| South Centre in Media - 2010 |
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What’s Canada’s Carbon Debt? Martin Khor, of the South Centre, has done an interesting analysis for the (doomed) Cancun negotiations on climate change. The talks have broken down on north-south lines, with southern countries wanting to keep the Kyoto framework that puts the onus on northern (advanced, industrialized) countries to reduce emissions and give carbon space to southern countries carbon to develop their economies. I used to read a lot of Khor’s analysis for a southern perspective on international trade talks at the WTO; sure enough, very similar north-south divisions and political dynamics are at play in global climate negotiations. The Progressive Economics Forum 10 December 2010 Available at: www.progressive-economics.ca/2010/12/10/whats-canadas-carbon-debt/
Three Imperatives of a Climate Accord By Martin Khor* GENEVA (IDN) - In the quest for an international climate agreement on actions to address the climate change crisis, three aspects have to be the basis simultaneously: the environmental imperative, the developmental imperative, and the equity imperative. IDN-InDepthNews 6 December 2010 Available at: www.indepthnews.net/news/news.php
THE G20 SHOULD CHANGE THE IMF’S ROLE INSTEAD OF EXPANDING ITS RESOURCES By Yilmaz Akyuz (*) Other News Available at: http://other-news.info/index.php?p=3660
African Ministers Call for Rethinking on EPAs By Martin Khor* GENEVA (IDN) - African Trade and Foreign Ministers, representing the world's poorest region, are calling for a rethinking of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) that they are being asked to sign up on with the European Union. IDN-InDepthNews 25 November 2010 Available at: www.indepthnews.net/news/news.php
Currency squabbles threaten to eclipse G20 talks Martin Khor, executive director of the South Centre, a research centre of 51 developing countries based in Geneva, agreed with Wheatcroft that the Seoul summit is not focusing on measures that will avoid another global economic crisis. In an op-ed for The Guardian, Khor claimed that “important structural factors that underlie the renewed crisis are absent from the agenda of the G20 summit in Seoul”: “The hopes of a rapid global economy recovery have recently been dashed by the sovereign debt problems in several European countries, the gyrations in currency exchange rates, volatility in capital flows, and the war of words over ‘competitive devaluations’. A new South Centre report argues these recent problems reflect the lack of international mechanisms to prevent financial crises that now threaten to spill over into the trading and economic systems.” The Periscope Post 11 November 2010 Available at: www.periscopepost.com/2010/11/currency-squabbles-threaten-to-eclipse-g20-talks/
The G20 summit dodges real reform A new South Centre report argues these recent problems reflect the lack of international mechanisms to prevent financial crises that now threaten to spill over into the trading and economic systems. 10 November 2010 Available at: www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/10/g20-summit-seoul-world-economy
Ahead of G-20 Summit, Capital Controls Gain New Currency Indeed, "several developing countries are countering excessive capital inflows (and pressures for currency appreciation) either by intervention in the currency market, or by capital controls such as taxes on certain types of foreign capital entering the country," wrote Martin Khor, executive director of the South Centre, a Geneva-based developing world think tank, in a recent commentary. Inter Press Service 5 November 2010 Available at: ipsnews.net/news.asp
Reform the Global Financial and Monetary System By Yilmaz Akyüz* GENEVA (IDN) - The current turmoil in the world economy has demonstrated once again that the international arrangements lack mechanisms to prevent financial crises with global repercussions. IDN-InDepthNews 4 November 2010 Available at: www.indepthnews.net/news/news.php
