| June 2005
G8 Summit | Biotechnology| Climate Change | Environment | Global Development &
Foreign Aid | Health, HIV/AIDS & Infectious Diseases
D1 - The G-8 Summit and Africa's Development
Bate, Roger
Testimony Committee on International Relations' Subcommittee
on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, July
1, 2005
"The US Administration has gone further than other G8 nations
in trying to ensure that incentives bound up with aid packages
are positive. By requiring prudent institutional changes ahead
of aid delivery, the Millennium Challenge Account avoids a common
aid pitfall: assuming that aid can promote sustainable policy
improvements in countries where domestic stewardship of such changes
is absent. However, as the experience of the MCA has demonstrated,
such a careful and targeted approach to aid is difficult, slow,
and decidedly unglamorous. In reality, economic growth depends
on qualitative, not quantitative factors, thus running counter
to the theory underpinning the increased aid model." Roger
Bate is a resident fellow at AEI. Fulltext
D2 - Countdown to the G8 Summit: A Preview of the Challenges
and Opportunities
Brookings Institute, June 30, 2005
Experts from the Brookings Institution look at the G8 Gleneagles
summit agenda in a broad ranging way, focusing both on some of
the key issues that the leaders have identified for the talks,
including trade, assistance, climate change, but also at some
of the political dynamics." James B. Steinberg, Lael Brainard,
Philip H. Gordon, Susan E. Rice, David B. Sandalow. Fulltext
D3 - The Upcoming G-8 Summit
Press Briefing
Council on Foreign Relations, June 14, 2005
Experts look at the domestic and international political challenges
that G-8 leaders are facing and examine the details of the summit
agenda. Charles Kupchan, Director of European studies, Council
on Foreign Relations; Princeton Lyman, Ralph Bunche senior fellow
for Africa policy, Council on Foreign Relations; Nancy Roman,
Director, Washington Program, Council on Foreign Relations; Gene
Sperling, director of the Center on Universal Education, Council
on Foreign Relations. Fulltext
D4 - Africa, the G8, and the Blair Initiative
Copson, Raymond W.
Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, Updated
June 14, 2005. 16p
"Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair has launched a major
diplomatic effort to
marshal the resources he sees as needed to eradicate extreme poverty
in sub-Saharan Africa. He intends to focus the July 2005 G8 summit
at Gleneagles in Scotland, which he will chair, on this initiative.
Blair is pushing for a substantial aid increase for Africa through
an “International Finance Facility” (IFF) and 100% forgiveness
of poor country debt to the international financial institutions...
The Bush Administration is reacting cooly to the proposed IFF
on grounds that it lacks a means of assuring that new aid funds
would be well spent." Raymond W. Copson, Specialist in
International Relations, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division.
Fulltext
D5 - Freedom, Prosperity, and Security - Appendix
Atwood , J. Brian and Robert S. Browne, Co-Chairs; Princeton N.
Lyman, Project Director
Council on Foreign Relations, March 01, 2005.
The Council on Foreign Relations Special Report Freedom, Prosperity,
and Security was issued in May 2004 on the eve of the G8 summit
hosted by the United States at Sea Island, Georgia. The report
stressed the importance of maintaining a strong focus on Africa
at the G8 and provided an assessment of commitments and progress
to date in that relationship. This report provides a summary of
the results of the Sea Island Summit with regard to Africa. Fulltext
D6 - Cheat Sheet: The G-8 Summit
Foreign Policy, Web Special June 2005
Foreign Policy breaks down some basic questions on the G8: What
is the G8?
But aren’t there a lot of other “G-” groups? So what does the
G-8 do? What’s on this year’s agenda? So what’s all this I hear
about the debt cancellation deal? What about Bono? What agenda
does each G8 leader have? Fulltext
D7 - Biotech, Finally
Arnst, Catherine
Business Week, June 13, 2005, pp30-36
The article discusses a biotech-driven medical revolution and
analyzes the potential for biotechnology products to cure cancer
and similar serious diseases. It presents an overview of biotech
drugs in development awaiting final approval from the Food and
Drug Administration and gives an update on stem cell research.
