Climate Negotiations to Begin in June
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- Written by South Center
- Category: Articles
The new issue of the South Bulletin focuses on the preparations and progress made towards a new climate agreement in the Twenty-first session of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP-21) to be held in Paris in December 2015, particularly during the COP-20 in Lima and a UNFCCC session in Geneva in February 2015. These articles include:
• Substantive Negotiations to Begin in June for New Climate Agreement
• Understanding the Lima Climate Conference A Proxy Battle for the 2015 Paris Agreement
• Highlights of the Lima Decision on the Durban Platform
• The Climate Crisis is a Result of Corporate Profit, a New System is Needed – President Evo Morales of Bolivia’s Address in COP 20
• Equity as the Gateway to Environment Ambition
• Social justice, energy transition and climate change on the eve of the COP-21
Global Partnership for Development is between governments and it is accountable to Citizens
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- Written by Roberto Bisso/Social Watch
- Category: Articles
At the ECOSOC Dialogue on the longer-term positioning of the United Nations development system, Social Watch coordinator Roberto Bissio said that “partnerships” with private philanthropy or big business should not be seen as a substitute for official funds for the implementation of the UN agenda. While, it is important to entice foundations to spend better and according to UN priorities, the Global Partnership for Development as established since Monterrey is between governments and it is therefore accountable to us citizens.
Read his complete intervention here or download the pdf version here.
The UN at 70: Time for Compliance
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- Written by Joan Russow and Lori Johnston
- Category: Articles
At key anniversaries of the U.N., there have been calls for compliance with international instruments.
In 1995, Secretary-General Boutros Boutrous-Ghali indicated support at the 50th anniversary of the U.N., in San Francisco, and, at the 55th Anniversary, Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged states to sign and ratify international instruments.
Negotiations and their enemies
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- Written by Immanuel Wallerstein
- Category: Articles
Perhaps the correct title should be "negotiators and their enemies." These days, negotiations are very much in the news. The United States is negotiating with Cuba, with Iran and, most recently it seems, with Venezuela. The government of Colombia is negotiating with a long-time anti-government movement, the FARC.
Then, there are the pre-negotiations that may not get to the stage of negotiation: Russia and the European Union (and within that, the Kiev government of Ukraine and the "autonomist" governments in Donetsk and Lutsk; China and the United States; the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban.
And finally, in the spirit of Sherlock Holmes's mystery about "the dog that didn't bark," there are the negotiations that are NOT taking place: Israel and the Palestinians; Iran and Saudi Arabia; China and Japan.
Transforming Economies, Realizing Rights
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- Written by UN Wiomen
- Category: Articles
In this new report of UN Women, the organisation focuses on the economic and social dimensions of gender equality, including the right of all women to a good job, with fair pay and safe working conditions, to an adequate pension in older age, to health care and to safe water, without discrimination based on factors such as socioeconomic status, geographic location and race or ethnicity. In doing so, it aims to unravel some of the challenges and contradictions facing the world today: at a time when women and girls have almost equal opportunities when it comes to education, why are only half of women of working age in the labour force globally, and why do women still earn much less than men? In an era of unprecedented global wealth, why are large numbers of women not able to exercise their right to even basic levels of health care, water and sanitation?
Jim Kim Reflects on World Bank Reform
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- Written by Jeff Dyson/Devex
- Category: Articles
After World Bank President Jim Yong Kim took the reins at the world’s largest multilateral donor in 2012, he didn’t wait long to begin changing the institution’s approach to development through an intensive and controversial reform process.
“I’ve done this before in other organizations, and what I’ve found is that If you know a change has to be made, just do it as quickly as you can, and get it done,” Kim told Devex Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings in Washington, D.C.
Kim’s reforms, which began in 2013 and are still ongoing, include a dramatic shift in bank structure and a $400 million cut in operational expenses that necessitated staffing cuts.
Economic Diplomacy as a Weapon
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- Written by Umberto Mazzei/Alai
- Category: Articles
I think we are already in a Third World War that will decide whether the
future is an Anglo-Saxon unipolar one or a multipolar one. The military
aspect of the fight is done by proxies, because a direct confrontation
between the main players would result in mutual defeat. Money is the
nerve of war (Thomas More), the strategy is to economically exhaust
adversaries; the weapon of choice is economic diplomacy.
