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Sustainable Futures

Kategorie: Event

  • The EU as a global actor – development policy challenges (Panel discussion)

    Photo of the panelAgainst the background of the elections to the European Parliament on 26 May 2019, the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) in cooperation with the SÜDWIND Institute organised a panel discussion with representatives from politics, science and civil society.

    With the elections, European citizens are called upon to have a say in the role that Europe plays in global sustainable development. While the European Union (EU) had played a pioneering role in the formulation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is now clear that the policies of the EU and its member states often run counter to the development goals instead of promoting them. What course should be set for a fairer and human rights-based economy? Which strategy is needed to steer private investments in the sense of the SDGs? How can the EU live up to its responsibility for climate justice? These and other questions were discussed with several candidates for the European Parliament during the event.

    After a welcoming address by Stephan Klingebiel (DIE) and Martina Schaub (SÜDWIND e.V.), Pedro Morazán (SÜDWIND e.V.) introduced the topic of the evening with a lecture on the development policy responsibility of the EU. The opening statements of the participants were followed by a lively discussion on the podium as well as with the guests of the event. It became clear that in view of its international importance and the impact of its decisions, in particular on developing countries, the EU needs to pursue a responsible policy in order to meet global challenges. The participants agreed that the forthcoming European elections will guide the way for a just and sustainable global future.

  • Surveys on the Informal Economy Kenya & Benin. Data Analysis (Workshop)

    First insights into the relationships between the informal sector, participation in social security systems and civic trust in state institutions were provided at the workshop Surveys on the Informal Economy Kenya & Benin. The subject of the discussions on 4 and 5 April at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) in Berlin were the results of two household surveys that were jointly developed and implemented in the countries by the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and representatives of the Afrobarometer. Armin von Schiller and Christoph Strupat of the DIE found that only a small part of the population in the informal sector profits from social security programmes and that the trust in state institutions is not strongly pronounced. A possible relationship between both fields will be empirically analysed in future research. In addition, the results were discussed in light of planned surveys in Zambia and Senegal in 2019.

  • After Brexit – What will become of Europe‘s foreign and development policy?

    Photo: BrexitThe United Kingdom is one of the four principal actors of European development cooperation. Thus, Brexit will have significant consequences for the future of Europe’s global role. This situation was the backdrop to a panel discussion of the series Bonner Impulse on 27 February, which focused on the future relationship between the UK and the EU in matters of foreign and development policy. The event series, which is co-hosted by German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) and the umbrella organisation of development and humanitarian aid NGOs in Germany VENRO, regularly invites experts from politics, academia and civil society to discuss sustainable European development policy. That Wednesday evening, around 100 guests did attend the discussion that took place in the auditorium of the Kunstmuseum Bonn.

    Moderated by DIE’s EU expert Christine Hackenesch, the panel featured MP and deputy group chairman of the FDP in the German Bundestag Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, Pedro Morazán of the Südwind-Institut and Stefani Weiss of Bertelsmann Stiftung. The focus of their discussion was the state of the Brexit negotiations and the common external interests of the EU and the UK. Numerous audience questions and comments pertaining to the political motivation behind Brexit as well as the pragmatic political consequences of the UK leaving the EU, showed that Brexit is on the minds of Bonn’s citizens. We asked the experts for our video series „Perspectives On“, what they expect to change for Europe‘s foreign and development policy after Brexit.

  • Workshop „Preferences, attitudes and environmental impacts of the new middle classes“

    Photo: Focus group discussion Ghana
    Focus group discussion Ghana

    On 4 April, the workshop „Preferences, attitudes and environmental impacts of the new middle classes“ takes place at DIE. The workshop aims to uncover effective combinations of policies to change towards sustainable lifestyles with a special focus on behavioural approaches. The research group “Sustainable Middle Classes in Middle Income Countries: Transformation of Carbon Consumption Patterns (SMMICC)” presents household survey results on consumption trends and their drivers in Ghana, Peru and the Philippines. Practical examples from the fields energy, transport and recycling complement the scientific perspective.

  • Expert Roundtable: Investment Facilitation for Sustainable Development

    Photo: Expert RoundtableThe Roundtable “Investment Facility for Sustainable Development”, organized by DIE on 19 March 2019 in Berlin, brought together senior experts from governments, international organizations and academia. The aim was to discuss options on how current discussions on an international framework for investment facilitation can better promote sustainable development. Investment facilitation is a new issue on the agenda of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and developing and emerging countries in particular are driving this discussion. Investment Facilitation aims to make national investment systems more transparent, consistent and predictable.

    The Colombian ambassador to the WTO, who chairs the so-called „Structured Discussions on Investment Facilitation“ in the WTO, gave an overview of the state of discussions. The subsequent deliberation identified both rules and possible supportive measures for developing countries that have the potential to increase the contribution of a possible international framework for investment facilitation to sustainable development. One of the key conclusions was that an international framework should be designed to strengthen national regulatory systems that are central to promoting sustainable investment. The roundtable is part of a current work strand of DIE on investment facilitation.

    The event was organized by DIE with financial support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).