EPAs: New trade deals, old agendas In fact it is a serious matter, the more so because very few people including the private sector in East Africa (a section of which is going to be hit very hard under the EPA) know very little about it. Trade experts at the South Centre (an intergovernmental think-tank of the South based in Geneva) had this to say: ‘Negotiating Economic Partnership Agreements between Africa and Europe has led to an untenable situation in Africa in several ways: Firstly, it would not be an understatement to say that the EPAs have ruptured African sub-regional integration efforts. Secondly, the EPAs, once implemented, will further contribute to the deindustrialization of Africa, as well as the worsening of the food crisis which is essentially a crisis of food production. The EU will increase food exports to the continent, and for Africa, this is tantamount to the importation of unemployment.’ (South Centre, Analytical Note, May 2010). Pambazuka News 27 October 2010 Available at: www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/68109
Hunger in Focus: On 30th World Food Day, 925 Million Still Hungry Aileen Kwa is an analyst with the South Center, a developing countries think tank based in Switzerland. She says the traditional two-pronged approach to fighting hunger, emergency aid and sustainable development, are not enough. She says an economic overhaul is needed. Voice of America 14 October 2010 Available at: www.voanews.com/english/news/30th-World-Food-Day-925-Million-Still-Hungry--104943569.html
Make global water crisis a top priority issue By Martin Khor Switzerland (IDN-InDepthNews) -- While climate change has captured the headlines, many countries are running out of freshwater supplies, threatening human health and causing conflicts between nations. Water should be at the top of the global and national agendas. Jamaica Observer 3 October 2010 Available at: www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Make-global-water-crisis-a-top-priority-issue_8016597
Europees sociaal beleid op slot België heeft de Europese sleutels in handen, zei Martin Khor op het Millenniumdebat in Gent op 11 september. Khor is directeur van South Centre, een intergouvernementele denktank van ontwikkelingslanden, en hij wordt dus geacht een goede analyse te kunnen maken van hoe macht in elkaar zit en waar er hefbomen te vinden zijn om dingen te laten bewegen ten voordele van de ontwikkelingslanden. MO* BETA Mondiaal Nieuws 1 October 2010 Available at: www.mo.be/node/149641 Translation available at: translate.google.com/translate
The fallacy of taking German lessons Another flaw in the argument: Germany's record second quarter growth – 2.2% over the previous quarter, or 9% at an annual rate – was driven mostly by exports, which grew 8.2% over the previous quarter, or 37% annualised. As the South Centre has noted, for 2002-2007, exports accounted for 143% of Germany's growth – meaning that the German economy would have actually contracted over these years if not for export growth. Guardian (UK) 30 August 2010 Available at: www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/aug/27/useconomy-useconomicgrowth
Compensate poor states for ecological disasters By Martin Khor Local people blame the oil pollution for the fall in life expectancy in the rural communities to a little above 40 years. Business Daily 12 August 2010
China is too big to fail Yilmaz Akyuz, chief economist of the South Centre, estimates that close to 60% of China's imports are used in the export sector and only 15% of imports are for domestic consumption. China's share of both private consumption and wages to GDP has been falling since the 1990s. Indeed, exports may have contributed to 50% of China's pre-crisis growth. Guardian (UK) 2 August 2010 Available at: www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/aug/02/china
Developing Countries should be paid for Eco Disasters By Martin Khor* GENEVA (IDN) – The 20 billion U.S. dollar put aside by BP to pay for the effects of the Gulf oil spill contrasts with the lack of accountability of big firms that cause environmental harm in developing countries. Global Geopolitics & Political Economy 29 July 2010 Available at: globalgeopolitics.net/wordpress/2010/07/29/developing-countries-should-be-paid-for-eco-disasters/
Post-Crisis Economics: Are We All Structuralists Now? While economists and policy-makers debate the short and medium-term remedies to the crisis, there is an incredibly surprising and under-discussed consensus emerging for the longer run. From the Financial Times to the South Centre there is agreement that the United States and East Asia (notably China) have to change the ‘structures’ of their economies. 21 July 2010 Available at: triplecrisis.com/post-crisis-economics/
