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Peter Howson

Senior Lecturer in International Development, Northumbria University, Newcastle
Peter Howson is a Researcher in International Development at Northumbria, where he leads the MSc in International Development.

His teaching and research interests span political ecology, critical theory, gender, race and development, ‘green violence’, blockchain-based environmental management and geo-politics in the Global South. Most of Pete's teaching draws on his research interests and professional experience in the Asia-Pacific region.

Before joining Northumbria, Pete was a Lecturer in International Development at Nottingham Trent University. In 2016 he was a Post-doc Researcher at Colorado State University, looking at Palau’s National Marine Sanctuary. Before that, he was based at University of Wellington, Aotearoa, New Zealand. His PhD research explored the political ecology of climate finance in Indonesia.

Pete's current projects include analysis of the ‘blue belt’ network of marine protection measures in the UK Overseas Territories. Peter is also looking at how cryptocurrencies and carbon trading are coming together to make trees more valuable standing than cut down, and what impacts the practice is having on forest-dependent communities in Indonesia.

Digital Currency Revolution

Crypto tolls in the Strait of Hormuz shows why bitcoin thrives in times of crisis

Apr 18, 2026 07:50 am UTC| Insights & Views Digital Currency

Bitcoin has long been promised to function as money. In practice, it rarely does. While 99% of transactions are still speculative trading, for as long as bitcoin has been a thing it has been used to skirt governments...

DeepSeek claims to have cured AI’s environmental headache. The Jevons paradox suggests it might make things worse

Feb 03, 2025 11:01 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology

AI burns through a lot of resources. And thanks to a paradox first identified way back in the 1860s, even a more energy-efficient AI is likely to simply mean more energy is used in the long run. For most users, large...

Digital Currency Revolution

Bitcoin: China's crackdown isn't enough – only a global effort can stop crypto's monstrous energy demand

Jun 08, 2021 12:31 pm UTC| Digital Currency

Huge concrete data centres, permanently plugged into power plants and telephone exchanges, maintain much of online life. But the infrastructure behind internet-based cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, dogecoin and ethereum...

Blockchain Revolution Series

NFTs: why digital art has such a massive carbon footprint

Apr 04, 2021 10:00 am UTC| Technology

How much would you be willing to pay for a one-of-a-kind work of art? For some collectors, the limit lies somewhere in the region of hundreds of millions of dollars. What about a work of art that has no tangible form, and...

Digital Currency Revolution

Bitcoin isn't getting greener: four environmental myths about cryptocurrency debunked

Feb 20, 2021 12:38 pm UTC| Technology Digital Currency

The price of bitcoin has reached US$50,000 (36,095) another all-time high. Its hard to believe that 10,000 bitcoin would only buy a couple of pizzas ten years ago. Its even stranger to think that bitcoins are completely...

Economy

BOJ Rate Hike Expectations Grow as Board Member Signals Hawkish Stance

Bank of Japan (BOJ) board member Kazuyuki Masu signaled growing support for an interest rate hike, stating that the central bank should act quickly if Japans economy shows no clear signs of slowing down. His comments have...

Dollar Gains as Fed Rate Hike Bets Rise Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit

The U.S. dollar strengthened on Thursday as rising Treasury yields fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates later this year. Investors also closely monitored the high-profile summit between...

Havana Protests Erupt as Cuba Faces Severe Blackouts and Fuel Crisis

Protests spread across Havana on Wednesday night as Cuba struggled through its worst electricity crisis in decades, with residents enduring rolling blackouts linked to an ongoing fuel shortage and tightened U.S. sanctions....

Asian Currencies Steady as Trump-Xi Summit, Inflation Concerns Boost Dollar

Asian currencies traded cautiously on Thursday as global investors closely monitored the high-profile meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. At the same time, persistent inflation...

Trump, Xi Begin High-Stakes China Summit Focused on Trade, Taiwan and Global Tensions

U.S. President Donald Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinping as a great leader and close friend as the two leaders opened a major summit in Beijing aimed at stabilizing U.S.-China relations amid rising geopolitical and...

Politics

Macron Faces Political Test Over Bank of France Nomination Ahead of 2027 Election

French President Emmanuel Macron is facing mounting political pressure as lawmakers prepare to vote next week on the appointment of his former chief of staff, Emmanuel Moulin, as the next governor of the Bank of France....

Nvidia’s China AI Chip Sales Remain Frozen Despite U.S. Approval

Nvidias efforts to expand AI chip sales in China remain stalled even after the U.S. approved several Chinese technology giants to purchase the companys H200 processors. Although around 10 Chinese firms, including Alibaba,...

Elon Musk’s China Influence Faces New Challenges Amid Rising EV Competition

Elon Musk continues to hold a powerful yet increasingly complicated position in China as Tesla faces growing pressure from local electric vehicle manufacturers and tighter scrutiny from Chinese regulators. Despite...

Taiwan Independence Debate: China, U.S., and Taipei Tensions Explained

Chinas President Xi Jinping recently warned that disagreements over Taiwan could seriously damage U.S.-China relations, once again placing the Taiwan independence issue at the center of global politics. Taiwan, officially...

Japan Considers Extra Budget Aid Amid Rising Fuel and Utility Costs

Japans government is considering compiling a supplementary budget to help households struggling with rising gasoline and utility prices as the ongoing Middle East crisis continues to fuel uncertainty in global energy...

Science

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

NASA Artemis II: First Crewed Moon Mission Since Apollo Takes Four Astronauts on 10-Day Lunar Journey

NASAs Artemis II mission launched Wednesday, marking humanitys return to crewed lunar exploration for the first time since the Apollo era. Carrying four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft, this historic 10-day mission...

NASA's Artemis II Mission: First Crewed Lunar Journey Since Apollo

NASA's Artemis II Crew Arrives in Florida for Historic Moon Mission

The four astronauts chosen for NASAs Artemis II mission have touched down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the beginning of final launch preparations for the first crewed lunar journey in over 50 years. NASA...

Technology

Alibaba Stock Surges After Strong Q4 Earnings Boosted by AI and Cloud Growth

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (HK:9988) saw its Hong Kong-listed shares jump sharply on Thursday after the Chinese e-commerce and technology giant reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings driven by strong momentum in...

SoftBank Shares Slide Despite Record Q4 Profit Fueled by OpenAI Investment

SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) shares dropped sharply on Thursday despite the company reporting blockbuster fourth-quarter earnings, as investors grew increasingly concerned about the Japanese tech giants expanding...

OpenAI Finds No Evidence of User Data Breach in TanStack npm Supply-Chain Attack

OpenAI confirmed on Wednesday that it found no evidence suggesting user data was compromised following a security incident linked to the TanStack npm package, a widely used open-source JavaScript library. The issue stemmed...

SK Hynix Nears $1 Trillion Market Value Amid South Korea’s AI-Driven Stock Market Surge

SK Hynix is rapidly approaching a historic $1 trillion market capitalization, only weeks after Samsung Electronics achieved the same milestone. The remarkable rise highlights South Koreas growing dominance in the global...

Cisco Restructures for AI Growth After Record Q3 Revenue

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) announced a major business restructuring focused on artificial intelligence and high-growth technology sectors after reporting record third-quarter revenue that exceeded Wall Street...