developing world Archives — Sustainable Review

Politics and Policy

Global inequality highest in decades

Written by Jared Wolf November 19, 2020February 6, 2023

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The scoop: The World Bank projects extreme poverty to rise for the first time since the 1990s, while 270 million people are at risk of starvation (2x higher than 2019).

Lockdowns and inequality: 20+ million Americans are still unemployed. 160,000 US business have closed. Despite that, Amazon, Wal-Mart and Costco (for example) are posting record high online sales.

What can we do? Go beyond SBA loans and stimulus checks. We should like, actually be doing everything we can to keep small business owners afloat.

Local coffee shops > Starbucks, Thrift > Marshall's, Art galleries for Home Decor > Amazon.

Bottom line: We can clean up this institutional mess by creating a new structure around congressional term limits, monopoly break-ups, whistleblower support, and free speech... or we can allow the same actors to weave the world we've grown to love and hate.

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Energy and Environment

Pacific Islanders hold their breath for climate action

Written by Cassidy Schwartz April 27, 2020February 6, 2023

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Big picture Did you know that 44 nations could disappear under the sea within your lifetime? Pacific Islanders face a desperate need for climate action.

What to know Back in 2017, I had the privilege to attend as a student observer at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) International Conference of the Parties (COP 23) in Bonn, Germany.

The most striking presentation involved a group of representatives of the SIDS (small island developing states). The Pacific Climate Warriors spoke about the urgency of their daily and ever-present struggle against climate change.

A 2008 UN report found that the response of island nations to climate change is largely project-based, ad hoc, and heavily dependent on external resources. Australia and New Zealand have contributed financial support to adaptation efforts.

Bottom line For Pacific Islanders, climate action is more than just a school project, it is an existential threat.

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