On the face of it, the spat between Emmanuel Macron and Jair Bolsonaro over the Amazon rainforest fires was a simple stand-off. An environmentalist French president clashed with an anti-globalist Brazilian president brandishing a shield of national sovereignty. But in Brazil, the politics around the environment are complicated. Anthony Pereira explains how Bolsonaro faces mounting domestic political pressure, including from his own allies, to dial down his anti-environmental rhetoric. Meanwhile, Jayalaxshmi Mistry stresses that for many Indigenous groups in the Amazon, their entire way of life is predicated on using fire sustainably.

The reasons people make bad choices about what they eat are highly complex. Diets are affected by culture, tradition, and nutritional knowledge, among other things. Economic factors like income and the cost of food are also important – especially for poorer people with tight budgets. Derek Headey and Harold Alderman set out how financial and other monetary constraints keep poorer countries stuck with unhealthy food choices.