Local Govt Forum

Anders Hove 09.05.2017 China has huge ambitions for EVs but what can it learn from the US about getting subsidies right? Asks  Anders Hove China's government hopes for EV sales to rise up to 40% this year despite deep cuts to consumer subsidies (Image by  Remko Tanis ) Depending on who you listen to, China is either on the cusp of revolutionising world energy storage and electric vehicle (EV)  markets, or in the throes of upheaval. Of course, the reality is a bit more nuanced. Some of the issues experienced by the electric vehicle sector in the last few months have resulted from an urgent need to reform the country’s vehicle subsidy programme. But going forward, China can learn a few things from other countries in the design of its programme that will boost the market while limiting the scope for cost overruns. China is already a global leader in EVs and battery manufacturing. In May 2014, President Xi Jinping  declared  that new energy ...

Zhang Chun 11.05.2017 chinadialogue  is launching a two-year series of articles exploring challenges to our global fisheries and marine environments and China’s role in tackling them The catch on board a Chinese fishing vessel in Guinea (Image:  Pierre Gleizes / Greenpeace ) It is estimated that over the last fifty years almost half of the world’s fish  species  and  population  have disappeared. This is due to the vast expansion of global fishing fleets, increasing exploitation of seabed resources and climate change, which humanity has so far failed to prevent. Traces of human activity and interference can now be found from the summit of Mount Everest to the depths of the  Mariana   Trench . The state we’re in One billion people worldwide rely on the oceans for their food but over-exploitation and damage of marine environments is threatening this vital source of nutrition. To ensure that oceans remain alive and pl...

Why chinadialogue is publishing a new series on tiger conservation Aron White Charlotte Middlehurst 12.05.2017 A new partnership with the Environmental Investigation Agency will bring a series of in-depth reports, opinions and articles to combat the decline of Asia’s tigers 1 Reports that wild tiger numbers are on the rise are misleading  (Image:  Elliott Neep ) Tiger populations in Asia have plummeted by an estimated 96% since the start of the 20th century , falling from 100,000 animals to  fewer than 4,000 . Of those left, half are in India. However, last year the number of poaching and trade  incidents  in India surged to their highest levels in 15 years as organised gangs of poachers roamed the country targeting vulnerable populations. The poachers are meeting continued demand for tiger skins, bones and other body parts primarily from China. Source: EIA Other reasons for the spike...

Australia's 2017 budget: Takeaways for the aid program : Australia's 2017 federal budget holds good news for aid in the short-term with possible trouble ahead. While no funds are being diverted to counterterrorism for now, more than 300 million Australian dollars ($221 million) are set to move into other foreign policy portfolios beginning in 2021.

As Trump mulls a Paris exit, climate advocates pivot to the private sector

The world's famine alarm finds itself on Trump's chopping block : Since 1985, the U.S. Agency for International Development's Early Warning Famine Systems Network has provided early analysis on acute food insecurity, allowing humanitarians to act sooner. Will the highly successful FEWS NET survive budget cuts?

G20: Can the world's richest economies innovate for global health? : As the G-20 health ministers prepare to meet this month — the first gathering of its kind — Devex asks why the world's richest economies are taking a renewed interest in pandemic response, antimicrobial resistance and neglected poverty-related diseases, and what they can bring to the table.

Halfway through WEF's Latin America summit, here's the buzz

Halfway through WEF's Latin America summit, here's the buzz

5 things to watch at the World Economic Forum on Africa : About 1,000 business, civil society and government leaders from more than 100 countries have descended upon Durban, South Africa, for the 27th World Economic Forum on Africa. Here are some of the topics Devex will be watching this week.