Chandler Smith

AllAfrica.com: Experts Seek Inclusion of Agriculture in Climate Talks
More than 60 prominent agricultural scientists and leaders have decried the almost total absence of agriculture in the climate talks, warning that the climate deal to be reached next month could lead to widespread famine and food shortages in the years ahead. Signatories of a statement issued at the weekend in Rome, Italy, by leading thinkers in development include five World Food Prize laureates, former heads of development agencies, former Ministers of Agriculture, and heads of the world’s leading alliance of agricultural research centres.

Washington Post: The ultimate crop rotation
Countries in the Horn of Africa nation are becoming one of the world’s leading destinations for the booming business of land leasing. Governments across Southeast Asia, Latin America and especially Africa are seizing the chance to attract this new breed of investors, wining and dining executives and creating land-leasing agencies and land catalogues to showcase their offerings of earth. Increasingly, though, purely profit-seeking companies are snatching up land, making a simple, if somewhat grim, calculation. As one Saudi-backed businessman here put it, “The population of the world is increasing dramatically, so land and food supplies will be short, demand will be higher and prices will rise.”

The Guardian: Global body needed to direct green technology, G77 says
A green technology body with powers to direct a worldwide transition away from a high-carbon economy is needed to combat climate change, according to the world’s developing nations. While most negotiations ahead of the UN’s climate change summit in Copenhagen next month have been concerned with which nations should slash greenhouse gas emissions and by how much, the method in which these cuts will be achieved has received far less attention. Yet the importance of green technology – from wind turbines to electric cars to zero-carbon buildings – is enormous.

Reuters: Denmark says 65 leaders enrolled for climate talks
Sixty-five world leaders have confirmed they will attend next month’s U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen which Danish officials hope will bring strong political commitment for a new treaty to combat global warming. Though hopes of reaching a legally binding agreement have slipped into next year, Denmark 10 days ago upgraded the December 7-18 climate talks by inviting 191 heads of state and government to attend the final two days of the Copenhagen meeting to muster forces for a political deal. It remains unclear if U.S. President Barack Obama will attend.

Reuters: World’s poor see few job benefits from trade boom
The boom in global trade over the last two decades has not improved the quality of most jobs in poorer countries, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and United Nations labour agency (ILO) said on Monday. Their joint report, whose conclusions may make a new global free trade pact even harder to swallow for some, found most workers in developing countries continue to face low incomes and limited job security, even in sectors tied to exports.

The Guardian: How will the world feed itself in 40 years’ time?
Alex Renton, writing from his report for Oxfam International on the impacts of climate change on humans, examines the connection between food security and climate change. He posits that rich countries are already getting richer. At the same time, a warmer climate is less likely to negatively impact richer countries as they will poorer countries (particularly poor countries in tropical climates). This means that there is likely to be greater food wasting in richer countries just when poorer countries have greater need for that food.

The Independent: Paul Collier: The flight of finance from Africa
Paul Collier accounts for the recent flight of finance from Africa across the spectrum. He says that a collapse in letters of credit has hit Africa far harder than any other region, leaving the continent desperate for investment. For decades Africa has been investing only around 20 per cent of national income, which means that almost regardless of returns, Africa will continue to fall further behind the emerging market economies. Yet Africa simply cannot afford to finance a substantial increase in investment from its internal resources because a domestically financed increase in investment could only come at the expense of consumption. So if international finance is essential and private international finance is fleeing, the only option is international public finance.

Reuters: China says rich countries undercut climate talks
China accused rich countries of undermining key elements of an international climate change agreement that nations hope to agree by the end of 2009, adding to a chorus of discord over the negotiations.

Reuters: U.S. must lead at G20 on climate, says group
The United States should show decisive leadership at the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh this month and rally heads of state to prepare for the next global crisis — climate change. In a speech before the G20 meeting on September 24-25, Nancy Birdsall, president of the Washington-based Center for Global Development, said preparing for climate change was key because it was a new issue and because the world’s poor will be severely hurt by it.

The Economist: What next?
The Economist anticipates that the G20 will focus mostly on pay. The most controversial issue is bonuses. Germany and France have demanded a tough line whereas Britain and America have been less keen on hard rules. Still, for all the grandstanding, a consensus does seem to exist.

Reuters: Pneumonia bugs kill 1.2 million children – study
More than a million children die every year from two pneumonia-causing diseases easily prevented with vaccines, researchers reported on Thursday. Each year 1.2 million children under age 5 die from Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae B or Hib, they found.

Forbes.com: Getting Water To The World’s Poorest
Drinking unclean water is one of the primary causes of diarrhea, which is one of the principal causes of death for children under five, a new Unicef report says. Acumen Fund, a nonprofit global venture fund focused on alleviating poverty, has invested in a handful of water companies in India and became aware of the problems its entrepreneurs were facing. Design firm IDEO partnered with Acumen to work with water entrepreneurs in India and Kenya. They dubbed their project Ripple Effect and secured $2.6 million in funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

-Chandler Smith

UK Press Association: Bono and Ashley back malaria drive (UKPA)
Bono and Ashley Judd are among the stars who have pledged their support for a new campaign to tackle malaria. David Beckham’s football team LA Galaxy, Spanish club FC Barcelona and Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates’s wife Melinda are also backing the United Against Malaria initiative, formed by charities Comic Relief, One and Malaria No More UK.

