By Rachel Thrasher and Özlem Ömer As a recent policy brief by the Boston University Global Development Policy Center shows, more must be done to ensure a rapid, equitable and global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccine rollout is underway in every region of the world. 500 million doses have been given worldwide, with almost 100 […]
By Luma Ramos Amid the worst global recession since World War II, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 2021 Spring Meetings debated the importance of incorporating green policies into the economic recovery. In her opening speech, the Fund’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva noted that the IMF has a strategic role to play in mitigating climate change, […]
The United States has free trade agreements (FTAs) with about 20 countries, including Mexico, Canada, Colombia, South Korea, Morocco and others. Negotiations for a new US FTA with Kenya are currently underway, with talks beginning in July 2020 and scheduled to conclude by the end of 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the […]
Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center (GDP Center) seeks applicants for both pre-and post-doctoral fellowships to work on its Global China Initiative (GCI). In addition to receiving support for dissertation and post-dissertation work, fellows will participate in the China initiative’s research projects, seminar series, and policy engagement activities. The energy and climate team is seeking […]
By Xinyue Ma As countries strive to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is in urgent need of liquidity to fill the investment gap in development areas such as public health, climate change, and inequality. In the midst of this, economic risks around the world are straining the so-called Global Financial Safety Net (GFSN), […]
By Henrik Selin and Rebecca Dunn If international shipping were a country, it would be the world’s seventh largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually. Despite this, CO2 emissions from international shipping are not currently covered by international treaties or domestic policies. This means that these CO2 emissions are largely left outside collective efforts […]
International ships carry roughly 90 percent of global trade by volume and produce more CO2 emissions annually than Saudi Arabia, at two percent of of global emissions. Despite this, neither international treaties nor domestic policies control CO2 emissions from international maritime shipping. The industry also does not lend itself to easy governance, as it is […]
By Maureen Heydt The 2020s were meant to be a decade of achieving shared sustainable development and climate goals, but instead began with a global pandemic, creating the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression and pushing upwards of 124 million people pushed into extreme poverty. 2020 was also one of the hottest years on […]
The year 2021 is year two into the most important decade of the century where drastic reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and inequalities in a manner that raises standards of living is paramount to the survival of the world’s people and planet earth itself. Yet, 2020 saw the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression, and […]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been tasked with quickly devising a climate change strategy that helps its members meet collective climate change and development goals while maintaining financial stability. A new working paper by Luma Ramos, Corinne Stephenson, Irene Monasterolo and Kevin P. Gallagher uses textual analysis algorithms to perform a baseline analysis of […]