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Exclusive report

Norway bets on US charity as keystone in new forest carbon trading regime

With financing from Norwegian climate aid, a US charity – Emergent – has been established to act as a middleman facilitating payments for forest carbon credits from corporate buyers to tropical countries as part of a new global carbon trading scheme outside the UN system. It aims to avoid the years-long delays that have plagued Norway’s state-to-state approach. Concerns have been raised about high salaries for Emergent staff, documents show.

August 04, 2022

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Call for new World Bank business model to scale up risk taking and financing

Global investors want the World Bank to take more risk so they can scale up climate financing. A White...

Business June 17, 2022

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Norway finally releases climate forest payment earned by Guyana a decade ago

A solar power project in Guyana will be financed with Norwegian climate forest money, the Norwegian Climate...

News June 24, 2022

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Norway and UK fund ‘price guarantee’ to jump-start market for forest carbon credits

Norway and the United Kingdom plan to use USD 450 million in aid funds to jump-start the LEAF forest...

News June 20, 2022

Norway rolls back most of the proposed cuts in UN support

After three weeks of parliamentary negotiations, Norway’s Labour-Centre government has agreed in a deal...

News June 14, 2022

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Analysis: Cuts reflect deep cracks in Nordic aid alliance

A detailed review of aid cuts being prepared by Sweden, Norway, and Denmark to finance the cost of caring...

May 31, 2022

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Swedish, Norwegian aid cuts not written in stone, decisive weeks ahead

Huge amounts have been carved out of the Swedish and Norwegian aid budgets to fund the reception of Ukrainian...

News May 30, 2022

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Head of CEPI calls for more non-aid funds to finance pandemic vaccine research

The Oslo-based vaccine agency CEPI depends on aid for 40 per cent of its financing. CEPI’s CEO Richard...

News May 20, 2022

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Nordic aid budget round-up: Historic cuts in Sweden, Norwegian aid could sink to lowest level since 2008

Sweden, Norway, and Denmark are tapping USD 1.6 billion from their aid budgets to fund domestic costs...

News May 13, 2022

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Norfund reports a record surplus, but outlook is less positive

Norfund invested most of its funds in Africa in 2021 and had a record surplus of NOK 5.8 billion (USD...

May 16, 2022

Scatec and Swedfund write down value of Ukraine investments

The Norwegian renewable energy company Scatec has written down the value of five solar power plants in...

Business May 06, 2022

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Brazil’s Amazon Fund: the origin story

Nervous but hopeful, the visionary Brazilian forester Tasso Azevedo travelled to the Bali climate summit...

News May 03, 2022

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IMF and global health leaders call for a strategic shift in COVID-19 response

The international covid response mechanism, the ACT-Accelerator, has focused mainly on vaccines to the...

News April 29, 2022

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Aid level plunged to ten-year low in 2021 as Norway saw highest growth on record

The Norwegian petroleum-driven economy grew at the fastest rate on record last year, while aid dropped...

News April 24, 2022

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Calls for an independent commission to investigate Norway’s gigantic rainforest initiative

The NOK 60 billion rainforest initiative, the largest aid programme in Norwegian history, has run into...

News April 08, 2022

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UN agency works to transform agriculture as Ukraine war hits smallholder farmers in Africa

The UN’s agriculture agency IFAD says spiking fertilizer prices on top of record-high energy costs triggered...

News April 05, 2022

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World Bank refers fewer cases for criminal investigation, no uptick in corruption during pandemic

The World Bank’s anti-corruption unit routinely refers findings to national authorities for criminal...

Business April 01, 2022

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The Bombardier Sweden affair: World Bank probe has a long reach, but convictions can be elusive

In a Swedish probe triggered by an on-going World Bank investigation into a project in Azerbaijan, prosecutors...

Business April 01, 2022

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Famine in Yemen looms as donors fall short and food prices soar in wake of Ukraine war

A pledging meeting for Yemen hosted by the UN, Sweden, and Switzerland ended with a record funding gap...

News March 18, 2022

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Donors pledge USD 1.5b to fight next pandemic, ODA-eligibility of funding is up in the air

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) has raised USD 1.5 billion for the next five...

