IDN-InDepthNews

Climate Change2013-07-112023-07-10

Green Climate Fund Moves Ahead

By Meena Raman* | IDN-InDepth NewsReport

GENEVA (IDN) – The fourth meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board, which began on June 26 in Songdo, South Korea, concluded on June 28 with the selection of its Executive Director as well as the adoption of decisions on the ‘business model framework’, which includes the private sector facility.

A decision was taken to set up three new structures under the private sector facility, to determine the terms of engagement with the private sector, exert due diligence and manage risks, as well as to review investment proposals and instruments.

The GCF Board selected Hela Cheikhrouhou as the Fund Secretariat’s first Executive Director (ED), following a global recruitment process.

Europe2013-07-102023-07-10

Kudos and Critique for France’s Aid Policy

By Richard Johnson | IDN-InDepth NewsReport

PARIS (IDN) – While commending France for its commitment to aid, its overall development strategy and its engagement at the global level to promote it, including innovative financing, an OECD review has urged the government “not to compromise its ability to help reduce poverty in poor and fragile countries.”

It also calls upon France “to do more to support civil society organisations and gender equality and to build stronger capacity for developing countries to manage their own futures.” The country could also do more to monitor the results of its development efforts, says the Review of the Development Co-operation Policies and Programmes of France, which is available only in French.

GLOBAL ISSUES2013-07-092023-07-10

Out of Poverty with Aid for Trade

By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepth NewsReport

GENEVA (IDN) – Development assistance alone will not suffice to lead the way out of poverty. It must be backed by Aid for Trade. Inspired by this belief, the powerful European Commission, the OECD and WTO, are making an impassioned plea for boosting Aid for Trade (AfT) flows, arguing that these result in lower trade costs and improved trade performance.

One in six people in the world today live on less than a dollar a day, argues the European Commission. These poor people need decent jobs, in order to make a living and provide for their families. At the same time, governments need tax revenue to invest in social services and encourage economic growth.

Middle East2013-07-082023-07-10

Egypt: Developments in Continuing Revolution, Not a Coup

By Ismail Serageldin* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

CAIRO (IDN) – Egypt is once more doing things its own unique way. After millions of people went into the streets and in 18 days that shook the world succeeded in toppling the regime of Hosny Mubarak after 30 years of rule, they came back again in their millions into the streets and squares of Egypt and toppled Mohamed Morsi after one year of rule.

Dr. Mohamed Morsi was Egypt’s first elected civilian president, in free and fair elections organized by the post-Mubarak military rulers after 18 months of transitional governance. The people rejoiced in the election and the handover of power from the military to Dr. Morsi on July 1, 2012. They backed him in his bid to assert civilian leadership over the military.

Middle East2013-07-072023-07-10

Post-Morsi Egypt Fuel For Al-Qaeda Fires

By Eric Walberg* | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

The removal of Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, by the army threatens to open a Pandora’s box. Al-Qaeda’s post-Bin Laden leader, (Egyptian) Ayman Zawahiri, has always been focused on combating local regimes and Arab rulers, these days, Assad in Syria. If Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is forced underground again, it is inevitable that terrorism will increase, as frustrated Islamists are forced to defend themselves and to resist the re-imposition of the western model, with al-Qaeda-types hovering in the background.

Europe2013-07-062023-07-10

Banks Count Ten Times More Than Europe’s Youth

By Roberto Savio* | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

ROME (IDN | Other News) – Youth At the last summit of European heads of state in Brussels, the main theme was youth unemployment, which has now reached 23% of European youth (although it stands at 41% in Spain). Last year, the International Labour Organization issued a dramatic report on ‘Global Employment Trends for Youth 2012’ in which it spoke of a “lost generation”.

ENERGY2013-07-052023-07-10

Nuclear Plants To Power Sustainable Development

By Richard Johnson | IDN-InDepth NewsReport

MOSCOW (IDN) – Forgotten is the shock and despair triggered by the Fukushima power plant disaster about two years ago. Nuclear power is here to stay. In fact, according to a consensus emerging from an international conference, “for many countries nuclear power is a proven, clean, safe, and economical technology that will play an increasingly important role in achieving energy security and sustainable development goals in the 21st century”.

GLOBAL ISSUES2013-07-042023-07-10

‘Soil Crucial to Sustainable Development’

By IDN Global Desk

BERLIN (IDN) – Land and soil, which are finite resources and the essential bases of all food production, should be treated on par with energy, food and water as essential elements of sustainable development, says Tarja Halonen, co-chair of the UN High-level Panel on Global Sustainability, and a former President of Finland.

Though the debate on land and soil has been moving forward, “it is still lagging behind the climate and biodiversity processes, so we have to give it an extra push for the run-up to the discussions on the post-2015 agenda,” she told UNCCD News, a bi-monthly update on the work of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

Asia-Pacific2013-07-032023-07-10

Asian Economic Model Under Duress

By Martin Khor* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

The successful East Asian model of “state-driven capitalism” is being threatened by proposals in the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) to remove possible advantages of state-owned enterprises.

GENEVA (IDN) – Many articles and books have been published on the contrast and competition between the present Western and the Asian-style economic models.

Asia-Pacific2013-07-022023-07-10

India-China Boundary Talks Ease Tension

By Shastri Ramachandran* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

NEW DELHI (IDN) – The 16th round of talks between the Special Representatives (SRs) of India and China on the boundary issue, which was held in Beijing on June 28 and 29, was not just another round of jaw-jaw towards resolving the border dispute. The meeting had acquired greater significance because it is the first after the April 15 incursion by Chinese troops in Depsang in eastern Ladakh, and was held less than a week before defence minister AK Antony’s visit to China.

In the view of some observers, the Chinese incursion had strained bilateral relations to a level unprecedented since the 1962 conflict. So much so that there were calls for cancellation of not only external affairs minister Salman Khurshid’s visit to China in May but also Chinese premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Delhi the same month. However, with China making amends and India not pushing for a confrontation, both visits went as scheduled although Premier Li’s visit – his first foreign stop since assuming office in the decadal power shift – did not evoke the expected enthusiasm.