Catherine Arnst is a senior writer for Business Week. Fulltext
D8 - Biotechnology in a Globalizing World: The Coevolution
of Technology and Social Institutions
Juma, Calestous
Bioscience, March 2005, v55, #3, pp-
"Since their advent in the early 1970s, techniques for gene splicing
and recombination have provided the basis for biotechnology's
revolutionary promise to transform economic systems in unprecedented
ways. The fact that this transformation is done by modifying living
organisms has inspired awe as well as fear. Biotechnology is closely
linked with globalization, and advances have influenced its diffusion
and the corresponding social responses in mobility (of people,
goods, and ideas), connectivity (through communications technologies),
and economic interdependence (through global value chains and
trading networks)... The picture that emerges from a review of
recent books on the subject is one of complex interactions between
technological innovation and institutional change, interactions
that defy deterministic interpretations. Advances in biotechnology
continuously lead to adjustments in social institutions... In
turn, social institutions influence the pace and direction of
technological innovation. This article explores these interactions
in fields such as environmental and safety regulation, ethics,
socioeconomic considerations, intellectual property rights, international
trade, and agriculture in developing countries." Fulltext
D9 - Can We Bury Global Warming?
Socolow, Robert H.
Scientific American, July 2005, v293, #1, pp49-, 7p 17318114
This article examines the status of the technology required for
implementation of capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide
procedures. "If slowing the rate of carbon dioxide buildup were
easy, the world would be getting on with the job. If it were impossible,
humanity would be working to adapt to the consequences. But reality
lies in between. The task can be done with tools already at hand,
albeit not necessarily easily, inexpensively or without controversy.
Were society to make reducing carbon dioxide emissions a priority
we would need to pursue several strategies at once. We would concentrate
on using energy more efficiently and on substituting noncarbon
renewable or nuclear energy sources for fossil fuel (coal, oil
and natural gas-the primary sources of manmade atmospheric carbon
dioxide). And we would employ a method that is receiving increasing
attention: capturing carbon dioxide and storing, or sequestering,
it underground rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. Nothing
says that CO2 must be emitted into the air. The atmosphere has
been our prime waste repository, because discharging exhaust up
through smokestacks, tailpipes and chimneys is the simplest and
least (immediately) costly thing to do. The good news is that
the technology for capture and storage already exists and that
the obstacles hindering implementation seem to be surmountable."
Robert H. Socolow, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering
at Princeton University. Fulltext
D10 - The Climate of Man
Kolbert, Elizabeth
The New Yorker (April 25, 2005; May 2, 2005; May 9, 2005)
Kolbert describes the environmental causes of climate change
and demonstrates the consensus among scientists that human action
is causing the current shifts. Part I features interviews with
local and indigenous people in Alaska, Greenland and Iceland,
where climatic change is already affecting the environments and
people's lives. In Part II, Kolbert brings together contemporary
climate modeling with archeological and paleo-climatology to show
the connections between shifts in climate and the extinction of
ancient societies. In Part III, she focuses on contemporary greenhouse
gas-creating emissions and possible solutions, including aspects
of the Bush administration policy on both climate change and carbon
emission reduction programs. Elizabeth Kolbert is a political
correspondent for The New Yorker. Fulltext
D11 - The State of Nature
Carl Pope, Bjørn Lomborg.
