Top Concerns in Asia’s Unfinished Development Agenda for the Post-MDG Era

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Asia and the Pacific face a daunting unfinished development agenda when the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) expire in 2015. The focus in this fast growing region should be on the glaring gaps in its MDG achievements: eradicating extreme poverty and making better progress on human development, especially reducing infant deaths and improving maternal health.

Confronting the environmental degradation caused by the region’s rapid economic growth presents another critical challenge for the post-MDG era.

A global debate is already under way on the best way to tackle the challenges of a post-2015 development agenda. To contribute to this discussion, Independent Evaluation at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has just released a study ADB’s Support for Achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The report assesses the region’s progress and ADB’s contribution. The study also seeks to answer a question that will be crucial for a new agenda: does setting goals make a difference to development results?

Adoption of the MDGs, which the United Nations announced in 2001, by governments in Asia and the Pacific offered great promise for focusing attention on the poor and accelerating socioeconomic development. Among the eight MDGs are targets to halve the number of people living in extreme poverty, attain universal primary education, and promote environmental sustainability.

Asia and the Pacific performed very well on reducing income poverty, which fell from 55% in the early 1990s to 24% by the late 2000s, a historically unprecedented global achievement. Even so, the region continues to account for two-thirds of the world’s poor, vast numbers of them concentrated in South Asia. Rising inequality across the region is hampering progress in reducing poverty.

“Despite the past record of high economic growth, a sharp reduction in poverty remains a top development priority beyond 2015,” says Independent Evaluation’s Director General Vinod Thomas. “The findings of this study, coupled with other evaluative evidence, indicate that continuing the same pattern of growth will not be enough to stem rising inequality nor reverse environmental degradation in time—problems that in turn threaten sustained economic growth.”

Wealth gaps between rich and poor have widened in about half the region’s economies, home to some 80 percent of its population. Furthermore, Asia’s inequality, like the rest of the world’s, is not limited to income poverty, as much of the region also suffers from large disparities in the provision of basic services. The quality of economic growth is essential.

“The human cost of neglecting the quality of growth in this successfully expanding region is large, as shown by the high incidence of malnutrition and stunting among children in India, the health consequences of chronic air pollution in the People’s Republic of China, and the grim death toll in the recent collapse of a garment factory in Bangladesh,” says Thomas.

Considerable gaps remain in the state of human development in the region, indicating that a positive link between economic growth and human development is not automatic. For example, the number of underweight children aged below 5 only declined modestly over two decades, from 35% in the early 1990s to 25% by the late 2000s.

The link between rapid economic growth and the environment is complex, with slow progress and even regression on some environmental targets in many countries. Linda Arthur, the study’s principal author, says: “Several environmental indicators are unlikely to meet their 2015 cut-off values, notably for CO2 emissions, forest cover protection, and improved sanitation.”

Did setting goals make a difference to development results beyond historically expected trends? Country case studies for India, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia, and Papua New Guinea show that some of these countries adjusted policies and budgets because of the MDGs, leading to better performance on several indicators. Importantly, many development institutions redirected their financial support to MDGs.

But goal setting ran into problems because of the limited resources and capacity in many countries to implement the MDGs. Poor data collection and data quality meant that many countries were unable to adequately track their MDG progress. This renders planning for further support to reach the MDGs by 2015 difficult and planning for the post-2015 agenda even more so.

“The data issue must be addressed when considering new targets for the post-2015 period,” says Arthur, “but the evidence on balance supports the positive effects of goal setting.”

Some $32 billion of ADB’s total sovereign financing between 2002 and 2011, the period covered by the study, was for direct MDG support. Projects and programs aimed at reducing income poverty and promoting environmental sustainability comprised the major share of that portfolio, while MDG support for human development was less prominent. The study found that interventions directly supporting the MDGs were notably more successful than ADB’s overall historical average.

