Celebrating the Voluntary Guidelines on Governance of Land and recognizing the need to move beyond
By Frauke de Weijer
This article was published on 11 May and is available on ECDPM’s Talking Points blog.
Increasing scarcity of natural resources is leading to large changes in ownership and usage of water and land, with negative outcomes for the poor. The changes in land use patterns in developing countries are also not contributing to a transition to a more environmentally sustainable resource use....
Read moreWhat can the European Union do to promote development-friendly natural resource management?
By Niels Keijzer
This article was published on 20 April and is available on ECDPM’s Talking Points blog.
Water, energy and land belong to the most under-pressure resources today. This year’s European Report on Development (ERD), to be launched on 16 May, focuses on these three key natural resources and analyses...
Read moreStructuring options for a green economy – what does the ERD say about the ingredients, recipes, and cooks?
Green economy deliberations are central to both the G20 Development Working Group where the discussions centre on inclusive green growth and the Rio+20 negotiations, where informal negotiations resumed last week. Over the last week we informed both fora on how the ERD is framing the green economy. The framework used in this year’s European Report on Development, Confronting scarcity: managing water, energy and land for inclusive and sustainable growth, is proving to be useful for the debate on the green economy....
Read moreWorld Water Forum 2012: well defined rights are key for allocating water across uses and sectors
The World Water Forum in Marseille had a strong focus on issues at the interfaces between water policy and management and energy, climate, agriculture, and trade policies. Therefore the topic of the ERD 2012 “Confronting scarcity: managing water, energy and land for inclusive and sustainable growth“ matched the agenda very well. The report was presented at a side event organised by Falilou Fall from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Imme Scholz’s presentation...
Read moreBonn2011 Conference: the water, energy and food security nexus
In November 2011, the German Federal Government organised a three-day conference in Bonn on the water, energy and food nexus, very similar to the nexus at the centre of the forthcoming European Report on Development 2011-2012. This nexus approach to thinking about natural resource management is becoming increasingly mainstream: the World Economic Forum dedicated a whole section to the water-energy-food nexus in its 2011 Global Risks Report and Shell turned its...
Read moreKey elements emerging from the ERD panels at the EADI/DSA conference in York
With ‘Rethinking development in an age of scarcity and uncertainty’ as the overall theme for the recent EADI-DSA 2011 Conference in York, the European Report on Development (ERD) 2011/2012 proved its relevance to debates amongst international development experts. The ERD 2011/2012 incorporates precisely each of the conference title’s three components. With the objective of ‘rethinking...
Read moreManaging natural resources in the context of increasing scarcities: developing country experiences
One in five roses on the EU market is dependent on the effective management of one relatively small river basin in Kenya. Lake Naivasha is surrounded by the world’s largest flower companies who are dependent on fresh water withdrawal from the lake. Together these companies were responsible for some 10% or approximately US$400 million of Kenya’s total foreign exchange revenue in 2008 and directly employed 20,000 individuals (indirectly the sector...
Read moreClimate change negotiations 2011: renewable energy as an opportunity for developing countries?
The major failure of the recent Bonn climate change negotiations was the issue of a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol. Most developed countries claimed that a new legally-binding framework should include all major emitters. Developing nations’ current request is an extension of Kyoto, which obliges almost 40 industrialised nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% below 1990 levels during 2008-12. The world's largest greenhouse gas emitters...
Read moreHarvesting questions: the results of the first two ERD consultations, and a quick look ahead
During the next few months, a team of authors from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), the German Development Institute (DIE) and the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) will be busy with drafting the 2012 European Report on Development (ERD). Similar to the first two editions, this report will be prepared through a collaborative effort, to which many researchers from other institutions and parts of the world will contribute.
The focus of this report will be on how natural resource management can promote inclusive and sustainable growth. Within this...
Read moreThe water scarcity continuum: from economic to physical
Water is one of three focus areas (alongside land and energy) for the forthcoming European Report on Development (ERD) 2011-2012 on natural resources management for inclusive and sustainable growth, managed by ODI, DIE and ECDPM for the European Commission.
