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Would you consider CSR as a form of protectionism?

via Ideas4developmentBLOG

With governments preparing to gather in Bali, Indonesia to discuss the future of the Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) Human Development Report has warned that the world should focus on the development impact of climate change that could bring unprecedented reversals in poverty reduction, nutrition, health and education.

The report, “Fighting climate change: Human solidarity in a divided world,” provides a stark account of the threat posed by global warming. It argues that the world is drifting towards a “tipping point” that could lock the world’s poorest countries and their poorest citizens in a downward spiral, leaving hundreds of millions facing malnutrition, water scarcity, ecological threats, and a loss of livelihoods. “Ultimately, climate change is a threat to humanity as a whole. But it is the poor, a constituency with no responsibility for the ecological debt we are running up, who face the immediate and most severe human costs,” commented UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis. The report comes at a key moment in negotiations to forge a multilateral agreement for the period after 2012 – the expiry date for the current commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. It calls for a “twin track” approach that combines stringent mitigation to limit 21st Century warming to less than 2°C (3.6°F), with strengthened international cooperation on adaptation.

Click here for a document summary in English and here for the full version. 

WASHINGTON — Oct. 22, 2007 — Microsoft Corp. and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) today announced a unique public-private collaboration that intends to promote international development in the areas of economic growth, health, governance, education and humanitarian assistance around the world. The five-year public-private partnership aims to catalyze the global community to address the diverse social and business challenges faced by those who currently receive few or no benefits from technology.

via yaleglobal.com

…via yaleglobal.com from businessweek.com

On the online auction giant’s new MicroPlace site, investors can lend as little as $50 to would-be small business owners around the globe

Ebay, the internet auction site, is getting into the micro-loan business, by which investors can provide loans for $50 or more to small businesses. “The key to micro-lending is that it fosters self-reliance and, eventually, sustainable economic growth in a way that charity does not,” says Tracey Pettengill Turner, as reported by Catherine Holahan in Businessweek.com. Turner started MicroPlace.com, a micro-lending site and since sold it to eBay. That online micro-loan site and others like Prosper.com work with non-governmental organizations in countries to identify viable projects. Turner began her career by starting an online database of non-profit groups, and then went to work for the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, the micro-loan program of which was recognized with the 2006 Nobel Prize for Peace. As lender, Turner has witnessed time and time again how small amounts of capital – to purchase a weaving loom or other small piece of equipment – can launch a business and lift an entire family out of poverty. – YaleGlobal

Catherine Holahan

BusinessWeek.com, 24 October 2007

Even as economists fret about sustaining global economic integration and politicians in the wealthiest nations make opposition to globalization a winning campaign theme, the phenomenon continues to connect the world. Such a dichotomy may not continue for long, warns economist Mark Thirlwell. Growing alarm in the developed nations stems from the emergence of powerful competitors in the developing world, especially China and India: Workers in wealthy nations worry about open markets and competition from workers in countries with low wages; industry leaders worry about more competition for non-renewable resources, including oil, and a new economic world order; and environmentalists and a growing segment of the public at large worry that emerging economies and rapid growth will quicken the pace of climate change. Thirlwell argues that governments trying to restrict the inevitable process of globalization will only increase competition and add to their list of challenges. Instead, governments should pursue a strategy of cooperation, continuing along a path that has long led to economic prosperity and security.

-YaleGlobal

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Essay: Free markets are often presented as the sole solution to poverty and human development. But the global market is inefficient and life-destructive, writes John McMurtry.

NEW INTERNATIONALIST

June 2007 • Issue 401

 The aid community has undergone sweeping changes since the 1960s when the number of donors per recipient country averaged at 12. Today this figure is 33 and the number of organizations exceeds 230….

Richard Lapper

The Financial Times, 30 August 2007

Media and government reports focus on hedge funds and other mechanisms of finance that move money around the globe. But individuals also shift funds, including small amounts sent in envelopes or by wire, from immigrant workers in wealthy nations to poor relatives back home. For some poor nations, the total of such remittances outweigh foreign aid or revenues earned from leading agricultural exports or tourism, reports Richard Lapper for the Financial Times. Migrants sent more than $206 billion in known remittances to their homelands during 2006, reports the World Bank. Unofficial or unreported gifts could double that figure, some analysts suggest. Economists recognize that more research is needed to understand the many effects of remittances: inflation of local currency, distortion of import and export prices, poverty reduction, shortages of skilled labor and the creation of a culture of dependency in some communities. The article concludes by suggesting that governments could do more to harness the financial possibilities of such remittances, converting them into long-term investments that could provide steady income for developing nations. – YaleGlobal