The Investment Plan for Europe, the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa, and the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative all seek to promote infrastructure investment - but involve significant risks regarding environmental sustainability, social impacts, and unfavorable technological lock-ins for the next decades.
Infrastructure is essential to the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and to the success of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Our partner IISD presents why governments must invest in sustainable infrastructure and how they can integrate sustainability into infrastructure contracts.
Infrastructure development acts as a gateway to natural resources and markets, powers industry, and provides key services to citizens around the world. However, the OECD’s infrastructure investment advice to the G20 is “out of sync” with recent achievements of the global community, such as the new UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
At the request of the G20, staff at the World Bank has prepared a report recommending model language for public-private partnership (PPP) contracts. Unfortunately, the proposals fail to grapple with several of the problems that have plagued many PPP schemes, or contribute in a constructive way to finding solutions to them.
The G20 has fallen behind other international organizations in addressing the challenges of climate change and supporting sustainable energy transformation and electrification. This article lays the foundation for a reflection and discussion on what the G20 can usefully do to support these transformations, and how it must change to achieve this.
This issue highlights safeguards, global financial instability and fragility, Turkey's economy and fossil fuel subsidies, and the tension between G20 and UN leadership on infrastructure.
In 2015, for the first time in the history of the European Union (EU), a populist left party, SYRIZA in Greece, won a major election. Since then, the EU has faced an existential challenge, the solution to which determines nothing less than the collective survival of the EU or its dissolution into single nation-state entities.
This issue entitled, "Will the New G20 Troika Advance Sustainable Development?" includes feature articles on Public-Private Partnerships (will they help achieve climate and sustainable development goals?); the Turkish Civil 20; and ragged progress on the G20 Anti-Corruption agenda.
The world is running out of time when it comes to limiting global warming to 2°C. In this paper, Nora Rohde examines whether the master plans for energy mega-projects in three regions contributes to that goal.
Some claim that the biggest obstacle to boosting investment levels and reviving the global economy as the absence of regional "pipelines of bankable projects". In this paper, Nora Rohde describes the "solution" --Project Preparation Facilities (PPFs) to accelerate the launch of (mega)projects.
At the 9th G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, all member states presented their individual plans to promote “stronger economic growth and employment outcomes”. As G20 President this year, Turkey may consider its growth strategy and employment plan as models for other G20 countries. Its approach may also shape the G20 agenda. To explore these possibilities, this paper presents and comments on some highlights of the Turkish plans.
The new investment and development model is evolving with breathtaking speed due to not only the strong global consensus in support of it, but also the competition between the West and emerging powers to implement the model.
This paper highlights decisions of the G20 Summit as they relate to: Taxation and Corruption; Labor and Gender Participation in the Workforce; Financial Regulation; Trade; Climate Change, Food, and Energy; Global Governance; and Infrastructure.
Worldwide, the essential role of infrastructure is being rediscovered. However, mega-projects -- including in the energy sector -- need good governance in order to deliver benefits and avoid harm to communities, ecology and the climate. The 20+ authors in this anthology describe the challenge and imperative of achieving democratic and responsible governance of infrastructure. This publication is available in English and Spanish.
This issue of the G20-BRICS Update covers the hopes and fears for the G20 Summit in November 2014; outcomes of the BRICS Summit in July 2014; the G20's Global Infrastructure Initiative; and Korea's experience with public-private partnerships (PPP)s.
According to this report, systematic discrimination against women drives patterns of inequality and poverty. It argues that the G20 cannot achieve inclusive growth with gender-blind policies. Therefore, the G20 must reassess its entire agenda and, among other things, promote women's rights in employment, social protection, and fiscal policy.
Will PIDA accelerate the colonial patterns of resource extraction or foster the economic diversification required for Africa to prosper and expand job opportunities?
In this report, we assess the potential of three relatively promising international processes – the focus on fossil fuel subsidy (FFS) reform in the G20 group, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – to act as possible routes to reform in a transatlantic context.
