Summer 2021 tracked unprecedented number of wildfires in the Mediterrenean area. Watch the current situation with EFFIS maps

The number of wildfires recorderd an unprecedented new peak this Summer 2021. To prevent this phenomenon, EU Member States, as well as other associated countries, established the European Forest Fire Information System(EFFIS). EFFIS consortium is responsible for the protection of forests against fires in the EU and neighbor countries and provides the European Commission services and the European Parliament with updated and reliable information on wildfires in Europe. The Current Situation Viewer application on the EFFIS website displays on a map the fires counted by satellites orbiting on the Northern emisphere.*

Summer 2021, based on the forecasts analyzed by the consortium experts, will mark a new negative peak compared to the average trends recorded in past summers as shown in the chart below.

source:https://effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/apps/effis.statistics.portal/effis-estimates/EU

* The MODIS sensor, on board of the TERRA and ACQUA satellites, identifies areas on the ground that distinctly hotter than their surroundings and flags them as active fires. The spatial resolution of the active fire detection pixel from MODIS is 1 km. The VIIRS sensor on board of the NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) uses similar algorithms to those used by MODIS to detect active fires. The spatial resolution of the active fire detection pixel for VIIRS is 375 m. Additionally, VIIRS is able to detect smaller fires and can help delineate perimeters of ongoing large fires.

An overview on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

 The IPCC Panel was established during its inaugural session taking place in Geneva from 9th to 11th November 1988. The Memorandum of Understanding between  UNEP and WMO signed in 1989 lists the objectives of the panel:

    1) To make assessments of available scientific information on climate change;

    2) To make assessments of environmental and socio economic impacts of climate change;

    3) To formulate response strategies to meet the challenge of climate change.

The Panel to fulfill its objectives constituted three Working Groups, responsible to respectively pursue each of those objectives, the joint IPCC Secretariat, based in the WMO headquarters in Geneva, and the IPCC Bureau in charge for supporting the activities of the three working groups.

The following factsheet summaries the activities carried out by the Panel since its constitution.

Covid-19 pandemic crisis and the smart working revolution

The World Health Organization, once the coronavirus illness reached 118,000 cases in over 110 countries and territories around the world declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11(Time Magazine)

As a consequence, social distancing measures were, by no mean, implemented worldwide by governments to slower the virus run and, various business sectors, in particular those ones based on services creation and delivery, started relying on smart working practices for their employees.

Smart working is not a novel concept or standard. Constant technological developments are making possible new approaches changing the traditional professional relation of an employee with the workplace and their work responsibilities and performance. 

For instance, the UK government published in 2013 a guide to promote the so called the Way We Work 3W initiative in support of smart working in the public sector.

However, the current pandemic crisis has definitely boosted this practice and what appeared to be a secondary phenomenon has gain momentum.

Definitions of smart working

https://www.unece.org.net4all.ch/fileadmin/DAM/stats/documents/ece/ces/ge.58/2017/mtg4/Paper_11-_Di_Nicola_rev.pdf

https://ec.europa.eu/futurium/en/european-ai-alliance/project-eu-xxi-or-how-lead-ai-world-open-letter-european-parliament-european

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-way-we-work-tw3-best-practice-guidelines-for-smarter-working

http://www.flexibility.co.uk/downloads/TW3-Guide-to-SmartWorking-withcasestudies-5mb.pdf

Statistics

Reference 

Chart from research report jointly published in 2017 by ILO and Eurofound working anytime, anywhere: the effects on the world of work. 

The abbreviation T/ICTM stands for Telework/ICT-mobile work.

How we measure CO2 emissions?

Snow falling seasonally in Greenland and Antarctica or on glaciers around the globe is slowly compressed into ice and during this process, bubbles of air remained trapped in the ice. Scientists and researchers, using ice cores, are able "to read" these bubbles and thus to measure the concentration of gases, including the one of CO2 for a specific period of time.Ice cores are created drilling the ice pack as shown in the picture underneath.