News March 10, 2022

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War in Ukraine casts long shadow over other humanitarian crises and COVID funding

The brutal war in the middle of Europe requires a massive humanitarian response from Western donors at...

News March 06, 2022

Ukrainian windmill, co-funded by four Nordic DFIs, hit by Russian rockets

Nordic aid-funded DFIs have invested EUR 80 million in Ukraine. One of their projects, the country’s...

Business March 04, 2022

World Bank revamps trust fund portfolio, answers Norwegian auditor’s criticisms

The World Bank pushes back against the Norwegian Auditor General’s claims that trust funds managed by...

News March 01, 2022

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Unsolved dispute over counting COVID vaccine donations as aid leaves loopholes

After seven months of wrangling about how to report COVID-19 vaccines donated to developing countries...

News February 25, 2022

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UN currency swap for Afghanistan edges close to launch

The UN and the World Bank are piecing together an unprecedented currency swap mechanism that aims to...

News February 18, 2022

Nordic block is third largest contributor to IDA, World Bank’s fund for low-income countries

Updated. The five Nordic countries constitute the third largest donor to the World Bank’s IDA arm, which...

News January 22, 2022

Donors ignore urgent pandemic funding appeal, covid response is ‘flying on fumes’

Donors have given only 5 per cent of the cash most urgently needed this year to finance covid tools for...

News February 10, 2022

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Three days in Oslo: Norway walks diplomatic tightrope with the Taliban

The first talks with the Taliban to be held in a Western country marked a high-risk diplomatic feat for...

News February 03, 2022

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Joint diplomats’ statement details outcomes of Oslo talks with Taliban

The US and Europe recognise steps taken by the Taliban to ease access for male and female humanitarian...

News January 27, 2022

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Interview. New WHO special envoy on covid: Yodi walks into the lion’s den

Ayoade Alakija has been one of the harshest critics of the international pandemic response effort – the...

News January 25, 2022

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IMF analysis reveals staggeringly unequal delivery of vaccines by COVAX

The IMF Pandemic Response Task Force’s analysis of vaccine deliveries to developing countries through...

News January 21, 2022

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New global health research hub. Korea-based vaccine developer to establish branch office in Stockholm

The international organisation IVI headquartered in Seoul, which develops vaccines for poor-country diseases,...

News January 12, 2022

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Auditor sheds light on hidden costs of Norwegian grants to World Bank funds

Billions of crowns channelled through World Bank trust funds are at odds with key goals in Norway’s aid...

News December 31, 2021

OECD donors fail to agree on rules for reporting covid vaccine donations as aid

Despite efforts to reach agreement about rules for reporting COVID-19 vaccine donations as aid, 2021...

News December 31, 2021

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Secrecy surrounding Sida’s SEK 450 million guarantee for UNICEF vaccine procurement

Despite Sweden’s strong freedom of information laws, details of a Swedish guarantee to UNICEF for procurement...

Business December 20, 2021

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WHO-led covid response has received only 2% of funding requirements for 2022

G20 donors have provided almost no funding for next year to the multi-agency pandemic response mechanism...

December 17, 2021

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From farmer’s daughter to diplomat. New Development Minister puts agriculture at centre of Norwegian aid

Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, 47, takes over the aid portfolio following a sea change in the Norwegian political...

News December 12, 2021

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Humanitarian needs skyrocket as war, climate change and the pandemic drive crisis

COVID-19, political conflict and the climate crisis are fuelling a dramatic rise in humanitarian needs....

News December 02, 2021

Ford Foundation challenges bilateral donors to give more climate funds directly to indigenous peoples

Following a historic donor pledge at the COP26 in Glasgow, the Ford Foundation calls on traditional donors...

News November 30, 2021

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Roadblocks for vaccine donations. Only 1 in 10 pledged doses shipped by COVAX

Of 1.6 billion dose donations pledged to the vaccine facility COVAX, only 171 million have been shipped...

News November 25, 2021

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No reference to REDD+ in historic forest finance pledges at COP26

At the Glasgow climate summit, there was a dramatic shift in forest discourse. REDD+, the idea that rich...

