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Add to Preferred SourcesCollapsed dam in Ukraine triggers environmental and social disaster in the warzone, EU budget 2024 and digital health. Here is what you missed from last week’s headlines in the international development sector.
Collapsed dam in Ukraine triggers environmental and social disaster in warzone
The Nova Kakhovka dam, located on Europe’s fourth longest river, the Dnipro, in Southern Ukraine, was partially destroyed on June 6th. This caused a massive torrent of water to burst down the stream, resulting in the flooding of nearby villages.
Both Ukraine and Russia are blaming each other for the breach of the 3.2 km long and 30 meters deep dam. Russia has been in control of the location since early in the war.
The dam serves as water supply for cooling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which is currently under Russian control, as well as the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula. The vast reservoir behind the dam, measuring 240 km long and up to 23 km wide, is also used to supply water to large agricultural areas in Southern Ukraine.
In a recent statement, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that there is no immediate risk to the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. The plant’s reactors have been shut down for many months, and the IAEA estimates that the current water supplies for cooling the reactors will be sufficient for several months.
EU budget 2024: Enabling Europe to address its priorities
The Commission has proposed an annual EU budget of €189.3 billion for 2024. The budget will be complemented by an estimated €113 billion in payments for grants under NextGenerationEU, the EU’s post-pandemic recovery instrument. Their combined firepower will keep driving Europe’s ongoing economic recovery and create jobs while strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy.
The EU faced exceptional challenges in the last years, including fast-rising inflation, which put considerable pressure on the ability of the budget to further respond to new developments. Nevertheless, the draft budget for 2024 continues to provide key funding to the EU’s political priorities as planned. Green and digital spending will continue to be prioritised to make Europe more resilient and fit for the future.
The draft budget 2024 directs funds to where they can make the greatest difference, in line with the most crucial recovery needs of the EU Member States and partners around the world. The funding will help modernise and strengthen the Union, by fostering the green and digital transitions, creating jobs and strengthening Europe’s role in the world.
Digital health: Commission and WHO launch landmark digital health initiative to strengthen global health security
The European Commission and the World Health Organization (WHO) have announced the launch of a landmark digital health partnership. In June 2023, WHO will take up the European Union (EU) system of digital COVID-19 certification to establish a global system that will help facilitate global mobility and protect citizens across the world from ongoing and future health threats. This is the first building block of the WHO Global Digital Health Certification Network (GDHCN) that will develop a wide range of digital products to deliver better health for all.
Based on the EU Global Health Strategy and WHO Member States Global Strategy on Digital Health, the initiative follows the 2 December 2022 agreement signed by Commissioner Kyriakides and WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to enhance strategic cooperation on global health issues. This further bolsters a robust multilateral system with WHO at its core, powered by a strong EU.
This partnership will include close collaboration in the development, management, and implementation of the WHO system, benefitting from the European Commission’s ample technical expertise in the field. The first step is to ensure that the current EU digital certificates continue to function effectively.
DevelopmentAid Editorials
What is ESG and why it is important?
Global investment in environmental, social and governance (ESG) has tripled over the past few years. Moreover, the number of business leaders acknowledging the importance of ESG has been on the rise and the number of companies publishing sustainability reports has now reached an impressive level. On the other hand, experts have warned that countries with poor ESG ratings risk losing investment opportunities which could negatively impact economic growth in emerging markets.
Introduced in 2006 by the United Nations, the concept of ESG paved the way for a new era in corporate responsibility, becoming a platform for understanding how companies manage risks across three dimensions and contributing to higher transparency in reporting.
Read the full article.
DFI files: British International Investment – the new face of UK development financing
British International Investment (BII) is the UK’s Development Finance Institution that provides financial services aiming to achieve development goals through private sector support in low- and middle-income countries.
This DFI was previously known as CDC and originally as CDC – the Colonial Development Corporation. In 2022, the organization was renamed as British International Investment to highlight its “role as part of the UK’s offer to help developing and emerging countries meet their significant needs for infrastructure and enterprise”.
The DFI was founded in 1948 and became part of the Association of bilateral European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI) in 1992.
Every year, BII allocates from £1.5 to £2 billion (around US$1.8 – 2.4 billion) to business projects in the eco-friendly infrastructure and technology sectors and other industries that are most in need of funding.
Read the full article.
Top 10 cities with the worst air quality on Earth
Air pollution kills roughly 9 million people worldwide each year. One of the reasons for such a high mortality rate is that 99% of all the people on Earth live in areas where the air quality is below the WHO’s recommended norms, meaning that billions of people are exposed to excessive quantities of pollutants.
With more people living in big industrialized cities, it is obvious that an increasing number of citizens suffer from being exposed to pollutants in the air each year but did you know that some of the most polluted cities have no more than 100,000 inhabitants?
See also: Planet-dump: Pollution threatens everyone but very few act on it
In 2022, 10 cities in three Asian countries and one African state had the most polluted air, according to the Air Quality Index. Although India, China, Pakistan, and Chad, which are all developing countries with fast-growing economies and populations, invest tens of millions in cleaner air every year, the struggle to improve air quality continues while people suffer and die.
Let’s delve into the air quality of the top 10 cities where it was hardest to breathe in 2022.
Read the full article.
Here’s what else has happened
Migration policy: The Council took a decisive step toward the modernization of the EU’s rulebook for asylum and migration. It agreed on a negotiating position on the asylum procedure regulation and on the asylum and migration management regulation. This position will form the basis of negotiations by the Council presidency with the European Parliament.
Haiti: More than 165,000 people are internally displaced in Haiti due to gang violence, hindering aid efforts by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The country is facing additional pressure due to severe floods caused by torrential rains, affecting over 46,000 people and displacing over 13,000 others, and a 4.9 Richter earthquake on 6 June, further compounding the humanitarian situation.
Artificial Intelligence: As the world grapples with the challenges and opportunities presented by the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence, the UK will host the first major global summit on AI safety, the Prime Minister has announced.
Nefco-EU: Initiated as a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, ‘EU Support for Urgent Housing Needs for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Ukraine’, funded by the European Union and managed by Nefco, aims to provide accommodation for Ukrainian citizens forced to flee their homes as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. Project implementations in ten cities in western and central Ukraine are currently ongoing, most of which are expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
Reports
Sustainably supporting 8 billion people with EU Space
A new report by UNOOSA & EUSPA looks at how Copernicus, Galileo, EGNOS, and GOVSATCOM can address such population-related challenges as food security, water management, climate change, and the environment. Having hit the 8 billion mark late last year, the global population is expected to swell to a whopping 9 billion people by 2037.
As the population grows, so too will its impact on the environment, climate change, resource use, and urbanization.
According to a new report published by the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), in partnership with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) the answer can be found in space.
Entitled “Contribution to the Space2030 Agenda – The European Union Space Programme “EU Space” Supporting a world with a population of 8 billion”, the report focuses on how to best leverage EU Space data and information to answer the sustainability challenges of today while also paving the way towards a sustainable – and more densely populated – future.
Events
World Export Development Forum 2023
📅 26 – 29 June 2023
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
WEDF 2023 offers a forward-looking vision to diversify trade in ways that are green, digital, and organic – and to bring small businesses into regional and global trade. Conference discussions and related events highlight solutions to guide small businesses and the wider world of trade toward a more stable, sustainable future.