Kategorie: Allgemein

A European border carbon tax – promises and pitfalls of trade measures as a leverage for climate protection

Contributing to heated international debates, the new European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen promised a carbon border tax to adjust for carbon costs at the border. To be sure, border carbon adjustments entail international trade law challenges, feasibility complications as well as fairness concerns. But if carefully designed, such adjustments can contribute to strengthening the ambition of climate action both in the EU and beyond it. More generally, there should be a stronger focus on using international trade as a leverage for climate protection.

Look North: The Arctic Council as an example for the management of transboundary challenges?

The Arctic, in media coverage, is depicted as a region prone to international conflicts, a “lawless frontier” where “a new Cold War brews” due to the region’s strategic relevance and its estimated resource riches. Recently, a supposed diplomatic spat between Denmark (which is present through Greenland) and the USA hit the news. Most often exaggerations and fears are particularly directed towards Russia’s and China’s involvement in Arctic affairs. Often, this media narrative creates a “polar orientalism”, following a term coined by Edward Said, which describes the distorting description of a region (in Said’s case: the Middle East) by using a lens that focusses on exotic elements rather than communalities. Researchers and policy-makers, on the other hand, often use the term “Global Arctic”, to emphasise the region’s global interconnectedness and emphasise the cooperation among the various stakeholders engaged in Arctic politics.…

From Networks and Platforms to Forums – Knowledge Cooperation in Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD), one of the side-events to the UN General Assembly Meeting that aimed not only to generate but disseminate knowledge that is needed, as an example for the importance of national and transnational knowledge cooperation in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Under the topic “Good Practices: Models, Partnerships, and Capacity Building for the SDGs” the conference brought together more than 3,000 participants from the public and private sector as well as from civil society and academia.

South-South Cooperation after BAPA+40 – Delhi V and SSC Impact Assessments

Photo: Puzzle in sunlight, impact assessment for South-South-Cooperation

Since the world celebrated the 40th anniversary of Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA) for promoting South-South Cooperation (SSC), several meetings are being organised to understand and absorb the declaration for future course of action. It assumes further importance as the global community addressed here the partnership roadmap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the modalities of SSC and triangular cooperation. India has been at the forefront of furthering the cause of SSC and is one of the major players at the world stage.

The G7 Summit in Biarritz: Finding agreement amid discord

Foto: Bridge in Biarritz

It is a common practice today to speak about the demise of the liberal world order. Threats to multilateralism, free trade and democratic values seem to arise from everywhere; both through a growing assertiveness of authoritarian regimes, but also from within liberal democracies.