DIGITALISATION WBGU Assesses Global Risks and Opportunities
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DEVELOPMENT AND COOPERATION D+C ENTWICKLUNG UND ZUSAMMENARBEIT E+Z International Journal ISSN 2366-7257 D +C MONTHLY E-PAPER July 2019 DIGITALISATION BIODIVERSITY WEST AFRICA WBGU assesses Scientific community Why democracy is global risks and has sounded global in trouble in Benin, opportunities alarm Senegal and Nigeria SDG finance Title: Medical consultation in Ethiopian highlands. Photo: Antoine Boureau/Biosphoto/Lineair D+C July 2019 In German in E+Z Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit. Both language versions FOCUS at www.DandC.eu SDG finance Monitor Still underfunded WBGU assesses the pros and cons of digitalisation | UN panel reports dramatic Unless the agenda of the Sustainable Develop- loss of biodiversty | Investing in Africa | Nowadays: Children suffer in Syria’s civil war | ment Goals (SDGs) is properly funded, it will fail, warns Belay Begashaw of the Kigali-based SDG Imprint 4 Center for Africa. According to Stephan Klingebiel of the German Development Institute, high- income countries must move beyond official Debate development assistance (ODA). PAGES 16, 17 Comments on why western governments currently struggle to promote democracy, the implications of EU migration policies and recent parliamentary elections in India and South Africa 9 Improving African tax revenues In an interdependent world within a globalised economy, no single country can be the autono- mous “master of its own destiny”. To improve Tribune public finance in Africa, national governments KARIM OKANLA must assume responsibility – but they need a In Senegal, Benin and Nigeria, recent elections have revealed serious problems of facilitating international environment, writes democratic governance 13 Dereje Alemayehu of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice. PAGE 20 Focus: SDG finance BELAY BEGASHAW Business opportunities The private sector has much to gain from the To achieve global goals, low-income countries need adequate funding 16 SDGs, says Homi Kharas of the Brookings Institu- tion. Investors should pay attention. PAGE 22 STEPHAN KLINGEBIEL In order to rise to daunting international challenges, established donors must move far beyond ODA 17 Ambiguity instead of accountability The international community still lacks clear DEREJE ALEMAYEHU rules for what counts as climate finance. This For African governments to assume responsibility for increasing tax question must be resolved, demands Liane Scha- revenues, they need a facilitating international environment 20 latek, a civil-society active observer in Green Climate Fund proceedings. PAGE 24 INTERVIEW WITH HOMI KHARAS The private sector will benefit from considering SDGs in the design of its business models 22 Future cooperation All nations must cooperate on SDG achievement. LIANE SCHALATEK All have something to contribute, and all must The international community urgently needs a clear definition of what prove able to learn. South-south cooperation can counts as climate finance 24 help to mobilise funding, and new financial insti- tutions are of increasing relevance, as GIZ experts Luiz Ramalho, Rita Walraf and Ulrich Müller LUIZ RAMALHO, RITA WALRAF AND ULRICH MÜLLER argue. According to Doris Fischer of Würzburg South-south and triangular cooperation will have to play a crucial role in University, China is willing to cooperate at multi- SDG achievement 26 lateral and bilateral levels, but the trade war started by the USA is a serious issue. PAGES 26, 28 INTERVIEW WITH DORIS FISCHER China endorses the SDG agenda, but has ideas of its own 28 ODA graduation MICHAEL KREMPIN In the next 10 years, many emerging markets As fewer countries will be ODA eligible in the future, policymakers must which are currently classified as middle-income adopt policies to plug emerging funding gaps 30 countries are set to become high-income coun- tries. Once they graduate into the high-income HANS DEMBOWSKI category, however, they will no longer be eligible Relevant reading: To keep track of SDG finance, the OECD calls for for ODA, so new financing options need to be clearer definitions and better monitoring 32 found. Michael Krempin, a freelance consultant, assesses the matter. PAGE 30 D+C e-Paper July 2019 OUR VIEW Failure is unaffordable Trib(SW-Thema)une The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) add up to a complex agenda which covers all of humanity’s urgent issues – from food security to institution build- ing, from primary education to peace, from economic growth to environmental protection. Financing this agenda is a complex challenge in itself. The international community is grappling with the intricacies. Several aspects are clear. High-income countries must live up to their pledges con- cerning official development