Press Release: Silencing the message or the messenger …. or both?.
On 11 April 2012, two former senior UNCTAD officers held a press conference at the Club Suisse de la Presse, Geneva, Switzerland. They presented a statement signed by almost 50 former senior UNCTAD officers and staff that expressed deep concern and alarm regarding the pressure placed on UNCTAD and the Group of 77 by major developed countries in the preparations for UNCTAD XIII. (more…)
Perspectives on an Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development (IFSD): South Centre speaking notes at the DESA/Indonesian Government high level dialogue on institutional framework for sustainable development in Solo, Indonesia
Twenty years after the Rio Summit 1992, the global sustainable development situation has deteriorated. The environment crisis has worsened. (more…)
Climate Regime On The Brink: South Centre press briefing at UNFCCC session.
We agreed in Bali in Dec 2007 to build a much stronger international climate regime to better cope with recent alarming analysis of the disastrous effects of climate change. (more…)
Statement at the high-level panel on Trade, at the LDC-IV conference, Istanbul
Trade has been at the centre of discussion of LDCs improving their economy and social conditions. It was said that LDCs are not integrated into the world economy; that is why they are marginalized. This is not true. Many LDCs have higher exports to GNP ratio than some developed countries. (more…)
Statement at the UNFCCC Climate Conference (COP16, CMP6), Cancun
As an inter-governmental organisation with 51 developing countries, the South Centre is very pleased to be participating in the COP16 and CMP6 in Cancun. Climate change is among the top priorities for the Centre as we believe that it poses a threat to the global environment as well as to development prospects in developing countries. (more…)
A South Centre report suggests the reforms needed in the global financial and monetary system.
The current turmoil in the world economy has demonstrated once again that the international arrangements lack mechanisms to prevent financial crises with global repercussions. Not only are effective rules and regulations absent to bring inherently unstable international financial market and capital flows under control, (more…)
A South Centre report argues that the IMF should focus on crisis prevention not crisis lending.
The record of the IMF in preventing financial instability and crises leaves much to be desired. The period since the breakdown of the Bretton Woods arrangements has seen repeated gyrations in exchange rates of major currencies, persistent and growing trade imbalances, recurrent balance-of-payments, debt and financial crises with global repercussions in both emerging and mature economies. (more…)
Launching of South Centre report on the eve of the G-20 Summit: “Why the IMF and the International Monetary System Need More Than Cosmetic Reform”.
The hopes of a rapid global economy recovery have recently been dashed by renewed turmoil in the world economy. The sovereign debt problems in several European countries, the gyrations in currency exchange rates, volatility in capital flows, and the war of words among major economies over “trade sanctions” and “competitive devaluations” are some of the many troubling signs of a new crisis (more…)
China’s Trade Surplus with United States is over-rated as less than a third of the export value is retained in China.
China has come under criticism in the United States for having a large trade surplus with the US. In reality, little of the gross surplus (as little as 30%) is retained in China. Thus, the trade surplus that China enjoys with the United States is over-rated. (more…)
Due to Global Crisis, China and East Asia Need to Rethink Their Growth Strategy.
Using new methods of calculation, the South Centre assesses that China has been much more deeply dependent on exports for its growth that previously estimated. The Centre estimates that exports contribute about 50% of China’s recent pre-crisis growth. This high export dependence makes China more vulnerable than normally perceived to the slowdown in the US and Europe. (more…)
Ministers of BASIC Countries (Brazil, China, India, South Africa) Stress Primacy of United Nations as a Forum for Climate Negotiations and that the World Cannot Wait Indefinitely for The United States to Act on Climate Change.
At their third meeting that took place in Cape Town, South Africa, from 25 to 26 April 2010, the ministers in charge of climate change negotiations from the BASIC countries (Brazil, China, India, and South Africa) stressed their determination to have their countries “continue to show leadership in acting on climate change.” (more…)
Development Agenda Group (18 Developing Countries) Launched at WIPO Meeting to Implement Proposals on Integrating Development Goals into WIPO.
On 26 April 2010, at the meeting of the WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP), the Egyptian Ambassador, Mr. Hisham Badr, announced that a new group of developing countries named the WIPO Development Agenda Group (DAG) had been formed. (more…)