Reuters: Europe, UK press Sudan to return seized aid
Britain and the European Commission have urged Sudan to return hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of assets they funded that were seized by Khartoum during a mass expulsion of humanitarian agencies.

The Guardian: A green deal for rich and poor nations
A few months ago, Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, stated explicitly that the continent’s future depends on what comes out of the Copenhagen climate change negotiations. He argued that Africa needs a strong climate deal, and quickly, so that global emissions can be brought under control as soon as possible. He also called for strong mechanisms to help the continent move towards a low carbon growth path and to strengthen its resilience to unavoidable impacts. President Kagame hit the nail on the head. We know that the effects of climate change will hit the poorest and most vulnerable first and hardest. That is why the new climate change deal so many are working so hard for must also be a deal for development.

Financial Times: EU sets out €15bn climate aid plan
The European Union is to offer a modest €15bn a year to help poor countries cope with the effects of climate change, setting the stage for a fight before an international conference in Copenhagen in December.

National Post: Severe hunger threatens 20M in East Africa
With war-ravaged Somalia engulfed in a fresh round of fighting, leading Canadian aid agencies predict East Africa is plunging into its worst humanitarian crisis in decades. The Humanitarian Coalition, which includes CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Quebec and Save the Children Canada, warns East Africa faces “a perfect storm of crop failures, a multi-year lack of rain, conflicts and political turmoil,” which now threatens 20 million people with severe hunger.

-Chandler Smith

Wall Street Journal: New Antibodies to HIV Found
An international team of researchers has discovered a pair of powerful new antibodies to HIV, providing fresh leads in the quest for a vaccine against AIDS.

Associated Press: G-20 to Talk About Future Of Stimulus Programs
Top finance officials at a Group of 20 meeting in London are expected to stress their commitment to boosting the global economy for now — despite friction over when exactly to scale back stimulus efforts as signs of recovery increase. Finance ministers and central bankers will try to coordinate plans for an eventual winding down of the trillions of dollars of support. They will also discuss further financial reforms such as a U.S. proposal for an international accord on increasing banks’ capital reserves.

UPI: Newly Found Mosquito May Carry Malaria
A species of mosquito in South Africa new to researchers may carry the ability to transmit malaria, researchers in Johannesburg said. The mosquito, known for the time being as Anopheles funestus-like, was found in and near villages near Karonga, a town on Lake Malawi’s western shore, IRIN reported Tuesday.

Reuters: Africa May Veto Climate Change Deal: Ethiopian PM
Africa will veto any climate change deal that does not meet its demand for money from rich nations to cut the impact of global warming on the continent, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Thursday.

-Chandler Smith

Reuters: Israel’s Lieberman takes diplomacy drive to Africa
Israel’s foreign minister visits Africa this week in a bid to boost trade ties and drum up diplomatic support in a continent where pro-Arab sentiment has long been strong.

Reuters: UN urges rich nations to fund new green deal fast
The world’s rich countries must provide some $500 to $600 billion a year as soon as possible in a green new deal to help developing nations fight global warming, the United Nations said in a survey on Tuesday.

AFP: US sees WTO ministerial talks key to Doha success
The United States expects a world trade ministerial meeting in India this week to be an “important step” in efforts to conclude the Doha free trade accord, President Barack Obama’s top trade envoy said. The two-day informal talks beginning Thursday in New Delhi will be attended by World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Pascal Lamy and ministers from rich and emerging nations with sharp differences on issues such as farm subsidies and tariffs on industrial products.

Washington Post: In Oil-Rich Niger Delta, the Sun Never Sets
Analysts say Nigeria may be embarking on its most serious effort to stop gas-flaring, which amounts to cash going up in smoke — as much as $2.5 billion worth a year. The government has also offered amnesty to delta rebels in a long-shot bid to end the insurgency. And the World Bank has pledged to guarantee the public electricity company’s payments for gas supplied to the domestic power market, just in case it defaults on bills.

Telegraph: London’s G20 pre-meet is a test of progress
Chancellor Darling and the Bank of England’s governor, Mervyn King, will host a two-day summit this week before handing the baton to President Obama for the G20. This week, the G20′s finance ministers and central bankers are paving the way for the main event, three weeks later. The London meeting will define priorities for Pittsburgh, and much of the agenda is likely to sound familiar.

France and Germany declare war on bankers’ bonuses
France and Germany are squaring up for a fight with Britain and the US over bankers’ bonuses after President Nicolas Sarkozy and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, agreed a hardline stance before the G20 finance ministers’ meeting this weekend.

-Chandler Smith