Researcher Margarita Marinova uses an auger to drill a core from the ice pack Credit: Jennifer Heldman, National Science Foundation (NSF)

 

 The layers of ice accumulating in the coldest regions of Earth become thus a sort of paper where scientists can read the type of atmosphere characterising other times. Ice core records allow us to get continuous reconstructions of past climate, going back a minimum of 800,000 years in the history of world's ancient amosphere. By watching past concentrations of greenhouse gases in layers in ice cores, scientists can calculate how modern amounts of CO2 and methane compare to those of the past, and, essentially, compare past concentrations of greenhouse gases to temperature.

For further information on Ice cores read: 

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11640-climate-myths-ice-cores-show-co2-rising-as-temperatures-fell/#ixzz6DfwOCERV

 

 

COVID-19 outbreak in the UK and London as of 10th March 2020

Updated information on the number of cases is released daily in the morning around 9am.

London is so far the most affected area in the country with 91 confirmed cases. The borough counting most cases is the one of  Kensington and Chelsea with 13 infected people.

London COVID-19 cases (10th March 2020)

Overall in the UK have been registered 373 cases and details per geographical area are provided using the Upper Tier Local Authorities (UTLA) mapping.
Daily, Public Health England provides data on the disease outbreak using the ArcGIS software by Esri, the same application used by John Hopkins University to track the growth of cases at global level.

Tracking coronavirus cases

To learn more:
NHS page
Prime Minister'statement (9th march 2020)

World Ocean Day 2018

The Declaration of World Oceans Day in 2008 catalysed action worldwide. 

Twenty-five years after Ocean Conference held from 5-9 June 2017. The Ocean Conference was convened to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

the first Oceans Day took place in Rio de Janeiro at The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Earth Summit, a special event on June 8th marked its celebration during the United Nations

Why celebrate World Oceans Day?

We celebrate World Oceans Day to remind everyone of the major role the oceans have in everyday life. They are the lungs of our planet, providing most of the oxygen we breathe.

The purpose of the Day is to inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean, develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean, and mobilize and unite the world’s population on a project for the sustainable management of the world's oceans. They are a major source of food and medicines and a critical part of the biosphere. In the end, it is a day to celebrate together the beauty, the wealth and the promise of the ocean.

The oceans cover about two-thirds of the surface of the Earth and are the very foundations of life. They generate most of the oxygen we breathe, absorb a large share of carbon dioxide emissions, provide food and nutrients and regulate climate. They are important economically for countries that rely on tourism, fishing and other marine resources for income and serve as the backbone of international trade.

Unfortunately, human pressures, including over-exploitation, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, destructive fishing, as well as unsustainable aquaculture practices, marine pollution, habitat destruction, alien species, climate change and ocean acidification are taking a significant toll on the world’s oceans and seas.

Peace and security are also critical to the full enjoyment of the benefits that can be derived from the oceans and for their sustainable development. As has been remarked by the Secretary-General: “There will be no development without security and no security without development.”

Action focus for 2018: preventing plastic pollution and encouraging solutions for a healthy ocean

Plastic pollution is causing tremendous harm to our marine resources. For example:

• 80% of all pollution in the ocean comes from people on land.

• 8 million tonnes of plastic per year end up in the ocean, wreaking havoc on wildlife, fisheries and tourism.

• Plastic pollution costs the lives of 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals per year.

• Fish eat plastic, and we eat the fish.

• Plastic causes $8 billion in damage to marine ecosystems each year.

For more information follow the hashtag on Twitter!

Tweet #worldoceansday

Borlaug Fellowship Program at USDA promotes United States cooperation with developing countries

Bourlag biography from Nobel website

USDA programme, titled in honor of Nobel Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug, promotes food security and economic growth by providing training and collaborative research opportunities to fellows from developing and middle-income countries.

Norman Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. He was granted the prize for the primary role played during the so called Green Revolution.
He worked in Mexico, India and Pakistan to promote the introduction of more productive varieties of crops developed in years of research and testing.

