EADI 12th General Conference - Conference Report

2008/12 - EADI 12th General Conference Report
Abstract:
The 12th EADI General Conference was hosted by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies of Geneva from 24 to 28 June 2008. It brought together over 500 development academics and practitioners from more than 50 countries. The rich conference programme included plenary sessions, thematic parallel sessions, workshops, roundtables, a mini-symposium, three public lectures and 15 working groups that discussed around 180 papers on relevant development issues.

Global Governance for Sustainable Development – was chosen soon after the Conference on Insecurity and Development was held in Bonn in 2005. The Bonn conference had shown that there were more threats to human security than war, civil war and terrorism. The carrying capacity of our planet shows signs of been overstretched and, as a consequence of human activities, environmental degradation and disasters threaten the survival of mankind. Pollution and climate change do not stop at borders and such threats cannot be met by a single country or group of countries therefore international action and cooperation are needed. The theme of global governance was a choice topic for a Conference to be held in Geneva where many international and civil society organisations have a base.

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Climate change Challenges for EU Development Co-operation: Emerging Issues

2009/01 - EDC2020 project; Working Paper No. 3, Authors: Leo Peskett et al.

Abstract:

Developing countries are expected to be most severely affected by the impacts of climate change, in terms of physical impacts such as increased severity of droughts and floods and in terms of potential adverse effects of policy measures taken by developed countries to mitigate climate change, such as the promotion of biofuels. The task of factoring these implications into development co-operation is proving far from straightforward and it poses new problems for the development co-operation agenda.

The European Union (EU) is widely regarded as the world leader in taking action to combat climate change, both through the implementation of domestic policy measures and through pushing policy processes at the international level. Since 1998 it has also been developing policies to deal with the linkages between climate change and development co-operation, reflected in the EU Action Plan on Climate Change and Development (2004) and more recent initiatives such as the Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA) and the Climate Change and Energy Package currently under discussion.

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Tackling Climate Change, Reducing Poverty

2009/01 - Oxfam GB; Report: Author: Viktoria Johnsson et al.

Abstract:

This report represents the coming together of leading environmental and social justice organisations in the UK. For too long now, groups tackling poverty and protecting the environment have operated separately. The fact that climate change and poverty are connected, and must be tackled together, has not been sufficiently understood. Yet they are two of the most pressing challenges faced by our generation.
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Urban Governance for Adaptiion: Assessing Climate Change Resilience in Ten Asian Cities

2009/01 - Institute of Development Studies (IDS); Discussion Paper: Authors: Thomas Tanner et al.

Abstract:

Rapidly expanding urban settlements in the developing world face severe climatic risks in light of climate change. Urban populations will increasingly be forced to cope with increased incidents of flooding, air and water pollution, heat stress and vector-borne diseases. This research, undertaken with a set of partner research institutes, examines how to manage climate-related impacts in an urban context by promoting planned and autonomous adaptation in order to by improve resilience in a changing climate. It investigates the linkages between the characteristics of propoor good urban governance, climate adaptation and resilience, and poverty and sustainable development concerns. The paper develops an analytical framework by combining governance literature with rapid climate resilience assessments conducted in ten Asian cities. Based on this empirical data, we argue that a number of key characteristics can be identified to assess and build urban resilience to climate change in a way that reduces the vulnerability of the citizens most at risk from climate shocks and stresses. These characteristics form the basis of a climate resilient urban governance assessment framework, and include (1) decentralisation and autonomy, (2) accountability and transparency, (3) responsiveness and flexibility, (4) participation and inclusion and (5) experience and support. This framework can help to assist in the planning, design and implementation of urban climate change resilience-building programmes in the future.

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Financing for Development Series: Leveraging Private Investments in Climate Change Mitigation

2008/12 - Deutsches Institut fuer Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), Briefing Paper No. 15, Author: Anna Pegels

Abstract:

Climate change is one of this century’s most serious problems, and one that requires a quick and joint response from developed and developing countries. While developed countries are responsible for the bulk of accumulated emissions, developing countries‘ shares have been growing in recent years. This is especially true of such advanced developing countries as China, India and
Brazil. At the same time, these countries claim their right to development and economic growth, which have hitherto been linked to rising emissions. Decoupling economic growth and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in developing countries will therefore be among the most serious challenges in the coming decades.
Transformation to a low-carbon economy requires a considerable increase in funding as well as quick and vigorous policy action. Public finance comes nowhere near to meeting the needs of climate change mitigation. However, it can and must play a catalytic role in promoting private low-carbon investments in developing countries. The bi- and multilateral financial institutions have a central role to play in this context. They can significantly improve the pipeline of bankable clean technology projects by reducing risks and increasing returns.
Scaling up public funds is important and necessary, but it is not enough in itself. International as well as national policies are required to set the frameworks and create the incentives for private investment in clean technologies. First, the creation of a carbon market with global supply and demand is central. Second, fossil fuel subsidies must be reduced and eventually phased out globally.
Third, governments can support investments in clean technologies with targeted “long, loud and legal” national policies. Fourth, governments of developing countries must ensure favourable investment climates in their countries, including legal certainty and the protection of intellectual property rights.

