Tag Archives: sustainable development

Latest Developments, January 30

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In the latest news and analysis…

Future worth choosing
The BBC reports on a new UN Global Sustainability Panel document that makes 56 recommendations for a world where the “true costs to people and the environment” drive policy decisions.
“Governments would build the true environmental costs of products into the prices that people pay to purchase them, leading to an economic system that protects natural resources.
Goods would be labelled with information on their environmental impact, enabling consumers to make more informed purchasing decisions.
With UN support, governments would adopt indicators of economic performance that go beyond simple GDP, and measure the sustainability of countries’ economies.
Governments would change the regulation of financial markets to promote longer-term, more stable and sustainable investment.”

Sea traffic
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has released a new report that finds 61 percent of “reported cases of sanctions-busting or illicit transfers of arms, drugs, other military equipment and sensitive dual-use goods that could be used in the development of missiles and weapons of mass destruction” over the last two decades have involved ships with ties to EU, NATO or OECD member states.
“It is not surprising that companies based in the world’s richest maritime states and those that have historically played the greatest role in the development of maritime trade own the greater share of ships in the world merchant fleet. However, it is notable that companies subject to the laws of those states with the most developed legal systems, law enforcement, intelligence and foreign policy establishments are nevertheless over-represented among the beneficial owners of ships reported as involved in destabilizing military equipment, dual-use goods and narcotics transfers: the same group of states account for only 54.5 per cent of ships over 1000 [gross tonnes] in the world merchant fleet.”

French FTT
The Telegraph reports France’s embattled president has unilaterally pledged to implement a 0.1 percent financial transaction tax as of August if he is re-elected.
“President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is trailing heavily in the polls ahead of April’s election, said France would go it alone in a bid to “create a shock” and inspire other European countries to follow his lead. That is despite vocal opposition from other EU leaders, not least David Cameron.”

Drone creep
The New York Times reports Iraqi officials are angry that the US is using “surveillance drones” to provide security for its embassy, consulates and personnel.
“It foreshadows a possible expansion of unmanned drone operations into the diplomatic arm of the American government; until now they have been mainly the province of the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency.
American contractors say they have been told that the State Department is considering to field unarmed surveillance drones in the future in a handful of other potentially “high-threat” countries, including Indonesia and Pakistan, and in Afghanistan after the bulk of American troops leave in the next two years. State Department officials say that no decisions have been made beyond the drone operations in Iraq.”

Coward’s war
The Guardian’s George Monbiot argues the growing sophistication of drones allows the governments that use them to “snuff out opposition of any kind, terrorist or democrat” with ease and impunity.
“In October last year, a 16-year-old called Tariq Aziz was travelling through North Waziristan in Pakistan with his 12-year-old cousin, Waheed Khan. Their car was hit by a missile from a US drone. As always, their deaths made them guilty: if we killed them, they must be terrorists. But they weren’t. Tariq was about to start work with the human rights group Reprieve, taking pictures of the aftermath of drone strikes. A mistake? Possibly. But it is also possible that he was murdered out of self-interest. If you have such powers, if you are not held to account by Congress, the media or the American people, why not use them?”

Broken food system
Drought and Famine are both normal and predictable, given a global food system “built on inequality, imbalances and – ultimately – fragility,” according to UN special rapporteur on the right to food Olivier De Schutter.
“The solution is therefore twofold: we must plan adequately for the food crises that emerge within our broken food system, and we must finally acknowledge how broken it is. Only when we are honest about hunger will the world’s most vulnerable populations receive the short-term aid and long-term support that they need.”

Corporate responsibility
Speaking at the Public Eye awards ceremony, where UK finance giant Barclays and Brazilian super-miner Vale were named the worst companies of the year, Columbia University’s Joseph Stiglitz stressed how far we are from a world where the majority of companies behave ethically and sustainably.
“When I look at the finalists for this year’s Public Eye awards, two things immediately strike me. For one, it is remarkable how ubiquitous some of the firms with the most deplorable practices are in contemporary life. This year’s nominees are companies in fields as diverse as finance, energy, mining, and electronics. Even the most socially aware consumer would be hard pressed to avoid buying their products and services, directly or indirectly.
…
What is needed is not just a recognition of what is wrong with, say, their environmental and labor practices, but systemic improvements—to incentive structures, legal frameworks, and our expectations and demands of corporations, as global citizens.”