The Green Revolution refers to the capacity to use technology to modify the environment so as to create more optimal conditions for crops and livestock than nature alone can offer (i.e. if it is dry, irrigate; if soil fertility is low, fertilize; if pests and weeds invade crops, spray or dust; if livestock are threatened by disease, vaccinate and medicate; or if more energy is needed to till the land, mechanize and use fossil fuels). Improved varieties of rice and wheat could benefit from the use of external inputs (including water) that provided good growing conditions for realizing the genetic potential of the new varieties. The creation of socio-economic enabling environments that opened up for the use of these inputs and created markets for the sale of the produce was an integral part of this change. (FAO, 1996) 

Borlaug fellows are generally scientists, researchers, or policymakers who are in the early or middle stages of their careers. Each fellow works one-on-one with a mentor at a U.S. university, research center or government agency, usually for 8-12 weeks. The U.S. mentor will later visit the fellow’s home institution to continue collaboration. Fellows may also attend professional conferences and events within their field, such as the annual World Food Prize Symposium.

The programme encourages the fellowships of practitioners focused on specific research indicated in the Priorities by target countries. Additionally, the programme pursuits a number of Special Programs

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Which concerns raise the growing use of palm oil in the food industry?

Why did it become so popular in the food industry?

The use of palm oil in the food industry has grown exponentially. Palm oil’s technical utility comes from its high melting point. Since palm oil is semi-solid at room temperature, it has a variety of uses from baking products and spreads to frying and though animal fats also have this quality, they are far more expensive to produce. The commodity’s cheap production cost stems from the fact that the palm plant essentially offers a two-for-one deal. 

www.citymarket.coop

Similar to a plum, both the fleshy outer part and inner stone provide usable oil (the latter referred to as palm kernel oil). The components can then be separated for different uses. “Between the [flesh and the stone] the palm plant is about 10 times as productive as a plant like a soya bean or a rapeseed,” Berger says. “In a world that is short of food, having a plant that is as productive as that is a significant benefit.” A perennial crop that takes up just 5% of the farmland used for vegetable oil production, palm oil makes up 38% of the global supply. 

It can be used not only in food but also any soap or cosmetic products that have a fatty component, for example lipstick and shampoo. In these cases, palm oil helps increase the viscosity of the product or acts as an occlusive agent, helping skin to retain its moisture. Although animal fats are still used in some cosmetics, the cost of production is simply too high for widespread use (extract from article on the Guardina "Why does palm oil still dominate the supermarket shelves?" written by Rosie Spinks in 2014).

Major concerns with the spread use of this product are about its environmental sustainability and health issues.

Environmental problems

Palm is a tropical plant and ideal growing conditions are found only on the equator or 10 degrees of latitude north / south. At the same time, these regions house vast areas of tropical rainforest rich in biodiversity on the continents of Asia, Africa and South America. Demand for edible vegetable oils, has grown steady in recent decades and palm oil plantations have expanded rapidly in number and size to meet the global demand causing heavy deforestation.

Indonesia and Malaysia count for 83% of the market share (GreenPalm.org), and for the high demand, expansion of plantations and production is forecast to continue menacing other portions of rainforest ecosystems.

Indonesia is planning to increase productivity by 40% by 2020 allocating other 5 millions of hectares to the production of this vegetable oil

Industry landscape, regulatory and financial overview, www.pwc.com

Despite the implementation of projects to establish environmental sustainable plantations,  the danger to devastate additional hectares of native rainforest is still very high.

Health risks

The image below summarises the palm oil processing stages. The deodorisation of virgin oil, which is part of the refining process at high temperatures, forms the contaminants that are considered toxic.

image source: "Occurrence of 3-monochloropropanediol esters and glycidyl esters in commercial infant formulas in the United States" written by Jessica Leigh & Shaun MacMahon

The European Food Safety Authority, after publishing scientific articles presenting the results of experiments based on lab rats testing, has also recently released the Chemicals in food 2016 report.
One section of the report is centred on the analysis the components resulting from the processing of palm oil described above.
According to the research undertaken by the Authority, current studies have registered low health concerns on the assumption of these components through ingestion of food using this type of vegetable oil.

