(24.03.2025)

For over two decades, nonprofit organizations have faced growing restrictions under the banner of fighting terrorism financing. But why would a humanitarian group, a human rights organization, or a local charity be treated as a potential security threat? And what are the real consequences of these measures?

Outside view by Thalia Malmberg and Vera Selig

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(26.11.2024)

Am Black Friday zeigt sich die problematische Logik des grenzenlosen Wachstums besonders deutlich: Unternehmen rufen Rabattschlachten aus, um den Konsum weiter anzukurbeln. Das soll Wachstum sichern – ohne Rücksicht auf Mensch und Umwelt entlang von Lieferketten. Gibt es einen Ausweg aus der Spirale des „mehr, mehr, mehr“? Welche Lösungen bieten neue Ansätze wie Postwachstum? Welche Auswirkungen hätten sie auf die Menschen hier und im Globalen Süden?

Ein Kommentar von Anna Leitner und Felix Steinhardt

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(06.11.2024)

Developing countries cannot reduce and adapt to current and future climate impacts without financial support. For vulnerable communities already bearing the brunt of climate impacts, access to adequate funding is a matter of survival. As the world prepares for COP29 where global leaders will agree on a new climate finance target, the stakes have never been higher.

Outside view by Salomé Lehtman

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(16.10.2024)

Farming communities across Africa are struggling with the challenges posed by the climate crisis. Despite heavy investment in commercial seeds and synthetic fertilizers, evidence suggests minimal progress for farmers. African governments and donors of the Global North must abandon the ineffective Green Revolution and instead develop a new food system that honours local cultures and communities.

Outside view by Million Belay

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(17.07.2024)

The leadership of the Group of African States in establishing a UN process towards a legally binding convention on international tax cooperation has meant that for the first time in history, all governments of the world are negotiating on issues of international tax on equal footing. It is a historic opportunity for governments to make progress on addressing an outdated international tax system leading to hundreds of billions of dollars in lost public revenue.

Outside view by Pooja Rangaprasad

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(23.01.2024)

Countries that have contributed the least to global emissions face a critical challenge of addressing climate impacts amid tightening financial constraints. Over 50% of low-income countries are in or on the brink of debt distress. With many lacking adequate resources to adapt to climate impacts, developing nations are increasingly ensnared in the climate debt trap. Escaping this cycle requires more than domestic policy measures; it demands systemic multilateral solutions for global climate justice.

Outside view by Natalia Alayza & Carolyn Neunuebel

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(29.11.2023)

Four residents of the Indonesian island Pari, whose existence is under threat, are taking the Swiss cement company Holcim to court. They are demanding compensation for climate damages they have suffered, a financial contribution to flood–protection measures, as well as the rapid reduction of Holcim’s CO2 emissions.

Outside View by Parid Ridwanuddin & Yvan Maillard-Ardenti

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(18.10.2023)

Die Details um das neue Lieferkettengesetz (EU-Richtline über die Sorgfaltspflichten von Unternehmen im Hinblick auf Nachhaltigkeit) werden auf europäischer Ebene derzeit diskutiert. Seitens einzelner Unternehmen bzw. deren Vertreter*innen werden immer wieder Bedenken vorgeschoben, dass dieses Gesetz zu einem Rückzug von Unternehmen aus Ländern des Globalen Südens führen könnte. Damit sei das Lieferkettengesetz zum Nachteil der Menschen in ebendiesen Ländern. Aber ist dies wirklich der Fall?

Ein Kommentar von Johannes Jäger, Gonzalo Durán S. & Lukas Schmidt

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(13.09.2023)

There is a largely untapped potential of collaborations between social entrepreneurs and big International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) to scale impact and drive systemic change. In Ashoka’s latest report, we argue that social entrepreneurship makes INGOs advance localization and decolonization. And that INGOs will only unleash its promise if they prioritize social innovation and build an organizational culture of innovation.

Outside View by Georg Schön

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(06.12.2022)

A globalized economy needs global rules for companies. The ongoing negotiations on an EU supply chain law are based on this insight. Supporters of a comprehensive supply chain law can draw important lessons from the initial implementation of the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation in 2021. The regulation for the first time introduces binding human rights due diligence requirements for companies in the EU. What can we learn from it and what is actually changing on the ground?