Looking at ADB’s potential contribution to a post-2015 development agenda, the study suggests that a focus on countries and goals whose development progress falls furthest below a minimum standard is warranted. The best way forward for Asia and the Pacific will be a balanced pursuit of poverty reduction, human development, and environmental sustainability.

To download the evaluation study, visit:
http://www.adb.org/documents/thematic-evaluation-study-adb-s-support-achieving-millennium-development-goals?ref=site/evaluation/resources
and click on the PDF. Table 6: Millennium Development Goals Progress Tracking on page 33 of the study shows the progress of all countries in Asia and the Pacific in achieving their MDGs.
Source: Asian Development Bank’s Independent Evaluation.

Filed under: Asia, Development, Economy, MDGs, Poverty, Publications

Transforming Education into Better Jobs and Better Lives

Reblogged from NORRAG NEWSBite:

Andreas Schleicher, OECD.

Everywhere skills transform lives and drive economies; and without the right skills, people are kept on the margins of society, technological progress does not translate into economic growth, and countries can’t compete in today’s economies. But the toxic co-existence of unemployed graduates on the street, while employers tell us that they cannot find the people with the skills they need, shows that more education does not automatically translate into better economic and social outcomes.

Read more… 760 more words

This blog post also appears in NORRAG NEWS 48, 2012: The Year of Global Reports on TVET, Skills & Jobs Consensus or diversity? (April 2013), available free online at www.norrag.org

Filed under: Development, Economy, Employment, OECD, Poverty, Research

Global DHL CEO optimistic about Africa’s potential

LIVINGSTONE, Zambia, March 14, 2013/ — “Africa is the last bastion for business globally and, over the next few years, will prove its potential as a stable, lucrative continent for international commerce.” These are the words of Ken Allen, Chief Executive Officer of global express and logistics provider, DHL Express.

Allen is in Sub-Saharan Africa to visit countries including Zambia, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa, as the operator continues to expand into the continent and increase its already vast footprint into the far-flung, rural areas. He will also attend DHL’s internal employee celebration in Livingstone, Zambia, which acknowledges the company’s ‘superstars’ from over 60 countries.

Allen’s visit follows the March 5th announcement by Deutsche Post DHL that the DHL Express division made an EBIT contribution of EUR 1.11 billion in 2012, a 21 percent improvement over 2011. He is also upbeat about commerce in Africa and eager to use this proven global business approach to further entrench DHL in the continent, spurring on trade and connecting the markets to increase the continent’s global competitiveness.

“Much has been said around Africa’s potential and, while it currently only contributes 3% of the global GDP, it is still the fastest growing continent. We have seen positive economic indicators from countries across Sub-Saharan Africa – Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and Uganda to name a few – and I believe we will continue to see Africa improve its standing on the international business stage.”

He continues, “The major challenge for Africa and, primarily for us as logistics operators, is to improve infrastructure – whether this is road infrastructure or air capacity. Current road conditions are responsible for approximately 40 percent of transport costs in coastal countries and 60 percent in landlocked countries, and we know that transport costs can make up 50 to 75 percent of the actual retail price of goods in countries such as Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda. We are currently transporting over 80 percent of our cargo by air, which can be between 3 and 9 times more expensive than road or rail. For Africa to become competitive, this situation needs urgent review, with a strong focus on the developments of the transport infrastructure.”

And Allen’s major focus for the next few years? “Continuing to motivate and engage our employees, in both Africa and abroad. We have seen the culture of DHL Express reformed and reshaped through employee engagement and training, and the financial turnaround of the business is testament to this. Putting your human capital at the centre of your company leads not only to great service, but loyal customers and unparalleled business returns. Source: African Press Organization.

Filed under: Africa, Clusters, Development, Economy, Germany, Trade, logistics, value chains

Inter-American Development Bank calls for solutions for financial inclusion of people with disabilities

Most voted projects may receive up to $50,000 in grants

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced a call for innovative ideas to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities as financial sector clients and workers in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The competition organized by the IDB’s Innovation Lab is open to public and private financial institutions, either regulated or non-regulated, from the Bank’s 48 member countries for projects to be carried out in Latin America and the Caribbean. Participants must register and submit their proposals at the lab’s website, bidinnovacion.org.

