Living another year dangerously
2022 has been a year of great uncertainty when it seemed the world perilously reached the brink of self-destruction – be it human-induced climate change or military conflict.
1y ago
War or Peace, Barbarism or Hope?
The spectre of “stagflation” threatens the world once again. This time, the risk is the direct consequence of political provocations and war.
2y ago
Climate Injustice at Glasgow Cop-Out
The planet is already 1.1 degrees Celsius warmer than in pre-industrial times. July 2021 was the hottest month ever recorded in 142 years. Despite the pandemic slowdown, 2020 has been the hottest year so far, ending the warmest decade (2011-2020) ever.
2y ago
WTO finished without TRIPS waiver
Quickly enabling greater and more affordable production of and access to Covid-19 medical needs are urgently needed in the South.
2y ago
The Carbon Tax is Overrated
Addressing global warming requires cutting carbon emissions by almost half by 2030! For the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), emissions must fall by 45 percent below 2010 levels by 2030 to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, instead of the 2.7 degrees Celsius now expected.
2y ago
Will Glasgow fix the broken climate finance promises?
The current climate mitigation plans will result in a catastrophic 2.7 degrees Celsius rise in world temperature. USD 1.6-3.8 trillion is needed annually to avoid global warming exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius.
2y ago
Bleak Prospects for Least Developed Countries
“The outlook for LDCs is grim.”—the latest United Nations (UN) assessment of the prospects for the least developed countries (LDCs) notes recent setbacks without finding any silver lining on the horizon.
2y ago
The vaccine apartheid must end
Vaccine costs have pushed many developing countries to the end of the Covid-19 inoculation queue, with most low-income nations not even lining up. What’s worse, less vaccinated poor nations cannot afford fiscal efforts to provide relief or stimulate recovery—let alone achieve Agenda 2030.
2y ago
March 24, 2021
End vaccine apartheid before millions more die
At least 85 poor countries will not have significant access to coronavirus vaccines before 2023. Unfortunately, a year’s delay will cause an estimated 2.5 million avoidable deaths in low and lower-middle income countries.
February 13, 2021
Intellectual property cause of death, genocide
Refusal to temporarily suspend several World Trade Organization (WTO) intellectual property (IP) provisions to enable much faster and broader progress in addressing the Covid-19 pandemic should be grounds for International Criminal Court prosecution for genocide.
November 30, 2020
World Bank urges governments to guarantee private profits
The World Bank has been leading other multilateral development banks (MDBs) and international financial institutions to press developing country governments to “de-risk” infrastructure and other private, especially foreign investments.
November 23, 2020
Covid-19 compounding inequalities
The United Nations’ renamed World Social Report 2020 (WSR 2020) argued that income inequality is rising in most developed countries, and some middle-income countries, including China, the world’s fastest growing economy in recent decades.
November 17, 2020
Is development for the World Bank mainly doing business?
The World Bank has finally given up defending its controversial, but influential Doing Business Report (DBR). In August, the Bank “paused” publication of the DBR due to a “number of irregularities” after its much criticised ranking system was exposed as fraudulent.
August 28, 2020
World Bank’s ‘Mobilising Finance for Development’ not financing development
The World Bank leadership must urgently abandon its “Maximising Finance for Development” (MFD) hoax. Instead, it should resume its traditional multilateral development bank role of mobilising funds at minimal cost to finance developing countries.
April 2, 2020
West First policies expose myths
As the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic shifts from China to the developed West, all too many rich countries are acting selfishly, invoking the “national interest”, by banning exports of vital medical supplies.
December 5, 2019
Inequality and its many discontents
Much recent unrest, such as the “yellow-vest” protests in France and the US “Abolish the Super-Rich” campaign, is not against inequality per se, but reflects perceptions of changing inequalities. Most citizens resent inequalities when it is not only unacceptably high, but also rising.
November 9, 2019
Trade liberalisation for development?
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), all dominated by rich countries, have long promoted trade liberalisation as a “win-win” solution for “all people—rich and poor—and all countries—developed and developing countries”, arguing that “the gains are large enough to enable compensation to be provided to the losers”.
May 10, 2019
Neoliberal reforms strengthening monopoly power and abuses
Over the last four decades, growing concentration of market power in the hands of oligopolies, if not monopolies, has been greatly enabled by ostensibly neoliberal reforms, worsening wealth concentration and gross inequalities in the world.
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