development « Climate Equity

The World Bank’s series of World Development Reports (WDR)is special: conceived as the “flagship publication” of the international development bank, whose self-declared primary mission is poverty reduction, WDRs are meant to showcase the most advanced thinking from within the World Bank, detailing — and suggesting ways to overcome – major political, social and economic obstacles to global development targeted at development policy makers and practitioners. Given this premise, and the world’s acknowledgement of gender equality as critical for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), one might wonder why it has taken the World Bank research staff that long to zoom in on gender equality (the Bank has published 32 WDRs so far since 1978) as the topic for a WDR, with “Gender Equality and Development” now being the official focus of the upcoming WDR 2012 to be released in late 2011.

But if a first 65-page draft outline of the possible several hundred pages long final report is any indication, the World Bank’s staff, despite its stated intention to use the WDR to take a look at the “various dimensions“ of gender equality, will not be able to overcome its own parochial view of women and gender equality.  Missing most prominently: an understanding of development in the context of sustainability, which – in the day and age of persistently high poverty rates, food insecurity, gender inequalities, environmental destruction and climate change globally – should be redefined as low-carbon, climate-resilient, livelihood focused, gender equitable development.  After all, almost 20 years after the Earth Summit, next year a serious reconsideration and refocusing of the concept in the context  of Rio+20 seems unavoidable. (more…)

In 2007,  Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa first suggested that his country would forgo oil exploitation in its Yasuni National Park indefinitely if the world community would compensate the Ecuadorean people for half of the unrealized income of US$ 7.2 billion via contributions to a special trust fund. This innovative idea for a new way to help a resource-rich but income-poor country like Ecuador overcome its resource-curse and develop in a more sustainable and climate-friendly way “post-petroleum” was greeted with a lot of enthusiasm.  Germany, having long established development cooperation ties with Ecuador, was one of the first countries signaling their support for such a fund.  In 2008, the German parliament, in a rare display of unity across the aisles, confirmed its willingness to appropriate funding.  Fast-forward three years:  Ecuador has been able to transform an innovative idea into a legally sound mechanism.  In early August, the Yasuni Ishpingo Tambococha Tiputini (ITT) Trust Tund, which ismanaged by UNDP, became a reality and ready to receive major contributions… 

But what is not (yet) happening, is major donor country support.  Especially, the recent refusal of Germany’s Development Minister Niebel to pay into the Yasuni Trust Fund is a setback.   One cannot underestimate the bad signal it sends to other potential donor countries hinting that the Trust Fund might, well, not be trustworthy. On top of it, Germany does itself – and its aspirations to global leadership in issues like climate change and institutions such as the UN Security Council – a huge disservice.  Let’s hope that the setback is temporary – and Germany’ can embrace the Yasuni Trust Fund in a major way after all.  There are many good reasons, why this innovative development financing tool is worth the world community’s support and generous financial contributions by countries such as Germany. (more…)

I know you know that your and my individual eating habits have a big influence on the global commons that is our climate, not to mention our waistlines. Eating locally produced food, preferably vegetarian, is better for the climate than foodstuff shipped, flown or trucked over wide distances — although there are some finer notes about the development contributions for poor countries involved in the food miles debate that should at least be honestly acknowledged. And it keeps us healthier and fitter, too.

So the climate connection is obvious (too much food, wrongly produced, too many food miles) when I tell you that in the United States alone, by 2020 some 75 % percent of the adult population are expected to be overweight and obese (meaning, those folks are not just chubby like the average middle aged person living in the United States, such as myself, but extremely overweight). All that extra food is adding up to tons of emissions overweight, too.

But did you know that the economic cost to the United States for that collective belly fat – in lost productivity because of shortened life-spans, more illnesses and thus increased health care costs — already is at least at 1 percent of the United States gross domestic product (GDP) and expected to rise?  A new OECD study says so.

Now, that caught my eye and should catch yours, if you are concerned with fighting climate change: not only is the fattest OECD country also the biggest climate polluter in the industrialized country club, but the trajectories for both GHG emissions and belly girth in the United States specifically and the wider OECD world in general are trending seemingly unstoppable upwards — and with it the costs…. (more…)

It has taken the 192 member states of the United Nations a little while (what, four years?) to come to a decision on how to best promote gender equality within the international institution.  The result, agreed upon by General Assembly in a resolution beginning of July, is a newly formed agency within the UN, the UN Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women.  

Now, ordinarily, one would refer to this UN unit henceforth under its acronym.  Unfortunately, “UNEGEEW”  doesn’t exactly role from the tongue.  Nor does it ring with positive connotations — in US English, “eew” is an utterance of distaste and disgust.  So, with tongue-in-cheek and decidedly unimaginative, the entity will be known in the future as “UN Women” or “ONU Femmes” in French.  One can only hope that this nomen turns out to be a good omen,  even as it downplays the gender dimension of its work…  At least, the new structure provides some clarity and with the expected appointment of the head of the new UN Women agency at the rank of an Under-Secretary-General, directly reporting to the Secretary General and included in all senior-level management circles some much needed authority boost for gender equality issues at the United Nations. (more…)