No. 14 - September 2009

Greetings !

Welcome to the autumn 2009 issue of the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) newsletter. We hope you had a wonderful summer. As always, we are happy to bring you up to date with GPPi's activities. 

We are pleased to announce the launch of a number of new undertakings including three new projects: first and foremost, an eight-month consulting project entitled, "Cluster Approach Evaluation Phase II" which evaluates the cluster approach, the key coordination mechanism of humanitarian assistance. This study is commissioned by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and is undertaken in cooperation with Groupe URD; secondly the launch of a our new "Sino-German Expert Workshop Series" which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the framework of the German-Chinese year of science and education (2009-2010); and thirdly, the launch of a collaborative program entitled, "Global Governance 2020: Designing Scenarios for the Future on International Institutions". The call for applications for this program is open until 30 September.

We would also like to draw your attention to the launch of GPPi's new publications including the new book on OPEC entitled "Die OPEC: Macht und Ohnmacht des Öl-Kartells" published on 1 September 2009. The "Raising the Bar" project has also published three new policy papers on humanitarian assistance, please click here to view the publications.   

Our newsletter appears three times a year to keep you informed about the institute, to post our newest publications, and to share interesting recent news on global public policy-making. In this edition’s “Global Issues in the News” section, we focus on the first World Humanitarian Day and the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen. For more information, please visit our homepage at www.gppi.net

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Research

Role and Success Factors of Round Tables
In Germany and abroad, traditional governmental and administrative functions are reaching their limits...

Common Objective, Diverging Regimes?
Prospects and Challenges in Building a Global Carbon Market

Public-Private Partnerships for Education
This study is part of a broader project aimed at creating the necessary information for supporting governments in their...

OPEC at 50: Between Power and Impotence
In 2010, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will mark its 50th anniversary...

Learning to Build the Rule of Law?
The Evolution of Police and Judicial Reform in EU Peace Operations

Raising the Bar
Enhancing transatlantic governance of disaster relief and preparedness

Changing Rules of the Game
Global Energy Governance in the 21st Century

Learning to Build Peace?
The United Nations, Peace Operations and Organizational Learning

EU Foreign Policy Towards China
The Institutional Politics of Cooperation

Global Climate Governance and the Making of China's Climate Change Policy
Actors, Interests and Policy-formulation

The New Protectorates
International Administration and the Dilemmas of Governance

Crisis and Change
The UN Secretariat and the Quest for Accountability

‘Brusselisation’ and the emergence of a strategic culture in the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP)
With the 10th anniversary of the British-French St. Malo summit in December 2008 it is time to take stock on how...

Consulting

Cluster Approach Evaluation Phase II

Networking United Nations Private Sector Focal Points

Debate

Global Governance 2020

Transatlantic Energy Security Dialogues

Transatlantic Dialogues on Humanitarian Action

Global Atlanticists

Sino-German Expert Workshop Series: EU-China cooperation in climate change mitigation and nuclear non-proliferation

Topic 1

1. Unsung Heroes of the Battlefields
By: Laurent Vieira de Mello, The Washington Post, 19 August 2009

Summary: In this article Laurent Vieira de Mello reflects on the day his father Sergio Vieira de Mello, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Secretary-General’s High Representative in Iraq, was killed during a bombing in Baghdad on 19 August 2003 and assesses the current situation facing humanitarians deployed in the field. In commemoration of the attack in Baghdad, 19 August 2009 was marked as World Humanitarian Day.

According to this article, the already poor conditions for many humanitarian workers in many places are deteriorating. From the Darfur region in Sudan to Somalia and Afghanistan, humanitarian workers are increasingly becoming victims of kidnappings, killings and violent attacks. Furthermore, humanitarians are over worked and under-staffed making it impossible to effectively respond to the tasks facing them. The article argues that it is high time for the international community to face its humanitarian responsibilities and calls for it to set up efforts to protect and support humanitarian workers where ever they are deployed.