News November 18, 2021

Swedish watchdog flags weaknesses in how core grants for UN agencies and World Bank are decided

The Swedish Foreign Ministry lacks clear rules for deciding on the level of core grants to the World...

News November 18, 2021

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Norway’s new aid priorities: farmers, refugees and climate

The new Center-Left government seeks to step up aid funding for small-scale farmers and climate while...

News November 11, 2021

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Global health agencies ask G20 countries for USD 23b to curb covid pandemic

The ACT-A covid response mechanism has launched a fund-raising target of USD 23.4 billion to help developing...

News October 29, 2021

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OECD countries want to report donated covid vaccines as aid, but are met with strong criticism

Countries that donate their excess COVID-19 vaccine may report this as official development assistance...

News October 22, 2021

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African voices missing from review of ACT-A covid response. Expert calls for WHO envoy Carl Bildt to resign

Only a handful of representatives of low-income country governments were consulted in the review of the...

News October 15, 2021

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How a rookie minister navigated the pandemic and reshaped Norwegian aid

During his last week at work, Norway’s Development Minister Dag-Inge Ulstein reflected on a once-in-a-century...

News October 14, 2021

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Finnfund claims to be carbon negative, Norfund has no climate tally

Nordic development finance institutions differ wildly in the reporting of the climate impacts of their...

Business October 08, 2021

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New tool to measure carbon sinks

Forestry plantations are the largest piece in Finnfund’s carbon puzzle. When Finnfund first started putting...

Business October 08, 2021

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Agreements with Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson pave way for vaccine sharing

Norwegian legal diplomats have helped broker two landmark agreements with Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson...

News October 10, 2021

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Vaccine donations moving slowly. ‘Nordics should lead by example,’ Swedish WHO expert urges

Four Nordic governments have secured access to 160 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine and pledged to donate...

News October 01, 2021

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Norad’s test balloon: separate funding for global public goods from aid

No donor spends more of its aid on global public goods – like climate, oceans and vaccine development...

News September 29, 2021

Billions for vaccines and private sector tools to combat climate change

The Swedish government pledges to step up donations and procurement of COVID-19 vaccines in next year...

News September 20, 2021

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Indonesia’s sudden exit from 12-year climate deal: a ‘significant blow’ to Norwegian rainforest initiative

Citing Norway’s failure to fulfil its payment obligations, the Indonesian government announced last week...

News September 15, 2021

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IMF allocation of USD 650 billion in currency reserves unlikely to solve immediate covid funding crisis

Nordic governments have been issued USD 20 billion worth of Special Drawing Rights by the International...

News September 08, 2021

Farewell Tanzania. Denmark moves aid northward to stem migration from Africa

The Danish government seeks to restructure aid next year. Efforts to stem migration in the Sahel and...

News September 01, 2021

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NGOs slam meagre Danish, Finnish funding for WHO-led covid response

The Danish and Finnish governments have provided only a tiny fraction of their fair share of the global...

News August 26, 2021

Status quo for Finnish aid next year, clouds on the horizon

The Finnish Ministry of Finance has presented an aid budget proposal for next year that is at roughly...

News August 18, 2021

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WHO covid funding tracker exposes most donors’ lack of willingness to pay

A diplomatic campaign to raise billions of dollars desperately needed to pay for covid tools like tests...

News August 09, 2021

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Decolonise COVAX: an African critique

As Africa has fallen to the very back of the global vaccine queue, experts are questioning whether COVAX,...

News July 13, 2021

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Norway’s hybrid financing model for a new NOK 10b climate fund

Norway has adopted a hybrid financing model for a new NOK 10 billion renewable energy fund for emerging...

Business July 08, 2021

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New Danish aid strategy embraces Nordic priorities, omits contentious asylum export plan

Denmark’s new aid strategy is aligned with traditional Nordic priorities such as human rights, democracy,...

News July 03, 2021

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How to navigate cronyism and corruption in fragile states: a guidebook

When investing in countries where the state is weak, DFIs and aid agencies must navigate through a mine...

Business June 24, 2021

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Indonesia impatient with Norway’s delayed forest carbon payment

In February 2019, Norway announced a milestone in its climate forest cooperation with Indonesia: reduced...

