Felix Dodds comments on sustainable development, coffee & life

(Photo: Extinction Rebellion Cape Town/Twitter) The last COP in Dubai concluded with the global stocktaking text that included a tripling of renewable energy and a doubling of energy efficiency improvements globally by 2030.  It also included an unprecedented commitment to “transition away from fossil fuels”. Meanwhile, this week the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO), an association of African petroleum-producing countries, announced Nigeria would host the newly created Africa Energy Bank (AEB). This bank has been set up to support the development of fossil fuel projects in Africa. It has an initial share capital of $5bn and it says it will fund not only fossil fuel expansion but also renewable energy. APPO has a strong partnership with OPEC which will support its efforts to expand Africa’s oil and gas. In Sharm El Shiekh at COP27 (2022) several African Civil Society organizations including Oilwatch Africa, Stop EACOP, Africa Coal Network and Urgewald released ...

Guest blog by Eurodad.  This week’s IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings provided the strongest proof yet of the urgent need for reform to the global economic architecture and governance, as the spillovers from the Ukraine war increased the complexity of the multiple crises facing the world. The unprecedented accumulation of financial pressures quickly became clear: the worsening debt crisis and divergences in economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic have been compounded by inflationary pressures, food and energy price spikes, and by increasing political and social instability. According to  estimates from the World Bank , an additional 75-95 million people will be pushed into extreme poverty in 2022. Yet, while the IMF and World Bank both sounded the alarm on this untenable situation, neither institution - nor the G20 - presented the world with the ambitious solutions it needs and instead continued with either the same failed responses, or no clear plan at all. For example,...

What follows is a Civil Society Manifesto on  PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS (PPPs) We, 151 national, regional and international civil society organisations, trade unions and citizens’ organisations from 45 countries, are increasingly alarmed by the growing use of PPPs around the world What is a ‘Public Private Partnership?’ PPPs are essentially long-term contracts, underwritten by government guarantees, under which the private sector builds (and sometimes runs) major infrastructure projects or services traditionally provided by the state, such as hospitals, schools, roads, railways, water, sanitation and energy. PPPs are promoted by many G20 governments, and some public development banks – such as the World Bank – as the solution to the shortfall in financing needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Since the late 1990s, some countries including the United Kingdom, Portugal and Hungary have embraced PPPs ranging from healthcare and education to transport – with t...

It is getting a   little tiring   to have to keep defending what has been the   most participatory and open global conversation and development of policy priorities   that we have ever had. Some of the criticisms have come from those   who didn't get what they wanted   in the Sustainable Development Goals and targets   others because they haven't participated in the process   and now realize it is too late and o thers because they don't seem to recognize the huge challenges   that we fact in the world in the coming years. Of course it would be easier if we didn't have to cover so many issues but we had that chance that was the 1990's. The lack of delivery of previous commitments means that of course the world now has to face so many more urgent issues. I read the story in   Humanosphere   and of course I wasn't at the meeting so I can only comment on what was reported as being said. It was a report on the Bill and Melin...

It probably isn't surprising that the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) should fulfill their promise or threat to create their own development bank. They have been arging for many years for the World Bank and IMF to change their voting rules to increase the number of votes for developing countries without much advancement. This new development bank will be based in Shanghai in China it was also announced that the first president for the bank will come from India.   the Bank will initially have a fund of $50 billion and will focus on supporting infrastructure projects in developing countries. As the Fortaleza Declaration from the 6th BRICS Summit says: " We, the leaders of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa, met in Fortaleza, Brazil, on 15 July 2014 at the Sixth BRICS Summit. To inaugurate the second cycle of BRICS Summits, the theme chosen ...