Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

Guest blog by Inge Kaul has been adjunct professor and is now senior fellow at the Hertie School, Berlin. Previously she served as director of the Human Development Report Office and the Office of Development Studies at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),  This blog is part of  a series  by CGD ahead of the EU-Africa Summit which will begin on 17 th  February 2022. This series presents proposals for priorities, and commentary on whether a meaningful reconstruction of the relationship between the two continents is likely.  When the European Union (EU)-African Union (AU) summit which will take place in February was cancelled in 2020, background documents had already been prepared, and some are still on the table. This includes the joint communication of the European Commission (EC) and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) entitled “ Toward a Comprehensive Strategy with Africa ...

Guest blog by  Solidaridad : Solidaridad is an international network organization with partners all over the world. There is one agenda and one strategy: together we learn and progress, together we achieve results and together we decide on future steps. After decades of relying on voluntary sustainability initiatives, supply chains are still troubled by deforestation, unsustainable practices, and poor livelihoods for farmers and workers. Solidaridad now says it is time to get serious about mandatory rules. A new paper published by Solidaridad aims to fuel the debate on introducing regulation at EU level that would require intergovernmental partnerships, measures to support farmers in the Global South, and mandatory due diligence from businesses. These would not replace voluntary initiatives, but would instead complement them with a compulsory approach. Head of Policy Influencing at Solidaridad Europe, Boukje Theeuwes, says: “We must move beyond the voluntary approach and look ...