News June 18, 2021

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Alliance with US breathes life into Norway’s forest deal in Peru

Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom have signed onto a forest protection plan for Peru which updates...

News June 10, 2021

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EU commission slams new Danish asylum law

The Danish parliament has passed a law that allows Denmark to export its asylum obligations to an African...

News May 28, 2021

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Norwegian-South African diplomatic blitz to increase G20 covid financing

The Norwegian and South African governments have coordinated a comprehensive diplomatic effort to lobby...

News May 21, 2021

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Conditionality & politics. NOK 1 billion in forest aid to Guyana still locked in two Washington bank accounts

The Norway-Guyana climate forest partnership has reached a dismal anniversary: ten years have passed...

News June 04, 2021

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Rwanda deal fires up debate over Danish plan to export asylum seekers to Africa

A new Danish-Rwandan pact on asylum efforts could be a steppingstone for outsourcing Denmark’s asylum...

News May 15, 2021

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France kickstarts new vaccine-sharing hub, Sweden donates one million doses

France is the first country to use the EU mechanism for sharing COVID vaccines with poor countries. An...

News May 08, 2021

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Norad unveils new strategy as pandemic reshapes aid

“Facts hold the power” is a slogan in the new strategy of Norad, which now manages half of the Norwegian...

News May 08, 2021

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Medical oxygen needs spike in wake of India’s covid crisis

Medical oxygen needs in developing countries exceed USD 6 billion, spurred by the COVID-19 crisis in...

News April 28, 2021

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Nordic think tank launches plan for a bond scheme to double global aid

The Oslo-based British economist Sony Kapoor lays out an innovative financing scheme that would double...

News April 23, 2021

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New Norwegian focus on climate adaptation, no new money yet

A new strategy on climate adaptation aid backed by four ministries aims to address the imbalance in Norwegian...

News April 23, 2021

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OECD chief Angel Gurría calls for massive expansion of aid

Global aid reached a record-high last year, but OECD chief Angel Gurría said donors will need to do much...

News April 14, 2021

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Nordic DFIs double down on off-grid projects despite corona uncertainty

Nordic DFIs are expanding their investments in off-grid projects despite supply problems and falling...

Business March 22, 2021

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Bold investment by Norfund supports expansion of Kenyan solar home system retailer

A USD 15 million loan from Norway’s DFI Norfund aims to help the Kenyan solar home system retailer d.light...

Business March 22, 2021

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Swedfund rolls back half its corona losses, but outlook is still grim

Companies in Swedfund’s portfolio have managed the corona crisis better than feared. The aid-funded investor...

Business March 09, 2021

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No result-based climate payments by Norway to tropical forest countries in 2020

For the first time in 12 years, the multi-billion-dollar Norwegian rainforest initiative made no payments...

News March 05, 2021

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New Swedish minister calls for three-track aid response to COVID crisis

The Swedish Development Minister Per Olsson Fridh (Green) calls for a holistic response to the COVID19...

News February 27, 2021

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Three Nordic donors have stopped aid to government in Myanmar, Finland weighs its options

Three Nordics have terminated their development aid to state institutions in Myanmar after the military...

News February 22, 2021

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Domestic threats to the golden standard in global aid

For more than a decade, Sweden and Norway have set the global bar in aid by dedicating 1 per cent of...

News January 25, 2021

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Legal experts question ‘wall of secrecy’ around CEPI grants to vaccine developers

Only one of the ten developers of COVID19 vaccines that have received funding from the epidemic response...

News December 14, 2020

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Dispute in OECD over coronavirus vaccine grants: how much can be reported as aid?

A conflict is brewing at the OECD over how much of donors’ support to the Oslo-based organisation CEPI...

News December 07, 2020

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Norway criticised for siding with drug companies in conflict over COVID19 patents

Norway, a vocal proponent of global solidarity in the pandemic response, is accused of turning its back...

News October 30, 2020

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Norfund sells SN Power to Scatec Solar, cashes in NOK 6 billion

Norway’s aid-funded investor Norfund is selling its hydropower firm SN Power to the solar energy company...