However, in order to keep to the minimum the risks for health,  the Authority has suggested to the competent commission the importance to establish at regulatory level a maximum level of glycidyl esters of 1.0 mg/kg to be applicable as from September 2017. EU authorities and producers will then discuss the level of contaminants allowed in the food.
This maximum level proposed by EFSA study should be in line with the commitment made by the EU Oil and Protein meal Industry. The commitment was very much welcomed by the Committee and it was acknowledged that it is a strong commitment requiring substantial efforts from the industry.
(source: https://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/consultation-fatty-acid-esters.pdf)

New WHO report outlines strategies driving recent reforms and definition of primary objectives to effectively meet its mandate

"TEN YEARS OF TRANSFORMATION: Making WHO fit for purpose in the 21st century"is a new report published by the WHO outlining the major reforms made by the Organisation to better fulfil its mandate. WHO was one of the first organisations in the UN system to adopt a results-based management approach for the definition of the programme budget for the biennium 2000-2001.

Three fundamental challenges were articulated as the drivers of change. 

First, WHO was overcommitted and overextended. It needed selective and strategically focused priorities that would best reflect the Organization’s comparative advantage in the changing global health landscape and lay the foundation for WHO’s leadership in the coming decades. 

Second, WHO’s role in global health governance and relation to other actors in international health required clarity. 

Third, when faced with new challenges and a rapidly changing environment, WHO needed to develop the capacity and culture to be able to respond with sufficient speed and agility. 

Ultimately, optimizing WHO’s governance, management and programmatic focus would enable the Organization to more effectively fulfil its constitutional mandate as the “directing and coordinating authority on international health work” and, most importantly, better serve Member States and communities in improving health. 

To make these changes a reality, WHO’s governing bodies defined three objectives: 

1. Improved health outcomes, with WHO meeting the expectations of its Member States and partners in addressing agreed global health priorities, focused on the actions and areas where the Organization has a unique function or comparative advantage and financed in a way that facilitates this focus. 

2. Greater coherence in global health, with WHO playing a leading role in enabling the many different actors to play an active and effective role in contributing to the health of all peoples. 

3. An Organization that pursues excellence, one that is effective, efficient, responsive, objective, transparent and accountable.

 

EU-Indonesia Blue Book 2017. Summary of EU cooperation work

CONTEXT

EU welcomed the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted by the international community in September 2015.

The 2030 agenda identified the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) along with other international summits, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda for  enhancing development, the Paris COP21 and finally the Marrakech Climate Conference as the new framework for all countries to cooperate together to face the most pressing global challenges. 

The EU and its Member States have played an important role in shaping this new agenda, and are fully committed to it. To achieve sustainable development in Europe and around the world the EU has set out in 2016 a strategic approach – the New European Consensus on Development .

This consensus addresses in an integrated manner the main orientations of the 2030 Agenda by focusing on the 5P: 

People–Fostering human development in a healthy environment by tackling poverty, hunger, discrimination and inequalities. 

Planet–Managing natural resources and tackling climate change by promoting resource e ciency and sustainable consumption and production to protect the planet from degradation. 

Prosperity–Achieving socially inclusive and sustainable growth and technological progress to enable all human beings to enjoy prosperous lives. 

Peace–Promoting the universal values of peace, justice, non-discrimination and human rights to build societies that are free from fear and violence. 

Partnership–Improving e ectiveness and impact of development cooperation with participation of all stakeholders through greater coordination and coherence to address the pressing needs of the most vulnerable.

EU-INDONESIA RELATIONS
Indonesia is an important partner for the EU globally and in South East Asia and plays an active role in promoting regional integration by hosting the ASEAN Secretariat and promoting the region’s emerging political, security and economic architecture.

EU and Indonesia have started in April 2016 negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). So far, two rounds of negotiations have taken place. Once concluded, the CEPA will enable the free flow of goods, services and investments in a common market of 750 million people.

