IMF isn’t doing enough to support Africa: billions could be made available through special drawing rights: At the 2021 UN Climate Summit, Barbados prime minister Mia Mottley called for more and better use of special drawing rights (SDRs), the International Monetary Fund’s reserve asset. The special drawing right is an international reserve asset created by …
African countries could unlock billions in local and global trade – what’s working and what’s not: Africa’s share of global trade remains disproportionately small, hovering around 2%-3%. Countries on the continent trade more with the rest of the world than they do among themselves. Africa needs to improve its share of trade to boost growth …
From trash to power: how to harness energy from Africa’s garbage dumps – and save billions in future damage: New research on garbage dumps in 44 sub-Saharan African countries shows that 95% are unregulated. The landfill sites still take in new garbage even when they are filled to capacity. As the waste decomposes, these sites …
Billions have been raised to restore forests, with little success. Here’s the missing ingredient: Yaroslav Astakhov/Shutterstock Protecting and restoring forests is one of the cheapest and most effective options for mitigating the carbon emissions heating Earth. Since the third UN climate change summit, held in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, different mechanisms have been trialled to …
Decontaminating Fukushima: have the billions spent been worth it?: The Chernobyl and (to a lesser extent) Fukushima nuclear accidents contaminated large areas of land with low-level radioactivity. After both accidents, huge efforts were taken to decontaminate the affected areas. But a recent study at Fukushima raises doubts about whether these decontamination efforts were worthwhile. Less …
Billions of birds collide with glass buildings – but architecture has solutions: Bird stickers are used to deter collisions with a glass wall in Korea. Ki Young/Shutterstock At least 1,000 birds were killed in one day in early October, when they collided with a single Chicago building, McCormick Place – the largest convention centre in …
Birkenstock goes public: how an ‘ugly’ orthopaedic shoe company created a brand worth billions: Asked to choose between a brown Birkenstock and a pink stiletto, most people would be able to make a fairly quick decision. In this year’s Barbie movie, Weird Barbie challenges Stereotypical Barbie to make this very choice. To Barbie, the high …
How oil and gas company tax reliefs could lose the UK billions: The recently-approved Rosebank oil field in the North Sea has been touted as a way to boost the UK economy and its energy security. But even with its windfall tax on energy company profits, the project is a good example of how the …
Gold fraud: the Goldenberg scam that cost Kenya billions of dollars in the 1990s – and no one was jailed: Shutterstock The Goldenberg scandal in the early 1990s is Kenya’s largest documented gold fraud. The scheme involved Goldenberg International Limited, which pretended to export gold and diamonds, and in exchange received substantial subsidies from the …
Billions is spent on cancer research globally – but is it money well spent?: In 2020, 19 million people around the world received a cancer diagnosis. By 2040, that number is expected to reach 28 million. Poorer countries will be especially hard hit, with an increasing number of cases and more deaths, compared with richer …
Improving how the IMF does business could help billions of people worldwide — by giving governments money to spend on public goods and increasing accountability. Podcast: People march with a banner that reads in Spanish 'Stop the adjustment, out with the IMF,' in Buenos Aires, Argentina on May 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano) In …
Billions still lack access to safe drinking water – this is a global human rights catastrophe: The village well in Mchinji, Malawi. Just 37% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa will be using safely managed drinking water by 2030. Melissa Cooperman/IFPRI/flickr, CC BY-NC-SA Leaders and authorities recently gathered in New York for the first UN …
Extreme storms and flood events cause damage worth billions to ports — and they are most disruptive to small island developing states: Natural hazards inflict damage on ports worldwide. Harvepino/Shutterstock Shipping ports are crucial for the global economy. They handle the majority of trade, are industrial and transportation hubs and provide employment. But ports, by …
Women’s voices are missing in the media – including them could generate billions in income: Women are severely underrepresented in editorial leadership and in news coverage. Stefan Heunis/Getty Images How can the news media represent women’s voices better? The answer might be in a recent report, “From outrage to opportunity: How to include the missing …
Obesity costs South Africa billions. We did the sums: Quantifying the financial costs of overweight and obesity is important for national policy. Shutterstock Globally, it is widely acknowledged that obesity-related conditions and their complications add hugely to healthcare costs and productivity losses. In turn this adds a large burden on individuals, their families and on …
Ukraine: how the world’s defence giants are quietly making billions from the war: The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been widely condemned for its unjustified aggression. There are legitimate fears of a revived Russian empire and even a new world war. Less discussed is the almost half trillion dollar (£381 billion) defence industry supplying the …
South Africa in the news: US companies are putting billions into building internet capacity in South Africa: The United States government and several US-based internet companies are making a concerted push in South Africa’s online space, including spending billions of dollars on new infrastructure.: “South Africa” – BingNews Hyperlocal knowledge drives community investment: We work …
South Africa in the news: SA divided as billions of dollars pledged for climate fight: South Africa (SA) last week received a pledge of $ 8.5 billion from rich nations to help its transition from coal to clean energy, but its citizens are not united in approval of the deal.: “South Africa” – BingNews Philippines …