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Global Policy Innovations Program
A growing body of innovative scholarship offers promising strategies for sustainable development and a fairer globalization. Yet, these proposals have not been disseminated in a coordinated fashion. In response to this challenge, the Global Policy Innovations program provides a forum for pragmatic alternatives to the current global economic order.
Website: http://www.policyinnovations.org
Contact:
Global Policy Innovations
Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs
170 East 64th Street
New York, NY 10065-7478
(212) 838-4120
(212) 752-2432 - Fax
info@policyinnovations.org
The Carnegie Council's Global Policy Innovations program aims to enhance and inform public debate on the existence of positive development alternatives by creating a centralized hub to serve two primary purposes:
1. An online magazine format to feature the work of partners associated with the project, and from the fairer globalization community more broadly.
2. A database of papers, organizations, and specialists that links the websites and databases of project partners.
Can Green Trade Tariffs Combat Climate Change?
May 3, 2008 09:21 AM - , Global Policy Innovations Program
In recent months, China has taken center stage in the international debate over global warming. It has surpassed the United States as the world's largest source of greenhouse gases, and it became developing nations' diplomatic champion at the recent United Nations climate negotiations in Bali. Now China may become the target of a full-fledged trade war that could destroy—or perhaps rescue—the chances of bringing rich and poor nations together to fight global warming.
Toilet Truths
May 1, 2008 09:34 AM - , Global Policy Innovations Program
Despite modern marvels such as the space toilet, much of the world still endures a medieval level of sanitation. Nearly 2.6 billion people live without basic services, forced to defecate on the ground or line up to pay for the use of soiled latrines. Some historians give the flush toilet mythological origins in the court of King Minos of Crete. Queen Elizabeth I had one as well, built by her godson in 1596. In the nineteenth century, architects started to incorporate water closet innovations into their designs and the modern toilet was born. Thomas Crapper, a British plumber, had a hand in perfecting the cistern to make flushing quieter and more polite.
Latest Developments on Farm Bill & Biofuels
May 1, 2008 09:26 AM - , Global Policy Innovations Program
At a White House press conference yesterday that focused on the U.S. domestic economy, President George W. Bush addressed food prices, the Farm Bill and biofuels. Sheryl Gay Stolberg and David M. Herszenhorn summarized in today’s New York Times that, “With consumer confidence slipping and gasoline and food prices soaring, President Bush delivered an unusually dark assessment of the economy on Tuesday, saying the nation was in ”very difficult times, very difficult.’”
Building a Foundation of Trust: U.S. - China Cooperation in Africa
April 29, 2008 09:36 AM - , Global Policy Innovations Program
Last month, Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, became the latest high-level Chinese official to tour Africa. He and a group of senior Chinese leaders made a stop to inspect Chinese workers building Algeria's East-West Highway. The $11 billion thoroughfare will stretch over 1,200 kilometers, traversing Algeria from Morocco to Tunisia. According to CCTV, the highway is the largest and most technically challenging overseas project for Chinese contractors since the historic Chinese-built railroad linking Tanzania and Zambia.
Rising Sun for Electric Cars
April 28, 2008 07:55 AM - , Global Policy Innovations Program
Is my sustainability work consonant with the gravity of the climate crisis and the urgency of the ecological challenges we face? At Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), as a complement to our work on renewable energy hedges, we are working to transform energy use on campus. One project underway is a system of grid-tied electric vehicles (Vehicle to Grid or V2G) combined with a solar photovoltaic charging system and smart computer control.
Russia Switches on Gas
April 18, 2008 08:42 AM - , Global Policy Innovations Program
As the European Union works toward meeting its obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, switching from dirty, carbon-intensive coal to cleaner-burning natural gas has become a popular measure. At first glance, this makes perfect sense: Coal, particularly the kind still left in places like Germany, is highly polluting. Although widespread adoption of renewable energy is the ideal solution, wind, solar, and geothermal still have a ways to go before meeting European needs.
Toxic Chemical in Plastic Bottles & Cans Damaging Children's Brains & Reproductive Organs but Government & Chemical Industry Remain Unconcerned
April 17, 2008 08:44 AM - Marla Cone , Global Policy Innovations Program
A controversial, estrogen-like chemical in plastic could be harming the development of children's brains and reproductive organs, a federal health agency concluded in a report released Tuesday. The National Toxicology Program, part of the National Institutes of Health, concluded that there was "some concern" that fetuses, babies and children were in danger because bisphenol A, or BPA, harmed animals at low levels found in nearly all human bodies.
Business & Human Rights: Corporate Recognition and Responsibility
April 14, 2008 08:35 AM - Christine Bader, Global Policy Innovations Program
Christine Bader discusses the divergent perception of human rights as a matter of abuse and corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a means to "highlight whatever topics portray companies in the best light." This gap is partly due to a "vacuum of guidance" on how corporations can and should enhance the extension of human rights. Companies operate internationally in weak enforcement environments where they are sometimes called upon to pick up the slack of ineffectual governments, but a fundamental hurdle lies in the fact that the two types of institutions don't share the same "responsibilities, mandate, or expertise."
One World, Many Slogans
April 7, 2008 08:26 AM - Christina L. Madden, Global Policy Innovations Program
In the run up to the 2008 Olympic Games, international companies are going for the gold in China's market. The Olympics are an advertising dream because of the prestige associated with Olympic competition and the sheer number of people reached by the broadcast. The Games themselves are expected to break records this year, potentially attracting an audience of billions around the world. Given that the Olympic host is an emerging economy with an increasingly wealthy and expanding consumer base, companies see Olympic sponsorship as a path to increased market share.
Renewable Energy Hedges
April 2, 2008 08:37 AM - , Global Policy Innovations Program
The pursuit of sustainability in the 21st century will equate economic growth with ecological improvement, not ecological destruction. The ecosphere is humanity's home, not a temporary hotel that we trash with impunity before moving on. Sustainability means equilibrating human conduct with the health and dynamics of the ecosphere, to maintain conditions favorable for life. Humanity's existence and future depend upon it.