Alarming signs as the global food import bill set to rise to nearly US$2 trillion, economic losses from extreme weather rocket in Asia, and UNFPA appeals for $113.7 million as women’s and girls’ needs soar in Horn of Africa. Here is what you missed from last week’s headlines in the international development sector.
Alarming signs as the global food import bill set to rise to nearly US$2 trillion due to higher prices
The world food import bill is estimated to rise to US$1.94 trillion in 2022, higher than previously expected, according to a new report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The new forecast presented in FAO’s Food Outlook would mark an all-time high and a 10-percent increase over the record level of 2021, although the pace of the increase is expected to slow down in response to higher world food prices and depreciating currencies against the United States dollar. Both weigh on the purchasing power of importing countries and, subsequently, on the volumes of imported food.
The bulk of the increase in the bill is accounted for by high-income countries, due mostly to higher world prices, while volumes are also expected to rise. Economically vulnerable country groups are being more affected by the higher prices. For instance, the aggregate food import bill for the group of low-income countries is expected to remain almost unchanged even though it is predicted to shrink by 10 percent in volume terms, pointing to a growing accessibility issue for these countries.
Economic losses from extreme weather rocket in Asia
Economic losses from drought, floods, and landslides have rocketed in Asia. In 2021 alone, weather and water-related hazards caused total damage of US$ 35.6 billion, affecting nearly 50 million people, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The State of the Climate in Asia 2021 report highlighted how climate change impacts are wreaking an ever-increasing human, financial and environmental toll, worsening food insecurity and poverty and holding back sustainable development.
The report also painted a worrying scenario for future water stress. High Mountain Asia, including the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau, contains the largest volume of ice outside of the polar region, with approximately an area of 100,000 km2 of glacier coverage. The rate of glacier retreat is accelerating and many glaciers suffered from intense mass losses as the result of exceptionally warm and dry conditions in 2021. These so-called water towers of the world are vital for freshwater supplies for the most densely populated part of the planet and so glacier retreat has major implications for future generations. Water-related extremes are the most important hazard in Asia.
UNFPA appeals for $113.7 million as women’s and girls’ needs soar in Horn of Africa
UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, has launched an appeal for US$113.7 million to scale up life-saving reproductive health and protection services for women and girls in the Horn of Africa.
An unprecedented drought in the region has left more than 36 million people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, including 24.1 million in Ethiopia, 7.8 million in Somalia, and 4.35 million in Kenya. Conflict, locust infestations, and the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are worsening the effects of the extreme weather, pushing millions to the brink of starvation.
Whole communities are bearing the brunt of the crisis, but as is often the case women and girls are paying an unacceptably high price.
DevelopmentAid Editorials
Water pollution in the world: major causes and statistics
Currently, 44% of all wastewater on Earth returns to the environment untreated. This means that human waste, household sewerage, and sometimes toxic and even medical waste are released directly into the planet’s ecosystems.
Apparently, the majority of people realize this and are aware of the urgency to change this state of affairs but no significant changes have happened. Why? Perhaps one of the reasons is that polluted water is extremely difficult and expensive to clean up or maybe installing expensive treatment systems within industries could reduce profits? Let’s find out.
Female leaders quit companies in the USA at the highest rate ever
Women frontrunners in the USA are quitting their jobs at an unprecedented rate, trying to find a better environment that is free of gender-specific obstacles and opportunities that meet their expectations, according to the Women in the Workplace 2022 report published by LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Company. Currently, the gap between women and men in managerial positions leaving their jobs is the largest corporate America has ever seen.
Women in senior positions want more from work. They are as ambitious as men and put a great deal of effort into bringing their goals to life. However, according to the report, in some organizations, women face gender-specific obstacles such as microaggression that undermines their authority, for instance, being mistaken for someone more junior or having their opinion questioned. This leads them to believe they will make little progress towards achieving their professional goals with that particular company and they thus make the decision to quit. At present, women are more likely to resign from their roles and switch companies.
Fig.1. Female seniors are quitting their positions at the highest rate ever recorded
World population to reach 8 billion on 15 November 2022: advantages and drawbacks | Experts’ Opinions
If you are reading this article on November 15 – congratulations! You are witnessing an important milestone in human development. The United Nations has estimated that on this day in 2022, the world’s population is projected to reach 8 billion people.