Drugs in Africa
Former UN secretary General Kofi Annan argues the growing importance of West Africa as a transit point for the drug trade threatens to undo many of the positive developments of recent years in the region.
“We need to take action now before the grip of the criminal networks linked to the trafficking of illicit drugs tightens into a stranglehold on West African political and economic development. That can only achieved through a strong, well-co-ordinated and integrated effort led by West African states with the strong backing of the international community. In particular, the region needs more help from those countries that are producing and consuming these drugs.”

Colonial fantasies
Africa is a Country’s Sean Jacobs writes about a recent spate of media reports suggesting an upswing in nostalgia for colonial Africa.
“Two days ago, The Guardian (of all publications) put up a travel piece with this introduction: ‘I was alone in the middle of deepest, darkest Congo. Worse still, I was being chased by eight angry tribesmen in two dugout canoes – and they were gaining on me.’ We figured it must be a joke.”

Latest Developments, October 25

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In the latest news and analysis…

Water grab
Corporate Accountability International argues a newly launched water-governance partnership between the World Bank and major corporations, such as Nestlé and Coca-Cola, amounts to an attempt at water grabbing.
“The Water Resources Group aims to “develop new normative approaches to water management,” paving the way for an expanded private sector role into best and common practices, worldwide. In order to be eligible for support from this new fund, all projects must “provide for at least one partner from the private sector,” not simply as a charitable funder, but “as part of its operations.” The group’s strategy is to insert the private sector into water management one country at a time, through a combination of industry-funded research and direct partnerships with government agencies.”

Puzzling growth
The Center for Global Development’s Charles Kenny looks at the 19 countries – nine of which are located in Sub-Saharan Africa – whose economies more than doubled in size over the last decade and concludes business-friendly regulations may not be as important as many believe.
“Whatever the secret, it doesn’t appear that it was simply a case of creating nirvana for private sector growth. The average 2010 ranking among the world’s 19 fastest-growing countries on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index, which measures the conduciveness of a country’s regulatory environment to starting a new firm, was 114 out of 183. Even among those nine countries that don’t owe their growth to extractive industries, five — including India and Ethiopia — had a ranking below 100. That result echoes the conclusions of economists Dani Rodrik, Ricardo Hausmann, and Lant Pritchett. They looked at 80 periods of “growth acceleration” where an economy increased its growth rate by 2 percent or more for at least seven years. Nearly all were unrelated to economic reforms including liberalization of trade and prices.”

Swiss secrecy
A Bloomberg editorial calls Switzerland’s history of banking secrecy “shameful” and dismisses recent tax agreements with the UK and Germany, which allow holders of Swiss bank accounts to remain anonymous.
“Unfortunately, Switzerland has cooperated only grudgingly in meeting international banking standards, agreeing to do so in 2009 under threat of sanctions and being named as a tax haven by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Even so, the country this month was ranked at the top of a financial secrecy index developed by the London-based Tax Justice Network.
Switzerland should do itself a favor and abandon the financial opacity that has made it the world’s No. 1 destination for offshore wealth. It has no place in a globalized world where money can be electronically whisked from one place to another, except as a cloak for financial wrongdoing.”

Where dirty money goes
The UN News Centre reports on a new study that suggests 70 percent of the proceeds of international organized crime – about $1.6 trillion – were laundered through the world’s financial system, whereas less than one percent was seized or frozen.
“The findings suggest that most cocaine-related profits are laundered in North America and in Europe. The main destination to process cocaine money from other subregions is probably the Caribbean.”

EU extractive industry rules
Tax Research UK’s Richard Murphy is “delighted” that the European Commission has proposed requirements that EU-based extractive and forestry industries disclose their payments to foreign governments on a country and project basis.
“Now we have to get it through the Parliament.
And then make it global.
And apply it to all sectors.”

Hold the applause
But Christian Aid argues the proposal would address corruption but not the tax avoidance that costs poor countries billions each year.
“This information will help people hold their governments to account about what they are doing with the money they are receiving from multinational companies – and that is important,” according to Christian Aid’s Joseph Stead.
“However, corporate accountability is equally important. Unless these proposals are expanded to cover firms in all industries and to require greater financial detail than the Commission is currently suggesting, then companies will be able to keep siphoning profits out of developing countries on a massive scale.”

