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DEVELOPMENT, TRADE AND CARBON REDUCTION: DESIGNING COEXISTENCE TO PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT. By Jodie Keane, James MacGregor, Sheila Page, Leo Peskett and Vera Thorstensen. Overseas Development Institute, February 2010. The impact of climate change will impose new costs on developing country exporters, especially if markets do not work correctly and international agreements are not well designed. If the costs of carbon emissions are priced correctly, then markets could ensure that emissions are reduced in the most efficient ways. Internationally agreed and administered rules are needed for both trade and climate change, as the actions of one country can damage the interests of others and because coordinated action can improve the outcomes for all. These papers explore three ways of helping developing countries and the international system deal with the new problems: aid to meet the additional costs, new markets in carbon reduction commitments, and reconciling the differences between the world trading system and the international conventions on climate change. This working paper can be found at: http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id=4745&title=development-trade-carbon-reduction-developing-countries.
RETHINKING FOREIGN INVESTMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: LESSONS FROM LATIN AMERICA. Edited by Kevin P. Gallagher and Daniel Chudnovsky. Anthem Press, 2009. This series of essays critiques foreign direct investment in Latin America, analyses the Latin American backlash against “Washington Consensus” policies, and draws lessons from Latin America that can be applied to foreign direct investment more generally. Many newly elected Latin American governments are beginning to scrutinise the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in particular, and some nations have gone so far as to nationalise foreign firms. Without endorsing or condoning the actions taken by these governments, this volume demonstrates that it is quite rational for governments in the region to re-evaluate the role of FDI for their development paths. Consisting of country case studies and comparative analyses from Latin American and US-based political economists, this volume concludes that when FDI did materialise, it often fell far short of generating the necessary linkages required to make FDI work for sustainable economic development. This publication can be accessed here: http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/rp/RethinkForInv.html.
RECONCILING CLIMATE CHANGE AND TRADE POLICY. By Aaditya Mattoo, Arvind Subramanian, Dominique van der Mensbrugghe, and Jianwu He. Peterson Institute for International Economics, December 2009. There is growing clamour in industrial countries for additional border taxes on imports from countries with lower carbon prices. While this working paper confirms the findings of other research that unilateral emissions cuts by industrial countries will have minimal carbon leakage effects, output and exports of energy-intensive manufactures are projected to decline, potentially creating pressure for trade action. A key factor affecting the impact of any border taxes is whether they are based on the carbon content of either imports or domestic production. The paper’s quantitative estimates suggest that basing border taxes on merchandise imports would address competitiveness and environmental concerns in high income countries, but serious consequences for trading partners would exist. Border tax adjustment based on the carbon content in domestic production would broadly address the competitiveness concerns of producers in high income countries and less seriously damage developing country trade. This working paper can be viewed at http://www.iie.com/publications/interstitial.cfm?ResearchID=1449.
NEW CHALLENGES, NEW BEGINNINGS: NEXT STEPS IN EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION. European Think-Tanks Group, February 2010. This report published by four European think tanks aims to present a comprehensive analysis of the current state of European co-operation, the key challenges faced and several practical recommendations for moving forward with Europe’s international engagement. It calls for better co-operation between member states, improved partnerships with developing countries, better policy coordination, more effective aid policy and new thinking about development co-operation. While the report addresses its recommendations directly to the forthcoming new College of European Commissioners, it aims to provide useful analysis and proposals for a wider variety of stakeholders, including EU Member States’ officials, Members of the European Parliament, NGOs and developing country representatives. This report can be accessed at http://www.ecdpm-talkingpoints.org/european-development-cooperation%E2%80%93-new-challenges-new-beginnings/.
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