Read about the jobs crisis, mobilizing pension funds to underwrite infrastructure, the need for a new “model” for BRICS’ development, and the ambitions and risks of African mega-projects.
The February 2014 "G20-BRICS Update" features articles on the Australian G20 Presidency by Senator Christine Milne and Alan Alexandroff; articles on the BRICS by Graciela Rodriguez and Oliver Stuenkel (Brazil) and Vitaliy Kartamyshev (Russia); and reviews of work by Jayati Ghosh and Observer Research Foundation (India).
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) could include rules on investment protection, including so called investor- state dispute settlement (ISDS).
On 1 December 2013, Australia began its twelve-month presidency of the G20, a role that will culminate with the chairing of the Brisbane G20 summit, 15-16 November 2014. The ‘Think20’ is a network of think tanks and academics from G20 countries that are working to provide an important analytical input into the G20 process.
After Rio+20, the proposed post-2015 framework needs to learn from the shortcomings of the MDG-process and merge care economy and green economy approaches to advance and finance truly gender-equitable sustainable development
Nancy Alexander and seven contributing authors present "Responsible Investment in Infrastructure: Recommendations for the G20," which responds to the G20's efforts to mobilize financial support for public-private partnership (PPPs) in large infrastructure projects in order to promote regional integration.
TTIP will affect a broad range of issues, from energy to the environment, and intellectual property rights to labor rights. The agreement could also have a significant impact on the evolution of agricultural markets and food systems in the U.S. and EU.
At the September 2013 G20 Summit in St. Petersburg, Leaders faced conflicts relating to the Syrian crisis and decelerating global growth and, particularly, the role of the monetary policies of advanced countries, especially the U.S., in destabilizing developing country ́s economies.
This volume attempts to measure the quality of governance and the impact of the Group of 20 (G20), the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the IMF, World Bank, and Tax Rule-Making Bodies. Nancy Alexander gives the body a “poor” rating for its lack of transparency, accountability, inclusiveness and participation and responsibility.
Gender equality efforts at the World Bank are not new. Several recent World Bank and external reports have taken stock of how successfully gender equality concerns have been mainstreamed in World Bank activities in the past few years. This analysis finds that while there have been some improvements ,persistent weaknesses in implementation remain largely due to a focus on internal process over gender equality impacts in developing countries.
This issue of the “G20 Update” includes articles on three questions:1) What is the nature of the upsurge of investigations of, and attacks on, Russian civil society? 2) Why has the G20 launched a new initiative on “financing for investment”? 3) How do the policy agendas of the G8 and G20 converge?
The policy priorities of the G20 have profound gender implications, although the G20 rarely recognizes this fact. This report explores the possibilities for gender bias in the G20's policies, including those related to: fiscal and monetary priorities, employment, social protection, and development.
The Track Record of the Group of 20 (G20) on Eliminating Fossil Fuel Subsidies. This paper reviews the potential for and obstacles to implementing a phase-out and proposes an action agenda for the G20.
How should G20 Decisions be Assessed? This question is answered by a December 2012 report entitled, “Mapping G20 Decisions Implementation: How G20 is delivering on the decisions made” by scholars at the University of Toronto and the Higher School of Economics (Moscow). This "commentary" questions the methodology of the report and suggests alternatives.
This issue features articles on the G20 exclusion of African perspectives, the story of Russia’s CivilG8–2006 Project, the parade of “20” meetings, the G20’s Anti-Corruption Working Group and includes a “knowledge box” on “The `Enough’ Campaign and the G8’s New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition.
This paper provides an introduction to the G20 in the lead up to Australia’s G20 presidency. It includes an overview of the G20’s work in the last five years and the likely agendas for 2013 and 2014; and describes aspects of the global and Australian context.
After introducing the topic of corruption, this paper identifies the G20 anti-corruption commitments and progress (or lack thereof) in the implementation of these commitments. It also proposes goals for the Working Group in 2013 and beyond.