Global Justice Movements Converge on Revolutionary Ground
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- Written by Salena Tramel/Huffington Post
- Category: Articles
Collective adrenaline ran high as the World Social Forum opened on March 24 in Tunis. It had not yet been five years since a peaceful revolution brought a dictatorship long backed by Western political superpowers to its knees and ignited the fire of the Arab Spring that burns to this day. And it had not yet been a week since shooters stormed the Bardo Museum, killing 22, and retesting the resolve of a delicately budding democracy.
Tens of thousands of delegates from across the globe converged in Tunis not only to show support for Tunisian sovereignty, but also to share their own local struggles and solutions while advocating change in the face of interlinked systemic injustices. The opening march easily demonstrated the diversity of the constituency--bands of Tunisian students in perfect stride with Latin American labor organizers and Sub-Saharan African small-scale food producers, knit together by the unraveling food, climate, energy, and financial crises.
Amidst this vibrant mix of social actors, it was no coincidence that Via Campesina, the world's largest--and arguably best organized--movement showed up in full force with a delegation from five continents. "It is on us to do something," said Elizabeth Mpofu, the Zimbabwean farmer and organizational powerhouse who leads Via Campesina's 250+ million peasant, pastoralist, fisher and indigenous members. "We know we are poor, but we are also very intelligent, and we know what we want," she added.
Read more: Global Justice Movements Converge on Revolutionary Ground
Bandung + 60 : Declaration of the South Center
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- Written by South Center
- Category: Articles
The South Centre is very appreciative of the wonderful initiative and great efforts by the government and people of Indonesia for hosting this Asian-African Summit in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the 1955 Asian-African Conference held in Bandung, and for inviting the South Centre to attend this extraordinary and important gathering of countries of the South.
I bring the warm greetings from our Chair, H.E. Benjamin Mkapa, former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, the members of the Board, and the Secretariat of the South Centre.
This year’s Asian-African Summit is a fitting follow-up to the 1955 Bandung Asian-African Conference, which marked the first attempt at multilateral cooperation between developing countries “on the basis of mutual interest and respect for national sovereignty”. The Bandung Conference brought together the generation of gifted and courageous Asian and African leaders who had won or were in the middle of winning their battles of independence. The final communiqué from Bandung in 1955 contained the 10 principles of the “Bandung Spirit”, containing the basic principles for South-South cooperation in the South’s efforts to promote peace and cooperation in the world. These principles remain as valid as ever in today’s world which is in economic and political turmoil.
The IMF's role in the Greek economy
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- Written by Bretton Woods Project
- Category: Articles
In February, Greece agreed a four-month extension to its loan from the European Central Bank (ECB) and European Commission (EC), which along with the IMF comprise the Troika of lenders to eurozone states since 2010. The loan is subject to a review of the reforms the government commits to undertake during the extension. The IMF, however, is not part of the new agreement.
Greece currently owes €245 billion ($260 billion) to the three creditors. Conditionalities required for the financing include measures such as privatisations, looser labour laws and pension cuts (see Observer Winter 2015). The Greek government was elected on a platform repudiating the legitimacy and economic value of the loan conditionalities, and demanding an overall reduction in its debts. This democratic mandate is now threatened because Greece faces a number of payments to the IMF and bondholders while negotiating with its European partners. During negotiations prime minister Alexis Tsipras has repeatedly stated that further financial support is necessary so that Greece can make urgent payments.
Inequality ... a political problem
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- Written by Francine Mestrum
- Category: Articles
I had the opportunity to listen to Paul Krugman last week. He gave the keynote speech in a conference on inequality in Brussels. Theme of the conference: No prosperity for all in Europe if we do not tackle inequality. Underlying message: inequality is hindering growth and the distribution of wealth.
Krugman was there to debunk some of the myths. No, there is no shred of evidence that inequality promotes growth, as some neoliberals continue to say. But there is only little evidence that inequality hinders growth. What it is all about is the political economy, the concentration of wealth. We have a lot of evidence that there is a close link between inequality and politics.
The wealthy have become very powerful, they are the ones who promoted financial deregulation, they are the ones promoting so-called free trade agreements, they are the ones blocking all reasonable legislation that could help to improve the social situation in this world.
