european think tanks group
EU-Africa relations have hardly followed a linear path, but the events of the past two years – namely, Covid-19 and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine – seemingly put it under additional strain, allowing age-old grievances to come back in full force.
What is the impact of the war in Ukraine on Africa – Europe migration dialogue? Read our new ETTG collective blog
One year after COVID-19 vaccines were introduced, high-income countries are securing themselves the majority of the vaccines. The vaccine supplies
Innovation for the energy transition is given a prominent role in the green recovery action plan for Africa and the European Union’s Green Deal, with both continents seeking the transformation of their economies to tackle both climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic impacts while improving wellbeing of the population. There are many points of overlap between the two continents’ official agendas. But there are also many open questions and potential tensions especially around: access to energy for sustainable and inclusive industrial development; maintaining competitive value chain; addressing trade barriers; promoting knowledge transfer while protecting intellectual property rights; using gas, and promoting hydrogen. If well-managed, innovation for the energy transition can act as catalyst for a shared prosperity for the two continents. This blogpost was written by the members of the Ukama Platform’s steering committee ahead of the European Union-Africa Union Summit.
Rejection of the jab from parts of the population remains a challenge for achieving increased immunisation coverage and, consequently, the end of the pandemic. Because vaccine hesitancy is largely driven by lack of trust in governments, rebuilding trust in governments is essential for a successful global vaccination campaign. Trust is an essential attribute of social cohesion and socially cohesive societies are more resilient during crisis. The current one is certainly not the last we will face.
2022 is set to be dominated by three global tasks: (a) the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, (b) the climate-stabilising redesign of our economic and social systems, and (c) the negotiation of a multi-polar and rule-based world order.
Geopolitics has an important role to play in securing the health of both people and planet. Indeed, businesses cannot be asked to govern the planet’s health if some of the most polluting countries in the world are not on board. Successful governance of planetary health depends on geopolitics and cross border implementation. It also demands that special attention be paid to the interlinkages between businesses, environmental justice and inequalities. All of these are crucial to advance the universal right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
The covid-19 pandemic has generated severe health, economic and debt crises for the least developed countries (LDCs). On the one hand, they cannot mobilise sufficient financial resources on their own to cope with the effects of the pandemic because their public revenues are too low and external finance is not always available. On the other hand, many LDCs have been highly indebted, even prior to the crisis.
Five years after the Paris Climate Agreement entered into force and one year after the COVID-enforced hiatus, the 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (“COP26”) will convene in the Scottish city of Glasgow on 31 October. At long last! Amongst its most important tasks will be advancing the implementation of the Paris Agreement by resolving the remaining issues surrounding its rules for implementation.
This ODI briefing explores how the diverging fortunes across countries have come to pass and the limitations of the multilateral initiatives intended to support a global response. It focuses especially on the multilateral financing measures that have been put in place to combat the crisis and looks at some of the changes that would be required to support a more effective response in future.