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UNDP Climate Change Country Profiles

2008/11 - United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/ School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Country-Level Climate Data Summaries

Abstract:

These country-level climate data summaries were prepared with funding from the UNDP National Communication Suport Programme (NSCP) and the UK government Department for International Development (DfiD) in order to address the climate change information gap for developing countries by making use of existing climate data to generate a series of country-level studies of climate observations and the multi-model projections made available through the WCRP CMIP3. A consistent approach has been applied for 52 developing countries in order to produce an 'off the shelf' analysis of climate data, and also make available the underlying data for each country for use in further research.

[Link to 52 Country Reports]

The Fallout from the Financial Crisis (3): Will Aid Budgets Fall Victim to the Credit Crisis?

2008/12 - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - Development Centre (OECD/DC); Policy Insight No. 85, Authors: Andrew Mold et al

Abstract:

The financial crisis should give a new impetus to governments’ efforts to improve aid effectiveness.

Over the last few months, the governments of OECD countries have pledged trillions of dollars in loans, guarantees, capital injections, and other assistance in their coordinated effort to prop up the global financial system. In comparison, annual aid flows, currently standing at around $100 billion, are just “a drop in the ocean”, in the words of Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank.

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The Financial Crisis and EU Foreign Policy

2008/11 - Fundacion para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Dialogo Exterior (FRIDE); Policy Brief No. 1, Author: Richard Youngs

Abstract:

With a host of major banking-sector bail-outs having been agreed across Europe, attention is beginning to turn to the broader political impact of the financial crisis. The question arises of whether the crisis will affect the EU's broader foreign policies - and if so, how.

Many voices are already suggesting that the crisis is likely to mark a turning point in international relations of the same magnitude as those produced by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the attacks of 9/11. Many predict a weakening of support for economic liberalism beyond the immediate banking crisis. And many also foresee the crisis triggering a fundamental shift in the global balance of power and even infecting the liberal political values that ostensibly lie at the heart of European foreign policies. In short, the fear is taking root that the financial crisis will undermine the principal tenets of Western-sponsored global liberalism and encourage a retrenchment in US and European diplomacy.

However, in this Policy Brief, Richard Youngs cautions against such apocalyptic reasoning. Europe’s already existing drift away from global (economic and political) liberalism is part of the problem, not part of the solution. The crisis may even end up providing a positive service if it convinces the EU of the real effort and conviction needed to ensure that liberal foreign policies regain some reality.

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The End of a Great Illusion: Credit Crunch and Liquidity Meltdown

2008/11 - Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS); Working Paper No. 2008/23, Author: Anastasia Nesvetailova

Abstract:

This paper argues that the credit crunch is the result of a particular problem in the world financial system, that is, of the phenomenon of ‘liquidity illusion.’ At the heart of this still poorly under-stood phenomenon lies the spiral of financial innovation and its effects on systemic liquidity. I examine the political-economic mechanisms that had sustained the illusion of liquidity during the boom years, and the mechanisms which contributed to its evaporation during the ongoing crisis.

My analysis demonstrates that that while increased investment inflows have been one of the factors behind the North Atlantic credit boom of 2003-2007, the boom – including housing and securitization bubbles – has disguised the fact that the financial system in Anglo Saxon econ-omies has become

progressively illiquid. Drawing on the scholarship of Hyman Minsky, I identify three pillars of the liquidity illusion – Ponzi finance; collective thinking by investors; and the credibility function performed by the credit rating agencies – and examine their role in the un-ravelling of the global liquidity illusion.

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The Global Financial Crisis and Developing Countries

2008/10 - Overseas Development Institute (ODI); Background Note, Author: Dirk Willem te Velde

Abstract:

This Background Note discusses which developing countries may be at risk as a result of the global financial crisis. It examines recent growth performance in both developed and developing countries, the channels through which the crisis may affect them, the countries that may be vulnerable, and the possible policy responses. It argues that, despite the current crisis, not all developing country economies are equally vulnerable, with strong growth still being recorded in a number of countries and regions. While the crisis could well have serious economic and social impacts on the developing world, much depends on adequate policy responses in both north and south.

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Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Blog : Obama and the Millennium Development Goals

2009/01 - Overseas Development Institute (ODI); Blog Entry, Tuesday, January 20, 2009 10:00 AM by Andrew Shepherd

Abstract:

Mr. President

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the world’s major framework against absolute poverty and deprivation. They were set in 2000/1 based on trends to 1990, and so should not have been too hard to achieve. Nearly 20 years on, they are proving challenging – with some large countries doing well, and others struggling; with more progress on some goals than others. Achieving the goals would represent a very basic level of wellbeing. It would be good to see the US administration putting its weight behind the goals, working with others to see how their achievement by 2015 can be hastened, and how obstacles can be removed. In the past few years the US has punched below its weight on these issues in the international arena. I’m sure with you in charge that will change!...

[Link to the blog]