Europe Development News |
Nigeria Oil Spill: Dutch Case Against Shell Begins
Representatives of Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell are appearing in a Dutch civil court to face accusations of polluting Nigerian villages, the BBC reports. The case is being brought by four Nigerian farmers and the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth. The farmers say that spills from the oil firm's pipelines have destroyed their livelihoods by damaging crops and fish-farms. Shell officials maintain the spills in question were caused by sabotage. If successful, the case could pave the way for thousands of other compensation claims. The judges' ruling is expected within six weeks to three months.
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Credit: Flickr user Sosialistisk Ungdom - SU |
IMF's Lagarde Highlights EUs Impact On Developing Countries
Christine Lagarde, Director of the International Monetary Fund, has said that the economic crisis is spreading in the emerging nations and that more EU actions are needed to reverse the global economic downturn, NewEurope reports. Along with urgent actions in the Eurozone, pertaining to financial sector reform, medium-term policies, job creation and global imbalances, Lagarde called for a faster establishment of the European Banking Supervision system and "hopefully a European banking Union." |
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New EU Approaches To Democratic Transition And Resilience
The European Commission’s recent Communication “EU Support for Sustainable Change in Transition Societies” outlines how the European Union should mobilise its instruments to help countries in transition achieve accountable government and economic inclusiveness, ECDPM reports. Fragile states and situations of conflict are, however, not specifically addressed.
In response to the African food crisis, the EC has also proposed a new approach to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable populations to adapt, and to quickly recover from stresses and shocks. The EC’s Communication "The EU Approach to Resilience: Learning from Food Security Crises" outlines ten steps to increase resilience – including support to build partner countries’ capacity for prevention and preparedness and coordination with other stakeholders.
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European Union Wins Nobel Peace Prize
The European Union has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for six decades of work in advancing peace for Europe, the BBC reports. The decision was apparently a unanimous one by the 5-member Nobel panel, but a major surprise to pundits and the European Commission itself. The committee said that the EU had helped transform Europe "from a continent of war to a continent of peace." |
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CGD in Europe Update |
The Economics Of Enough
In the latest episode of Development Drums, Owen interviews author and economist Diane Coyle on her latest book,
‘The Economics Of Enough, How To Run The Economy As If The Future Matters.'
Listen to the podcast here, subscribe to Development Drums for free on iTunes, and find out about future episodes and pose suggested questions for future guests on the Development Drums Facebook page.
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Development Impact Bonds
Last week, the Development Impact Bonds Working Group met for the second time to discuss the idea of applying the social impact bond model to development. The group is considering the kinds of development challenges to which a DIB is best suited and specific sectors for implementing a pilot. See an overview of the meeting in this presentation.
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