Proposals, which must be submitted by December 31, 2012, will be put to a vote by the general public. The most voted ideas will be evaluated by a panel of experts, who will select the best ones to receive grants of up to $50,000 for their implementation.

The call for solutions is financed with resources from the Italian Cooperation, in coordination with the Multilateral Investment Fund (FOMIN) and the beyondBanking program of the IDB’s Structured and Corporate Finance Department.

About the Innovation Lab

The Innovation Lab, a virtual platform managed by the IDB’s Competitiveness and Innovation Division, uses crowdsourcing to foster the exchange of original ideas and find high-impact solutions to diverse development problems in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The lab currently has two other competitions underway:

Inclusion in Firms: open to public and private companies and organizations with innovative solutions for labor inclusion of people with disabilities. Priority will be given to proposals with a focus on gender. The most voted ideas will qualify for a second phase, in which a panel of experts will select the best proposals. Projects may receive grants of up to $50,000 for their implementation. Applicants must register and submit their proposals at www.bidinnovacion.org/inclusion-in-firms.

Disruptive Ideas: open to organizations and individuals with ideas to break barriers to labor inclusion of people with disabilities. Participants with the most voted proposals will be invited by the IDB to present their ideas and discuss their implementation with the Innovation Lab’s staff. Participants must register and submit their ideas at www.bidinnovacion.org/disruptive-ideas.

Filed under: Banking, Caribbean, Development, Economy, Microfinance, Poverty, finance, inclusion, Latin America

Regional integration can boost FDI in Africa, experts at AEC say

Kigali, Rwanda, 31 October 2012 (ECA) – Experts at the ongoing African Economic Conference in Kigali today agreed that Africa would need to strengthen regional integration in order to boost increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the continent, because it creates larger domestic markets and stimulates trade, two elements that can attract FDI.

“At a time when China, India, Brazil and other large emerging markets are taking on such a prominence in the global economy, we must surely focus the minds of African policymakers, particularly from smaller, landlocked countries, on the importance of pushing forward the regional integration agenda”, said Andrew Mold, a senior Economic Affairs Officer of ECA.

Mold said that attracting FDI in Africa could be facilitated by the adoption of appropriate trade and macroeconomic policy regimes that promote regional integration activities.

By banding together through regional integration arrangements, member countries can enhance their bargaining power in international economic relations. “Such power can be especially beneficial in trade negotiations, particularly for small countries”, he said.

Policy makers at the conference showed a wide consensus that regional integration in Africa is the way to go. John Rwangombwa, Rwanda’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning said that in the continued uncertainties of the global economy, Africa must present itself as the most profitable and secure destination of investors’ funds that are scared of the problems in the Western markets.

“It is worrying to know that Africa attracts less than nine percent of FDI. We need as much as possible to continue reducing the uncertainties about the evolution of our economies”, said Minister Rwangombwa.

The fifth edition of ECA’s flagship report on Assessing Regional Integration in Africa provides leading insights on the matter. The report states that economies of most African countries are individually too small to provide adequate incentives for large-scale investment.

The report clearly articulates that regional integration is likely to improve efficiency as a result of competitive pressure among rival firms in African economy.

Source: ECA Information and Communication Service Press Release 183/2012

Filed under: ACP, Africa, Economy

Increased Policy Space under Globalization – networkideas.org

A severe blow to active Keynesian policy intervention occurred as a result of the New Classical resurgence in macroeconomics. With a vertical aggregate supply curve in the short and the long runs (New Classicals) or at least in the long run (New Keynesians), it has been argued that the economy settles down at a unique non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU) without any government intervention. Implicit in the NAIRU theory is that the prices can decrease just as they can increase. However, if the prices cannot decrease, the aggregate supply curve would be an inverse-L shaped curve, both in the short and the long runs. Furthermore, with globalization, the expectations-augmented Phillips curve becomes horizontal because of an absolute decline in the bargaining power of the working class in the advanced countries. This means that not only would the economy settle at less than ‘full employment’, but the only way it could be brought closer to that is through active policy intervention. In the present case, manoeuvrability of fiscal policy increases since the threat of accelerating inflation practically disappears.

via networkideas.org – Increased Policy Space under Globalization, by Rohit Azad and Anupam Das
September 19, 2012..

