Why are we still waiting for justice on loss and damage?

Chiara LiguoriClimate Change, In the news, Influencing

Remember the fanfare two years ago when rich countries promised new money to respond to the destructive impacts of the climate emergency? Well, the paltry climate finance deal at COP29 contained precisely zero concrete commitments on loss and damage. Chiara Liguori on how the hopes of poorer countries and communities were raised – only to be brutally dashed.

The private jets leaving COP29 are the ultimate symbol of climate injustice. Now the UK must go further in taxing them

Julia DaviesClimate Change, Events, Inequality

With COP29 failing to deliver anything close to the climate finance lower-income countries need, the world needs to look again at taxing rich people like us, says Julia Davies of Patriotic Millionaires UK. Expanding on Britain’s recent small increase in duty for private jets would both raise revenue and make a powerful statement on climate fairness.

Why does UN peacekeeping falter? And how can it do better?

Marc CohenConflict, Fragile contexts, Research

The recent attacks on United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon highlight once again how their presence is no guarantee of security. Marc Cohen and Elise Nalbandian explore UN peacekeeping failures in DRC, Rwanda, Darfur and Haiti – and one notable success in Timor Leste.

It’s time to put care at the centre of our economics courses

Alex BushEconomics, Education, Influencing

The UK government’s Francis Review of the English school curriculum is an unprecedented chance to shift the national and global conversation on economics education: let’s not miss it, say Alex Bush and Jennifer Brandsberg-Engelmann. They explain why we need to change an economics curriculum which perpetuates narratives that are bad for people and planet and erase care work.

Five good reasons for the UK to back a global plan to fairly tax the super-rich at the G20

Claire Arthur-LusbyIn the news, Inequality, Influencing

Brazil wants world leaders to work together on fair taxes for the super-rich. With inequality skyrocketing and the escalating climate crisis, Britain should seize its chance to support that, says Claire Arthur-Lusby.

Who can’t afford to get ill? The missing target in the World Bank’s drive for Universal Health Coverage

Anna MarriottEvents, Health

With the bank poised to replenish funds to back expansion of healthcare among the world’s poorest people, it needs to measure what matters – and what matters is that billions are being forced into poverty and hardship by the costs of care. Anna Marriott, Rosemary Mburu, Harjyot Khosa and Waiswa Nkwanga on a critical omission from the Bank’s ‘IDA21’ policy package.

How should governments support people hit by climate damage? Five practical lessons from Kenya…

Chiara LiguoriClimate Change, Innovation, Research

As the world looks to next week’s COP29 to deliver on promised Loss and Damage funding, Chiara Liguori shares insights from a pioneering Scotland-funded project that repaired damaged water systems, provided cash to impacted communities and supported peacebuilding.

When conflict destroys services, who fills the gaps in care? We need to make sure it’s not always women

Hadeel QazzazConflict, Gender, Humanitarian

In Gaza and Lebanon, thousands of women are now first responders when it comes to feeding, caring and comforting, all while dealing with their own trauma from deaths, injury, starvation and displacement. Yet too often the way humanitarian agencies operate actually adds to their workload, says Hadeel Rizq-Qazzaz.

No English? No French? No job: why NGOs need to rethink their insistence on colonial languages

Abbas KigoziParticipation and Leadership, Power Shifts

You could speak three languages and still not count as ‘bilingual’ to many development sector recruiters – and that needs to change, says Oxfam in Africa’s Abbas Kigozi.

How billionaire ‘pollutocrats’ are driving our climate crisis – and what we can do about it

Nafkote DabiClimate Change, Inequality, Research

If everyone used private jets and superyachts like 50 of the world’s richest billionaires, the remaining carbon budget to stay within 1.5C would be burned up in just two days. Nafkote Dabi introduces Oxfam’s new climate report, which spells out how the emissions of the super-rich are driving inequality, hunger and heat-related deaths.