Nearly 180 world leaders and Nobel laureates signed an open letter published in the New York Times calling on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to halt the judicial harassment of Grameen Bank founder and Nobel prize winner Muhammad Yunus, often called the father of microfinance. The signatories also urged the Prime Minister to ensure that…(Read more)
Tag: governance
Renewables Save $.5B in Fuel Costs in 2022
A new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) finds that: “the renewable power added in 2022 reduced the fuel bill of the electricity sector worldwide. New capacity added since 2000 reduced the electricity sector fuel bill in 2022 by at least USD 520 billion.” IRENA’s Director-General, Francesco La Camera, said: “There is no…(Read more)
To Advance Freedom, We Need to Improve Job Quality
Aspen Institute VP Maureen Conway, blogging on July 4, 2023, American Independence Day, argues that “America cannot truly be the Land of the Free until we liberate its working people and enable them to enjoy the fruits of their labor. This can only be accomplished by improving the quality of their jobs.” She points to…(Read more)
New Public Sector Index: Measuring the Capabilities of Local Governments to Solve Critical Challenges
Writing in Project Syndicate, Mariana Mazzucato of University College London and James Anderson of Bloomberg Philanthropies introduce their project to develop a new public sector index of the capabilities of cities to solve critical challenges. “What critical skills, processes, and structures”, the authors write, “will a given municipality need in order to detect emergent issues…(Read more)
Talks toward a global plastics pollution agreement held in Uruguay
In late 2022, the first session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including marine litter, was held in Punta del Este, Uruguay. At the conference, UNEP’s Executive Director, Inger Andersen, called for a broad, inclusive and science-driven agreement that provides adequate resources for developing countries. “We…(Read more)
Applying and Refining SWEEF’s Gender ROI Assessment Tool
Equilo, a data analytics platform and social enterprise, is working with women-led and -focused SWEEF Capital, a Singapore-based private equity fund, to test, refine and scale the application of SWEEF’s Gender ROI™ Assessment Tool. This tool, Equilo writes, “supports organizations to conduct a gender analysis of their organization’s leadership, workforce, value chain, and society where…(Read more)
Biodiversity Financing Promotes the Cooperation Needed to Stop Extinctions
Writing in The Triple Pundit, Riya Anne Polcastro underscores the importance of an initiative of major NGOs advocating annual financing from rich countries of $60 billion per year to protect biodiversity and prevent further mass extinction. “The Nature Conservancy, the Rainforest Trust and the World Resources Institute are just a few among the groups calling…(Read more)
The Case for a T-12 Group of Techno-Democracies
To provide a vehicle for cooperation on many crucial issues clustered around technology, Jared Cohen and Fontaine, writing in Foreign Affairs, make the case for a new global governance body, the T-12 group of techno-democracies. Also aimed at diluting the influence of techno-autocracies, particularly China and Russia, the T-12 would include the US, UK, France,…(Read more)