This growth has happened at a very fast pace considering that just a little more than 200 years ago, the global population was 1 billion. We asked several DevelopmentAid experts to share their opinions relating to the advantages and drawbacks of the world population hitting 8 billion. Check out their comments below.
Here’s what else has happened
CAF: CAF -the development bank of Latin America– will invest up to USD 10 million in the fund Vinci Climate Change, LP (VICC), managed by one of the main asset management firms in Brazil, Vinci Partners (Vinci). CAF is the first multilateral entity to approve its participation in VICC, assuming an anchor investor role and giving Vinci a vote of confidence to attract new investors.
FAO: The second phase of a global project that helps three countries particularly vulnerable to climate change adaptation to improve their food security and nutrition was launched on the sidelines of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm-El Sheikh, Egypt.
EBRD: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting efforts to safeguard global food security and aid Ukraine’s economy, by investing €300 million in Solidarity Lanes. The Solidarity Lanes, established by the European Commission and EU-bordering countries in May, are essential routes for facilitating the export and import of Ukraine’s agricultural commodities as well as other goods.
G7: G7 members can be the front runners in low carbon and green hydrogen deployment, a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) concludes. Overall, the consumption of hydrogen by G7 countries could grow between four and seven times by 2050.
Save the Children: Save the Children has launched Save the Children Global Ventures, a new entity designed to catalyze private sector investment to transform the lives of the world’s most disadvantaged children and their communities, ahead of International Children’s Day.
Reports
Amid food and climate crises, investing in sustainable food cold chains crucial
As food insecurity and global warming rise, governments, international development partners and industry should invest in sustainable food cold chains to decrease hunger, provide livelihoods to communities, and adapt to climate change, the UN said.
Launched at the 27th Climate Change Conference, the Sustainable Food Cold Chains report, from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), finds that food cold chains are critical to meeting the challenge of feeding an additional two billion people by 2050 and harnessing rural communities’ resilience while avoiding increased greenhouse gas emissions.
The report was developed in the framework of the UNEP-led Cool Coalition in partnership with FAO, the Ozone Secretariat, the UNEP OzonAction Programme, and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition.
Uncovering nature’s role in climate action
The latest science confirms that nature acts as the secret ally in the fight against climate change, slowing global warming and protecting humanity from much more severe impacts of climate change, according to a new WWF report.
The report highlights the power of natural ecosystems to both reduce emissions and help communities adapt and build resilience in a warming world. Our Climate’s Secret Ally: Uncovering the story of nature in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report draws upon the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s work to highlight the interlinked emergencies of human-induced climate change and biodiversity loss and makes the case for better integrating nature into the global response to the climate crisis.
Green recovery is an urgent issue, not just an option: APEC report
APEC member economies are facing extensive sustainability challenges and there is an urgent need to embark on green structural reforms to tackle this and promote a green recovery from the economic slowdown triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, an APEC report on structural reform in the Asia-Pacific region shows.
The 2022 APEC Economic Report, released while APEC officials are convening in Bangkok, Thailand, ahead of the APEC Annual Ministerial Meeting and APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting this week, draws on examples from APEC member economies implementing structural reforms to promote sustainable outcomes. It finds that the proportion of fiscal stimulus spending on green initiatives is fairly small and that most stimulus packages are spent on business-as-usual activities.
It argues that governments’ responses to economic shocks can provide the impetus and means to promote a green recovery that contributes both to economic growth and to improvements in environmental outcomes.
Events
The list of major upcoming events in the development sector in November 2022
Keep up-to-date on key events about emerging funding strategies, environmental policies, climate change, technological development, labor standards, and energy issues in the development sector via our compiled list.
Track events hosted by reputable international organisations, donors, NGO’s and IFIs that bring together the biggest change-makers and stakeholders in international development cooperation.
Save the date to register and attend the upcoming events in November 2022.
Download the comprehensive schedule of major online events.
Monitoring and Evaluation of Gender Based Violence | Training
📅 9,16,23, 30 November 2022
Online, Zoom
The “Monitoring and Evaluating Gender-Based Violence” workshop is designed to present the basic principles and concepts for monitoring and evaluating GBV prevention and mitigation programs.
The training will be fully taught in Arabic.
