Antoinette de Crombrugghe is a Belgian journalist and M.A. student at the Columbia Climate School in New York, specializing in climate reporting. She primarily covers energy and social justice. Her background in International Relations strengthens her ability to connect the dots between policy, communities, and the broader global climate landscape.
In Myanmar, the search for rare earth minerals is a tangle of militarization, environmental damage, and resistance.
It is a bright Saturday, the crisp air of late February stubbornly holding onto winter’s cold. Before me, Union Square Greenmarket unfolds in quiet rhythms. Usually a place of hurried crossings, the square now offers a reason to pause. Vendors line the pathways between sparse naked trees, nature reaching skyward as if trying to catch its breath amid the city’s steady hum. New Yorkers seem to find newfound fascination in sunflowers or a vintage teapot; it is a curious way of placing extraordinary importance on the seemingly unimportant. Amidst the hustle, something larger looms. A colossal clock, eighty feet wide, stands proud atop One Union Square South, overlooking the tranquil Union Square Park as its stark digital display counts down in red, pixelated numbers.
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