In early November 2023, The Circulate Initiative, a US non-profit, published the key global findings of its Plastics Circularity Investment Tracker, an online tool for investors. For the period 2018-2023, the tracker identified 3,700 investment deals around the world and USD 160 B worth of investments in upstream and downstream products and services, including materials,…(Read more)
Tag: technology
China-Singapore Green Finance Task Force
In climate finance for the global transition to clean energy, one of the most significant events of 2023 has been the establishment of the China-Singapore Green Finance Task Force. The group is chaired by Dr. Ma Jun, Chair of the China Green Finance Committee, and Ms. Gillian Tan, Assistant Managing Director and Chief Sustainability Officer…(Read more)
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)
Asia-Pacific Consultation on Gender Equality in the Digital Age
The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women has released the report of its Asia-Pacific Regional Consultation on the theme of gender equality in the digital age. The consultation was convened by the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and UN Women’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, in…(Read more)
Using AI in Evaluation
At the blog of the American Evaluation Association, AEA 365, evaluation consultant Sylva Ferretti has contributed a two-part reflection on working with AI in evaluation, particularly ChatGPT. Overall, she finds this AI tool to be useful, additive, and even progressive in her practice in the field of international development and humanitarian assistance. ChatGPT is, especially, able…(Read more)
Opportunities and threats for US clean energy in 2023
Writing for Canary Media on January 2, 2023, Jeff St. John surveys the potential for and barriers to renewable energy growth in the United States, asking whether the Inflation Reduction Act can power the sector to overcome significant obstacles and achieve new levels of scale and capacity. Specifically, to what extent can the IRA reduce…(Read more)
US to Triple Climate Change Spending over the Next Ten Years
The World Economic Forum has underscored the significant commitment by the federal government in the United States to triple spending on climate change over the next ten years. Citing a new report by RMI, WEF notes that: “The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act include more than…(Read more)
Tech Needs a Seatbelt: Ethics, Inclusion and Intentional Innovation at Salesforce
Dr. Paula Goldman, Chief Ethical and Humane Use Officer at Salesforce, has set out the company’s approach to intentional innovation that centres ethics and inclusion through a systematic process of listening to the perspectives of diverse stakeholders. “Today, disruption means something different than the utopianism of that earlier era — and it’s not always for…(Read more)
Decoloniality and the New Ethics of Climate and Nature
In a guest blog for the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Jess Auerbach, an anthropology professor at North-West University in South Africa, argues that a new approach for researching and acting on climate change is essential – one that is open to and draws on new sources and forms of non-Western knowledge. She challenges her…(Read more)
Doing No Harm With Technology in Evaluation
Posting at AEA365, the American Evaluation Association’s blog site, Antony Maikuri, Veronica Olazabal and Vidhya Shanker make the case for evaluators supporting strategies and tools for digital decolonization, data sovereignty and data ethics in their work. “Evaluators can distinguish among the types of value that data can produce, and for whom,” write the authors. “These types range…(Read more)