Global megatrends such as income inequality, climate change, demographic shifts, technological progress, and urbanisation are shaping the future of societies. Yet, their quantitative impacts on development are neither well understood nor established. This paper examines the individual and combined effects of these global forces on poverty, using both cross-section and …
IN A poverty-ridden country, particularly in the rural areas, it is legitimate to ask to what extent the public distribution system (PDS) of foodgrains acts as a security cover to the poor. The question becomes all the more important in a country such as India where the PDS involves an …
Anna in Marathi means brother and Kishan Baburao Hazare is lovingly known as Anna Hazare in Ralegan Siddhi, the village in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district that he helped transform from poverty to plenty. Yet, though life in the village has changed, Anna continues to live in a small room in the …
THIS BOOK focusses on poor women of the Third World and recommends a particular approach for poverty alleviation. After a brief, but commonplace critique of current strategies, including Arthur Lewis' growth model in which benefits supposedly trickle down to the masses, Wignaraja discusses an "alternative approach" -- Participatory Action-Research (PAR). …
HISTORY is generally seen as a record of kings, queens and warriors. But it could as well be a record of changing human-nature interactions over time. All human societies have exploited their environment for their survival and economic growth. Sometimes this exploitation has been destructive -- for instance, the Mesopotamian …
LOW GROWTH rates, high unemployment and an ever-increasing cut in development expenditure are some of the woes ailing Pakistan as a result of toeing the IMF line. And, all of this, says Akmal Hussain, a member of the Prime Minister's Consultative Committee on Economic Policy during the Benazir era, "is …
WHILE NGOs and journalists were taking tours to see what poverty looks like in favelas (Brazilian slums), world leaders were negotiating the chapter on "combating poverty" only a few kilometres away, in Riocentro. They, of course, could not see much poverty on "the road to Rio" as the Brazilian government …
THE BRANDT Commission in 1980 had called for a world "based less on power and status, more on justice and contract; less discretionary, more governed by fair and open rules". Shridath Ramphal renews that appeal, on the road to Rio, but passion is not the sole basis of his plea. …
The climate negotiations have finally begun to focus on the criteria for reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases to be agreed by 2015, and new pitfalls have emerged. The continuing negotiations over the past twenty years had a limited agenda. Developing countries were interested in finance and technology for capacity …
Balancing national strategic interests and global concerns requires new rules for collective action The upcoming sequel to the 1992 Earth Summit, once again to be held in Brazil, will provide fresh opportunities to draft a common global agenda to safeguard the well-being of humanity -- and the planet. But serious …
Background The difference between countries is whether international cooperation is to be based around the “green economy” or around the “green economy in the context of sustainable development and eradication of poverty”. The former implies that all countries can move towards more sustainable pathways without compromising growth, while the latter …
The theme of the Rio + 20 Conference was "Green economy in the context of sustainable development and eradication of poverty" and it has not been possible to the find common ground in the serious differences over what constitute economic growth and human wellbeing – ‘the future we want’. Humans …
Access to Energy and its linkages with poverty alleviation are well established and much talked about around the globe, especially in the developing world. On a recent visit to villages Jaltalla, Kotla and Khunnu- Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand these linkages seemed abstract in absence of inclusive and integrated approach to development. …
A number you likely know: 400 million. That’s how many people live without electricity in India. And not coincidentally, most of these people are poorest of the poor and live in rural villages or hamlets. The presence of such an enormous population eager for something better has given rise to …
With relations between countries now being shaped by geo-economics rather than geo-politics, an emerging issue is to what extent the United States, China and India, all populous countries and top tier economies, see their national interest in giving a new meaning to words like “responsibility”, “development” and “growth” by shifting …
The first meeting of the Scientific Advisory Board of the UN Secretary-General is scheduled on 30 and 31 January 2014 at the invitation of the German Federal Foreign Office. The creation of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to provide advice to the UN Secretary-General and the Executive Heads of UN …
A framework for updating the Climate Treaty MukulSanwal [1] On September 23 the world’s leaders will meet in New York to shape the contours of a new global agreement to address climate change. India will face acute pressure to take on commitments to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and needs …
Moving sustainability from ideas to reality and regaining the leadership of developing countries MukulSanwal[1] Prime Minister Modi’s focus on ‘lifestyles’ marks a departure from India’s 40 year old approach to global environmental concerns where India, and other developing countries, stressed poverty rather than patterns of natural resource use. At one-fourth …
Mukul Sanwal[1] The Paris Agreement shifts the global concern away from the sole focus of the Climate Convention on emissions reductions, which is really the symptom of the problem, to dealing with its causes, that is, human activities inthe urban transition.The Purpose of the Agreement, or the new global climate …
The First International conference on Poverty and Sustainable Development(ICPSD) 2014 is keen to discuss and examine about widespread public concern. As the world forwarded to year 2015,every one has started to talk about how far the world achieved the Millennium development Goals which has set up in 2000 for coming …
For climate change, this is time of urgency, big ideas, and hope. 2015 will be a year of decisions – in Paris at the 21st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and elsewhere – decisions that set the agenda for action, agreement, and accountability …
