Global Gateway: EU, Latin America and the Caribbean lead the charge for a Green and Just Transition
In commemorating Europe Day, the European Union (EU) officially launched its €35-million climate action programme Euroclima in the Caribbean region. Today’s launch follows October’s Ministerial meeting, where EU Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen and Caribbean Ministers agreed to put just green transition at the core of the partnership between the EU and the Caribbean region. The launch took place at Walkers Reserve, an eco-forest located on the east coast of the country, which is also a centre for regenerative agriculture, further highlighting the focus and commitments of Euroclima.
Global Gateway: New investments to connect people via universal and meaningful Internet
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the European Commission have joined forces to advance universal and meaningful connectivity and help achieve sustainable digital transformation.
The new ITU-EC project, ‘Promoting and measuring universal and meaningful digital connectivity’, will leverage EUR 3 million over a three-year period and help to meaningfully connect the world’s population, enabling all people to leverage the Internet to its full potential. The project is part of the EU’s Global Gateway initiative.
Global Gateway: Commission and EIB announce funds worth €18 billion to boost investments in climate action and sustainable economies
The European Commission and the European Investment Bank have announced €18 billion of financing under Global Gateway, Europe's investment strategy for partner countries.
This will boost investment in Global Gateway's priority areas – climate action, clean energy and connectivity – in Europe's partner countries around the world. In particular, these projects will aim to help bridge the global climate finance gap and support prevention, adaptation and mitigation.
Global Report on Food Crises: acute food insecurity hits new highs
The number of people facing acute food insecurity and requiring urgent life-saving food assistance and livelihood support continues to grow at an alarming rate. This makes it more urgent than ever to tackle the root causes of food crises rather than just responding after they occur. This is a key takeaway from an annual report launched today by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC) - an international alliance of the United Nations, the European Union, governmental and non-governmental agencies working to tackle food crises together.
The report focusses on those countries and territories where the magnitude and severity of the food crisis exceed the local resources and capacities. In these situations the mobilization of the international community is necessary.
Global trade’s recovery from COVID-19 crisis hits record high
Trade in goods during the first quarter of 2021 was higher than the pre-pandemic level, but trade in services remained substantially below averages.
World trade’s recovery from the COVID-19 crisis hit a record high in the first quarter of 2021, increasing by 10% year-over-year and 4% quarter-over-quarter, according to UNCTAD’s Global Trade Update released on 19 May.
According to the report, the impressive rebound in Q1 2021 continued to be driven by the strong export performance of East Asian economies, whose early success in pandemic mitigation allowed them to rebound faster and to capitalize on booming global demand for COVID-19 related products.
President Biden’s Message to African Union Summit Participants
The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to working with the African Union to advance our shared vision of a better future.
Success of circular economy hinges on better governance of ‘waste trade’
China’s decision to ban imports of most scrap plastics and other waste materials in 2018 sent shockwaves across the globe.
The Asian giant had imported about 45% of all internationally traded plastic waste since 1992, so the new policy diverted a significant stream of plastic scrap to other countries.
It also raised important questions on how we trade waste, which carries environmental risks related to pollutants and can harm developing economies by dumping cheap, imported second-hand goods in their markets.
550 million tons of used materials traded
In 2019, countries traded 550 million tons of used materials – such as scrap plastics, metals, electronics, paper and second-hand clothes – worth $315 billion.
Since the vision of a global circular economy hinges on turning waste into resources, China’s decision highlights the urgent need to better understand and monitor this trade.
Investment decline in productive assets spells trouble for poorer nations
Although developing countries attracted a record share of global foreign direct investment in 2020, finance for infrastructure and productive sectors fell significantly, weakening their COVID-19 recovery prospects.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to developing economies have shown relative resilience to the COVID-19 crisis, falling by just 12% in 2020 compared with the staggering 69% collapse recorded by richer economies.
Overall, developing countries attracted a record 72% of global FDI last year, according to an UNCTAD Investment Trends Monitor published on 24 January.
But the steep decline in greenfield announcements and international project finance in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean is a cause for major concern.
“These investment types are crucial for productive capacity and infrastructure development and thus for sustainable recovery prospects,” says James Zhan, UNCTAD’s director of investment and enterprise development.
UNCTAD defines productive capacities as the productive resources, entrepreneurial capabilities and production linkages that together determine the capacity of a country to produce goods and services and enable it to grow and develop.
“Without investment in the productive sectors of the economy, developing countries will struggle to rebuild from the effects of the pandemic,” Mr. Zhan said.
CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX 2020
This year’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) paints a grim picture of the state of corruption worldwide. While most countries have made little to no progress in tackling corruption in nearly a decade, more than two-thirds of countries score below 50.
Our analysis shows corruption not only undermines the global health response to COVID-19, but contributes to a continuing crisis of democracy.
2020 proved to be one of the worst years in recent history,
with the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating effects. The health and economic impact on individuals and communities worldwide has been catastrophic.
More than 90 million people were infected, and nearly 2 million people lost their lives around the world.
As the past tumultuous year has shown, COVID-19 is not just a health and economic crisis, but a corruption crisis as well, with countless lives lost due to the insidious effects of corruption undermining a fair and equitable global response.