Tunisia’s Hour of Need
Mustapha Tlili In the terrorist attack last week that took the lives of 21 people, most foreign tourists, at the National Bardo Museum, Tunisia itself was under attack. And it will remain so because it is a secular democracy in an Arab world that is not democratic and, with the exception of Lebanon’…
Key Elements of a Successful Addis Ababa Accord on Financing for Sustainable Development
This Working Paper from the SDSN Leadership Council outlines key elements for a successful outcome document of the 2015 Financing for Development (FfD) Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It builds on the 2002 Monterrey Consensus, the 2008 Doha Declaration on FfD, and the preparations for the post-…
By Separating Nature from Economics, We Have Walked Blindly into Tragedy
Jeffrey Sachs Recent news brings yet another example of hubris followed by crisis followed by tragedy. The hubris is our ongoing neglect of human-induced climate change, leading to climate disruptions around the world. One of the many climate crises currently under way is the mega-drought in São Pau…
No Hiding From Sustainable Development
One year ago, I was in Brazil to launch the Brazilian chapter of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), an initiative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The main message I heard that day was that São Paulo was suffering from a mega-drought, but that state and local po…
Everything you always wanted to know about the UN climate talks but were afraid to ask
Fiona Harvey 2015 is shaping up to be a pivotal year with respect to climate change as growing concern about impacts converges with a critical stage in the decades-long process of shaping an international agreement to change our trajectory. To help us all prepare for the potentially game-changing 21…
Why global warming does not necessarily result in warmer winters
The Economist ON FEBRUARY 26th James Inhofe, a senator from Oklahoma, threw a snowball at another senator inside America’s upper chamber. He did it to back up his contention that man-made climate change is not the threat President Barack Obama (and many others) say it is. Mr Inhofe is chairman of th…
The DNA of German Foreign Policy
Frank-Walter Steinmeier The harsh reality of the past year has created unprecedented challenges for Germany and its foreign policy. The crisis in Ukraine spiraled out of control, with Russia’s annexation of Crimea, followed by military escalation in the eastern Donbas region, calling into question t…
The Super Smart Way to Dismantle ISIS
Eli Berman, Joseph H. Felter, Jacob H. Shapiro Every week, the Islamic State (IS) makes further headlines with its ruthless behavior. Beheadings, mass executions, burnings and extreme acts of brutality are the methods of a terrorist campaign intended to cow opponents and rally potential fighters. At…
Earth Calling the Financial Sector
Jeffrey D. Sachs and Hendrik J. du Toit Financial markets serve two crucial purposes: to channel savings toward productive investments, and to enable individuals and businesses to manage risks through diversification and insurance. As a result, the sector is essential to sustainable development, whi…
With Cease-Fire, Ukraine Remains Stuck Between Russia and the West
Nikolas Gvosdev This past week, I had the opportunity to attend a roundtable in New York sponsored by the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development on the question of whether the West and Russia have entered into a new Cold War. My sense of pessimism that it now seems impossible…