Photo: Future of Globalisation

The section Future of Globalisation in this blog provides a platform for debates on current world economic issues, global power shifts and views on the roles of formal and informal global governance institutions. It is an initiative of the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS). The blog posts, appearing on every first and third Wednesday each month, are written by researchers from IDOS and our international partners, amongst them numerous prestigious think tanks from rising powers. In this blog, the authors of the contributions represent only their personal opinion. While aiming at cutting-edge research content, the blog intends to reach a broader audience of researchers, government officials and journalists. With this blog we carry on discussions that had initially been launched in 2016 as part of the Think20 process during the German G20 presidency. In 2018, we aim at continuing the debate about the role of the G20 broadening the focus of discussion to institutional and thematic matters of global economic governance.

If you are interested to contribute, get in touch with Axel Berger and Sven Grimm of the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) via futureofglobalisation@idos-research.de.

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”…

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…

Photo: Landscape

Japan’s climate coalition? – Tokyo’s green chequebook diplomacy campaign is gathering momentum

Addressing a Davos audience last year, in January 2022, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida publicly declared his vision for an Asia Zero Emissions Community (AZEC). Under Tokyo’s leadership, Kishida said, AZEC would drive regional cooperation and joint financing on renewable energy technologies and infrastructure, standardisation, and an emissions trading zone. A year on, Prime Minister…