Business October 16, 2020

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How Sida shelters humanitarian aid from politics: ‘we are more and more lonely as a donor’

As humanitarian assistance becomes increasingly politicised, Sida works actively to shelter its emergency...

News October 12, 2020

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US forces climate NGOs to register as ‘foreign agents,’ targets recipients of Norwegian aid

The largest American environmental NGO, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), is operating as “a foreign...

News August 04, 2020

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Billion-dollar pneumonia vaccine fund closes after first non-Western firm wins tender. Donors transfer remaining money to COVID19

Over 12 years donors have granted more than USD 1 billion in subsidies to the two Western pneumonia vaccine...

News June 16, 2020

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Changes in USAID anti-terror clause can open for renewed cooperation with Norwegian People’s Aid

USAID has revised the anti-terror clause in its certification process for NGOs receiving funding from...

News May 22, 2020

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Why Sweden funds a vaccine institute in Korea and not Oslo-based CEPI

The International Vaccine Institute, based out of Seoul, has a mandate to develop vaccines for diseases...

News May 24, 2020

Redirecting funds to the Ukraine crisis will have devastating global humanitarian consequences if aid budgets are not increased

Opinion April 26, 2022

Diverting scarce aid resources risks worsening on-going humanitarian crises around the world. The global consequences of redirecting aid and attention towards the Ukraine response are extremely worrying, Charlotte Slente of Danish Refugee Council writes.

Read more

COVAX and the unfulfilled promise of vaccine sharing

Opinion March 07, 2022

The global vaccine initiative COVAX aimed to procure 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine in 2021 to accelerate efforts towards vaccine equity. By the end of the year, it had delivered only 910 million doses, more than half of these through donations. Antoine de Bengy Puyvallée and Katerini T. Storeng explain how donated doses came to dominate COVAX’s vaccine supply and they unpack the politics of vaccine sharing.  

Read more

Olusoji Adeyi on global health, narcissistic charity, and neo-dependency

Opinion December 31, 2021

Decades of being drip-fed on deleterious forms of foreign aid have caused African countries and institutions to wither. But they have done so blissfully, until the COVID-19 pandemic unmasked the primordial selfishness of the Global North. Olusoji Adeyi, former Director of Health and Nutrition at the World Bank, challenges donor governments and African leaders to break out of an endless cycle of ineffectual aid.

Read more

Martin Griffiths on UN’s grim humanitarian outlook for 2022

Opinion December 02, 2021

Forty-one billion dollars. That’s what aid agencies need to help people facing war, disease and hunger around the world next year. It’s more than this year. More than ever before, in fact, writes Martin Griffiths, UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs.

Read more

Supporting indigenous Afghan structures could be a lifeline in new Taliban era

Opinion October 29, 2021

Can linking NGOs to traditional Afghan community institutions create a new humanitarian paradigm, and will the international community be willing to let go? Gry Synnevåg and Karim Merchant reflect on how to support Afghanistan under Taliban rule.

Read more

Rethink financing of global public goods

Opinion Editorial October 11, 2021

As global challenges mount, politicians increasingly view development aid budgets as a source of easy money to fund any and all good things. Whether climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic or the migration crisis, global goods have become integrated with aid, based on a convoluted narrative that equates rich countries’ own interests with the mission of eradicating poverty.

Read more

Church groups call for ‘game-changing’ Food Summit

Opinion September 23, 2021

Four Nordic church groups and Christian Aid say small farmers should be the main focus of the UN Food Summit. Reforming agricultural subsidies and helping farmers transition to agroecology can reduce poverty, conserve biodiversity and address climate change, they write.

Read more

Critical reflections on ten years of the Guyana-Norway REDD+ agreement

Opinion July 03, 2021

The bilateral climate forest agreement was meant to be a model for the world. Instead, it was based on a clunky institutional architecture and stands today as a reminder of why condition-laden ODA projects have little impact on rising deforestation, Andrew Hook and Timothy Laing write.

Read more

Danish PM Frederiksen’s betrayal of Nordic values

Opinion Editorial June 04, 2021

A new Danish law opens for the export of Denmark’s asylum obligations to a third country. Having covered Nordic foreign policy for three decades, we have never seen a betrayal of joint Nordic values on this scale. Social Democratic parties have previously built and defended the UN-based human rights system at home and abroad. Now a Social Democratic prime minister has joined forces with right-wing parties to dismantle it.