Foreign Policy. Washington: Jul/Aug 2005. #149; pp66-, 8p
"Is the world getting greener? Or are we selling it short for
a fistful of greenbacks? Apparently, even committed environmentalists
can disagree. When Carl Pope looks out his door, he sees the polar
ice caps melting, ecosystems on life support, and clean water
disappearing. But Bjørn Lomborg believes humanity's backyard has
never looked better. Who's got it right? For young and old, rich
and poor, the answer might just mean the world." Carl Pope
is executive director of the Sierra Club. Bjørn Lomborg is adjunct
professor at the Copenhagen Business School. Fulltext
D12 - Sustaining Our Future
Richards, Scott
State News. May 2005, v48, #5, pp26-27, 36-37
"The Council of State Government's Environmental Policy Group
as part of CSG's trends mission monitors emerging trends that
are most likely to influence the environment, natural resources
and policy-makers who work with them. Ten emerging patterns of
change that CSG's environmental policy analysts have identified
as most likely to alter state resource allocations and policy
priorities in the coming years are" outlined in this article.
Scott Richards is director for environment and energy at The
Council of State Governments. Order
Article
D13 - Mark of Sustainability? Challenges for Fishery and
Forestry Eco-Labeling
Gulbrandsen, Lars H.
Environment, June 2005, v47, #5, pp8-23
"'Eco-labels' on food items and other materials were meant to
increase consumers' choices and to motivate producers to adopt
sustainable practices by rewarding them with a "certified" --
and potentially more lucrative -- brand. But has the use of such
labels produced positive environmental impacts in farming, fishing,
forestry, and other industries? The author, focusing on forestry
and fishing, provides an historical overview of how eco-labeling
developed and explores issues such as auditing, standards, supply-chain
tracking and enforcement. He also describes the emergence of nongovernmental
organizations as players in the certification structure. This
article features comparison charts of international certification
programs, case studies, and descriptions of international eco-certification
laws." Lars H. Gulbrandsen is a research fellow at the Fridtjof
Nansen Institute in Norway. Fulltext
D14 - Air Quality: Much Worse on Paper Than in Reality
Schwartz, Joel
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research,
Environmental Policy Outlook, May-June 2005, 7p. http://www.aei.org/docLib/20050602_EPOMay_Junenewg(2).pdf
"Journalists and environmentalists erroneously claim more than
half the country has "some of the worst air pollution," when in
fact the worst areas of California stand head and shoulders above
all others. The nation sorely needs an honest assessment of air
pollution, which would be aided by greater skepticism from journalists
about air pollution claims." Joel Schwartz is a visiting fellow
at AEI. Fulltext
D15 - Endangered Species Act: Is the Landmark Law in
the Need of Change?
Cooper, Mary H.
CQ Researcher, June 3, 2005, v15, #21, pp693-515
"Since the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was passed in 1973, more
than 1,200 animals and plants have been listed as threatened or
endangered - a designation designed to protect species on the
brink of extinction. But the landmark legislation has been controversial
from the start, pitting environmentalists against property-rights
advocates in a protracted debate over the ESA's economic costs
and environmental benefits. The ongoing controversy has prevented
Congress from reauthorizing the law since 1992, but the Republican-dominated
Congress is considering rewriting it, complaining that less than
1% of listed species have recovered under the law. Wildlife protection
groups, however, claim that proposed, so-called sound-science
requirements could end up gutting the law. Meanwhile, the Bush
administration says it is committed to encouraging voluntary conservation
initiatives and to making the law more responsive to the concerns
of private landowners and state and local governments." Mary
H. Cooper, a CQ Researcher staff writer, specializes in defense,
energy and environmental issues. Order
Article
D16 - Shaping the Future
Popper, Steven W., Robert J. Lempert, Steven C. Bankes
Scientific American, April 2005, v292, #4, pp66-, 6p 16478092
In 2004, a panel of experts, known as the Copenhagen Consensus,
ranked the world's most pressing environmental, health and social
problems in a prioritized list. The panel used cost-benefit analysis
to evaluate where a limited amount of money would do the most
good. It concluded that the highest, priority should go to immediate
concerns with relatively well-understood cures, such as control
of malaria. Long-term challenges such as climate change, where
the path forward and even the scope of the threat remain unclear,
ranked lower. The authors of this article maintain that although
science has become an essential part of decision-making by governments
and businesses, uncertainty can complicate decision-making and
result in inappropriate policy. They describe a new decision-making
framework that can help policy-makers test and implement policies
that work well on a flexible basis. Fulltext
D17 - Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis Report.
