As the economic crunch continues to unfold, commentators, politicians and thoughtful citizens alike are trying to get a grip on its multiple dimensions. Pity the policy-makers and political leaders who are trying to find the way to solve a six-sided boxful of dilemmas because this is a real Rubik’s Cube of a crisis. Continue reading
Climate change
Climate change, conflict and development – under discussion
This is a key year for climate change policy, leading up to the summit in Copenhagen in December, which has the task of coming up with the “post-Kyoto” climate agreement. With the obscurantism of Bush replaced by the energy and commitment of the still new Obama administration, hopes are high though obstacles are many. As part of its preparations for the year ahead, on Thursday 12th the UK Foreign Office held a workshop at London School of Economics on climate security. Continue reading
Poverty, power, development and aid under discussion
The UK Department for International Development (DFID) is preparing a White Paper. It will be its fourth one since the department was founded in 1997 in the early days of New Labour government. On Monday 9th and Tuesday 10th it held a conference in London as part of the work on the White Paper.
Stern, climate change and “extended world war”
First the Huffington Post and then Fox News have both published a story containing some garish remarks by Nicholas Stern about “extended world war” as a consequence of climate change. The report feels as though, even if accurate, the remarks were taken sharply out of context because alarmism is not Stern’s usual currency. But the real concern is that it’s not helpful to depict the link between climate change and conflict in that way.
One time only investment advice: go green
My blog is not especially meant for investors, there are masses of places where investors get advised on and off the internet, I don’t know anything about investment anyway and have never invested in anything in my life. So I thought it was time to offer some advice to investors. It is simple – the low carbon economy is where the future lies so turn to carbon-zero technologies for profits and a good, clean feeling.
Deflated in Davos? Impressions of economic leaders at work and play
News media have been reporting a deflated mood among the business leaders gathered in Davos for the annual World Economic Forum meeting. Some have even suggested an air of contrition and a bit of hair-shirt atonement, cutting down on the number of parties, ski-outings and suchlike. Perhaps that’s what they have seen and it’s all subjective and relative – but it’s not really what I’ve seen. I wouldn’t say the mood is upbeat, and of course there’s an awareness of the economic crunch all round. But what’s going on is a bit more subtle than mood-swings. Continue reading
The food fulcrum
A billion are underfed and a billion are overweight. People, that is. Publication of an excellent report on food security by Alex Evans, The Feeding of the Nine Billion, offers an occasion for reflecting on how food sits at the fulcrum of many of the outstanding concerns of today – climate change and conflict, poverty and wealth, deprivation and privilege, power and exclusion. Continue reading
How a conflict could lead to a perfect storm
The world is in parlous condition. A violent conflict could quickly escalate out of control into a perfect storm, in which a local conflict becomes a major regional explosion. The risk is of low probability but high impact. The likelihood can be made even lower if the international system and its major actors remain watchful and ready to respond quickly. For that readiness to be real, we need to think the risk through. Continue reading
Water shortages feed risk of conflict
A new report from the Pacific Institute in California is featured in a Times (London) story this morning, which links humanity’s expanding “water footprint” to increasing risks of armed conflict. The conflict and peace implications of climate change are explored in an International Alert report, A Climate of Conflict, from late 2007.
Climate change: the tough task of getting from words to deeds
Before Christmas there was some much needed good news about global warming. In the wake of a deeply uninspiring climate ‘summit’ at Poznan in Poland, we cheered up as Barrack Obama appointed people who know and care about climate change to the key science and environment positions in his soon-installed administration. It looks like he really means to bring the US into the game as a player for change and definitively quit the coalition of the unwilling, the short-sighted and the bloody-minded obscurantist. As we say in the technical jargon of the global warming debate, at bloody last.
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