assistance (ODA). But even if they do, more money will be needed. Accordingly, developing countries must shore up their domestic revenue services and collect more taxes. Moreover, middle-income countries must contribute to enhancing capacities and opportunities in poor- er countries. And yet more funding will be required. Ultimately, private-sector investments will prove decisive. The SDGs must drive transformation how- ever. Business cannot go on as usual but must be reoriented towards sustain- ability. Generating profits is not enough. Not only the owners’ welfare matters, everyone’s does. Environmental side effects must be controlled. Public goods Democracy in West Africa – including good education and health care for everyone – must be provided. In procedural terms, recent elections in Senegal, It is a fallacy to believe that state and market are two alternative ways Benin and Nigeria left a lot to be desired. That to handle things. They are not opposites, but actually complement one an- shows that democracy rests on rather shaky foun- other. To flourish, markets need prudent regulation. And to pass and enforce dations in all three countries, as Karim Okanla, a media scholar from Benin, writes. PAGE 13 prudent regulation, governments need the tax revenues that only flourishing markets deliver. Yes, the logic is circular. Governments cannot and must not micromanage economic decisions, but they can and must define the frame- works that guide those decisions in the right directions. Given that the world Debate market transcends national borders, we need multilateral regulations today, and that makes things even more complex. As the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) argues in a recent report on SDG finance (see review, p. 32 in this D+C/ E+Z e-Paper), the global community must set in motion a virtuous circle, in which intelligent public spending triggers responsible private investments, with clean technologies and good governance reducing the daunting chal- lenges our species faces and opportunities improving for everyone. In regard to SDG finance, many questions remain to be answered. We lack precise definitions what “south-south cooperation” or “climate finance” mean. ODA is a well-defined category, but its overlaps with climate finance are unacceptably blurry. Some ODA, moreover, is used for environmentally unsustainable purposes. Migrants’ remittances and private investments must contribute to funding the SDGs – but nobody is systematically keeping track of the environmental and social impacts. To achieve the SDGs, we will need more clarity and better reporting. Only serious conceptual work and competent policymaking can bring both Problematic EU policy about. The bad news is that multilateral settings are currently under attack. The EU is cooperating with dubious partners in its The good news is that conceptual work can be done everywhere, and policy- attempts to stem migration. This approach may making can begin at every level, starting at the grassroots. work in the short term, as Nassir Djafari, an econo- Some people wonder whether the SDG agenda is affordable. The truth is mist, points out but in the longer term, it is likely that failure is unaffordable: the costs would include fast accelerating environ- to compound the problems that make people flee. mental destruction, further disintegration of global relations and ever more That trend is already becoming evident in Sudan, fragile peace. If humanity fails to rise to global challenges, all nations will suf- according to Hans Dembowski of D+C/E+Z. fer and none will be great. PAGES 9, 10 You’ll find all contributions of our focus section plus HANS DEMBOWSKI Did India win? related ones on is editor in chief of D+C Development Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP won India’s our website – they’ll be and Cooperation / E+Z Entwicklung und recent elections in a landslide. Our India corre- compiled in next month’s Zusammenarbeit. spondent Aditi Roy Ghatak doubts that people otos: Jane Hane/picture-alliance/AP Photo; picture-alliance/photoshoot Jane Hane/picture-alliance/AP otos: will be satisfied for long. PAGE 11 briefing section. [email protected] Ph D+C e-Paper July 2019 MONITOR: CONFERENCES AND STUDIES EXPERT ADVICE easier and accelerated thanks to digital in- novations. At the same time, digitalisation itself En route to a digital future can cause harm. The risks include: ● digitally driven economic growth that breaches planetary boundaries, ● digital authoritarianism that disem- In a comprehensive study, the German Advi- economy and individual people, the au- powers individuals, sory Council on Global Change (WBGU – thors state. ● automated decision-making that un- Wissenschaftlicher Beirat der Bundesre- The need for such a transformation dermines democracy, gierung Globale Umweltveränderungen) has is undeniable.