By Yudong (Nathan) Liu As part of the Spring 2022 Global China Research Colloquium, the Boston University Global Development Policy (GDP) Center hosted a virtual discussion with University of Indonesia researchers Albertus Hadi Pramono, Masita Dwi Mandini Manessa, Mochamad Indrawan and Dwi Amalia Sari on conducting a spatial environmental assessment of select Belt and Road […]
On Monday, March 28, 2022, China’s National Development and Reform Commission issued new guidelines on greening the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the ambitious multi-billion-dollar international push to better connect China to the rest of the world through trade and infrastructure. Through this venture, China is providing over 100 countries with funding they have long […]
For the second year in a row, the China-Latin America Finance Database, jointly managed by the Boston University Global Development Policy Center and the Inter-American Dialogue, recorded no new overseas finance commitments from China to Latin American governments or state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in 2021 through its two most active policy banks, the China Development Bank […]
In 2021, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) continued to face challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic strains. After a 7 percent contraction in 2020, the region’s GDP growth rebounded to 6.2 percent in 2021, according to a recent projection from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. This was […]
By Rebecca Ray As part of the Spring 2022 Global China Research Colloquium, Carlos Larrea, Professor of Social Science at the Universidad Andina Simón Bolivar in Ecuador, shared his vision for a debt-for-nature swap between Ecuador and China, wherein portions of debt would be cancelled on the condition of allocating saved funds for conservation investments. […]
In offering loans to developing countries in exchange for policy reforms, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) typically sets the fiscal parameters within which development occurs. Among the drivers of socio-economic development, an important, yet insufficiently understood, international-level determinant is the spread of IMF austerity policies to developing countries. A new journal article in the Journal for Globalization […]
The next decade will be a critical period for global sustainable development. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) promises to help countries reach their national goals for economic growth, trade and development, but widespread concerns remain over how this boom in Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) will impact social-ecological systems. A new journal article co-authored […]
By Blake Alexander Simmons and Rebecca Ray Last month, leaders from over 130 countries endorsed the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), pledging to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030. This comes on the heels of another agreement, the Kunming Declaration from the Convention on Biological […]
By Bridgette Lang Lithium, an element used in rechargeable batteries and other sustainable energy sources, is in high demand as the green energy market grows. Though lithium products can help countries reduce their carbon footprint, its extraction process is quite far from being eco-friendly. Inevitably, governments and investors must make tradeoffs and difficult decisions. In […]
As China emerges from its COVID-19 recession, the country has already seen an early resurgence in key industrial sectors. This is particularly true for industries linked to renewable energy generation, driven by President Xi Jinping’s quest for carbon neutrality. Conversely to this domestic sustainability drive, China’s demand for lithium from Latin America has been picking […]