Jeffrey D. Sachs's Blog, page 38

The G-7 Embraces Decarbonization

NEW YORK – This week’s G-7 meeting at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps marked a major breakthrough in climate-change policy. The seven largest high-income economies (the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Canada) made the revolutionary decision to decarbonize their economies during this century. For the first time in history, [...]

The Impunity Trap

Ours is a world of impunity. Allegations of corruption swarmed around FIFA for decades, culminating in indictments of current and former officials last week. Yet FIFA President Sepp Blatter was re-elected four times, including after the indictments were filed. Yes, Blatter has finally resigned, but only after he and dozens of Federation members once again [...]

Charlie Rose: The Age of Sustainable Development

Nutrition in the age of sustainable development

In the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), food production and food security played a central role in the battle against hunger, disease, and extreme poverty. As I wrote in the pages of the SCN News 28 in 2004, “Besides being a goal itself, nutrition is critical to achieving the other MDGs [...]. Malnutrition and hunger feed [...]

Why Fast Track Is a Dangerous Gift to Corporate Lobbies

The Obama Administration is now on track to get “fast track” legislation through the Senate, heading towards a close vote in the House. The end goal is to conclude two major business treaties: the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (TTIP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). The House Democrats are right to withhold their [...]

Defend Workers and the Environment Before Voting Fast Track

President Barack Obama is making a full-court press for two new international business agreements, one with Asian-Pacific countries known as Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the other with European countries known as the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). To secure these, he is calling on Congress to pass Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), also known as [...]

Not So Fast: Fast-tracking secretive trade agreements will benefit big corporations, not the public interest

President Barack Obama and the Republican leadership in Congress are trying to pass “fast track” legislation in order to push through major economic agreements with eleven countries of the Pacific region (the Trans-Pacific Partnership) and Europe (the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) without the possibility for Congressional amendments. Both are being sold generally as “trade [...]

A Call to Virtue

Pope Francis has declared that the joy of the Gospel can help the world to overcome the globalization of indifference to others. Undoubtedly, he will bring this message when he visits the United States. But when he does, he will face a society in thrall to a different idea—that of the unalienable rights to life, [...]

Data for Development

NEW YORK – The data revolution is rapidly transforming every part of society. Elections are managed with biometrics, forests are monitored by satellite imagery, banking has migrated from branch offices to smartphones, and medical x-rays are examined halfway around the world. With a bit of investment and foresight, spelled out in a new report, prepared [...]

Age of Sustainable Development Discussion at UN