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A refreshing proposal by @MoazzamTMalik to revamp the current outdated model of voluntary development aid and replace it with a new global compact of climate and development finance negotiated through @g20org & @UN. But I would go a few steps beyond ODA to seriously pursue other innovative proposals for financing the UN and international development such as the Tobin Tax on financial transactions, a carbon tax, taxes on the arms trade, and raising resources from the deep seas and other global commons which must be considered the common heritage of humankind.
Granted, the US and many other states will oppose such schemes, as most states wish to safeguard their monopoly over taxing powers....but as they say, the revolutionary ideas of one generation often become the common wisdom of the next generation. So these ideas must be kept alive for the longer haul.
Finding creative ways to regulate (not to stifle but to harness) the enormous resources of corporate philanthropies through public-private partnerships for the good of humanity is yet another frontier to explore as part of a loose global compact for development.
Kul
Note: Moazzam Malik is managing director at the World Resources Institute and honorary professor at the UCL Policy Lab.
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This sounds too complicated. Instead, rich countries should take a good portion of their ‘climate change funds’, and all their ‘development aid’, and invest it in ‘green projects’ in so called developing countries (such as hydrogen production in Africa). We need to stop thinking about climate goals in national terms. Every reduction of emission counts, regardless where it happens. This reduction happens most efficiently where land is cheap and labour is more affordable. It will help the economy and the development of the host country, more than any run-of-the-mill UN project. See also Foreign Policy: How to Get More Bang for Your Climate-Change Buck
ReplyDeleteWish I could be more hopeful on this issue, but I fear the answer to Mr. Malik's final two questions is "No". Elected officials globally, especially in the US, are far behind public sentiment about the need to address climate change. Still, one can hope and take action at whatever level is possible. Thanks for sharing, Kul.
ReplyDeletePaula, in a democracy elected officials represent the will of the people. If the government in the USA is not representing the will of its people, then the USA are not a democracy.
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