This training will rely on the GBV Monitoring and Evaluation Toolkit to give practitioners the resources to improve individual and organizational capacities to implement monitoring and evaluation processes, protocols, and tools applicable to GBV programming.
This intensive 4-day training is intended for staff of GBV sub-cluster member organizations, third-party monitoring entities, and donors, who seek to build their individual and organizational capacity to implement monitoring and evaluation interventions in their programmes.
SAFIN Annual Plenary Meeting 2022
📅 21 – 22 November 2022
Morelia, Mexico & Online
As the world struggles to address the worst food crisis in generations, agri-SMEs that play key roles across agricultural value chains are facing unprecedented pressure. Increased operation costs, lower profit margins, and higher interest rates are among the realities faced by many agri-SMEs following the compounding effects of the war in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change.
More than ever is the time for the agri-SME finance community to work in concert towards an inclusive ecosystem where agri-SMEs can affordably access the appropriate capital they need to weather these turbulent times.
The Annual Plenary Meeting of the Smallholder and Agri-SME Finance and Investment Network (SAFIN) is a unique opportunity to engage with experts from the rural and agricultural finance community, discover new research, pitch new initiatives, and connect with your next impact partner.
Under the theme “Opportunity in an evolving landscape,” this year’s event will focus on practical ways to turn the current food crisis into an opportunity for agri-SME finance and investment. The in-person event will take place in Morelia, Mexico alongside the 7th World Congress on Rural and Agricultural Finance and will be live-streamed to a virtual audience.
2022 OECD Green Growth and Sustainable Development (GGSD) Forum
📅 22 – 23 November
Paris, France
The economic shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s large-scale aggression against Ukraine are likely to reshape the science-policy interface with significant implications for net-zero goals, green growth, and sustainable development.
The recent experience from the government-supported acceleration for the development and deployment of vaccines and the renewed priority given to energy security have provided an impetus to mission-oriented innovation approaches to address environmental challenges. In addition, the pandemic has severely affected some vital actors of innovation ecosystems, such as start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are also more exposed to the consequences of high energy prices.
The 2022 OECD Green Growth and Sustainable Development (GGSD) Forum will discuss how these recent developments affect mission-oriented approaches for green innovation and the role that low-carbon hydrogen and the bio-economy sectors could play in a sustainable recovery. It will also discuss the specific challenges and opportunities faced by SMEs, and the lessons learned from the international scientific cooperation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic for Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) efforts to address environmental degradation.
Harnessing Digital Technologies and Experiences to SEA of Solutions 2022
📅 23 – 24 November 2022
Virtual
The triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss need to be addressed for humanity to have a viable future on this planet. Plastic pollution is a key contributor and by-product of an essentially linear system in which over 75% of the material value of plastic is lost following a short first-use cycle.
Transitioning from this linear system to a circular economy demands impactful solutions across the plastic value chain from designing, producing, and consuming products to post-consumer waste management. SoS 2022 will spotlight such unique and impactful circular solutions for plastic pollution.
Over the last three years, SEA of Solutions (SoS) – SEA circular’s annual flagship event – has served as an avenue to exchange best practices, enable meaningful dialogue, and empower stakeholders to promote circularity in the plastic value chain within South-East Asia.
SoS 2022 will spotlight unique and impactful solutions along the plastic value chain covering three cross-cutting themes – Innovation, Inclusion, and Collaboration.
11th Asian Smart City Conference
📅 24 – 25 November 2022
Online
Rapid urbanization and energy demand growth are major sources of greenhouse emissions, pollution, land degradation, and waste accumulation, which increase climate-related risks, especially in the context of widespread socioeconomic inequality. Asia’s urgent need for smart city strategies thus goes hand in hand with closing the infrastructure gap, poverty reduction, and climate change adaptation.
Co-organized by ADB, the Asian Development Bank, the City of Yokohama, and other partners, the 11th Asia Smart City Conference will spotlight smart city solutions and knowledge on decarbonization to support sustainable urban development projects.
Day 1 will consist of a business matching event in the afternoon focused on strengthening public-private partnerships on urban development projects in Asian cities. Day 2 will feature thematic sessions on decarbonization, smart cities, and the Sustainable Development Goals and voluntary local reviews. Each will highlight country experiences, best practices, and policy recommendations pertaining to building resilient smart cities.