Letter from Ban
The UN has released a letter sent by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to G-20 leaders ahead of next month’s summit, in which he reminds them of their responsibilities to the planet and its most vulnerable people.
“New sustainable development goals should build on the [Millennium Development Goals] and bring the needs of the planet and those of the poor into a single and mutually reinforcing framework.”

Nobel laureate
Politico reports that the Obama administration is facing opposition from both Democrats and Republicans over the decision to send US troops to central Africa – ostensibly to provide “information, advice and assistance to partner nation forces” in the fight against the Lord’s Resistance Army – just as missions in Iraq and Libya are winding down.
“What is the strategic interest of the United States in doing this? I mean, there are lots of unpleasant people in the world. There are lots of insurgencies and terrorist movements in the world. The United States obviously cannot try to dethrone every one of them,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the deployment.

Latest Developments, October 20

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In the latest news and analysis…

Deregulating Africa
The top headline in the World Bank’s new Doing Business report is Sub-Saharan Africa’s newfound enthusiasm for business-friendly regulations.
“Over the past year a record number of governments in Sub-Saharan Africa changed their economy’s regulatory environment to make it easier for domestic firms to start up and operate. In a region where relatively little attention was paid to the regulatory environment only 8 years ago, regulatory reforms making it easier to do business were implemented in 36 of 46 economies between June 2010 and May 2011. ”

Seed politics
Intellectual Property Watch’s Catherine Saez reports that the Geneva-based International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants is facing calls for greater transparency and protests from farmers over seed policies.
“Protesters’ main concern is the fact that the 1991 UPOV Convention prevents the saving and sharing of farmers seeds. If they originally buy protected varieties, farmers would like to be able to save some of their harvest and share and exchange some of it with other farmers without paying additional royalties.
They claim that original seeds were removed freely from farmers’ fields by breeders. They add that those seeds that were used to engineer new varieties were selected and saved over thousands of years by farmers.”

Connecting the dots
The UN News Centre reports that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser are calling for a “courageous” blueprint to tackle both world poverty and environmental destruction ahead of next year’s sustainable development summit in Rio de Janeiro.
“Mr. Al-Nasser stressed the need for policy-makers to ‘connect the dots between issues’ so that they develop policies that are ‘coherent, effective and beneficial.’
He added it was vital to ensure that the outcome of Rio+20 ‘is innovative and at the same time practical in its approach to tackling issues of sustainable development and poverty eradication.’”

The everywhere war
The UN News Centre also reports that Christof Heyns, the organization’s top expert on “extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions” is calling on national governments to respect international agreements in pursuing their security interests.
“On targeted killings, the Special Rapporteur said the current use of drones and raids into countries where there is not a recognized armed conflict to kill an opponent, such as in Pakistan or Yemen, is highly problematic
While such operations may be designed to hit a particular target, civilian casualties remain, and it is used on such a large scale that it can hardly be described as targeted.
‘The use of such methods by some States to eliminate opponents in countries around the world raises the question why other States should not engage in the same practices. The danger is one of a global war without borders, in which no one is safe,’ stressed Mr. Heyns.”

Sins of omission
Research firm Maplecroft has released a report assessing the worldwide risks faced by businesses of being complicit in human rights violations, with a particular emphasis on countries that are essential the global supply chain, such as China, India and Mexico.
“The ongoing use of forced labour in emerging economies indicates an unwillingness or a critical lack of capacity to address both the symptoms and causes, leaving business to police the problem itself,” according to Maplecroft’s Alyson Warhurst. “Responsible organisations must ensure that they and their business partners are fully compliant with international labour standards or they risk damaged reputations, litigation, investor alienation and reduced profits from consumer backlash and hidden costs relating to reduced productivity linked to adverse working conditions.”

Greasing palms, pumping oil
IRIN reports that even before Uganda begins pumping oil, concerns over the dreaded “resource curse” are growing, due in no small part to the actions of foreign companies.
“Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi has been accused of receiving funds to lobby for oil production rights on behalf of the Italian oil firm ENI, which eventually lost its bid for exploration rights to British firm Tullow Oil. Along with Mbabazi, Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa and Internal Affairs Minister Hilary Onek are both accused of taking bribes from Tullow Oil worth over US$23 million and $8 million respectively.”