Global Crisis Calls for Rethink of Growth Strategy by China and East Asia By Martin Khor* GENEVA (IDN) – As the global economic crisis evolves, China and other East Asian developing countries will be profoundly affected as their old growth strategies will no longer be able to serve them as before. Changes in economic policies and strategies that rely less on exports to the West will thus be required in China — and even more so in the other Asian countries. Global Geopolitics & Political Economy 4 July 2010 Available at: globalgeopolitics.net/wordpress/2010/07/04/global-crisis-calls-for-rethink-of-growth-strategy-by-china-and-east-asia/
South Centre analytical notes on EPAs and Africa The South Centre has posted two analytical notes on EPAs in Africa. The first seeks to set out why EPAs promote the wrong development model for Africa, while the second reviews contentious issues in the EPA negotiations and the progress made on these issues in the course of 2009. agritrade July 2010 Available at: agritrade.cta.int/en/Key-topics/EPA-negotiations/general/News/South-Centre-analytical-notes-on-EPAs-and-Africa
India Must Take Lead in Global Carbon Budget: Jairam In his key-note address, the Executive Director of South Centre from Geneva Martin Khor agreed with Indian stand on bringing equity and equitable access to global atmospheric space in carbon budgeting at the forthcoming negotiating tables in Brazil and Cancun. Outlook India 28 June 2010 Available at: news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx
The double standards of multinationals By Martin Khor The $20bn fund that Barack Obama managed to get BP to agree to set up to meet claims for economic losses and environmental costs from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is impressive, especially since the amount can be increased. The political pressure so evident also caused BP to temporarily suspend paying dividends. This should set a precedence for how host countries of multinationals take stern action, and executives of multinationals respond to meet their responsibilities – even if only partially. Guardian (UK) 25 June 2010 Available at: www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/jun/25/double-standards-multinationals-ecological-disasters
Salarios y productividad en la economía mundial En un estudio reciente (“Global economic prospects: the recession may be over but what next? South Centre”, Ginebra, 2010), Yilmaz Akyuz destaca un factor que ha contribuido a provocar la crisis actual, cuya resolución es necesaria para el crecimiento y un orden estable en las relaciones internacionales. Se refiere a la pérdida de participación de los salarios en la distribución del ingreso en las mayores economías industriales (los Estados Unidos, Alemania y Japón) y en China. En todos ellos, los salarios reales crecieron menos que la productividad, provocando, consecuentemente, el aumento de la participación del capital en el ingreso. En China, en esta década, la participación de los salarios en el PBI declinó del 53 al 40%, provocando una caída semejante del consumo en la demanda agregada. La baja de la participación de los salarios fue menor en las otras economías señaladas, pero también significativa. BuenosAiresEconómico 24 June 2010 Available at: www.elargentino.com/nota-96127-Salarios-y-productividad-en-la-economia-mundial.html Translation available at: translate.google.com/translate
Developing countries signal disquiet as climate talks end Martin Khor, executive director of the South Centre – a think tank for developing countries – said it was clear that some developed countries wanted to “jump” from Kyoto into a looser arrangement with the US that would involve making fewer commitments. The Irish Times 12 June 2010 Available at: www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/0612/1224272354117.html
Namibia stands up to EU 'bullying' Just 10 of the 47 African countries have signed an EPA so far. A recent study by the South Centre, a research institute in Geneva representing developing countries, observed that most governments are either dragging out the negotiations or are reluctant to enter into trade deals because they regard some of the EU's central demands as "toxic". Of particular concern is the Union's efforts to eliminate 80 percent of the tariffs that Africa levies on imports. Mmegi Online 27 May 2010 Available at: www.mmegi.bw/index.php
Brasil quer cobrar imposto de laboratórios para erradicar doenças A OMS deverá aprovar uma recomendação "por unanimidade" e depois "cada país verá que instrumentos vai utilizar", por meio de leis ou negociações, indica Velásquez, que é conselheiro da Organização Intergovernamental South Centre, com sede em Genebra. Jornal Documento 20 May 2010 Available at: www.odocumento.com.br/noticia.php Translation available at: translate.google.com/translate