This article assesses the G20's performance against its seven commitments to reform the financial sector. The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has significant responsibility for carrying out the mandates of the G20 in this sector.
On December 1, 2012, the G20 welcomed its new leadership “troika”– Russia, Mexico, and Australia – the current, past and future presidents, respectively. The Russian G20 Presidency has announced its priorities for the 2013 Summit.G20 Sherpas, or presidential aides, will meet in Moscow in mid-December. At the same time, civil society, think tanks, and business leaders will gather to hammer out recommendations to present to the Sherpas.
Many powerful transnational corporations (TNCs) have growing influence over the governance of resources in sectors, such as energy and agriculture. This paper addresses the strategic dilemmas faced by civil society organizations that address corporate power in their struggles to curb global warming and achieve the human rights, including the rights to food and energy.
In, “The pros and cons of public-private partnerships (PPPs) as a means to achieve food security, expanded infrastructure investment and green growth?" Nancy Alexander provides a background paper on PPPs (part I) and conclusions of a discussion of the paper with the Mexican Foreign Service (part II).
Since the Mexican G20 Summit, the Eurozone crisis and the U.S. slowdown are hitting many emerging and developing countries suffer from declines in industrial output, export growth, trade and inflows of capital.
This month, two events occur back-to-back: the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (“Rio +20”) in Brazil and the Group of 20 (G20) Summit, in Mexico. This paper asks how the powerful G20 might influence outcomes of Rio+20.
The G20 adapted the 20 Year Development Action Plan (DAP) at the summit in Seoul, South Korea. This plan does not include a strategy for Africa's energy future or energy infrastructure plans. An effective process must put more effort on localize energy and use Renewable Energy Technology.
The eurozone crisis hijacked the French G20 Summit and shows every sign of doing the same at the Mexican Summit, as fear of a Greek exit (“Grexit”) from the eurozone morphs into panic over Spain (“Spanic”).
The World Bank's May 2012 volume on "Inclusive Green Growth" has some positive solutions to offer, but falls short in several crucial ways: the lack of emphasis on poverty reduction, equality and human rights; an uncritical regard for market mechanisms to govern asset markets, and a view of infrastructure as the “heart of green growth,” among other things.
The G8 and G20 Summits, which will be held on May 18-19 and June 18-19, respectively, are both being held in remote locations. When the original venue of the G8 Summit was Chicago (just prior to the May 20 NATO Summit in Chicago), major “Occupy” protests were being organized. Then, President Obama decided to move the G8 Summit to Camp David, his presidential retreat in the mountains of the U.S. state of Maryland.
This paper describes the strengths and weaknesses in the G20’s “financial inclusion” initiative, which attempts to get desperately needed credit to households as well as the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that provide almost half of the labor force and almost half manufacturing employment in developing countries.
The G20’s legacy will relate to economic outcomes as well as its record in reducing both the resource-intensity of development and the incidence of poverty and inequality. To that end, this brief provides recommendations for the G20 with regard to infrastructure, food security, investment in sustainable development, and global governance.
The G20’s new troika is preparing for the G20 Summit in Los Cabos,Mexico on June 18-19, 2012. The troika is comprised of the current, former, and upcoming Presidencies of the G20: Mexico, France, and Russia.
Susan Ariel Aaronson, Associate Research Professor of the Elliott School, George Washington University, underscores how firms often operate in states where human rights may not be respected. For these and other firms, the Guiding Principles (GP) on Business and Human Rights, adopted by the UN in 2011, delineate their human rights responsibilities. This paper identifies how policy-makers can help firms meet these responsibilities.
Do development institutions have a choice between safeguards and "country ownership”? The World Bank’s new lending instrument – the Program-for-Results – abandons binding safeguards in the name of “country ownership.” This paper asserts that both country ownership and safeguards are necessary to achieve development results.