Filed under: Development, Economy, Governance, Publications, Research

The geography of poverty | The Economist

Working out how to help the world’s poorest depends on where they live

WHERE do the world’s poor live? The obvious answer: in poor countries. But in a recent series of articles Andy Sumner of Britain’s Institute of Development Studies showed that the obvious answer is wrong*. Four-fifths of those surviving on less than $2 a day, he found, live in middle-income countries with a gross national income per head of between $1,000 and $12,500, not poor ones. His finding reflects the fact that a long but inequitable period of economic growth has lifted many developing countries into middle-income status but left a minority of their populations mired in poverty. Since the countries involved include giants like China and India, even a minority amounts to a very large number of people. That matters because middle-income countries can afford to help their own poor. If most of the poverty problem lies within their borders, then foreign aid is less relevant to poverty reduction. A better way to help would be to make middle-income countries’ domestic policies more “pro-poor”.

Now Mr Sumner’s argument faces a challenge. According to Homi Kharas of the Brookings Institution and Andrew Rogerson of Britain’s Overseas Development Institute, “by 2025 most absolute poverty will once again be concentrated in low-income countries.” They argue that as middle-income countries continue to make progress against poverty, its incidence there will fall. However, the number of poor people is growing in “fragile” states, which the authors define as countries which cannot meet their populations’ expectations or manage these through the political process (sounds like some European nations, too). The pattern that Mr Sumner describes, they say, is a passing phase.

Messrs Kharas and Rogerson calculate that the number of poor in “non-fragile” states has fallen from almost 2 billion in 1990 to around 500m now; they think it will go on declining to around 200m by 2025. But the number of poor in fragile states is not falling—a testament both to the growing number of poor, unstable places and to their fast population growth. This total has stayed flat at about 500m since 1990 and, the authors think, will barely shift until 2025. As early as next year, the number of poor in what are sometimes called FRACAS (fragile and conflict-affected states) could be greater than the number in stable ones. That would imply something different to Mr Sumner’s view: instead of being irrelevant to poverty reduction, foreign aid will continue to be vital, since fragile states (unlike middle-income ones) cannot afford to help the poor but instead need help themselves.

via Free exchange: The geography of poverty | The Economist.

Filed under: Development, Economy, MDGs, Poverty, Research, fragile states

THE CLUB OF ROME – A New Path for World Development

THE CLUB OF ROME – A New Path for World Development.

It is clear that the present path of world development is not sustainable in the longer term, even if we recognise the enormous potentials of the market and of technological innovation. New ideas and strategies will be needed to ensure that improved living conditions and opportunities for a growing population across the world can be reconciled with the conservation of a viable climate and of the fragile ecosystems on which all life depends. A new vision and path for world development must be conceived and adopted if humanity is to surmount the challenges ahead.

In response to this intellectual and practical challenge, the Club of Rome will undertake a three year programme on “A New Path for World Development” so as to achieve a better understanding of the complex challenges which confront the modern world and to lay solid foundations for the action which must be taken to improve the prospects for peace and progress.

Filed under: Crisis, Development, Economy, Governance, Publications

Learning forum on Green Jobs: local strategies and actions

Learning forum on Green Jobs: local strategies and actions.

Provides participants with a range of development tools and best practices with the objective to enhance their skills in the design and implementation of innovative Green Jobs strategies and actions at the local level. Target group: Local, regional and national officials concerned with economic development or planning and environmental policies; experts from international organizations, NGOs, chambers of commerce and other bodies dealing with territorial development, environment, representatives of workers, employers, local business organizations, cooperatives and other member-based organizations. Application deadline: 27 February 2011 A limited number of partial fellowships is available!

