Investment Facilitation for Development – What’s at stake at the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization?

Image: Logo of the World Trade Organization on a column

©WTO, altered, https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/photo_gallery_e/photo_gallery_e.htm

The current debate on the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement could be very consequential for the World Trade Organization (WTO) although it is not part of the official calendar of next week’s 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi. …

Photo: Group Photo on the stage of the Climate Change Conference of the Parties 2023 (COP28) in Dubai

Successfully „holding the line“- the EU and the outcomes of COP 28

© European Union / David Martin, Source:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/cor-photos/53379323878/in/album-72177720313008202/ When Sultan Al-Jaber, the United Emirates of Arabia President of COP28, finally presented an amended text for adoption in the closing plenary, the EU seemed relieved: For the first time in 30 years of climate negotiations, the decision now explicitly addressed fossil fuels. At last years “COP27”…

Photo: Front of the World Bank Group with their name written on it.

From dialogue to action: Key lessons from the Consultations on the World Bank Reform Process

The World Bank’s current reform efforts are approaching a critical point during the Annual Meetings in Marrakech, Morocco, from October 9 to 15, 2023. The Bank should use this moment to adopt meaningful changes that enable it to tackle the twin challenges of global development and climate change and reflect voices of stakeholders from around…

The BRICS bang! – Signals from BRICS enlargement to South, West and North

The BRICS group – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – invite six countries to join them for a BRICS+. The final list of invitees is an odd bunch: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iran from the Middle East, Argentina from Latin America and Egypt and Ethiopia from Africa, with the former also being an Arab state. This decision on specific members came after apparently tough discussions amongst current membership, as interests varied widely. Yet, the return of geopolitics seems to have revitalised a disparate group. Why (only) these six, what are likely effects on international relations, and who’s benefitting most?

Photo: Data and graph on a screen, Symbol for open science and dfigitalization

Open Science: A role for the G20 to materialise its global potential?

Photo by Pexels on Pixabay Knowledge cooperation—specifically science cooperation—is a precondition of coordinated efforts for combatting global crises from climate to finance, and from food to public health. Cloud server storage and satellite-based internet connectivity are key technologies to reducing to zero the time and distance necessary to exchange knowledge across the planet. Science could…