out look. The process can seriously damage worker's health if performed without suitable protective equipment. Over 40 major brands and retailers have issued a ban on sandblasting but, as Dominique Muller explains, garment workers are still being asked to risk their lives for fashion.

Nnimmo Bassey claims that in Nigeria the authorities' efforts to curb gas flaring are being thwarted by the big oil companies.

Bent Svensson, Mauricio O. Rios explain how a World Bank-led partnership between oil-producing countries and companies is harnessing potential opportunities for reducing the waste of a valuable resource.

Chandran Nair (founder of Global Institute for Tomorrow) argues that Asia's burgeoning population means that indulging in Western-style consumption is not an option. The planet's resources, from oil to water to the rare earth metals essential for high-tech manufacturing, won't support it.