A greener post-COVID development strategy: Time to mainstream new development indicators
This blog by Sachin Chaturvedi was originally posted on November 2021. Click here to read the full blog. We apologise for the inconvenience. Continue reading A greener post-COVID development strategy: Time to mainstream new development indicators
The First Trillion is the Hardest: How to Raise the Necessary Funds for Poor Countries’ Climate Mitigation Investments
By Dr Moritz Kraemer, Chief Economist and Head of Research at LBBW Bank and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Sustainable Finance at SOAS, University of London and Dr Ulrich Volz, Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Sustainable Finance at SOAS, University of London and Senior Research Fellow at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
Many developing countries are struggling under a high sovereign debt burden and rising interest rates that leave little fiscal space to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Climate Accord.
While the 80 economies designated by the World Bank as low-income countries (LICs) or lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) – home to over half the world population –contributed just over 17% of total world carbon emissions in 2021, and much less in terms of historical emissions, global population growth will be entirely driven by these countries in the coming decades. Their future contribution to global emissions is set to grow substantially if the foundations for low-carbon development pathways are not put in place today.
Continue reading “The First Trillion is the Hardest: How to Raise the Necessary Funds for Poor Countries’ Climate Mitigation Investments”
Reducing inequalities: how should we measure and monitor SDG Goal 10?
By Francesco Savoia, Research Fellow, Università degli Studi di Milano, Ioannis Bournakis, Associate professor, SKEMA Business School, Mona Said, Professor, The American University in Cairo, and Antonio Savoia, Reader, University of Manchester; Nonresident Senior Fellow, UNU-WIDER
The inclusion of income redistribution in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as part of SDG Goal 10 aiming to reduce inequality within and among countries, reflects an increasing realisation that addressing inequalities is intrinsically important, as well as instrumental to human development and to a number of other development outcomes through a variety of channels. But how should we measure and monitor progress in reducing inequalities? Here we argue that looking at the sub-national level may be important.
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Knowledge and innovation are the currency of progress – LDCs cannot afford to lag behind
By Paul Akiwumi, Director, Division for Africa, LDCs and Special Programmes, UNCTAD
In an increasingly complex global economy, knowledge can be a silver bullet. Technology-driven innovation creates new products, tasks, professions, and economic activities. However, for developing countries, capturing the gains of innovation may not be automatic.
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Diasporas, des acteurs invisibles de l’action climatique
Par Jason Gagnon, chef d’unité et économiste principal, Centre de développement de l’OCDE, et David Khoudour, conseiller mondial en mobilité humaine, PNUD
(This blog is also available in English)
Les diasporas jouent un rôle précieux dans la lutte contre les vulnérabilités climatiques dans les pays d’origine
Il est bien connu que les transferts de fonds contribuent de manière significative aux économies des pays à revenu faible ou intermédiaire : ils représentent en moyenne plus de 5 % de leur PIB. Ce que l’on sait moins, en revanche, c’est que l’aide apportée par les communautés à l’étranger est quatre fois plus importante dans les pays frappés par des catastrophes liées au changement climatique : en Haïti, au Honduras ou au Népal, les transferts de fonds représentent plus de 20 % du PIB.
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Diasporas, the invisible heroes of climate action
By Jason Gagnon, Head of unit and Senior Economist, OECD Development Centre, and David Khoudour, Global Human Mobility Adviser, UNDP
Diasporas are not only at the forefront of the response to climate disasters, their action goes deep, way beyond the short term: in addition to sending money to their families, they invest in healthcare and reconstruction, design and lead climate adaption projects –e.g. for access to water and sustainable energy–, help diversify livelihoods and boost the resilience of local communities e.g. by improving food security and access to education. Continue reading Diasporas, the invisible heroes of climate action
When and why do countries stop being eligible for receiving Official Development Assistance?
By Carsten Staur, Chair of the OECD Development Assistance Committee
The OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) has defined a set of criteria for including countries on its list of Official Development Assistance (ODA) recipients and, similarly, for them to graduate from the list, primarily because their economic growth has made them high income countries.
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Our top 5 blogs of 2023!
In case you missed it, here are our most popular blogs of last year:
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COP28: Prioritising children in the fight against climate change
By Shruti Agarwal, Senior Climate Adviser with Save the Children
Children are looking to world leaders to demonstrate brave leadership. As one child from India told us, “It’s not children’s job to clean the mess spread by their elders.” But they are not just passive victims. Children have distinct capacities to contribute to climate action within their communities, countries and globally. Yet their rights, specific needs and perspectives have been overlooked in climate discussion. This must change. Continue reading COP28: Prioritising children in the fight against climate change
How to maximise the benefits of the LDC Services Waiver
By Swati Sharma, independent trade law and policy professional; and Neil Balchin, Economic Adviser, Commonwealth Secretariat, London
Services is the fastest growing segment of international trade. Yet, while service exports from least developed countries (LDCs) grew by 9% in 2021, they still accounted for less than 1% of global services trade.
Recognising the potential for trade in services to create jobs and accelerate development, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) adopted a Waiver in 2011 to support LDC service suppliers.
In addition to non-market access preferences, the Waiver enables developed and developing countries to grant direct-market-access preferences to LDCs that would otherwise be inconsistent with the most-favoured-nation rules of the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services. In response, LDCs collectively identified their export interests under the Waiver. Continue reading How to maximise the benefits of the LDC Services Waiver