Outside View by Karin Küblböck and Hannes Grohs

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(04.10.2022)

The European Investment Bank has launched EIB Global, a new branch to spearhead development investments in the Global South. Yet the bank has a terrible track record of supporting projects which spark human rights violations while providing only negligible benefits to local communities. EIB Global must eradicate these abuses and put people above investor profits.

Outside View by Frank Vanaerschot

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(24.08.2022)

Severe drought in the Horn of Africa; heat waves and drought in Europe; floods in South Korea, India and Australia, flash floods in Colombia and Senegal; record tornadoes/cyclones in the US and Mozambique … and the list goes on. As humanitarians, we see the consequences of the climate crisis in our daily work. The Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations aims to guide and galvanize our collective efforts to address this crisis

A comment by Amir Khouzam & Nishanie Jayamaha

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(20.04.2022)

Recently, the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) published the annual statistics summarizing how much foreign aid its 30 member states, including Austria, provided in 2021, loudly trumpeting the all-time high levels of ODA achieved

Outside View by Ranil Dissanayake¹

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(23.02.2022)

Changing attitudes towards taxation can only happen if citizens are engaged in shaping tax policy making and if tax systems are seen to be equitable, including appropriate taxation of large corporations as well as linking tax revenues to development outcomes like improved infrastructure, healthcare and education

Outside View by Luckystar Miyandazi & Orria Goni¹

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(27.01.2022)

Die COVID-19-Pandemie hat verdeutlicht, wie fragil globale Wertschöpfungsketten sind. In allen Weltregionen kam es zu Lieferengpässen, auch im Fall dringend notwendiger, kritischer Güter wie medizinischer Schutzausrüstung. Die in der EU entbrannte Debatte, durch welche Maßnahmen die Versorgung gesichert werden könnte, hat Implikationen für den Globalen Süden. Politikkohärenz auf Seiten der EU und Süd-Süd-Kooperation sind mögliche Antworten auf strukturelle Herausforderungen

Ein Kommentar von Jan Grumiller & Hannes Grohs¹

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(07.12.2021)

Die Notwendigkeit für ein faires und transparentes internationales Staateninsolvenzverfahren zeigt sich in der aktuellen Krise deutlicher denn je. Bereits 2021 – inmitten der pandemiebedingten Wirtschaftskrise – haben 85 Länder des Globalen Südens ihre öffentlichen Ausgaben (u.a. im Bildungsbereich) gekürzt, um stattdessen ihren Schuldendienst bedienen zu können. Die von den G20 ergriffenen Entschuldungsmaßnahmen haben bislang keine substantiellen Schuldenerlasse ermöglicht

Ein Kommentar von Malina Stutz

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(15.11.2021)

There is a growing trend in development finance that you may not have heard about: lending through intermediaries. What are the risks and opportunities?

Outside View by Kate Geary

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(19.10.2021)

With the 7th round of negotiations on the UN binding treaty on its way, we look at the 3rd draft and what it says about the treaty process. With little change from the last version of the treaty, there is no excuse for states not to dig in and start negotiating seriously. Yet shamefully the EU still won’t be at the table. This next year will be decisive for the EU: with a regional law on corporate accountability on its way, they need to step up and get ready to finally engage in negotiations.

Outside View by Jill McArdle

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(16.12.2020)

The COVID-19 crisis is reversing progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While the virus has impacted everyone, developing countries are the worst affected. The 2030 Agenda is about achieving 17 transformational goals to reduce poverty and inequality globally, but the EUs response to the pandemic seems not to have been designed with this in mind. It is key that COVID-19 recovery plans are aligned with the SDGs. But what are the first steps the EU should take to put the 2030 Agenda at the centre of efforts to recover from the COVID-19 crisis?

Outside View by Alexandra Rosen

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(11.11.2020)

The traditional measure of foreign aid is “official development assistance” (ODA). Figures on ODA have been compiled by the OECD since 1969, based on annual reports from members of its Development Assistance Committee (DAC), a club of aid donor countries. ODA figures have been of fundamental importance in tracking global aid efforts and fulfilment of aid pledges, including against the United Nations target of raising aid to 0.7% of rich countries’ national income.

Outside View by Hedwig Riegler

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