Language: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese,
Modality: face-to-face
Location: Turin and StudyVisit
Start Date: 2011/04/04 – End Date: 2011/04/21

Filed under: Economy, Employment, ILO

The Call — The Turin 2011 Learning Link

The Call — Learning Link.

The Turin 2011 Learning Link is based on the principle of collaborative contributions. This call is addressed to all organizations that are willing to share their knowledge and experiences in a participatory learning setting from April 11-15 at the International Training Centre of the ILO in Turin, Italy.
Themes

South-South and Triangular Cooperation
• This thematic area may be examined through the lens of understanding concepts, contexts and the international discourse on South-South and triangular cooperation. Practical questions, such as how to establish commitment to partnerships for capacity development? or what are successful strategies to implementing South-South and triangular cooperation for capacity development? may also be addressed.

Private Sector Participation
• In addition to analyzing challenges and opportunities for public and private sector cooperation for capacity development, the steering committee would appreciate session proposals that investigate incentives and tactics for the proactive inclusion of the private sector. How to identify, adapt and adopt successful practices across sectors, or knowledge sharing approaches, are examples of possible topics.

The MDGS: towards 2015

Filed under: Economy, Employment, ILO

New Challenges, New Beginnings – Next Steps in European Development Cooperation

It is a coincidence that two things have happened simultaneously – and the coincidence will be a happy one if the two can be brought together.

On the one hand, Europe has emerged from eight years of introspection with new structures, a new leadership team and a new platform (the Lisbon Treaty) for more effective collective action.

On the other hand, the global financial crisis has provided a sobering wake-up call about the extent of mutual inter-dependence and the scale of the challenges the world must face. The global challenges will shape international development cooperation in coming years and have already led to new thinking and new approaches.

The financial crisis affected all countries and revealed new vulnerabilities. The most affected suffered a combination of falling export volumes and values, lower financial flows, lower remittances, and sometimes lower aid. Although global recovery has begun, it is uneven in scale and speed. Countries entered and will leave the recession very differently equipped to manage the next wave of challenges. There is likely to be greater differentiation among developing countries as a result. Climate change will be by far the biggest of the next wave, but developing countries must also deal with rapid urbanisation, demographic change, and a whole range of global risks, from disease pandemics to the risk of new food crises. Fragile states pose an especially demanding challenge, to their own populations but also to the global community. A new age of challenges requires a new approach.

via Europe’s World – The only Europe-wide Ideas Community – Partner Posts.

Filed under: Africa, Development, Economy, European Union, MDGs

Conference: Inspiring Clusters in the Beginning of the New Decade, 30-31 March 2011

Conference: Inspiring Clusters in the Beginning of the New Decade, 30-31 March 2011.

The Competitiveness Institute European Regional Conference on Inspiring Clusters in the Beginning of the New Decade, which will take place on 30-31 March 2011 in Tallinn, Estonia.

TCI European regional conference in 2011 will focus on how to improve the Cluster policies both on European, national and regional level and how to achieve excellence in cluster management. The conference will also provide a deeper insight into cluster development in Eastern and Central Europe being the first TCI conference in this region.

Filed under: Clusters, Economy, European Union, Value Chains

UNU-WIDER : Promoting Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries: Policy Challenges

This policy brief provides some fresh perspectives on the relationship between entrepreneurship and development, and considers policy design issues. It reports on the UNU-WIDER two-year research project ‘Promoting Entrepreneurial Capacity’, which aimed to understand whether and how entrepreneurship matters for development, how it could derail development, how entrepreneurs function in high growth as well as in conflict environments, and how female entrepreneurship differs across countries at various stages of development.

via UNU-WIDER : Promoting Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries: Policy Challenges.