In this context, the EU has identified three priorities for its relations with Indonesia:

• Strengthening economic ties
• Deepening the political partnership
• Cooperating on regional and global challenges.

 The CEPA will complement the EU-Indonesia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), which entered into force in 2014.

THE REPORT

The report provides detailed information on all initiatives carried out in Indonesia by the EU or development agencies of its member states, already implemented or under implementation, developed, according to the mainstreams listed here:

1) Gender equality, human rights and good governance.

2) Climate change and environment

3) Economic cooperation

4) Education

5) Health

GIZ project on communal protected areas - new strategy to preserve rainforests and their biodiversity

In occasion of the upcoming celebration of the International Day of Biodiversity on 22nd May, focusing this year on biodiversity and sustainable tourism, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH published an interesting article on a project under implementation in Peru.

The project, centred on the collaboration between the indigenous population and the local authorities, aims at developing new forms of sustainable development by encouraging the use of forest products, like for instance, Copaiba oil, extracted from plants used to develop drugs to fight leishmaniasis, or syringes (natural rubber), achiote (a natural dye), wood and cocoa.
The project in Peru was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB)
. So far the initiative has been implemented for some 65,000 hectares of forest, resulting in more than 30 native communities improving their employment and income opportunities.

Further information:
International Day of Biodiversity: in Peru, indigenous groups are working with state authorities to manage communal conservation areas, thereby preserving biodiversity. 
Conservación de la biodiversidad en áreas protegidas comunitarias de la región amazónica

New 2017 India philanthropy report launched

 Bain & Company launched the 7th edition of its India Philanthropy Report.

The focus of this year’s report is the growing importance of the individual philanthropist in the overall landscape of funding for the development sector. It goes beyond analysing how much philanthropists are giving and instead focuses on the evolving approaches that givers are adopting to maximise their philanthropic impact.

 

Despite the country registered annual average economic growth rates at 6.10% within the 1951-2017 period (tradingeconomies.com), part of the population, especially in rural areas, still encounters problems of underdevelopment and this report provides interesting information for stakeholders in the development sector. 

The document focusing on philanthropists habits contains interesting hints relevant to maximise synergies among givers, IGOs and NGOs and facilitate the setting up of new projects otherwise lacking the necessary resources for their implementation.

 

WIPO - Annual celebration of #worldipday 26th April

Every April 26, WIPO celebrates the World Intellectual Property Day to enhance public awareness on the role that intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright) play in encouraging innovation and creativity.

The 2017 theme focused on the importance of innovation in making lives of human beings healthier, safer, and more comfortable.

As WIPO website states, "Innovation means doing something new that improves a product, process or service". Innovations can be protected through intellectual property (IP) rights.

Inventions are the bedrock of innovation. An invention is a new solution to a technical problem and can be protected through patents. 

Patents protect the interests of inventors whose technologies are truly groundbreaking and commercially successful, by ensuring that an inventor can control the commercial use of their invention. 

An individual or company that holds a patent has the right to prevent others from making, selling, retailing, or importing that technology. This creates opportunities for inventors to sell, trade or license their patented technologies with others who may want to use them. 

The criteria that need to be satisfied to obtain a patent are set out in national IP laws and may differ from one country to another. WIPO Lex is the unique archive gathering together legislative texts of national laws and international treaties on intellectual property.

But generally, to obtain a patent an inventor needs to demonstrate that their technology is new (novel), useful and not obvious to someone working in the related field. Further information on the role of innovation and on the way WIPO protects novel technologies through he registration of patents can be found on the WIPO website here.

More of 300 events have been held worldwide to celebrate the #WorldIPDay

United States - Report on Forests and Rangeland drought to improve climate change planning and adaptation strategies

"Since 2000, fire seasons have grown longer and the frequency, size and severity of wildland fires have increased"

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

 A new report released by the US Forest service gathers the results of scientific researches conducted on the effects of drought on forests and rangelands to help authorities and local communities in developing mitigation strategies.