Chan Urges Innovation, Defends WHO Flu Response As New Group Approved The study based much of its current data on two papers – one by the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Committee on Development and Intellectual Property on patent flexibilities, available here, and one by Sisule Musungu, formerly of the South Centre of think tank IQsensato (written when he worked for the South Centre) and Cecilia Oh, formerly of the World Health Organization, available here, according to its methodology page. Intellectual Property Watch 18 May 2010 Available at: www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2010/05/18/chan-urges-innovation-defends-who-flu-response-as-new-group-approved/
UN picks new climate change chief "There is this misguided view that the UN system doesn't work," said Martin Khor, executive director of the South Centre, an intergovernmental organisation of developing countries. 17 May 2010 Available at: www.bbc.co.uk/news/10119753
‘Currency manipulation’ —Courtesy South Centre, Geneva DAWN.COM 10 May 2010 Available at: www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/in-paper-magazine/economic-and-business/currency-manipulation-050
DOHA ROUND: AN ENDLESS TUG-OF-WAR The World Trade Organisation’s Doha Round appears to be stuck in a strategic deadlock, with no end in sight, and little hope for completion in the forseeable future. The latest bout of negotiations, a "stocktaking exercise" held in Geneva in the last week of March ended with no direction and without plans for a further meeting of senior officials from capitals, or for Trade Ministers. The target of finishing the Round by the end of this year was not even mentioned, writes Martin Khor, Executive Director of the South Centre, Geneva. Inter Press Service May 2010 Available at: www.ipsnews.net/columns.asp
Préstamos del FMI: Continúan pellizcando a los países vulnerables donde más les duele Sin embargo, un análisis realizado por la organización intergubernamental Centro Sur (South Centre) sobre la recuperación económica llega a una conclusión diferente. Un informe de marzo de 2010 por su economista jefe Yilmaz Akyuz sostiene que la recuperación económica requiere que Estados Unidos resuelva su problema de exceso de consumo, mientras que Alemania, Japón y China necesitan impulsar su consumo interno a través del crecimiento de los salarios. Akyuz sugiere una combinación de políticas que promuevan el aumento de los salarios, la eliminación de la brecha entre la productividad y el crecimiento de los salarios, el aumento de las transferencias presupuestarias, especialmente a los hogares rurales y el aumento del gasto público en salud, educación y vivienda con el fin de reducir los ahorros preventivos de los hogares. Bretton Woods Project 23 April 2010 Available at: www.brettonwoodsproject.org/art.shtml Translation available at: translate.google.com/translate
RP, others tackle climate change in Germany A team of experts from the private sector is also part of the delegation, namely Jasper Inventor of Greenpeace International, Romeo Trono of Conservation International, Vicente Yu of South Centre, Elenita Dano of the Action Group on Erosion Technology and Concentration, and Victoria Corpuz of Tebtebba Foundation. Manila Bulletin 8 April 2010 Available at: www.mb.com.ph/articles/251658/rp-others-tackle-climate-change-germany
Q&A So says Yash Tandon, Ugandan political economist and senior advisor to the South Centre intergovernmental think tank on developing countries in Geneva, Switzerland. Inter Press Service 8 April 2010 Available at: www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp
Tanzania: Trade Negotiations - EU Faults Mkapa On EPA But a document prepared by South Centre, formerly known as South South Commission, availed to this paper by Mr Mkapa who is its Board Chairman, says EPAs provide the wrong development model for Africa, and will jeopardize African countries' development and regional integration prospects, rather than support them. AllAfrica 6 April 2010 Available at: allafrica.com/stories/201004060337.html
WHERE IS THE GLOBAL ECONOMY HEADED? After a deep and widespread contraction in economic activity and a significant drop in output and employment, policy makers, financial analysts, and media pundits appear heartened by the news from different parts of the world that the worst is over, writes Yylmaz Akyuz, Special Economic Advisor of the South Centre and former director of the Division on Globalisation and Development Strategies, UNCTAD. Inter Press Service April 2010 Available at: www.ipsnews.net/columns.asp