Filed under: Economy, Entrepreneurship

New data shows an increase in tax revenues in Africa

African countries, across all income levels, have gradually increased their level of collected fiscal revenues over the past two decades. However, the crisis is expected to impact negatively on the fiscal revenue performance of African countries in 2009. A complete database of public revenue flows for 50 African governments from 1996 to 2008 is now publicly available on AEO.org, the online gateway to African economies provided by the OECD Development Centre, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the UN Development programme (UNDP). The database was used in its original form for the African Economic Outlook (AEO) 2010 study on Public Resource Mobilisation and Aid, which covered the 1996-2007 period.
http://tinyurl.com/2wtgheb

Filed under: Africa, Economy

COMESA, EAC and SADC: Free Trade Area for East and Southern Africa making progress

Significant progress has been made by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to establish an enlarged Free Trade Area encompassing 26 countries in East and Southern Africa by 2012. A report presented to recent summits of COMESA and SADC said the three regional economic communities are committed towards deepening integration through the harmonisation of their trading arrangements. Chairperson of the Tripartite Taskforce, which is spearheading the implementation process, Ambassador Juma Mwapachu, said a draft plan of action on the Free Trade Area has been approved by the three secretariats for adoption at the forthcoming Tripartite Summit of the Heads of State and Government expected in early 2011. Source: AllAfrica.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201009141128.html

Filed under: Africa, Economy

Donors’ mixed aid performance for 2010 sparks concern

Aid to developing countries in 2010 will reach record levels in dollar terms after increasing by 35 per cent since 2004. But it will still be less than the world’s major aid donors promised five years ago at the Gleneagles and Millennium + 5 summits. Though a majority of countries will meet their commitments, the underperformance of several large donors means there will be a significant shortfall, according to a new OECD review.

Africa, in particular, is likely to get only about USD 12 billion of the USD 25 billion increase envisaged at Gleneagles, due in large part to the underperformance of some European donors who give large shares of official development assistance (ODA) to Africa. Eckhard Deutscher, Chair of the DAC, noted that: ”Aid has increased strongly as 16 donors have honoured their commitments. But underperformance by the others, notably Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, and Portugal, means overall aid will still fall considerably short of what was promised. These commitments were made and confirmed repeatedly by heads of governments and it is essential that they be met to the full extent.”

Commenting on the figures, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said: ”It is reassuring that most donors are recognising their international responsibilities. As we head into new rounds of discussions about funding climate change and food security concerns, I encourage all donors to carry through on their development promises.” Source: OECD,
http://tinyurl.com/ye8zrej

The EU falls short $19bn on development pledges. Some of the overall shortfall will come from the EU15 – the old, wealthier member states that made the original pledges. EU countries are skipping out to the tune of $19 billion (€14bn) on the aid pledges they made to developing countries five years ago at a landmark G8 meeting, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Aid to poor countries in 2010 will be lower than donors promised five years ago at the 2005 Group of Eight meeting in Scotland – largely as a result of the economic crisis, says a report published on Tuesday by the OECD, the international club of wealthy countries. With national budgets squeezed in the wake of the crash, many governments believe that charity begins at home.

Max Lawson, senior policy adviser at Oxfam, said: ”These broken promises are nothing short of a scandal. A woman dies every minute in childbirth somewhere in the world because of inadequate medical care and 72 million children remain out of school. The missing $21bn could pay for every child to go to school, and could save the lives of 2 million of the poorest mothers and children.” Source: EU Observer,
http://euobserver.com/19/29496

Filed under: Crisis, Development, Economy, OECD

Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen: AGEG experts involved

AGEG experts engaged in meetings on forest and climate protection in preparation of UNFCCC COP-15 Climate Conference, Copenhagen.

In two events, organised by BCC – Business Communications Consulting GmbH with participation of representatives from policy, government, development agencies, business, science and civil society, especially the concept of reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries (REDD), its inclusion into a post-Kyoto climate protection regime, and issues of financing and practical implementation were discussed.

