Archive for President's Corner
A monthly update on global issues by SID’s president Jan Pronk.
-
Beyond Copenhagen…
By Jan Pronk | Changes in international power relations have been blamed for the failure of the international climate negotiations in Copenhagen, December 2009. World power relations have indeed changed. China has become an economic giant. India, South Africa and Brazil are emerging economic powers....
-
Forgotten…
by Jan Pronk Millions of people are living in forgotten cities. They are refugees and displaced persons, put away in camps at the margins of the modern world. Hardly ever is a camp closed down. Camps are swelling in order to offer refuge against continuing or newly emerging dangers. Generations s...
-
Hollow at the top
By Jan Pronk | Nowadays world summits do not function as they should. They fall short in three respects. Their composition seems to be rather arbitrary, to begin with. At one time a summit will consist of five world leaders; at another time six, seven or even twenty Heads of State or Government a...
-
A Boycott Without Vindication
by Jan Pronk In 2001 the United Nations organised a World Conference on Racism in Durban. It was quite a turbulent conference. Developing countries had criticised Western countries about slavery, Apartheid and the injustice done to the Palestinian people. However, the final document of the conferen...
-
Climate, Scarcities and Development
Introduction Having chaired the negotiations that translated the Kyoto Declaration into a fully agreed text a decade ago, I have since stepped somewhat outside of the climate change debate. But from this distance I have the impression that not enough has been happening. For instance the conflicts...
