Game on (finally) in climate change talks

September 10, 2009
After months of futile and wearying paralysis, marked by interminable meetings full of little more than posturing and the endless repetition of fixed positions, the climate change talks seem to be entering full negotiating mode, and not before time, with the Copenhagen climate summit only 3 months away. For the ‘glass half full’ optimistic version, check out Leo Horn’s summary
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Asia rebounds and the G2 consolidates – the world’s 9 biggest companies are now either Chinese or American

August 3, 2009
Back from a blissful and disconnected few days in Italy, and now paying the price in terms of catching up with the backlog of reading and emails, so this week will mostly be signposting interesting stuff, rather than trying to write anything original. Two graphics from this week’s Economist underline the rise of the G2 (US and China). First up,
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Climate change latest: the impact in China and leadership from Scotland, plus a new journal on CC and development

June 30, 2009
The amount of new climate change research, reports etc emerging in the run-up to Copenhagen summit already feels slight overwhelming, and the meeting is still five months away. Here are some recent bits and pieces: China and Climate Change An important new report from Oxfam Hong Kong and Greenpeace China unpacks the data on the impact of climate change on
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Are we witnessing Decoupling 2.0? China and India rising fastest from the global wreckage

June 26, 2009
Earthquake analogies and tectonic plates have been one of the most ubiquitous clichés of the global crisis, but they remain apt. The last week has thrown up further signs of the historic geopolitical shifts that are under way. The Economist has an excellent essay on the back of the first BRICs summit, exploring the sharp economic rebound in China and to
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What’s different about the current spate of land grabs in poor countries?

May 27, 2009
This week’s Economist has an excellent overview of the issues surrounding what it calls ‘outsourcing’s third wave’ (the first two were manufacturing and services) – deals in which foreign investors are buying up huge tracts of land in poor countries to produce food to ship back home (see map). Some highlights: Saudi investors are spending $100m to lease land from the
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How will the meltdown affect development?

December 29, 2008
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World Health Report 2008 – getting back to basics

December 24, 2008
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So what does the World Bank's new chief economist think about development?

December 23, 2008
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Has China Kicked Away the Ladder from other Poor Countries?

December 19, 2008
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Global Poverty is falling, right? Errrm, we’re not entirely sure

December 18, 2008
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3 crystal ball overviews on global security – not looking good

December 15, 2008
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Launching From Poverty to Power in East Africa

December 10, 2008
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