In particular, the report outlines that:

• Drought projections suggest that some regions of the U.S. will become drier and that most will have more extreme variations in precipitation.
• Even if current drought patterns remained unchanged, warmer temperatures will amplify drought effects.
• Drought and warmer temperatures may increase risks of large-scale insect outbreaks and larger wildfires, especially in the western U.S.
• Drought and warmer temperature may accelerate tree and shrub death, changing habitats and ecosystems in favor of drought-tolerant species.
• Forest-based products and values – such as timber, water, habitat and recreation opportunities – may be negatively impacted.
• Forest and rangeland managers can mitigate some of these impacts and build resiliency in forests through appropriate management actions.

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/Drought/

For more information visit the US Drought Portal

Paris 2015 UN Climate Change Conference

Paris will held the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP21 or CMP11 from November 30 to December 11. The gathering will mark the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 11th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The conference will be conveyed with the aim at achieving a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, from all the nations of the world. 

Despite controversial interpretations on future trends for current global climate with scientists and researchers supporting theories on favour or against global warming, the international communityworking on climate changes will gather in Paris at the end of November to discuss a number of issues.

The topics discussed during the meeting

Corruption Perceptions Index - "If not us, then who?" "If not our generation, then whose generation?"

Transparency International publishes since 1995 the Corruption Perception Index, a statistical tool based on the data gathered by a number of international organizations to monitor the phenomenon of corruption in the public administrations of  countries around the world. The organizations uses the following main sources to compile is statistical index.

12 sources of information for 2014 index 

:

1. African Development Bank Governance Ratings 2013

2. Bertelsmann Foundation Sustainable Governance Indicators 2014 

3. Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index 2014 

4. Economist Intelligence Unit Country Risk Ratings 2014 

5. Freedom House Nations in Transit 2013 

6. Global Insight Country Risk Ratings 2014 

7. IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2014 

8. Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Asian Intelligence 2014 

9. Political Risk Services International Country Risk Guide 2014 

10. World Bank - Country Policy and Institutional Assessment 2013 

11. World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey (EOS) 2014 

12. World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2014

The Index page contains a section entitled TRUE STORIES: behind the numbers of the corruption perceptions index 2014 with information on cases where organizations and citizens from countries like Honduras, Indonesia and the Tcezk Re This video talks about students in Indonesia fighting corruption in public schools and the title of the post is inspired to the words of one of the student interviewed.

Interactive map with values downloadable from the website of Transparency International. The website contains also interesting infographics

BRICS Development Bank maybe operative by the end of 2015

Since 2009 the BRICS countries, the most important emerging economies, started to meet every year to discuss and cooperate on global economic, political and social issues. The last summit held in Brasil in the city of Fortaleza last July 2014 set the scene for the creation of the BRICS Development Bank and the Bank should be fully operational by the end of 2015. The establishing agreement will enter into force once the BRICS countries will have deposited the instruments of acceptance, ratification or approval have been deposited, in accordance with Article 48 of the same agreement available at the following address. We believe that a decision on the launch of financing the first project will be made by the end of the year (2015). We have set this goal before us, but of course no one can give a 100-percent guarantee that this will be accomplished,” said Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak (pictured on the right). 

Population and economic power of BRICS economies

Basic excerpt from the Agreement of the Bank

• Purpose (Art.1) The Bank shall mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries, complementing the existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development. To fulfill its purpose, the Bank shall support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments. It shall also cooperate with international organizations and other financial entities, and provide technical assistance for projects to be supported by the Bank.

• Functions (Art. 3 Annex containing the Articles to the Agreement)

To fulfill its purpose, the Bank is authorized to exercise the following functions:

 (i) to utilize resources at its disposal to support infrastructure and sustainable development projects, public or private, in the BRICS and other emerging market economies and developing countries, through the provision of loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments; 

 (ii) to cooperate as the Bank may deem appropriate, within its mandate, with international organizations, as well as national entities whether public or private, in particular with international financial institutions and national development banks; 

 (iii) to provide technical assistance for the preparation and implementation of infrastructure and sustainable development projects to be supported by the Bank; 

 (iv) to support infrastructure and sustainable development projects involving more than one country;

 (v) to establish, or be entrusted with the administration, of Special Funds which are designed to serve its purpose.