The French Presidency of the G20 began the year with sweeping ambitions of overhauling global governance. But now, on the eve of the Summit, its greatest accomplishment may be a more or less convincing plan to save the Eurozone.The latest newsletter on "EU financial reforms" by SOMO and WEED, provides important perspectives on EU and G20 approaches to the crisis.
On November 3-4, when the G20 Leaders gather for their Summit in Cannes, they will review recommendations from a High-Level Panel (HLP) on Infrastructure, which proposes a global process for scaling up and streamlining public-private partnerships (PPPs) for large-scale, regional infrastructure projects. This paper describes this top-down initiative, which is disconnected from efforts to promote sustainability and, instead, takes a “bigger is better” approach to development.
Harvard Professor Dani Rodrik uses the graph (below) to illustrate the “great divergence” between Western economies which struggle with crushing debt burdens and political paralyses, on the one hand, and the economic dynamism of developing nations. Emerging market countries want their economic dynamism to translate into political muscle, including at the IMF.
Christine Lagarde is the first woman to head the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Undoubtedly, this is a step forward in the right direction, and would have been difficult to imagine only a few years ago.
This paper describes the G20's Development Action Plan (DAP) to promote economic growth in some 80 low-income countries. The DAP would deploy existing bilateral and multilateral aid to offset risks to private investment in infrastructure and agriculture projects that promote regional integration.
This publication examines questions such as: What are the roles of Argentina, Brazil and Mexico in the G20? What are the implications of the G20 agenda for Latin America relating to monetary policy; regulation of commodity speculation; employment and social protection; and trade integration?
This article is a brief introduction to the G20 – its origin and power dynamic, membership, structure, mandate, and governance mechanisms for accountability.
Our latest issue looks at how the financialization of agricultural markets increased price volatility and how the G20, paradoxically, wants to address this by even greater financialization. It investigates what role the G20 will play in the transformatio of the world economy and in tackling climate change. It also addresses the practice of inviting CEOs of big businesses to G20 summits and calls for a more legitimate approach by inviting business associations that are more representative.
This paper critiques the World Bank's proposed Program for Results (P4R) instrument by examining protections of the environment and affected communities and control of corruption (Part I); the effectiveness of proposed mechanisms of accountability (Part II); and the integrity of the consultation process on the proposed P4R instrument (Part III). Part IV presents conclusions.
This paper examines how the current WTO negotiations propose limits or disciplines on governmental regulations. The paper focuses on regulations that limit or discourage speculators from participating in commodity markets, which contributes to volatility in the prices of food commodities. To demonstrate this point, the paper presents a case study of a specific policy option for regulation of derivatives. It concludes with a description of options for resolving the ambiguity of selected disciplines.
This study examines the question: What are the key issues regarding financial regulation on which transatlantic cooperation (or lack of it) could have an impact? While global regulation of global financial markets can be important, for instance, to prevent arbitrage, it should not be seen as an end in and of itself.
It is certainly laudable that gender equality gets the serious consideration it deserves in the current international development discourse, and having a WDR exclusively focused on gender equality gives it yet another ‘stamp of approval’ of being an intrinsic development issue. Too bad, that the World Bank is not using this occasion to accompany the academic exercise internally with a serious reflection and reconsideration of the Bank’s own understanding of and approach to gender equality.
Historically, Summit agendas have a way of being hijacked by current events and the 2011 Summits will be no exception. On May 26-27, the G8 Summit can be expected to address threats in the Middle East, especially Libya; in the Eurozone (where sovereign debt ratings for Spain and Portugal have been downgraded), and in Japan. Some G20 Leaders want the G8 to die a quiet death; they perceive G8 Leaders “pre-cooking” outcomes for their Summit, which is not until November. Meanwhile, as events unfold, the G8 and G20 Ministers and working groups continue to work in parallel.
This article on the G20 argues that, to date, the centers of capitalism are rejecting proposals which limit or meaningfully regulate excessive financial speculation. However, there are positive proposals, such as the Financial Transactions Tax (FTT), that may gain traction.
