In a new journal article published in Science, research by Blake Alexander Simmons, Rebecca Ray, Hongbo Yang and Kevin P. Gallagher explores opportunities for China to alleviate debt burdens in exchange for debtor nation commitments to climate change mitigation and/or adaptation and environmental protection through “debt-for-climate” and “debt-for-nature” swaps. Many developing countries are experiencing mounting […]
By Blake Alexander Simmons and Rebecca Ray As developing countries emerge from the COVID-19 crisis, they will need to pivot rapidly to relaunch their economies. Given the severity of the current economic downturn, the world has an opportunity to pivot to greener and more inclusive forms of economic growth in the next business cycle. Standing […]
In a new working paper, Global Development Policy (GDP) Center Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Blake Alexander Simmons, along with Christoph Nolte, Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Environment, Boston University and Jennifer McGowan, Decision Scientist and Spatial Planner at The Nature Conservancy, discuss the ambitious conservation commitment outlined in President Joe Biden’s latest executive order […]
Editor’s note: This piece was originally published by the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment at Columbia University on Jan. 25, 2021. By Rachel Thrasher Science and society speak loud and clear on climate change. Time is running out, and a massive transformation is needed to align our economic lives with the world’s climate needs. Countries […]
By Xinyue Ma According to estimates of China’s Global Power (CGP) Database compiled by the Global Development Policy Center, China’s fossil fuel power plants are currently leading to approximately 314 million tons (Mt) of CO2emissions per year, which is about 3.5 percent of the annual CO2 emission from the global power sector outside of China. […]
By Pedro Henrique Batista Barbosa Since 2010, when the first Chinese investment in Brazil’s electricity sector happened, China’s presence in the Brazilian electricity sector has expanded considerably in a relatively short period of time. Through a combination of mergers and acquisitions (M&A, or brownfield investments) and greenfield foreign direct investments (GFDI) and benefiting from an […]
In a new working paper, Pedro Henrique Batista Barbosa examines the Chinese investments and loans in Brazil’s electric sector, more specifically in hydro, wind, solar, coal, biomass, oil and nuclear power segments from their onset in mid-2000s until 2019. Chinese presence in the Brazilian electricity sector has increased consistently and significantly in three aspects: investments, […]
The role for the state versus the market has been a topic of great debate since the age of Louis XIV. While free enterprise and competition can foster great innovation, the unfettered state has also been host to many excesses. What is the right balance between free markets and state support? Join Boston University’s Global Development Policy […]
Can China implement debt-for-nature and debt-for-climate swaps to protect the environment and reduce global debt? Join Boston University’s Global Development Policy (GDP) Center and special guests Carlos Larrea and Shuang Li for a webinar discussion and interactive launch on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. As the triple crises of climate change, debt and COVID-19 converge and […]
In the new book “Development Banks and Sustainability in the Andean Amazon,” authors Rebecca Ray, Kevin P. Gallagher, and Cynthia A. Sanborn explore what development banks, governments, and communities have learned in the last decade of careful negotiation between social and environmental protections in the Andean Amazon, and the pressures of surging infrastructure and the boom […]