Smokin’ profits
The Wall Street Journal reports Philip Morris International’s third-quarter earnings were up 31 percent, largely thanks to increased sales in Asian markets such as Indonesia and the Philippines.
“The company has sought to increase growth in emerging markets as volumes have slipped in more established European markets. As a result of the volume decline in developed countries, Philip Morris must enact price increases or cut costs to increase or maintain profitability.”

The price of gold
Blogger Tim Hoiland draws attention to a recent Tufts University report on the costs and benefits of Guatemala’s Marlin gold mine, which is owned by Canada’s Goldcorp.
“Overall, the report concludes that, when juxtaposed against the long-term and uncertain environmental risk, the economic benefits of the mine to Guatemala and especially to local communities under a business-as-usual scenario are meager and short-lived.”

Latest Developments, September 12

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Latest Developments is undergoing a change of format in order to free up more time for original Beyond Aid reporting. All constructive feedback is welcome.

In the latest news and analysis…

Corruption
The BBC’s Hugh Schofield places allegations former French president Jacques Chirac and his prime minister Dominique de Villepin accepted millions in cash from African heads of state within a historical context of often unsavoury relationship between France and its former colonies on the continent.
“Under the original arrangement, the African leaders guaranteed French access to mineral resources and arms contracts, and helped France maintain its standing on the continent. In return a French military presence more or less ensured their survival in power.”

Reuters reports US officials are looking into possible corruption involving the aerospace industry.
“According to a document obtained by Reuters, the FBI briefed other government agencies in June about a project focused on possible corruption associated with sales and maintenance contracts between aerospace companies and state-owned airlines.
While the aerospace industry has long been subject to such scrutiny, the new initiative focuses on sales and maintenance contracts on the commercial side, not in defense.”

Fiscal policy
Harvard economist Dani Rodrik argues European political leaders need to embrace fiscal unification if they want to save the eurozone.
“Yet this cannot mean that fiscal policy for, say, Greece or Italy would be run from Berlin. A common fiscal policy implies that the elected leaders of Greece and Italy would have some say over German fiscal policies, too. While the need for fiscal unification is increasingly recognized, it is not clear whether European leaders are willing to confront its ultimate political logic head-on. If Germans are unable to stomach the idea of sharing a political community with Greeks, they might as well accept that economic union is as good as dead.”

Megaconferences
The Institute of Development Studies’ Lawrence Haddad wonders whether the upcoming Busan and Rio+20 summits – on aid effectiveness and sustainable development, respectively – will actually lead to new thinking. He gets the ball rolling with a few suggestions of his own, including:
“Ditching the terms “developed” and “developing” countries and replacing them with new terms such as “sustainable developing countries” and “developing countries” to stress the work that the richer countries have to do. Germany might be in the former category and the USA and China in the latter (although strictly speaking no countries can be classified as sustainable developing countries if the collective action failure on emissions continues).” 

The Guardian reports a Rio+20 organizer believes it is necessary to “un-environmentalize” sustainability discourse in order to win over new converts.
“The effort to broaden the principles of the original 1992 Rio Earth summit are likely to prove controversial. Supporters say the world needs a new, more inclusive approach to sustainability that emphasises the benefits to humanity because current efforts to protect nature are failing. Critics warn the increased emphasis on technology and markets will simply greenwash destructive levels of consumption and development.”

Resource extraction
The Globe and Mail’s Barrie McKenna takes Canada, home to about three quarters of the world’s mining companies, to task for its reluctance to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
“It wouldn’t be easy, of course…But a little more regulation and some federal-provincial stress could prove a lot more palatable than a reputation for spawning companies that run amok in the world.”

In an excerpt from his upcoming book on ethical investment, NAJ Taylor draws on the example of Australian miner Rio Tinto to suggest that investors are complicit in the misdeeds of the companies that earn them money.
“Behind the headlines of the global financial crisis is a deeper, more systemic fault line that rewards rampant capitalism. Too many invest in and operate mines such as Grasberg without any consideration of the ethics of so doing.”

La Paz-based freelancer Mattia Cabitza argues Peru’s new land law marks a radical departure from the region’s tendency to favour the interests of resource companies over those of indigenous populations.
“Against the wider backdrop of a struggle that pits the ancestral owners of untapped natural resources against greedy governments and corporations, Peru’s new law on the right of indigenous people to prior consultation may set a regional precedent in avoiding lengthy legal battles and, more importantly, in the prevention and reduction of social conflicts.”

