Briefing paper by Alex Evans and David Steven that explores the outlook for the post-2015 development agenda over the next two years and makes seven recommendations for member states and other champions of a bold, but practical, agreement. Download Report
Background paper by Alex Evans and David Steven, written for the High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, and published as part of the Panel’s main report. Download Report
A paper by David Steven, Joshua Meltzer and Claire Langley, published by the Brookings Institution, supported by the FutureWorld Foundation, on how the United States should respond to the aftermath of the recession in order to promote growth and sustainability in the coming years.
An options brief by David Steven, published by New York University’s Center on International Cooperation and funded by the UN Foundation, on the role that global goals can play after the Millennium Development Goals expire in 2015. Download Report
What should sustainability advocates aim for in the post-2015 international development agenda – and how should they go about it?
The first in a series of CIC case studies on the challenges that resource scarcity and climate change pose to poor countries – and how they, and their international partners, can build resilience to them. The report assesses both Ethiopia’s current policies on scarcity and climate, and a range of key gaps, vulnerabilities and exogenous risks that need to be taken account of in future planning.
There’s a consensus that any post-2015 global development framework should have more to say about the role of the private sector than the MDGs have done. But what does that actually mean in practice? This new report from the Overseas Development Institute explores some options for how the private sector might be represented in and contribute to a new set of global goals for development.
This report addresses the Arctic’s growing strategic relevance and conflict dynamic; offers background on, and assessment of, the existing institutions, and examines ongoing risks. Ultimately, the report concludes that the prospects for cooperation outstrip the potential for conflict, and that the Arctic offers lessons for tackling evolving challenges in other regions.
An edited and expanded version of talk given to the ‘Lessons from the Economic Troubles’ panel at an international workshop on systemic lessons from the global economic crisis, hosted by the Global Futures Forum.
Debate on what should follow the Millennium Development Goals after 2015 is now underway in earnest. This briefing paper by Alex Evans and David Steven, prepared for a closed session Brookings Institution meeting organised at the request of the US government, sets out an overview of the MDGs and their expected status in 2015; describes the background to, and options for, a post-2015 framework; and discusses the political challenges of agreeing a new framework and sets out considerations for governments and other stakeholders.
There’s a growing consensus among the countries, UN agencies and civil society organisations involved in discussions on the post-2015 development agenda that equity, or inequality, needs to be somehow integrated into any new framework. This paper considers the pros and cons of some current proposals for integrating inequality into a post-2015 framework, and offers a tentative [...]
Recent months have seen increasing interest in the idea that Rio+20 could be the launch pad for a new set of ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs). But what would SDGs cover, what would a process to define and then implement them look like, and what would some of the key political challenges be? This short briefing [...]
Any global framework for development which is agreed after 2015 will be a political deal between states. This paper looks at recent trends in policy and politics in emerging economies and traditional donors to assess where a consenus might lie. It suggests some principles for a post-2015 agreement which emerge from recent policy developments
Paper from ODI and UNDP, authored by Claire Melamed and Andy Sumner, summarising the evidence on the impact of the MDGs, and looking at current trends in poverty and in global governance that will affect the shape and the scope of any future agreement on global development.
Why resource scarcity will be a game changer for global justice agendas, and what aid donors, NGOs and other development opinion formers need to do about it. WWF / Oxfam report by Alex Evans.
The Rio 2012 sustainable development summit is at risk of being the latest in a long line of damp squibs on environmental multilateralism – but could still make real progress, if it focuses on greening growth and building resilience to shocks and stresses, and above all faces up to the issues of fair shares that arise in a world of limits.
How national and international governance systems need to be reconfigured to meet the challenges of food security in a world of tighter supply and demand balances and increasing volatility. Report for Oxfam’s new Grow campaign by Alex Evans. (May 2011)
Article on scarcity of resources in Pakistan and what it means for the country.
Text of speech by Alex Evans to Institute for New Economic Thinking annual conference at Bretton Woods; the YouTube video is here. (April 2011) Download Speech
Article published on China Dialogue on reasons for the new food price spike, including potential implications of the current drought in China. (February 2011) Download Article
Eight critical uncertainties for development over the next decade, and ten recommendations for what ActionAid – who commissioned this report – should do to prepare for them
Article published in World Politics Review on current American foreign policy
Report asking how organisations can prosper in what will be a turbulent period for world order
Center on International Cooperation report on what forms of multilateral cooperation are needed to manage scarcity of resources
Background paper on whether resource scarcity and climate change will cause increased violent conflict
Chatham House report on how the UK’s new coalition government should upgrade and reform the way Britain conducts foreign policy
Introductory remarks by David Steven at a Brookings Institution seminar on risk and resilience in the global system (March 2010)
Talk given by David Steven at Gresham College on risk and resilience in the UK housing market, as part of a Long Finance Roundtable meeting (March 2010)
Report by David Steven in response to the FSA’s Mortgage Market Review
Brookings Institution report by Alex Evans, Bruce Jones and David Steven on how globalisation could fail – and how it could be made more resilient. Published to coincide with the 40th anniversary World Economic Forum in Davos.
Report by Alex Evans and David Steven analysing the post-Copenhagen context on climate change, including a proposed 12 point action plan. Written for the Brookings Institution / NYU Center on International Cooperation Managing Global Insecurity programme.
