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Make Room for Development Diplomats!
›Tracking signs and signals is one of the hallmarks of foresight professionals. They are always on the prowl for novel products and technologies that promise to change the world. Sustainable aviation fuel made from biomass or non-biological sources like CO2 is one innovation on their radar. The increasingly popular generative AI technology is another, especially since its proponents claim it will revolutionize early disease detection, unleash new forms of creative arts, transform engineering, and reshape architecture.
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Before the Flood: Lessons from Attempts to Predict Displacement
›Severe flooding is a major cause of human displacement. According to the latest annual report by the International Displacement Monitoring Centre, around 61 million people were forced to move within their country of residence during 2022 due to conflict or disasters. More than one quarter of these—19.2 million people—were displaced by floods.
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“Radioactive Fish” and Geopolitics: Economic Coercion and China-Japan Relations
›On the same day Japan began wastewater releases from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in late August 2023, the website of China’s customs agency announced the country would “completely suspend the import of aquatic products originating from Japan.”
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Ecological Threat Report 2023: Same Hotspots, More Risk
›Future projections of social disturbance due to climate change and ecological pressures provide little optimism for peace in conflict-affected areas over the coming decades. Yet, can we identify current hotspots and future areas of conflict risk? The fourth Ecological Threat Report (ETR), produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace, attempts to do so by taking on the monumental task of evaluating the relationship between ecological threats and peace.
The new report documents a world of growing ecological threats and declining social resilience in the states and territories most vulnerable to a changing climate. And by assessing ecological threats, societal resilience, and levels of peacefulness at the state, territorial, subnational, and city levels, the report also finds a strong correlation between ecological threats and levels of peacefulness.
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ECSP Weekly Watch | October 30—November 3
›A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security ProgramPanama Canal’s Water Woes Threaten International Trade Flow
The Panama Canal has operated as a gateway between the Atlantic to the Pacific for more than a century, relying on water to raise and lower the ships that help fuel international trade. But a recent drought has disrupted the normal functioning of the Canal’s locks, cutting into Panama’s revenue and also causing problems for global supply chains.
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Circumventing the Chokepoint: Can the US Produce More Rare Earths?
›Nowhere is China’s critical mineral dominance greater than in rare earth supply chains. In 2022, the US government estimated that China controlled “nearly 60 percent of mined production, over 85 percent of processing capacity, and over 90 percent of permanent magnet production.”
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Water Cooperation and Scientific Networks: A Work of Passion
›Groundwater is relied upon for roughly half of global drinking water. And as climate change alters precipitation patterns and pollution of surface water continues to increase, our collective dependence on groundwater is likely to increase.
Getting ahead of the potential conflicts, or in some cases, catching up with them, requires an increase in effective groundwater cooperation and diplomacy. Yet the vast majority of transboundary aquifers exist without any form of agreement among the states that share them. This state of affairs leaves the aquifers—and the people who rely upon them—vulnerable to overexploitation, environmental degradation, and the risk of interstate conflict.
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Connecting the Dots: Women’s Economic Empowerment and Reproductive Health
›In the fight for global gender equality, women’s economic empowerment and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are intrinsically linked. This year, for instance, the Biden-Harris administration launched the U.S. Strategy on Global Women’s Economic Security. The interagency strategy is the first of its kind, and it lays out a vision in which women and girls around the world, in all their diversity, are able to fully, meaningfully, and equally contribute to, and benefit from, economic growth and global prosperity.
Showing posts from category economics.