Absolute...
Read moreLand grabs, the ‘WEL nexus’, and a lot of questions
On the 18th and 19th May, ECDPM hosted the partners currently engaged in formulating the 2012 European Development Report. This was a follow-up to previous meetings in London and Brussels and aimed at furthering discussions on the structure and content of the report among whilst also bringing in experts on the topics relating to the title of the report:...
Read moreEffective natural resource management for inclusive and sustainable growth – the role of the public and private sector
Population growth and rising incomes, together with a growing middle class in emerging powers, are increasingly putting the world’s natural resources under extreme pressure. By 2030 demand for food, water and energy is expected to rise by 30-40%.
Water, energy and land (WEL) are intimately connected and this WEL nexus manifests itself in new challenges and opportunities for developing countries. For example, producing more food requires more water, energy and more land –...
Read moreForests: an increasingly competitive use of land
As the global population grows and diets change, the need for agricultural production becomes greater. It is likely that this increased production will come not only from agricultural yields but also agricultural expansion. Added to this, increased demand for biofuels – largely driven by policy measures adopted by the European Union and the United States – also leads to increased demand for productive agricultural land.
Much agricultural expansion has previously occurred on...
Read moreAn African perspective on social protection
Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, recently hosted a special workshop which focused on how workers in the large informal sector in Africa, who are often excluded from social protection programmes and mechanisms, could be included.
The European Report on Development’s lead author, Giorgia Giovannetti, was invited to attend the gathering to present the 2010/2011 edition of the European Report on Development (ERD 2010/2011). Participants generally agreed, as the ERD clearly illustrates, that social protection has come a long way in Africa. “There has been a lot of progress in Africa in terms...
Read moreTransparency and social impact – is there a link?
Contributed by Alex Beech, the Communications Officer for aidinfo.
For some time now, there have been murmurings in the air about a transformation in aid. The issue underpinning this debate is transparency, and the potential it has to improve the effectiveness of aid, increase social impact, and move us closer towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals....
Read moreThe ERD’s place in the African development jigsaw
On Thursday 10 March 2011, Giorgia Giovannetti, the 2010/2011 European Report on Development’s lead author, will be in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to present the ERD’s main findings and conclusions.
Giovanneti’s presentation will take place during a two-day capacity-building workshop which will focus on encouraging stakeholders to share best practice on social protection schemes in the formal and the informal economy, and to discuss the challenges and opportunities to expand social protection in the African context.
The Nairobi gathering –...
Read moreFragility: the challenge of definition
Giorgia Giovannetti took up the challenge of defining state fragility and prescribing ways to deal with it in an article she wrote for The Broker, a bimonthly magazine published by the Foundation for International Development Publications (IDP).
With some 30 African countries categorised as ‘fragile’, and given the serious development problems this causes, state fragility in sub-Saharan Africa was a logical...
Read moreAfrican social protection in action
In an article for Vox, a portal for economic policy analysis run by the Centre for Economic Policy Research, two members of the ERD team explained that social protection is becoming increasingly feasible in sub-Saharan Africa, as reflected by the programmes already in place, and for these efforts to be scaled up required, above all else, political will.
Written by Giorgia Giovannetti, the lead author of the 2009 and 2010 reports, and Marco...
Read moreAll you ever wanted to know about the ERD…
Ever wondered what social protection actually means and how it works? Curious for the lowdown on the findings and recommendations of the latest European Report on Development (ERD)? Are you a little vague on what the ERD initiative is all about and what it seeks to achieve?
Then, you’ve come to the right place. A new series of fact sheets explains all the ins and outs of the ERD and related issues. The first three fact sheets cover the following questions:
Read moreLet’s hear it for the ERD
Since preparations for the first edition of the European Report on Development (ERD) began in 2009, those interested in the report have been able to tune in to regular podcasts to keep abreast of the latest developments and views on the topics at hand.
The latest two podcasts deal with the recommendations and findings of the second edition of the ERD and reactions to it from various stakeholders. The first podcast, entitled ‘Development policy’s missing piece’, explains how social protection fits into and...
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