For reports on these two events please follow the links below:

BCC Letzte Ausfahrt Kopenhagen

BCC Kein Klimaschutz ohne Wald

Filed under: Development, Economy, Environment, News, climate ageg cop15 conference environment

UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen

Over a decade ago, most countries joined an international treaty — the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) — to begin to consider what can be done to reduce global warming and to cope with whatever temperature increases are inevitable. More recently, a number of nations approved an addition to the treaty: the Kyoto Protocol, which has more powerful (and legally binding) measures. The Kyoto Protocol is an international and legally binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide entered into force on 16 February 2005.

The UNFCCC secretariat supports all institutions involved in the climate change process, particularly the COP (Conference of the Parties), the subsidiary bodies and their Bureau. To help countries meet their emission targets, and to encourage the private sector and developing countries to contribute to emission reduction efforts, negotiators of the Protocol included three market-based mechanisms – Emissions Trading, the Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation.

Related Weblinks:
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC:
http://www.unfccc.int

Denmark’s COP15 website:
http://en.cop15.dk

General press info:
http://www.pressinfo.cop15.dk

COP15 calendar:
http://www.calendar.cop15.dk

Official Tweets:
http://twitter.com/cop15

Climate change in Google Earth:
http://www.google.com/landing/cop15/

YouTube – Cop15′s Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Cop15

SID Forum Update:
http://www.sidint.net/intl-agenda/climate-change/

TckTckTck | The World is Ready:
http://tcktcktck.org

TckTckTck is the hub for stories on how hundreds of millions of people around the world are coming together to show world leaders we are ready for a new climate deal.

Interactive map and reporting system for the CDM

http://cdm.unfccc.int/Projects/MapApp

The CDM project map shows the location of CDM activities worldwide. Visitors can travel around the globe and learn about the location and many details of each project. In addition to this, a series of new graphs provide detailed breakdowns about the range, distribution of such projects that highlight national participation, project impacts and the status of project registration.

Filed under: Crisis, Development, Economy, Environment, Networks, News, Research

Oxfam: Rich countries must not raid aid to pay climate debt

A new Oxfam report has warned that at least 4.5 million children could die unless world leaders deliver additional funds to help poor countries fight the growing impact of climate change, rather than diverting it from existing aid promises. The report, ‘Beyond Aid,’ also warns that at least 75 million fewer children are likely to attend school and 8.6 million fewer people could have access to HIV/AIDS treatment if aid is diverted to help poor countries tackle climate change. Without at least $50 billion a year in addition to the 0.7 per cent of national income rich countries have already pledged as aid, recent progress toward the Millennium Development Goals could stall and then go into reverse. Source: Oxfam,
http://tinyurl.com/yc5atwj

Filed under: Crisis, Development, Economy, European Union, News

Please welcome new staff at AGEG’s Head Office

AGEG Consultants eG has two new Managing Directors, who share general management tasks. Both are experienced Consultants and are named Harald, but are not relatives. Harald Himsel will lead the business development, while Harald Speidel looks more on the administration and financial management. Martina Jacobson joined the team as Project Manager for Training, E-Learning, and Sustainable Tourism. All activities of AGEG Consultants are coordinated from AGEG’s Head Office in Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany. A team of 16 people is responsible for the acquisition and management of short and long term projects as well as for the provision of services to AGEG’s members and associates.
http://www.ageg.de/headoffice/headoffice_team/

Filed under: Development, Directories, Economy, European Union, Germany, News

EU Commission report on European competitiveness

The European Commission issued its Annual Report on Competition Policy for 2008. The report provides a summary of the most important developments with regards to EU competition policy and focuses on major enforcement actions. Furthermore, the ways in which tools of competition policy have been applied to combat the financial crisis are outlined and the benefits to consumers of competition policy are underlined. For the first time, the 2008 Annual Report includes a special chapter on a topic considered to be of particular importance in the field of competition policy. The topic chosen is ”Cartels and consumers”. In 2008, the Commission fined 34 undertakings in seven cartel decisions. In cases such as the Banana cartel, consumers directly suffered from higher prices until the Commission broke up the price fixing cartel.
http://ec.europa.eu/competition/publications/annual_report/index.html

