This blog assesses the recently-published Eliasch Review on international financing to reduce deforestation. It argues that the review focuses too much on the finances and not enough on the politics that affects forest conservation, at national and international level....(read more)...
The World Economic Forum's Summit on the Global Agenda has just ended in Dubai. By both luck and judgement, the meeting was well-timed to contextualise current crises and look ahead. The big debates were on this being a time of great risk, but also an opportunity to get things right – on finance, of course, but also climate, ecology, social welfare and global governance. There was much talk of 're-booting' world systems, ranging from better regulation to more collective action, and from green growth to better global leadership. ...(read more)...
If I had two minutes with Dr Diouf, the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), I would pitch for the rebuilding of physical stocks of food, back to something like 30% of typical annual use, or around 650 million tonnes. ...(read more)...
It is clear that many of today's poor will simply stay poor, even if economic growth is sustained. They are caught in one or more of five poverty traps: insecurity of life or livelihood; weak citizenship status; living in a deprived area; experiencing social discrimination; or held back by poor quality work. The second international Chronic Poverty Report, launched next week, shows that the poorest can be included in progress. ...(read more)...
The EU Council meeting on 19 and 20 June represents an important marker in this year of the Call to Action on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). There are some serious issues to consider, including the failure of European donors to meet their commitments on aid, both in terms of the levels of funding and in delivering harmonisation and alignment. Most importantly, however, the future of the MDG project itself will be debated....(read more)...
The Commonwealth mini-Summit in London is the latest sign that reform of the international system is moving rapidly up the agenda. The Summit discussed reform of the UN, the Bretton Woods Institutions and global environmental governance. On all these, there is enthusiasm among Heads of Government for faster and better coordinated change....(read more)...
The word "crisis" is much abused. But the current food price crisis constitutes a genuine emergency. Urgency in tackling it is essential....(read more)...
In
food security,
economic growth,
Crisis response,
Politics,
Aid,
Poverty,
Agriculture,
Rural Development,
Humanitarian,
International institutions,
Environment and climate Change
In the third of five blogs, I consider perspectives in three key areas- biofuels, climate change adaptation and water....(read...
Last week, I attended the World Economic Forum in Davos. This is the first of five blogs with my reflections and predictions on how the debates will be taken forward in 2008....(read...
The 2008 G8 Summit in Toyako, Japan will be particularly significant because there are big issues on the international development agenda that require firm G8 commitments to be made in 2008; and yet the risk of not delivering on these agendas has never been higher....(read...