Global
The promise of trillion-dollar sustainable finance initiatives rests on a triple fallacy: that we can make sense of them, that they are a measure of money that is available to finance or support climate-related causes, and that someone has structured and organized control over these amounts. It’s time to accept their extremely limited utility and move on
Evidence is mounting that forest carbon offset credits are not working. Can a new approach, based on countries and companies making wider contributions to climate action beyond offsetting emissions, save the world’s forests?
Sub-Saharan Africa
Africa’s vast natural wealth includes many critical minerals needed for the green economy. Historically, this wealth has not benefited local populations and resource extraction has caused environmental damage. How can Africa’s peoples and environment become the beneficiaries of this natural bounty?
Despite their limited means, many of the world’s poorest countries are leading the way in cutting emissions and taking bold action on adaptation. The rest of the world must step up support for LDCs – and follow their example
There is a growing chorus calling for delays to net-zero initiatives, blaming climate action for the current cost of living crisis. In reality, green investment can offer a path out of the economic troubles that have been building since the start of the century
At the halfway point of Agenda 2030, the SDGs are dangerously off course. Current world crises are both evidence of the lamentable lack of progress, and confirmation that the world needs the goals now more than ever
The EU’s unilateral approach to curb deforestation through restrictions on imports sends a powerful message, but will it deliver? Here, the authors argue that successful global action on deforestation calls for a carefully balanced system of tariffs and subsidies from a wider coalition of countries
For the developed world, increasingly there appears to be only one existential crisis in town: climate change. Achieving the broader agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) demands deep reform of the international financial system and urgent recalibration of political will
In the words of the UN Secretary-General, developing countries have limited access to the financial resources they need to address the dramatic challenges they face and implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The global financial architecture, created for a very different world eight decades ago, needs urgent reform to make it fit for purpose
The Global Goals represent a quest to achieve human rights for all. In the face of democratic backsliding and a global trend to restrict free speech, we must ensure that civil society remains an active force for their progress