World Food Programme report on the state of the science on what climate change means for hunger, plus policy recommendations. Authored by IPCC Impacts Chair Martin Parry with Mark Rosengrant, Tim Wheeler and Global Dashboard’s Alex Evans (December 2009)
Presentation by Alex Evans to a seminar organised for the UN Department of Political Affairs by the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (August 2009)
Article on risk and resilience by Alex Evans and David Steven – part of a special in World Politics Review on risk and resilience in a globalized age (July 2009)
Report by Alex Evans and David Steven exploring the future international institutional requirements for managing climate change, and including three scenarios for climate institutions between now and 2030. Commissioned by the UK Department for International Development. (May 2009)
Article by Alex Evans and David Steven exploring resilience as a political agenda – part of a special edition of Renewal on the transformation of foreign policy (February 2009)
Climate and cities think piece, co-authored by David Steven and the British Council’s Peter Upton (29 January 2009)
Chatham House pamphlet by Alex Evans on how scarcity issues will shape the outlook for global food production, and the actions that policymakers need to take at the international level and in developing countries to ensure food security in the 21st century
Paper by David Steven, presented to “Reforming International Institutions – Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century,” a conference organized by the United Nations University and the British Embassy in Tokyo (Jan 2009).
Speech by Alex Evans at the Tomorrow Network (25 November 2008)
Paper by Alex Evans and David Steven on financial reform and wider multilateralism, published ahead of the G20 ‘Bretton Woods II’ Summit (November 2008).
Speech by David Steven to RUSI Conference on UK Resilience (8 October 2008)
Chapter by Alex Evans and David Steven in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office publication, ‘Engagement: public diplomacy in a globalised world’ (July 2008). Download Chapter
Draft report by Alex Evans exploring multilateral system reforms needed in order to manage resource scarcity issues more effectively. The final version will be published in early 2010 (July 2008)
Speech by Alex Evans at UK Parliament (8 July 2008)
Speech by David Steven at the UNU G8 Symposium (4 July 2008)
Speech by Alex Evans to United Nations Association UK (7 June 2008)
Speech by David Steven to the UK Defence Academy’s Advanced Research and Assessment Group seminar on Strategic Communications, Public Diplomacy and Afghanistan (4 June 2008).
Speech by David Steven to the University of Westminster Symposium on Transformational Public Diplomacy (30 April 2008).
Briefing paper by Alex Evans, published through Chatham House’s food programme (April 2008).
Articles and Publications
Oh my, aid workers flying business is a shock like catholic priests who have sex… Both groups aim the good but just can’t make any.
“The cost differential between business and economy should also factor in the extra night or two of accommodation and DSA that travelers would need to rest and adjust to the time difference.”
I laughed when I read this excuse….Can such a delicate person be a aid worker? Most of us “regular people” go to work without “rest” after 13 hours of economy class flight. Well, maybe because we are not “saving the world” like them….
I don’t know…It is beautiful to see aid workers flying on coach, but we may want to bring in productive people to aid as well. By productive people, I mean to say about the people who have the ability to work hard to get the results, who also happen to get good offers from the private sector. C-class is not a perk, but a part of remuneration. If we don’t give them, only productive people we get for aid will be the guys like Blattman who are willing to sacrifice personal amenity over a higher goal. Vast majority of people, I believe, is nothing like Blattman. Remember, there’s always arbitrage with other labor demand, and aid sector is no exception. Blattman should know this better, given he’s trained in economics. My bet is that he knows all too well, but somehow not being explicit about it in his blog. I don’t know…
Hmm.. well I was with the UN for about eight years and from what I experienced, the travel is all economy class – unless for a flight which is more than eight hours long. In addition, at least in the agency which I was with, UNODC, and the offices that I was with – Regional Offices for South Asia, and East Asia and Pacific, there were no extra days for travel. To the extent possible we would fly to get in in-time for a meeting – and not for a day of R&R to prep! – and then fly out the same day that the meeting was over. There was simply too much to be done, to hang around before and after meetings. Plus the offices had increasingly initiated teleconferencing facilities via skype, and other online resources – thus limiting travel.
Hmm.. well I was with the UN for about eight years and from what I experienced, the travel is all economy class – unless for a flight which is more than eight hours long. In addition, at least in the agency which I was with, UNODC, and the offices that I was with – Regional Offices for South Asia, and East Asia and Pacific, there were no extra days for travel. To the extent possible we would fly to get in in-time for a meeting – and not for a day of R&R to prep! – and then fly out the same day that the meeting was over. There was simply too much to be done, to hang around before and after meetings. Plus the offices had increasingly initiated teleconferencing facilities via skype, and other online resources – thus limiting travel.
One needs to remember that the UN as a whole consists of a number of specialist agencies – all under different heads/representatives. We were lucky to be under the leadership which promoted a 'walk the talk' culture in which work was always the priority – 'crime and the vulnerability of people does not stop after eight hours and neither should we' was the oft heard phrase, and most of us strove to fulfill it.
Plus the donor-funded projects are so stretched for funds for programme implementation itself that there is no money for so-called five-star stays. Donors have increasingly been holding programmes accountable for the percentage spent on the logistics aspects of implementation – rightly so, and this has led a lot to reduction in misuse of funds.
The 'UN' as a generic whole provides a very easy target for criticism from all ends, with everyone forgetting that the agencies within are myriad and so are the officials – some of whom are also directly appointed by governments, for the benefit of the governments, on secondment etc. and – as in all organisations, not everyone works for the benefit of the people, – but then again, many do.