Articles
The 'new Brazil' of Africa
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On how development institutions are financing the land grabbing in the Democratic Republic of Congo
UN's Post-2015 Development Agenda under Fire
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The U.N.’s highly ambitious post-2015 development agenda, which is expected to be finalised shortly, has come fire even before it could get off the ground.
A global network of civil society organisations (CSOs), under the banner United Nations Major Groups (UNMG), has warned that the agenda, which includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), “lacks urgency, a clear implementation strategy and accountability.”
“We hoped for a progressive and fair financing agreement that addressed the root causes of global economic inequality and its impact on women’s and girls’ lives. But that’s not what we got." -- Shannon Kowalski
Bank of the South:the future of financial architecture in dispute
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The establishment of the Bank of the South marked a point of inflection in the projects of integration in Latin America, with the signing of the constitutive act at the end of 2007.
The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) proposed the creation of the bank in order to provide financial assistance to the twelve member countries for the execution of regional projects.
The initiative of the Bank of the South will come into force this year after seven years of negotiations concerning various difficulties.
Delay is alarming due to cuttings in the projections of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the International Monetary Fund that estimate economic growth at 1 and 0.5% respectively for Latin America in 2015.
Read more: Bank of the South:the future of financial architecture in dispute
The Deep Divide at the World Bank
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The World Bank is at a pivotal point as it enters into the third and final stage of its safeguards review. According to the Bank, this review is set out to "better address environmental and social issues that countries face today, [and] to deliver better environmental and social outcomes in the projects and programs the Bank supports."
More climate protection, less development aid?
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Climate change is costing us dear. Unless we rein it in, there will be more failed harvests, flooding in low-lying coastal areas, disease, mass migration and armed conflict over resources. Stopping it also comes at a price. It would mean completely switching energy generation, industrial production and transport systems to renewable energy sources – which is what the concept of climate protection means. Moderate estimates are that as of the year 2020, US$200 billion will have to be invested every year in emerging and developing countries. In addition, 50 billion would need to be invested annually in adaptation to climate change. This would include coastal protection systems for coping with rising sea levels, altering water courses or resettling communities in the countries affected, to mention but a few points.