Q&A Tandon now works as senior advisor to the Geneva-based South Centre intergovernmental think tank for developing countries after serving as the centre’s executive director. Inter Press Service 30 March 2010 Available at: www.ipsnews.net/news.asp
Ambassador He Yafei Met with Executive Director of South Centre On March 15, Ambassador He Yafei met with Martin Khor, the Executive Director of South Centre. They exchanged views on the challenges faced by the developing countries and the cooperation between the two sides. Ambassador He emphasized that China, as a developing country, would continue to support the work of South Centre, and enhance coordination and cooperation with other developing countries in the multilateral fields, so as to maintain the solidarity and common interests of developing countries. Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland 16 March 2010 Available at: www.china-un.ch/eng/e1/t664274.htm
Battling the ‘Multilateral Zombie’ - EU climate strategy after Copenhagen The key advantage of the Copenhagen Accord for rich countries is that it “weakens or even does away with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities,” as the South Centre, a Geneva-based think-tank close to developing world governments, warns - another reason why the Basic countries, upon reflection, have taken a distance from the deal. norden 4 February 2010
Climate Change: Developing Countries Advised Caution Caution is needed, says the South Centre, Geneva-based think-tank, because of the controversial manner in which the Accord was presented on December 19, 2009, to the plenary of the fifteenth conference of parties (COP) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It was not adopted by the COP but merely “taken note of”. The Journal of Turkish Weekly 26 January 2010 Available at: www.turkishweekly.net/news/96509/climate-change-developing-countries-advised-caution.html
Capitalism´s climate fiasco in Copenhage: "Our planet, not your profits!" UN expert, Martin Khor, in a Guardian article, explains some of the arguments behind China´s opposition to a global target to reduce emissions by 50% by 2050 – something that has previously been agreed by G20 – as well as the linked target that the developed countries would reduce their emissions by 80%. According to Khor, with 50% by 2050, the distribution of the burden would require the developing countries to reduce their emissions by 20%, or 60% per person, while the US still would be allowed to emit 2 to 5 times more per person! The Chinese elite also argue that 30% of Chinese emissions are caused by its net exports to the USA and other developed countries. committee for a workers' international (UK) 25 January 2010 Available at: http://socialistworld.net/eng/2010/01/2501.html
Tandon essays dare South to develop itself, think differently The book is a collection of essays written as editorials for the South Centre’s fortnightly South Bulletin: Reflections and Foresights by Tandon. These editorials were being written as events unfolded, and not with the benefit of retrospection. The East African: - Magazine 16 January 2010 Available at: www.theeastafrican.co.ke/magazine/-/434746/843788/-/14i3fmuz/-/index.html
South Africa: Copenhagen Accord Makes Sham of Global Environmental Justice Moreover, writing in the South Centre Bulletin, Vincente Paolo Yu argues that through the Bill, the US is also establishing an Emissions Allowance Rebate Programme that gives a rebate to energy-intensive industries, such as iron or steel factories, which meet certain energy reduction thresholds. Yu explains, "In short, the US government would compensate, i.e. subsidise, the cost incurred by these industries for complying with stringent US green house gas (GHG) emission targets," in particular energy-intensive companies that are deemed to be "trade-vulnerable." AllAfrica (Mauritius) 14 January 2010 Available at: http://allafrica.com/stories/201001140623.html
Don't Blame China for Copenhagen Failure Denmark, not China, is to blame for the failure of Copenhagen Climate Summit, according to a recent article published in the UK's Guardian newspaper. CRIENGLISH.com (China) 1 January 2010 Available at: http://english.cri.cn/6909/2010/01/01/45s539508.htm
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