In this edition of the newsletter we cover a wide array of issue-areas and opinions:
1) Kirk Herbertson of World Resources Institute and Nancy Alexander of HBS look at the G20 as a standard setter and ask whether it could push for the internalization of environmental and human rights impacts in order to lead to better investment decision-making.
2) Nancy Alexander looks at the implications of the G20 for global governance.
3) Marta Benavides introduces the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) and the important role of increased civil society involvement in the G20 process.
4) Ilcheong Yi of UNRISD discusses the financial transaction tax and its link to social security.
5) Karen Hansen-Kuhn of IATP gives an update on the on-going discussion within the G20 on commodity and food price volatility, a topic that certainly will remain on the top of the global agenda in 2011.
For more than three decades, transnational corporations have been busy buying up what used to be known as the commons -- everything from our forests and our oceans to our broadcast airwaves and our most important intellectual and cultural works.
After the Seoul summit, we summarize - and criticize - the outcomes of summit: how does South Africa aim to represent the interests of the African continent at the G20 meetings and how is this perceived in other African countries? How could the G20 avoid falling into the same trap as the G8 - announcing well-intentioned programs without delivering them? And what needs to be done to effectively regulate financial markets and commodity speculation?
Two years ago, the group of the world’s 20 major economies (the G20) announced their shared ambition: to manage the global economic crisis more efficiently and more transparently than the old industrialized nations (G8), and to prevent further financial market crises or economic downturns. Only two years later, the G20 now stands at a crossroads. At the Group’s summit meeting in Seoul on November 11 and 12, selfish interests may well gain the upper hand, pushing the group’s previous willingness to cooperate into the background.
On October 22, Nancy Alexander spoke at the Global Capital Forum of the Korean Women's Development Institute about the importance of women's leadership in achieving sustainable development. Her paper appears here.
Gender equality is highlighted as a special theme in the ongoing 16th round of replenishment talks for the World Bank Group’s International Development Association (IDA 16). A discussion about gender equality at the World Bank group is not new. Since 2001, the World Bank has had an official gender mainstreaming strategy. Yet there are some structural weaknesses in the way the World Bank addresses gender considerations that need to be overcome in order for IDA 16 to be able to contribute to gender-equitable development in the poorest developing countries.
An important addition to the growing international dialogue about the commons can be found in the new anthology, Genes, Bytes and Emissions: To Whom Does the World Belong? The essays in this book are now available online in English.
We are getting ready for Seoul where the next G20 summit is taking place. The core issues there are expected to be development and financial markets regulation. Some of our contributors argue that addressing development helps closing the G20's legitimacy gap, while others worry that yet another development actor will only make the development field more messy and the G20 less focussed. Instead, the G20 should narrow its agenda to financial issues like the latest Basel rules.
This trade-off between legitimacy and focus could be solved by establishing issue-oriented, ministerial-led G20s: one that focuses on finance, one on development, one on climate change, and so forth.
Ahead of the G20 summit in Seoul, we present the ins and outs of food speculation which is expected to be one of the main topics of the summit in Seoul. We explain how food speculation works, analyze how it drives world hunger and propose what individual states and the G20 should do to limit food speculation.
This paper recommends that the World Bank distribute its assistance to Africa in more equitable ways. On August 16, 2010, it was presented to the African Caucus of Finance Ministers, Central Bank Governors, and World Bank and IMF Executive Directors in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The Caucus established a Task Force to advocate that the World Bank implement the recommendations.
We review the Toronto Summit and take a look ahead to Korea’s presidency of the G20 with a distinct focus on development issues, financial market regulation and civil society engagement.
We review the Toronto Summit and take a look ahead to Korea’s presidency of the G20 with a distinct focus on development issues, financial market regulation and civil society engagement.