Read more

Per Fredrik Pharo: ‘Misleading’ on Guyana

Opinion June 16, 2021

Guyana and Norway have collaborated to promote green development in Guyana while keeping deforestation at low levels since 2009. Norway appreciates that Development Today has been following the collaboration since the start of the partnership. However, a recent article posted on the 4th of June 2021 by Development Today is unfortunately misleading.

Read more

Desmond McNeill: The limitation of bond schemes

Opinion May 08, 2021

A proposed bond scheme inspired by IFFIm, which aims to trigger a massive expansion in aid, won’t work, writes Desmond McNeill at the Centre for Development and Environment. The aid would not be additional and the scheme ignores the key problem of weak states in the neediest countries.

Read more

Peter Sands: We must scale-up the global response to COVID-19. This needs more than vaccines

Opinion April 28, 2021

In many rich countries, discussion of COVID-19 revolves around the pace of vaccine deployment and the steps being taken towards lifting restrictions on social and economic interaction, but in most low- and middle-income countries the picture looks starkly different. Not only are COVID-19 infections and deaths increasing as more transmissible variants take hold, but the knock-on impact on other diseases continues to escalate, writes Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Read more

Sony Kapoor: A plan to save lives, tackle climate change and finance the recovery

Opinion April 23, 2021

The international covid pandemic response, ACT-Accelerator, which marks its one-year anniversary, is short USD 20 billion. Addressing climate change will cost many billions more, far exceeding what ODA budgets can cover. Sony Kapoor, CEO of the Nordic think tank NIFTYS, proposes a plan to make these funds available now.

Read more

Jared Rowell, Evan Jones: Forced return of Afghans hampers the pursuit of durable solutions

Opinion April 23, 2021

The principles of safety and dignity must not only guide the pursuit of durable solutions, but also the return of rejected asylum seekers to Afghanistan. Successful return involves much more than putting people on a plane. Jared Rowell, Afghanistan Country Director for the Danish Refugee Council, and Evan Jones at the Kabul-based Asia Displacement Solutions Platform write.

Read more

Ulstein’s misstep on vaccine sharing may haunt him at home

Opinion Editorial March 22, 2021

Norway’s Development Minister Dag-Inge Ulstein has been a tireless advocate for global vaccine equity and the government has deployed billions of aid crowns to back up that work. We applaud these efforts, but he has made one big mistake that might now plague him at home.

Read more

Nordic church groups: The only way out of the pandemic is equitable distribution of vaccines

Opinion March 22, 2021

More than 80 per cent of people in Norway, Sweden and Denmark think it is unacceptable for rich countries to buy their way to the front of the vaccine queue, according to a recent survey. Norwegian Church Aid, Act Church of Sweden and DanChurchAid call on Nordic governments to work harder for vaccine equity.

Read more

Nordic Alliance for Tax Justice: Nordic countries break tax promises to world’s poorest, but are given a second chance

Opinion February 10, 2021

Developing countries are facing an unprecedented economic crisis and Covid-19 is only making things worse. This is likely to impact public finances for years to come, derailing the SDGs and increasing poverty and inequality. But there are solutions; tax for development is one of the most crucial of these, the Nordic Alliance for Tax Justice writes.

Read more

Norwegian Foreign Ministry disagrees with DT’s reporting on CEPI discussions in OECD

Opinion January 29, 2021

An article in Development Today on 26 January, stating that Norway and the United Kingdom are blocking an OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) consensus on ODA approval of grants for the Coalition on Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)’s research and development support for vaccines against covid-19, is not correct.

Read more

Charlotte Slente: Afghanistan. The road to change and lasting solutions

Opinion December 21, 2020

Donors committed at least USD 3.3 billion for next year at the Afghanistan Conference in November. Now is the time for pledges to be translated into actual responses to address needs among millions of Afghans trapped in war and deep poverty, writes Charlotte Slente, Secretary General of the Danish Refugee Council.