Agriculture
The Guardian’s Mark Tran writes about some of the challenges that are likely to dominate this week’s G20 meeting on agricultural research and development.
“In their discussions on food security and self-reliance, ministers should be asking themselves what impact they will have on a woman farmer in Kenya with a few acres, who is struggling to grow crops on semi-arid soil to feed her family and generate income for school revenues.”

The Overseas Development Institute’s Steve Wiggins and Sharada Keats look at predictions for 2020 cereal prices that range from a significant increase to a gradual decline.
“The medium-term prospects for cereals prices depend much on policy. If too little is spent across much of the developing world on rural roads, health, education, water, and agricultural research and extension, then the outcomes could be as gloomy as those projected by Oxfam and Willenbockel. This applies all the more so if OECD countries do not support international public research for agriculture, and continue their beggar-my-neighbour polices of agricultural trade restrictions, and export and farm subsidies that distort world markets.”

 

Latest Developments, July 6

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In today’s news and analysis…

Joseph Stiglitz says rich countries have learned nothing from the global financial crisis or the failure of earlier austerity measures in Latin America, Asia and elsewhere. But the Nobel laureate’s emphasis on growth and “still further growth” suggests sustainability does not factor into his vision.

Patrick Michaels goes a step further, arguing there are no limits to potential growth, at least when it comes to food production, and it is policies aimed at halting global warming that are killing people: “This “limits to growth” argument is as tired as a farmer at the end of harvest.”

Harvard economist Dani Rodrik lays out his position on the place of democracy in economic policy making: “Ultimately, the question concerns whom we empower to make the rules that markets require. The unavoidable reality of our global economy is that the principal locus of legitimate democratic accountability still resides within the nation state. So I readily plead guilty to my economist critic’s charge. I do want to make the world safe for democratic politicians. And, frankly, I wonder about those who do not.”

One of the architects of the Kimberley Process praises Canada’s stand on blood diamonds, while an editorial (also in Embassy Magazine) refers to asbestos as Canada’s blood diamond after Canada opposed the substance’s inclusion in the Rotterdam Convention’s list of hazardous substances. “So in the same day,” the editorial reads, “Canada stood up for a process designed to save lives and provide accountability in an industry that is wrought with death and hypocrisy, and then took a position of hypocrisy that will contribute to more deaths in developing countries.”

Meanwhile, gold is reportedly fanning the flames of Colombia’s violence. Canada, which is home to a number of the world’s largest gold mining companies, has signed a bilateral free trade agreement which is set to kick in next month. A similar US-Colombia agreement appears stalled for now.

And one final Canadian mining note: The Canadian International Development Agency is teaming up with Teck Resources and the Micronutrient Initiative for zinc treatment in Senegal. Perhaps surprisingly, a spokesperson for watchdog group Mining Watch Canada believes the project goes beyond the kind of “advertising” he says is typical of corporate social responsibility endeavours: “This looks to me like a perfectly positive thing with concrete benefits to children, and it has accountability already built in.”

UNAIDS is praising India’s decision to resist pressure, most notably from the European Union, to adopt more stringent intellectual property protections that would make it more difficult to produce generic HIV/AIDS treatments. “Millions of people will die if India cannot produce generic antiretroviral drugs, and Africa will be the most affected,” UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibé said. “For me, it is an issue of life or death.”

Marta Ruiz draws attention to a couple of initiatives, one in Africa and one in the Netherlands, intended to rein in abusive transfer pricing by transnational corporations. But the tax news out of the Netherlands is not necessarily all good for poor countries.

A Chinese prosecutor is calling for international cooperation in tackling the “global cancer” of trans-border corruption, the world’s largest mining company has banned “facilitation payments” in order to comply with the UK’s new anti-corruption law, and the World Bank is looking into possible asset recovery in foreign bribery cases.

In case anyone needed a reminder of the problems inherent in trying to establish a one-size-fits-all global justice system, an angry crowd in Egypt wants tough penalties for police officers who used violence against protesters earlier this year, while a woman who lost her home in Cote d’Ivoire’s recent violence has other priorities.

Nigeria’s president worries about his country’s “huge food import bills,” and the Economist asks if housing is the most dangerous asset of all.