March 2005
Living Beyond Our Means: Natural Assets and Human Well-Being.
March 2005
This report presents a synthesis and integration of the findings
of the four MA Working Groups along with more detailed findings
for selected ecosystem services concerning condition and trends
and scenarios, and response options. The study reveals that approximately
60% of the ecosystem services - such as fresh water, capture fisheries,
air and water regulation, and the regulation of regional climate,
natural hazards and pests - are being degraded or used unsustainably,
and that the harmful consequences of this degradation could grow
significantly worse in the next 50 years. According to the MA
Synthesis Report, it is the world's poorest people who suffer
most from ecosystem changes. The regions facing significant problems
of ecosystem degradation - sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, some
regions in Latin America, and parts of South and Southeast Asia
- are also facing the greatest challenges in achieving the United
Nations' Millennium Development Goals. In Sub-Saharan Africa,
for example, the number of poor people is forecast to rise from
315 million in 1999 to 404 million by 2015. Fulltext
D18 - How to Help Poor Countries
Birdsall, Nancy, Dani Rodrik, Arvind Subramanian
Foreign Affairs, Jul/Aug2005, v84, #4 17327842
"Developed countries should not abandon the poor to their plight.
If, however, rich countries truly aim to help developing countries
achieve lasting growth, they must think creatively about the development
agenda. If aid is increased and delivered more efficiently and
trade inequities are addressed, then the two traditional pillars
of development will yield rewards. But these rewards should not
be overestimated. Indeed, other courses of action--such as giving
poor nations more control over economic policy, financing new
development-friendly technologies, and opening up labor markets--could
have more significant benefits. It is time to direct the attention
of the world's wealthiest countries to other ways of helping the
poorest--ways that have been for too long neglected." Nancy
Birdsall, President, Center for Global Development, Washington,
D.C.; Dani Rodrik, Professor of International Political Economy,
Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government; Arvind Subramanian,
Division Chief, Research Department, International Monetary Fund.
Fulltext
D19 - Taking Root: Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty
Reduction Come Together in the Tropics
Timmer, Vanessa and Calestous Juma
Environment, May 2005, v47, #4, pp24-44
"Can conservation and poverty reduction goals be combined? It
has long been thought that the two are mutually exclusive, yet
finding synergistic solutions has been on local, national, and
global agendas for decades. Local innovations recognized by the
Equator Initiative, a project of the United Nations Development
Programme, present a valuable set of cases for exploring this
question." Vanessa Timmer, Institute for Resources, Environment
and Sustainability, University of British Columbia. Calestous
Juma, director of Harvard's Science, Technology and Globalization
Project and coordinator of the UN Millennium Project's Task Force
on Science, Technology and Innovation. Fulltext
D20 - Millennium Challenge Corporation: Progress Made
on Key Challenges in First Year of Operations
Gootnick, David B. and Jeanette M. Franzel
Testimony Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S.
Senate. United States Government Accountability Office, April
2005. 55p.
"For fiscal years 2004 and 2005, the MCC board used the quantitative
criteria as well as judgment in determining 17 countries to be
eligible for MCA compacts. Although MCC chose the indicators based
in part on their public availability, our analysis showed that
not all of the source data for the indicators were readily accessible.
In addition, we found that reliance on the indicators carried
certain inherent limitations, such as measurement uncertainty..."
Fulltext
D21 - World Poverty and Human Rights
Pogge, Thomas
Ethics & International Affairs, Spring 2005, v19, #1, pp
"Despite a high and growing global average income, billions of
human beings are still condemned to lifelong severe poverty, with
all its attendant evils of low life expectancy, social exclusion,
ill health, illiteracy, dependency, and effective enslavement...
This problem is hardly unsolvable, in spite of its magnitude.