• Headquarters (Art. 4 Annex containing the Articles to the Agreement)

a) The Bank has its headquarters in Shanghai.

b) The Bank may establish offices necessary for the performance of its functions. The first regional office shall be in Johannesburg.

_________________________

Political aspects (excerpt from Guardian post)

The bank will rival the US- and European-led World Bank and its private lending affiliate, the International Finance Corporation, which have dominated development finance since the second world war. The Brics bank is positioned as a financial institution that will provide developing countries with alternative funding minus the punishing strings attached to World Bank lending, which strip recipient countries of the power to make their own policies. It also promises to make lending processes for developing countries faster, simpler and cheaper.

Developing countries have long failed to get industrial nations to either give them a bigger say in decision-making at the World Bank and IMF, or to get these institutions to ease up on punishing and inappropriate structural adjustment programmes (that wealthy countries themselves would never implement in their own economies) in return for funding. The new bank and the contingency fund are therefore the first real and practical attempts by developing countries to create a monetary, development-finance and trade alternative to the IMF, World Bank and the dominance of the US dollar.

The mere presence of a Brics bank that does not adhere to the structural adjustment philosophy of the World Bank and IMF could strengthen the hands of African governments to produce more independent – and relevant – national development policies, rather than the “one size fits all” approach enforced by traditional lenders.

The mere presence of a Brics bank that does not adhere to the structural adjustment philosophy of the World Bank and IMF could strengthen the hands of African governments to produce more independent – and relevant – national development policies, rather than the “one size fits all” approach enforced by traditional lenders. The Brics bank could also help Africans to secure better investment deals in their negotiations with traditional multilateral banks and the private sector. However, there is no guarantee that a Brics bank would not attach conditions as onerous as those of the World Bank or other development banks – or that it would prioritise the development and infrastructure policies important to African economies, rather than just the Brics economies. Most current development banks in individual states, such as the Brazilian development bank, lend at market rates to African countries. Headquarters

The commercialisation of agriculture of the oil of Cacay in Colombia has the potential to boost economic development in a number of provinces

After reading an interesting post on the Bloomberg website entitled In-jungle-long-known-for-cocaine-a-rare-nut-is-now-all-the-rage, I would like to gather further information about the cacay or inchi tree (the species changes name according to the area of origin). A plant populating the base of the Andes Mountains in Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Colombia and adjacent Amazonian lowlands.

Kahai SAS is the first Colombian company to commercialise the plant and the following video provides information on the potentials of the plant production

 

Information on the plant 

Plant growth is rapid, and fruiting can start after four to five years. A ten-year-old tree can yield 100-250 kg of nuts per year. The nuts are easily separated from the thin shell and, when dried and roasted, can be safely stored for a long time in sealed plastic bags. They have a pleasant flavour resembling hazel nut and are eaten raw, roasted, fried or ground as a drink or sweet. Crushed nuts and milk are used to feed weaned children. The nuts contain edible oil (up to 50 percent), starch and protein, and they have a calorific value of 585 kcal per 100 g. The oil is rich in linoleic acid (34.4 percent).

The tree is also grown as a shade tree for coffee and cacao in Colombia. Oil from the shells, nuts and bark latex are used as an illuminant, while both nuts and oil are an excellent cure for pulmonary complaints and dermatitis. There seems to be good potential for development of the crop, in Colombia for example, where there is a shortfall between existing production of edible oil and domestic demand. Provenance surveys and trials are required for improved performance and to establish priority areas in the forest for genetic conservation (information excerpt from FAO website.

The plant has the potential to fulfill various tasks

• Reforestation
• Conversion of illicit crops
• Protection of biodiversity and Promotion of sustainable development
• Complement other plantations of local farmers 
• Oil use remunerative in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical sectors
• Food and drinks production
• Bio fuel.

