On June 6-7, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network convened a study group of experts in international affairs, military and security affairs, and international relations among the US, European Union, Ukraine, and Russia. Their statement follows. Kindly note that the statement is solely that of the individual participants of the study group, and not that of any other organisation, including the Holy See, the United Nations, or any national government. (more…)
Jeffrey D. Sachs
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From limits to growth to regeneration 2030
Fifty years ago, Italian business leaders in the Club of Rome gave a jolt to the world in their path-breaking report Limits to Growth. That thought leadership continues today as Italian business leaders launch Regeneration 2030, a powerful call for more holistic, ethical, and sustainable business practices to help the world achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement. The 50-year journey from Limits of Growth to Regeneration 2030 shows how far we have come in understanding the critical challenges facing humanity, but also how far we still have to go to meet those challenges. (more…)
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Ending the war of attrition in Ukraine
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has degenerated into a savage war of attrition that each side believes it will win, but which in reality both sides will lose. Ukraine should intensify the search for a negotiated peace of the kind that was on the table in March, but which was abandoned following the Russian atrocities in Bucha. (more…)
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A negotiated peace is the only way to end Russia’s war on Ukraine
There is only one answer to the war in Ukraine: a peace deal. (more…)
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How to protect Ukraine, reassure Russia and keep the peace
All antagonists should recognise mutual security interests. That implies a settlement in which Ukraine secures its sovereignty through neutrality.
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How to avoid security crises in Ukraine and Taiwan
To peacefully resolve the brewing crises over Ukraine and Taiwan the major powers will need to consider the strategic perspectives of the other side.
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Overhaul the global financial system for the sake of the planet
The current two-tiered global financial system only allows rich countries to borrow on decent market terms so they can tackle problems like climate change.
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The climate bottom line: rich nations must step up
Financing lies at the heart of the rupture between wealthy and poor nations on climate: a levy-based framework to provide funding is now crucial.
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‘I see no financial obstacles to getting to net zero by 2050’
With COP26 looming, the expert in sustainable development explains how we can have both decarbonisation and robust growth.
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Anti-China hysteria lies at heart of action against IMF’s Georgieva
IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva’s fall would prove the fund has mere trappings of multilateralism — leaving others to go their own way. ..Many in the US Congress want Georgieva out because she is not a sworn enemy of Beijing.
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Blood in the sand in Afghanistan.
For decades, the American political class has intervened relentlessly and recklessly in countries whose people they hold in contempt. And once again they are being aided by America’s credulous mass media, which is uniformly blaming the Taliban victory on Afghanistan’s incorrigible corruption.
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The climate crisis challenge belongs to all of us
Decisions taken by the US government and the rest of the world during the remainder of 2021 will be among the most important of our generation. (more…)
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Jeffrey Sachs speech on the state of the world’s “food system” that is rigged against the poor.
We have a world food system but we need a different system, one based on human rights and national sovereignty. The US won’t allow that. Consider the United Fruit Company in Honduras that was backed by the US government and the military and exploited the local population.The US doesn’t even care about it’s own poor. And don’t think that the US is going to help solve the problem through the private sector. We turned world food production over to the private sector 100 years ago in which the rights of poor people have been denied.
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The idiocracy of America. It is perilously close to becoming a failed state
The hilarious 2006 film “Idiocracy” offers a vivid depiction of American politics. The movie is classified as a sci-fi comedy, but it is more like a searing documentary. It almost perfectly describes America’s crisis of survival today. The American people, and the people of the world, deserve better than an American idiocracy. (more…)
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Finding the origins of COVID-19 and preventing future pandemics
An international and independent investigation to examine the alternative hypotheses is urgently needed, and the US and Chinese governments should cooperate fully and transparently with such an inquiry. In the meantime, scientists, politicians, and pundits should acknowledge the uncertainties that currently prevail. (more…)
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We don’t need the G7
The group’s recent summit in Cornwall should be its last. Political leaders need to stop devoting their energy to an exercise that is unrepresentative of today’s global economy and results in a near-complete disconnect between stated aims and the means adopted to achieve them. (more…)
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Share the intellectual property on COVID-19 vaccines
Intellectual Property must serve the global good, rather than humanity serving the interests of a few private companies. And in the case of COVID-19, the global good is not in doubt: rapid worldwide immunization, in order to save lives, prevent the emergence of new variants, and end the pandemic. (more…)
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Trump’s presidency embodied the raw politics of US white supremacy
Throughout America’s history, the bigotry that fueled Donald Trump’s rise to power has never been far from the surface. Trump’s departure is an opportunity for a new beginning, not only in the deeply-wounded United States, but in multiethnic societies everywhere. (more…)
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Europe and China’s year-end breakthrough
America’s real intention in opposing China has nothing to do with human rights. Particularly under Trump’s lawless administration, US policies have been motivated by a hunger for dominance, plain and simple. (more…)
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Mission Sustainable Development (Project Syndicate Dec 1, 2020)
Nearly 60 years ago, President John F. Kennedy put the United States on a mission to the future by proclaiming that it would land a man on the moon within a decade. Our generation’s moonshot mission is sustainable development on Earth.
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America’s Unholy Crusade Against China (Project Syndicate August 5, 2020)
Last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered an anti-China speech that was extremist, simplistic, and dangerous. If biblical literalists like Pompeo remain in power past November, they could well bring the world to the brink of a war that they expect and perhaps even seek.