Read more

Robert Wihtol: Private sector holds the key to recovery

Opinion November 26, 2020

The Covid-19 crisis has hit emerging economies hard. Many companies have taken a beating. But a strong private sector is also the key to a successful recovery. Robert Wihtol, chair of the Board of Directors of Finnfund and a former director general at the Asian Development Bank, takes stock.

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Post-COVID19, sovereign debt crises could wreak havoc on SDGs

Opinion October 08, 2020

One in four countries is now facing a debt crisis. This calls for an urgent resolution of the sovereign debt crises that are emerging in the wake of COVID19, especially in view of reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The coronavirus crisis has exacerbated existing debt vulnerabilities in developing countries. It is crucial that the global financial architecture be strengthened to ensure fair and equitable solutions to sovereign debt crisis and effective prevention of accumulation of unsustainable debts.

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Time to re-start stalled reform of humanitarian aid

Opinion Editorial August 31, 2020

At the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in 2016 donors agreed, as part of a reform package - the so-called Grand Bargain, to channel one-fourth of humanitarian aid directly to local responders. This has not happened. Donors continue to channel emergency aid via their own national NGOs and international actors, even though locals continue to do much of the job and bear the brunt of the risks associated with operating in war zones.   

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Coronavirus vaccine, ODA and the need for transparency

Opinion Editorial June 16, 2020

Plans are underway for an aid-financed mechanism, the Gavi Covax Advance Market Commitment (AMC), that would provide free or subsidised COVID19 vaccine to almost half the world’s population. Discussions about how it will work and how much it might end up costing have taken place largely behind closed doors. For an initiative that could well claim a significant share of a shrinking global ODA pot, necessarily taking funding away from other needs, the lack of transparency is worrying.

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How women’s employment affects partner violence

Opinion May 06, 2020

It is a common belief in the aid community that women’s employment can help to reduce intimate partner violence. In a unique research project led by Chr. Michelsen Institute, researchers have followed 1,500 women to find out whether this holds water in the Ethiopian context.

Read more

Welcome to the new web site

On the eve of the third decade of Development Today, the independent journal on Nordic and multilateral development assistance, we are pleased to launch this new web site which we believe will make the journal a powerful, easy-to-use tool for our readers.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for the free news alert service by sending an email to subscribers@devtoday.no with your name and institution.

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Walking the talk – the Nordic way on global green COVID-19 recovery

Opinion October 27, 2020

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic calls for immediate action to Build Back Better and Greener. Today, the five Nordic countries - Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden - launch the recapitalization of the Nordic Development Fund. The fund will make catalytic funding of EUR 350 million available to developing countries to boost climate resilient recovery, green growth and to stimulate job creation at the same time.

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Vaccines trump most other Norwegian aid efforts in budget for 2021

News October 08, 2020

The Norwegian government has proposed a budget for 2021 that would reduce aid spending by NOK 1.1 billion, while keeping the level at 1 per cent of GNI. COVID19 dominates all areas with vaccine initiatives Gavi and CEPI coming out as the biggest winners, while Norfund, development research and several UN agencies face severe cuts.

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Swedish aid at standstill as COVID19 casts long shadow over next year’s budget

News September 24, 2020

The Swedish government has presented a budget for 2021 that provides the same amount for aid as this year. The government aims to sharpen demands on rule of law and human rights in Swedish aid. Swedfund is one of the big winners in the budget, receiving SEK 1 billion in new capital.

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Denmark highlights its green brand as aid shrinks in next year’s budget

“Green global ambitions” and efforts to curb migration are prioritised in the proposal for Denmark’s aid budget for 2021. Another clear winner is the Nordic Development Fund. The bigger picture is a proposed cut in aid of almost DKK half a billion next year.

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Tags:

  • AMC vaccine deal
  • Danes and CDM
  • Ethiopia Blue Nile dams
  • Forests and REDD
  • Localisation
  • NGO consolidation
  • Nordic aid budgets
  • Rainforest aid
  • SEKAB biofuel affair
  • Swedish NGO funding
  • Nordic NGO financing
  • Development Finance Institutions
  • Global health
  • Renewable energy
  • Nordic aid policy
  • World Bank
  • Climate
  • UN agencies

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