This publication outlines current understanding of how a circular economy can help avert the climate crisis. It outlines nine calls-to-action decision makers and researchers can take to maximise circular economy benefits in order to help limit warming to 1.5 ̊C and avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Following a wave of oil discoveries in Africa, this book offers new perspectives and critical reflections on the prevalent academic discourses on oil in Africa. It brings together researchers from the social sciences to challenge simplified readings of the complex realities of oil politics, economies and societies through theoretical critique and ‘on the ground’ ethnographic methods. Climate change highlights the need to understand the intricate ways societies are built on and for oil energy. The book analyses the effects of oil production and the global energy structure, offering relevant insights and avenues for future research on oil.
Southeast Asia is one of the most economically and developmentally successful regions in the world. However, the ability of the region’s developing economies to sustain this success is increasingly in question. The key question is does Southeast Asia need a new development model? There are no easy answers.
Reparations for slavery have become a reinvigorated topic for public debate over the last decade. Most theorizing about reparations treats it as a social justice project - either rooted in reconciliatory justice focused on making amends in the present; or, they focus on the past, emphasizing restitution for historical wrongs. Olúfemi O. Táíwò argues that neither approach is optimal, and advances a different case for reparations - one rooted in a hopeful future that tackles the issue of climate change head on, with distributive justice at its core. This view, which he calls the "constructive" view of reparations, argues that reparations should be seen as a future-oriented project engaged in building a better social order; and that the costs of building a more equitable world should be distributed more to those who have inherited the moral liabilities of past injustices.
In 2021, concentrations of the three main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide – continued to reach record highs. The annual increase in methane concentration was the highest on record, which is especially significant given that methane is more than 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Real time data from specific locations show levels of the three gases continued to increase in 2022.
Reaching net zero by 2050 will mean a complete transformation of our global energy system, with a switch to lower emissions electricity production and increased energy efficiency at the heart of the worldwide response. But the transition to clean energy calls for investment in improved weather, water and climate services that can be used to ensure our energy infrastructure is resilient to climate-related shocks and inform measures to increase energy efficiency across multiple sectors.
This ebook provides a comprehensive overview of the financing gap that emerging and developing countries face to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris climate goals. It provides detailed country- and region-level analysis of the challenges and opportunities of scaling up sustainable finance and investment and discusses the range of instruments that could be used to reach these climate and development objectives.
This research paper maps the political landscape on Loss and Damage finance, with the aim of increasing understanding of different countries’ perspectives and identifying pragmatic, politically realistic steps that could be taken in the near term to start building consensus among governments around a way forward.
Climate change is landing blow after blow upon humanity and the planet, an onslaught that will only intensify in the coming years even if the world begins to bring down greenhouse gas emissions. The present report finds that the world must urgently increase efforts to adapt to these impacts of climate change.
Renewable mini-grids are a promising technology to electrify remote communities with a substantial productive demand, mainly from agro-processing. Mini-grids have experienced fast growth and there are now around 2,200 systems in the sub-Saharan Africa region. However, their economic case in the sub-continent is unclear. Most mini-grids are struggling not only to obtain a profit but also to recover costs.
The 2022 edition analyses recent developments in migration movements and the labour market inclusion of immigrants. It includes a special chapter on the policy responses by OECD countries to the large inflow of refugees from Ukraine as well as a series of three short chapters on international students analysing respectively recent trends, attraction and retention policies as well as the economic impact of international students.
Between January–September 2022, more than 150,000 people crossed into Panama from Colombia through the Darién Gap. Of this number, 71% were Venezuelans. Around 14,500 were Children. Although migrants have historically used the Darién route to reach Central America, the flow considerably increased: the 133,000 migrants that crossed in 2021 is greater than the number of all crossings between 2010–2020.
This paper explores three case studies of the Al-Nouri Mosque, Al-Hadba Minaret, and Lalish Temple in the aftermath of the ISIS war of 2014–17 and the occupation of Nineveh governorate. It analyses the role of these sites as part of northern Iraq’s heritage and the mechanisms in place for their reconstruction and preservation. The paper explores the role of the different actors and how these have influenced different understandings of heritage and therefore different responses and approaches to restoration.
This article identifies a gap in studies of ‘hybrid warfare’ and introduces the new concept of ‘hybrid balancing’. While previous studies have predominantly focused on Russian behaviours in Crimea and Ukraine, this article uses ‘hybrid balancing’ to examine China's hybrid warfare in the Indo-Pacific, against the backdrop of harsh geopolitical competition between China and the US.
This article draws on the security policies of one-time neutral countries like Austria, Finland and Moldova, to probe the case for Ukraine as a sovereign but potentially neutral state. For Ukraine, a form of armed neutrality outside NATO could be a way to preserve sovereignty and statehood beyond the current war with Russia. The article has implications for western policy-making on the Russia-Ukraine war.
In 2019, wildfires put the Amazon rainforest once again in the global spotlight and prompted criticism from several leaders. The contrast between the responses of Amazon and global North states becomes a puzzle when one thinks about the concrete consequences of Amazon degradation. In fact, ecosystem degradation does not respect borders. The growing deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon has come to be seen as leading to a tipping point of no return for the entire regional ecosystem, affecting populations in all Amazon countries.
An energy transition partnership that is to be just–in a distributive, procedural and restorative sense–cannot be negotiated behind closed doors. Transparency in the negotiations with international partners is key and often lacking across the three country studies. So is a pluralistic debate in the elaboration of a country-driven plan that involves multiple stakeholders.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, global health governance—especially the World Health Organisation—failed by design. Not because the WHO was too weak, or captured by China, but because, like many other global governance regimes, it pursued an illusory globalist approach that failed to build capacity where it was really needed: at the level of nation-states.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s recovery has been abruptly interrupted. Last year, activity finally bounced back, lifting GDP growth in 2021 to 4.7%. But growth in 2022 is expected to slow sharply by more than 1% to 3.6%, as a worldwide slowdown, tighter global financial conditions, and a dramatic pickup in global inflation spill into a region already wearied by an ongoing series of shocks
After the strong rebound of 6.5% posted in 2021, growth in Asia and Pacific is expected to moderate to 4.0% in 2022 amid an uncertain global environment and rise to 4.3% in 2023. Inflation has risen above most central bank targets, but is expected to peak in late 2022. As the effects of the pandemic wane, the region faces new headwinds from global financial tightening and an expected slowdown of external demand.