On 23 April Port Harcourt in in Nigeria will pass the baton to Incheon in Korea as new Word Book Capital for 2015

United Nations promote literacy and lifelong education in particular through the work of UNESCO, the specialized agency devoted to educational, scientific and cultural development.

The Agency established the International Literacy Prizes to award each year worthy institutions and organizations that work to leverage literacy worldwide. In addition, in collaboration with the International Publishers Associations (IPA-UIE), the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and the International Booksellers Federation (IBF), UNESCO noominates each year since 2001 a city as World Book Capital to support the dissemination of books as the most effective tool for the promotion of knowledge and means of preserving it. 

The idea took form during the 31st session of the General Conference (the assembly gathering all member states of UNESCO) in Paris, the headquarters of the Organization on 10 October 2001 under the sponsorship of Spain, Benin, Colombia, Egypt, Ghana, Lithuania, Mexico, Philippines, Russian Federation, Switzerland, Tunisia and United Kingdom with the vote of Resolution 29.

Next 23 April, Incheon 인천시 in Korea, nominated in 2013,  will become the new World Book Capital.The Korean city follows in the order

Madrid (Spain) 2001,
Alexandria (Egypt) in 2002
New Delhi (India) in 2003,
Antwerp (Belgium) for 2004,
Montreal (Canada) for 2005,
Turin (Italy) for 2006,
Bogota (Colombia) for 2007,
Amsterdam (the Netherlands) for 2008,
Beirut (Lebanon) for 2009,
Ljubljana (Slovenia) for 2010,
Buenos Aires (Argentina) for 2011,
Yerevan (Armenia) for 2012,
Bangkok (Thailand) for 2013, and
Port Harcourt (Nigeria) for 2014 .

Ufa in Russia holding 7th Summit of the BRICS countries and the one of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states

The city of Ufa, capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan, also known as Bashkiria, part of the Russian Federation will host next July the Summits of the BRICS and SCO member states.

Bashkiria/Republic of Bashkortostan

BRICs: The acronym of of BRIC [Brazil, Russia, India and China] was first cited in 2002 by Goldman Sachs, the American multinational investment banking firm, to outline the growing importance at global level of the emerging market economies in particular from the Eurasian region (Reference to the Global Economics Paper No. 66, “The World Needs Better Economic BRICs”). The paper compared the economies of the emerging countries  with those of the G7 group (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States  The European Union) stressing the need to involve countries, like China, in the talks on world politics and economy made by the western powers. Already in 2002 China GDP surpassed the one combined of Canada and Italy.The table below shows how the relevance of the BRIC countries in the global economy has further grown in 2013.

World Bank GDP dollar estimates for2013 derived from purchasing power parity (PPP) calculations. 

From BRICs to BRICS

The BRIC group expanded then in September 2010 when at a Foreign Ministers meeting in New York it was agreed to invite also South Africa (29th most important global economy in 2013 according to World Bank statistics). 
The one running in Ufa is the 7th summit of a series started in 2009. The first was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on June 16, 2009; the second in Brasilia on 15 April 2010, the third in Sanya, China on 14 April 2011, the fourth in New Delhi, India on 29 March 2012,  the fifth in Durban and the 6th in Fortaleza and Brasilia in Brasil.

 While the concept “BRICS” was first created to refer to the investment opportunities of the rising emerging economies, the leaders’ meetings transcend the financial context to embrace a wide range of summit-level issues relating to global governance, such as development, peace and security, energy and climate change, and social issues. 
The BRICS mechanism also aims at contributing significantly to the development of humanity and establishing a more equitable and fair world.


SCO - Shangai Cooperation Organization

Official logo of SCO

The city will also host the summit of the SCO member states.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation creation of which was proclaimed on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan that joined the Organisation in 2001. The main goals of the SCO are strengthening mutual confidence and good-neighbourly relations among the member countries; promoting effective cooperation in politics, trade and economy, science and technology, culture as well as education, energy, transportation, tourism, environmental protection and other fields; making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region, moving towards the establishment of a new, democratic, just and rational political and economic international order. 

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