The World Trade Organization is negotiating “disciplines” on domestic regulation that could be more powerful than negotiators realize. They could transform the GATS, the General Agreement on Trade in Services, into the first trade agreement that foreign investors enforce through claims against governments for hundreds of millions of dollars. If so, the magnitude of disputes could change the course of development for a small state or a vulnerable economy.
The World Trade Organization is negotiating “disciplines” on domestic regulation, one of which requires regulations to be “pre-established.” Established before what? If this means, before government can apply regulations to an existing financial institution, the discipline would limit the government’s authority to change “too big to fail” policies or increase developmental lending mandates to serve businesses that are rural, small, or owned by women.
The World Trade Organization is negotiating “disciplines” on domestic regulation, one of which requires regulations to be “pre-established.” Established before what? If this means, before a development permit is sought, the discipline would limit the government’s authority to change environmental or community impact standards before a permit is issued. If so, this discipline could constrain changes in climate policy or environmental regulation of existing extraction industries.
The World Trade Organization is negotiating “disciplines” on domestic regulation, which is essential for both development and environmental protection. Often ambiguous, some of the draft disciplines can be interpreted as a radical departure from the practice of most nations. They could change the course of regulation and development, particularly within federal systems and in small and vulnerable economies, where government systems are changing.
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the changes that are taking place in the international normative framework on investment through surveying the European Union and United States’ Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with developing countries.
The World Bank’s Investment Lending Reforms (ILR) will significantly shift the way in which the institution operates. This re-issued paper contains updated information on the reforms and the implications of these reforms for people and the environment in recipient countries.
In 2009, the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) released an unprecedented 700-page evaluation which found evidence that the institution is failing to adequately address the risks of fraud and corruption in its assistance programs.
Between January 2007 and June 2009, the IMF claims that it was more flexible in terms of providing greater policy space to low-income countries to boost spending in the face of fuel, food and financing crises. To examine this claim, scholars at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) examined the empirical evidence in 13 countries. Learn about their findings in this report.
According to an estimate of the U.S. Congressional Research Service, the global financial crisis destroyed 40% of the world’s GDP. Since then, stock indices show a significant recovery of the lost wealth; however, analyses are likely to show that, on the whole, the response to the crisis (government stimulus packages and especially bank bail-outs of worldwide estimated $14 trillion) redistributed wealth upward. In the U.S., unemployment has exceeded the 10% mark and one out of every nine people receives food stamps.
As with many of the other WTO negotiating areas, talks on “trade in services” present serious challenges to developing countries. One challenge is the fact that – whereas tariffs are a primary barrier to trade in goods – domestic laws and regulations are the primary barrier to trade in services. Hence, when governments make commitments to liberalize services in different sectors such as, energy, environment, basic services, domestic laws and regulations governing these services need to be re-examined to ensure that they do not conflict with WTO rules.
With its gigantic domestic market, its allure to foreign investors, and the world’s largest currency reserve, China should be better prepared to weather the financial crisis than other emerging markets. Yet China’s exports account for 40 percent of its GDP and it has thus been deeply impacted by the worldwide recession, especially by the drop in U.S. demand
August 2009"The United States is a women’s success story in many ways... Yet for the past two decades at least, policies in other countries are catching up with and exceeding those in the United States, so that we can no longer consider ourselves the leader in women’s achievement or economic well-being."
Following the G20 Summit, a commentary by Heinrich Böll Founddation Co-President Barbara Unmüßig and Korinna Horta from the Environmental Defense Fund argues that the G20 missed an opportunity to fundamentally reform the Bretton Woods Institutions and to steer them toward a global course that would tackle the global financial crisis and the global climate crisis together.
For the first time in 25 years, the World Bank’s annual Development Report (WDR 2008) is dedicated to agriculture. The report is a welcome indicator of renewed interest in agriculture worldwide that is urgently needed.
Although publicly-funded International Financial Institutions (IFIs) have missions to reduce poverty and promote economic growth, IFI projects often ignore gender inequality and increase poverty, prostitution, and HIV/AIDS, particularly among women and girls.