Filed under: Clusters, Crisis, Economy, Employment, European Union, Technology

EU: Access to finance major problem for SMEs

The European Commission published the results of the new ”Flash Eurobarometer: SMEs’ access to finance”. The survey, conducted with 9071 firms in 27 EU Member States, Croatia, Iceland and Norway, was set up to assess EU companies’ use of various sources of finance, to get a picture of the magnitude of companies’ difficulties in getting access to finance, and to obtain an overview of companies’ expectations for financing their future projects and developments. Overall, the survey revealed that businesses face difficulties in accessing finance, as almost half of them have problems to access bank loans. Despite the fact that availability of bank loans has deteriorated over the last six months for 46% of SMEs, over 70% of small businesses were able to receive all or part of the bank load they wanted, and only 15% were fully rejected.
http://tinyurl.com/yantrpd

Filed under: Banking, Economy, Entrepreneurship, European Union, Microfinance

AL-INVEST IV: A bridge between EU and Latin American SMEs

The fourth phase of AL-INVEST, financed by the European Commission, aims at supporting the internationalisation of Latin American SMEs in collaboration with their European partners in order to contribute to reinforce social cohesion in the region. Unlike the previous phases, the fourth phase of the AL-INVEST (2009-2012) is implemented through three groups of business organisations belonging to three distinct geographical areas of Latin America: 1. Central America-Cuba-México; 2. Andean Region; 3. Mercosur Chile and Venezuela. These three groups are supported through horizontal services delivered by a European consortium lead by EUROCHAMBRES. This consortium will carry out market studies, business meetings, technical assistance, individual exchange programmes and trainings. In addition, all European business organisations with experience and/or interest in working with Latin America will be gathered under a Network of Interested Institutions. AL-INVEST IV website:
http://www.al-invest4.eu

Filed under: Banking, Clusters, Economy, Entrepreneurship, European Union, Networks, Trade, Latin America

Asia must promote employment, support those without decent jobs, ADB says

Creating the conditions for good jobs and, more importantly, social protection programs for those unable to find decent work is an urgent priority for governments in Asia and the Pacific, Asian Development Bank (ADB) Vice President Ursula Schaefer-Preuss told a conference in Ha Noi, Viet Nam. Speaking at the conclusion of a three-day conference titled ”The Impact of the Global Economic Slowdown on Poverty and Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific,” Ms. Schaefer-Preuss said that the recent global economic downturn has cut demand for the exports on which the region’s economies depend, forcing job cuts in many of the industries that send their goods overseas and slashing the incomes of thousands of people in the region. Many may struggle to find alternative employment. ”Before the crisis – in the context of high growth rates – only about half of the region’s young labor entrants could find decent jobs, while the rest had to sustain themselves and their families through the informal sector,” said Ms. Schaefer-Preuss. ”The need for social protection strategies to address the post-crisis labor market becomes more urgent with the prospect that growth rates may not reach the levels of just a few years ago.” The conference, organized by the ADB, together with the governments of Viet Nam and the People’s Republic of China, the ASEAN Secretariat and nine development partners, saw over 350 representatives from ADB, regional governments, civil society, intergovernment organizations and academe discuss the social impact of the global crisis and the need for social policy reforms.
http://www.adb.org/Media/Articles/2009/13020-asian-employments-priorities/

Filed under: Asia, Economy, Employment

Asia’s Progress on Millennium Development Goals Remains Mixed

Asia and Pacific countries continue to make broad progress in reducing extreme poverty but hunger still remains widespread and many economies are struggling to meet other Millennium Development Goals, including reductions in maternal mortality rates and access to sanitation, latest available data show. Source: ADB
http://www.adb.org/article.asp?id=12968

Filed under: Asia, Development, Economy