2. Message of H.E. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, President of the United Nations General Assembly
By: Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, United Nations, 19 August 2009

Summary: In this message, Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, President of the UN General Assembly, highlights the crucial role humanitarian workers play in disaster areas and recognizes their courage, humility and dedication for their important work. At the same time, he reminds us that the perpetrators of the19 August 2003 bombing in Baghdad wanted to send a clear message: “humanitarian workers, helping the most vulnerable civilian populations suffering from conflicts and natural disasters, are now prime targets in conflicts that increasingly respect no rules”.

The role of humanitarian work covers a wide range of activities falling under human-made emergencies and natural disasters. Humanitarian work is essential in responding to these emergencies while sustaining long-term development goals. This message urges governments to press back against those who are bent on disrupting humanitarian efforts and to ensure that aid workers have the human and material resources needed to effectively carry out their vitally needed mandate. It also calls upon the UN and Member States to be accountable for this support.

3. Attacks on aid workers harm humanitarian efforts
By: John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 August 2009

Summary: This article argues that while the number of conflicts around the world has fallen over the past 20 years, the humanitarian fallout caused by these conflicts remains high. At the same time, the demand for aid workers is growing to areas previously unimagined including new threats posed by chronic poverty, food and financial crises, water, energy scarcity and pandemics.

The article suggests that despite the ability of aid workers to overcome challenging situations and carry out their work, they still heavily depend on the consent of those states involved in the crisis – without which their expertise count for little. A more pressing concern, however, is the rising risk of attacks directed at aid workers. Whereas UN and NGO flags were once used for protection, they now increasing serve as emblems for provocation. This article calls upon the international community to use the occasion of the first World Humanitarian Day to do more to ensure the basic principles of independence, impartiality and neutrality are respected and to keep aid workers safe.    

Topic 2

1. Secretary-General’s speech to World Climate Conference
By: Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, United Nations, 3 September 2009

Summary: In his speech to the World Climate Conference, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that the world is speeding towards a climate catastrophe and urged the world community to make rapid progress in talks to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to tackle global warming. Having visited the Arctic and witnessing the changes brought by global warming, the Secretary-General warned that many of the more distant scenarios predicted by scientists were “happening now”. In this statement, he suggested that “science must drive our response to climate change”.

This statement urges action on five key areas of the Copenhagen negotiations. First, the need to assist the poorest and most vulnerable; second, the need for ambitious mid-term mitigation targets by developed countries; third, the need for developing countries to act to slow the growth of their emissions; fourth, to work towards predictable financial and technological support; and finally, all institutional agreements and governance structures under a new climate change regime should take into account the needs of developing countries.

2. Copenhagen’s Inconvenient Truth
By: Michael A. Levi, David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, Foreign Affairs, September/October 2009

Summary: This article suggests that hopes for a breakthrough during the Copenhagen climate conference are high and argues that cuts on greenhouse gas emissions have to be significant in the coming decades “if the world is to control the risks of dangerous climate change”. However, it goes on to warn against high expectations for this goal in the coming months.

The article suggests out that there are positive signs of policy shifts in the US under the Obama administration which point towards concrete steps in limiting carbon emissions. Furthermore, Congress is considering crucial cap-and-trade and clean-energy legislations. However, this piece also warns that the chances of signing a comprehensive treaty in December are small and reaching a deal by 2010 would be “an extraordinary challenge, given the domestic political constraints in Washington and in other capitals”. The article urges government officials to fundamentally rethink their strategy and expectations leading up to the Copenhagen conference.

3. Roadmap for a U.S.-China Partnership on Climate Change
By: Eileen Claussen, The Huffington Post, 6 March 2009

Summary: Given the importance of climate change and energy security to both the U.S. and China, this article urges both sides to invest in building a stronger partnership on both of these issues and to send clear signals to each other of their willingness to take significant actions to address climate change. The article also suggests how smart investments in alternative energy and other technologies could provide immediate economic stimulus in both countries.

This piece provides five priority points for the U.S.-China partnership. First, the need for a bilateral cooperation on developing and deploying new technologies to cut emissions from combustion and coal; second, collaboration to improve energy efficiency and conservation; third, the need to work together to upgrade electricity systems through smart-grid technologies; fourth, both sides should take steps to promote renewables; and fifth, the U.S. and China should improve their ability to monitor and verify emissions and emission reductions while lowering barriers to assist the free flow of technology, finance and intellectual property concerns.