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Opinion & Comment

European Climate Policy between ambition and disappointment.

Not all news relating to climate change is bad. The EU is on track to meet its emissions reduction target of 20% by next year. In fact, there was a 22% reduction of emissions between 1990 and 2017 while the economy grew by 28% over the same period. The main driver behind the emission reductions…

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Mining Resources in Africa. Curse and Opportunity.

Mining operations and global consumption of natural resources continue to increase annually. However, while developed countries and regions such as the European Union protect their natural resources with sustainable development policies and high social and labour standards to protect the environment, the economies of developing countries are increasingly becoming dependent on export of its natural…

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Cries from the Cameroons.

The silence of the International Community at the genocide and ethnic cleansing going on in Cameroon is very worrisome! The silence, in the final analysis, is not unconnected with the economic interest of their former colonial masters. One wonders when these colonial masters would let Africa be, or rather when African leaders would cease to…

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The Lack of Solidarity of International Trade.

Faced with the evident failure of the multilateral free trade and investment agreements promoted by the European Union (EPAs, TTIP, MERCOSUR), Europe has developed its commercial strategy through bilateral economic agreements with third countries. The last of these bilateral agreements has been the one of the EU and Singapore added to a long list. In…

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Europe in the Election Year.

The European Union finds itself in a contradictory situation in advance of the European Parliament elections in May. On the one hand, the levels of support for the EU are higher than they have been for 25 years. 62 per cent of EU citizens have a positive view of their country’s membership of the EU;…

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Southern Africa: Peoples Once Again Dispossessed of Their Lands.

The Namibian government recently repealed a 2015 law that required at least 20% of company management to be in the hands of Namibians in order to prevent foreign ownership of mining resources – such as diamonds and uranium -. According to the Ministry of Mines, it is a matter of “encouraging foreign investors concerned by…

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The Lack of Transparency of European Companies in Africa.

The EU and its Member States, through the bilateral investment agreements (BIT) and the economic partnership agreements (EPAs), have established a set of arrangements with African countries and regions that offer a legal security to the European companies when they operate in Africa. At the same time, the EU demands from the companies that operate…

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China’s Economic Interest in Africa.

China is present and active in almost all countries of Africa. In 2015 China invested about 35 billion Dollars in Africa and so has surpassed Europe or the US as Africa’s main trading partner. The China-Africa Summit of 2018 further demonstrated the growing importance of China in Africa. During the Summit President Xi Jinping offered…

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Mandela. Above All Humanity.

There are all sorts of reasons for celebrating Nelson Mandela in this centenary year of his birth. We recall the way he worked incessantly to overcome racial domination and achieve freedom for both the oppressed and their oppressors. We marvelled at how he could emerge from 27 years in prison without rancour or bitterness, even…

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Africa/India. A Stronger Partnership.

Continual growth in commercial exchange between the Asian giant and many African countries. Closeness of ties that can be seen also in the diplomatic field with the opening of eighteen new Indian embassies on the continent. Back in 2002, on 26 May, the Indian minister for Commerce and Industry, Murasoli Maran, launched the programme “Focus…

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Advocacy

Jani Silva. To protect the community and the land.

The Colombian environmental and peace activist has played a key role in establishing a protected area in the Amazon, providing small farmers with access to…

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Baobab

How The Stars Were Born.

One day, two friends named Ebopp and Mbaw went off in search of a good site to establish a farm with fine fields of grain and…

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Youth & Mission

Young People at COPO 30. “We want to be heard.”

Young people will play an important role at COP30 in Belém, Brazil. This will give young people a greater voice in climate action and policy-making at…

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