Though constituting 44% of the world's population, the 2,735 million
people the World Bank counts as living below its more generous
$2 per day international poverty line consume only 1.3% of the
global product, and would need just 1% more to escape poverty
so defined. The high-income countries, with 955 million citizens,
by contrast, have about 81% of the global product. With our average
per capita income nearly 180 times greater than that of the poor
(at market exchange rates), we could eradicate severe poverty
worldwide if we chose to try -- in fact, we could have eradicated
it decades ago. " Thomas Pogge, Columbia University. Fulltext
D22 - Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development
Goals
Report 2005, June 2005, various pagings
A status report prepared by 25 UN agencies and international organizations
on reaching the internationally endorsed Millennium Development
Goals has been issued Thursday, 9 June 2005 at the United Nations
Headquarters in New York. It shows us how much progress has been
made in some areas, and how large an effort is needed to meet
the Millennium Development Goals in others. If current trends
persist, there is a risk that many of the poorest countries will
not be able to meet many of them. Considering how far we have
come, such a failure would mark a tragically missed opportunity.
This report shows that we have the means at hand to ensure that
nearly every country can make good on the promises of the Goals.
Our challenge is to deploy those means." Fulltext
D23 - Environment, Poverty, and the Millennium Challenge
Corporation: Leveraging U.S. Aid to Improve Natural Resource Management
Brooking Institution, June 24, 2005.
A panel of experts look at how foreign aid can be leveraged into
sustainable management of natural resources, and specifically
at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). The purpose of
the MCC is to provide greater resources for those developing countries
that take greater responsibility for their own development. The
mission of the MCC is poverty reduction through sustainable growth.
It draws upon the lessons that have been learned over a half-century
of foreign assistance, what works and what doesn't work; in particular
three core lessons, which are the need for policy reform, country
ownership, and accountability and a focus on results. Fulltext
D24 - Can We End Global Poverty?
Sachs, Jeffrey D.
Council on Foreign Relations Transcript, June 14, 2005.
Sachs maintains that the biggest myth about foreign aid in the
U.S. is "how much aid we give and how much has gone down the drain."
He discusses public opinion in the U.S., Bush administration policies,
the progress that has been made towards attaining the Millennium
Development Goals, the G8 Gleneagles Summit and upcoming UN meetings
in September. Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director, Earth Institute,
Columbia University. Fulltext
D25 - Can the World Afford to Save the Lives of 6 Million
Children Each Year?
Bryce, Jennifer et al
Lancet, June 25, 2005, v365, #9478, p2193, 8p, 17407988
"As part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), nations pledged
to ensure a reduction of two-thirds in child mortality by 2015
from the base year 1990, to achieve a substantial reduction in
overall child mortality. " This study finds that "Achieving the
millennium development goal for child survival is affordable.
Policy choices that are effective and economical include: (1)
focusing on prevention, leading to reductions in treatment costs;
(2) using integrated delivery strategies within comprehensive
child survival programmes, rather than parallel delivery of diseasespecifc
interventions; and (3) expanding coverage through improved delivery
at community level as a complement to facility-based services.
Scaling up health delivery is the challenge, and, along with the
lack of funds, will be the limiting factor in reducing child mortality
by two-thirds by 2015." Jennifer Bryce, Johns Hopkins University,
Bloomberg School of Public Health. Fulltext
D26 - The Lessons of HIV/AIDS
Garrett, Laurie
Foreign Affairs, Jul/Aug2005, v84, #4, pp51-, 15p
AN 17327805
One of a series of articles on the global threat of pandemics.
See "The Next Pandemic." Foreign Affairs Web Special
This article examines the potential of infectious diseases to
threaten world stability and security and reviews how the HIV/AIDS
pandemic has affected the global economy and global security.
In a comparison of the influence of HIV/AIDS on global stability
to an outbreak of avian influenza, the author maintains that global
preparation for pandemics remains slow and inadequate, in part
because communicable diseases continue to kill slowly. Laurie
Garret, Senior Fellow for Global Health, Council on Foreign Relations.
Fulltext
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