Showing 1 - 10 of 106
How G20 can help curb inequality
Oped, Jayati Ghosh, Published on 01/12/2025
» This month's G20 Summit in Johannesburg marked several historic firsts. For starters, it was the group's first-ever summit in Africa, and the first to include the African Union as a full-fledged member. It also set less encouraging precedents: it was the first meeting boycotted by a key founding member -- the United States -- on spurious grounds, and the first in which that same country tried to prevent the host from issuing a final declaration. Equally unprecedented was South Africa's decision to ignore the American threat and issue one anyway.
Rising heat needs urgent response
Oped, Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Published on 24/11/2025
» 2024 was the hottest on record globally. In Asia and the Pacific, Bangladesh was the worst-hit country, with about 33 million people affected by lower crop yields that destabilised food systems, along with extensive school closures and many cases of heatstroke and related diseases. Children, the elderly and low-wage earners in poor and densely populated urban areas suffered the most, as they generally had less access to cooling systems or to water supplies and adequate healthcare. India, too, was badly affected, with around 700 heat-related deaths mostly in informal settlements.
Resetting development finance
Oped, Carlos Cuerpo and Joseph E Stiglitz, Published on 03/07/2025
» At the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development this week in Seville, delegates are calling for urgent action to fix a system that has stopped working. Prior to the third such gathering a decade ago, in Ethiopia, we had witnessed unprecedented advances towards reducing poverty, increasing school enrolment, and providing clean water worldwide. Today, however, progress is not only slowing but potentially stagnating -- or, worse, reversing.
Africa's example to end malaria
Oped, Jean Kaseya, Published on 26/05/2025
» Despite being preventable and curable, malaria has continued to claim African lives. In 2023, the continent accounted for about 95% of the 597,000 deaths from malaria worldwide, 76% of which were children under the age of five.
Environment on the up as world prospers
Oped, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 22/04/2025
» As we celebrate Earth Day today, it's tempting to believe that the world is on the brink of environmental collapse. We are constantly inundated by dire predictions of climate catastrophe and warnings about the planet's imminent destruction. But this is misleading. Rather than panic, we should take a moment to appreciate the remarkable progress we've made in improving the environment -- and acknowledge that a key factor is prosperity.
Bigger Asean could counter tariffs
Oped, R M Manivannan, Published on 17/04/2025
» When US President Donald Trump finally unleashed his long-threatened tariff blitz, the scale and scope were far worse than most governments expected. It came as no surprise that China would be the hardest hit, but the punishing duties imposed on most Asian countries were a profound shock.
Bucking the trend
Oped, Postbag, Published on 11/03/2025
» Re: "Transition-finance for a green economy", (Opinion, March 10).
Making the case for foreign aid
Oped, Nilima Gulrajani, Published on 07/03/2025
» Foreign aid is being slashed across the Global North, nowhere more so than in the United States. Within his first month back in the White House, President Donald Trump dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and froze foreign aid, calling it wasteful and fraudulent. The United Kingdom recently followed suit, trading off its international-aid budget for higher defence spending.
New approach to debt required
Oped, Kate Hampton & Hannah Wanjie Ryder, Published on 11/02/2025
» The world is in the midst of a financing crisis. As world leaders work to mobilise trillions of dollars to meet climate and development goals, expensive public debt is limiting governments' ability to make long-term investments. A long-term framework for low-interest financing of global public goods is urgently needed.
The late Manmohan Singh, India's 'reformer' PM
Oped, Anne O Krueger, Published on 30/01/2025
» At a time when demagogic populists often overshadow experienced, empathetic politicians, the recent passing of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the age of 92 serves as a stark reminder of how our perceptions of leadership have changed.