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From the editorâs desk
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FROM THE EDITORâS DESK
WorldWise readersâ
Iâm not often moved by the rhetoric that comes from the lofty peaks of Davos every January. This year was different. One speech broke through the World Economic Forum (WEF) bubble and landed with resonance.
âToday I will talk about a rupture in the world order, the end of a pleasant fiction and the beginning of a harsh reality, where geopolitics, where the large, main power, geopolitics, is submitted to no limits, no constraints.â
As Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney took a rare stand on the geopolitical realities of the moment, his speech drew from ancient Athenian historian Thucydides, and from the story of a greengrocer that featured in former Czech president VĂĄclav Havelâs essay The Power of the Powerless.
âEvery morning, this shopkeeper places a sign in his window: âWorkers of the world uniteâ. He doesnât believe it, no-one does, but he places a sign anyway to avoid trouble, to signal compliance, to get along. And because every shopkeeper on every street does the same, the system persists â not through violence alone, but through the participation of ordinary people in rituals they privately know to be false.
Havel called this âliving within a lieâ.
The systemâs power comes not from its truth, but from everyoneâs willingness to perform as if it were true, and its fragility comes from the same source. When even one person stops performing, when the greengrocer removes his sign, the illusion begins to crack. Friends, it is time for companies and countries to take their signs down.â
Carney chose a big stage to declare âno more performingâ.
He also argued that âintermediate powersâ are far from powerlessâthat they can build a new order rooted in âhuman rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and territorial integrityâ.
Still, his perspective was that of Canadaâother intermediate powers may take a different view.
As Chietigj Bajpaee writes in Foreign Policy, the âcosmopolitanâ picture of the world that Carney painted in Davos is vastly different from the âinsularâ one articulated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month. But, he goers on to argue, to some countries in the Global South, these two pictures are essentially the same.
India in particular, says Bajpaee, is looking to become a âbridging power between the West and the restâ through the BRICS bloc. (We highlighted the emergence of the bloc as a potential power player a little over two years ago.)
India is hardly alone in vying for leverage. China recently offered 53 African countries tariff-free trade access, expanding a policy that already applied to 33 nations. By moving counter to the US shift toward a âtariff-heavyâ trade policy, the manoeouver aims for both economic and diplomatic advantage, consistent with the countryâs Belt and Road Initiative.
Neither is the BRICS bloc the only competing institution in town. In another analysis for Foreign Policy, C. Raja Mohan highlights the significance of Trumpâs âBoard of Peaceâ, which he describes as the most sweeping attempt to supplant the global order established in 1945:
âUnlike the many rhetorical assaults on the United Nations over the decades, Trump has produced a format and potential institution that could one day rival the U.N.â
Quite the sobering thought.
Unsurprisingly, the WEF struck a more upbeat tone. Global cooperation is not dying, according to its Global Cooperation Barometer report. It is simply changing shape. We are seeing the rise of âminilateralismâ and âplurilateralismâ, it says: smaller, flexible, purpose-driven coalitions that bypass traditional global mechanisms. And this means leaders should put their energy into dialogue with partners within such coalitions.
For now, the sound of old institutions cracking is louder than the sound of mini coalitions pushing the needle back towards a common good. But now is not forever. Having the courage to face reality is the first step forward.
Anita
GLOBAL BRIEFING | around the world
đ On development
India and Pakistanâs water politics is starting to boil - Foreign Policy | Climate stress is rewriting the regionâs rules of water sharing, writes Safina Nabi.
Relatedâfrom the archive
Experts call for rethink of global sustainable development agenda as 2030 deadline looms - Science | As we approach the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with countries off-track on meeting most targets, researchers warn that the next global framework needs to be built on a clear and explicit theory of change.
đ¤ Who Gets to Decide How Much Is âEnoughâ to Live a Good Life? - Undark | The concept of setting sustainable limits on consumption faces a political challenge as it begins to influence policy, writes Peter Sutoris.
Big Tech is racing to own Africaâs internet - Rest of World | Damilare Dosunmu reports that Amazon has joined Starlink, Google, and Meta in a scramble to control how Africa goes online.
đ¤ How data centres can avoid becoming the next coal mines - Eco-Business | The resistance to Artificial Intelligence will come from the social disruption it will bringâand data centres will be where that backlash lands first, write Steven Okun, Megan Willis, Noemie Viterale. They call on investors in AI to ensure that its benefits are shared across society, harm is reduced, and value created locally.
đ¤ Chinaâs Belt and Road must adapt to survive a hotter world - Dialogue Earth | As rising temperatures threaten workersâ health and productivity around the world, can development projects like Chinaâs flagship initiative remain sustainable, ask academics Jiayong Liang, Maria Adele Carrai and Xiaojiao Wang.
âIn December 2022, fireworks lit up the sky over Lusail stadium, north of Doha. At the centre stood Lionel Messi, arms raised, World Cup trophy in hand, as thousands celebrated around him. In the 12 years since Qatar won the bid to host the event, the country transformed its infrastructure to prepare. But many of those who had built it had died from extreme heatâhundreds of thousands of migrant workers who had laboured under a desert sun worsened by climate change. This is a glimpse into a future where extreme heat disrupts labour forces, reshapes economies and challenges the very foundations of global infrastructure development schemes like the Belt and Road Initiative launched by China in 2013.â
đ On nature, energy and economies
New calculator shows exactly how much environmental damage is behind your internet searches - Euronews | If the internet were a country, it would be the fourth-largest polluter in the world, writes Liam Gilliver: it is responsible for 3.7% of global carbon emissions, outpacing air travel.
How the EU-Mercosur deal could hit the climate - DW | Martin Kueblerâs report quotes critics who say the environmental fallout from the EUâs new deal with Mercosur, South Americaâs trade bloc, is being sidelined in the pursuit of new economic opportunities.
đ¤ After Paris - Foreign Affairs | Environmental policy ambitions are not receding, writes Sebastian Buckup: where climate change initiatives are perceived to present tangible opportunities for growth, innovation, and resilience, they are now much more likely to succeed.
âParadoxically, the worldâs ability to meet shared goalsâincluding keeping global warming well below two degrees and halting and reversing the loss of natural habitatsânow depends on how effectively those goals are woven into national agendas for security, competitiveness, and industrial strength.â
đ¤ As climate diplomacy stalls, the economics are racing ahead - Eco-Business | In a similar vein, Julie McCarthy argues that despite political gridlock, thereâs undeniable economic momentum being created by climate change, ecological degradation and the scale-up of renewables.
đ¤ We can move beyond the capitalist model and save the climate â here are the first three steps - The Guardian | Jason Hickel and Yanis Varoufakis make their argument after drawing a distinction between two notions of capitalism.
âBy capitalism we do not mean markets, trade and entrepreneurship, which have been around for thousands of years before the rise of capitalism. By capitalism we mean something very odd and very specific: an economic system that boils down to a dictatorship run by the tiny minority who control capital â the big banks, the major corporations and the 1% who own the majority of investible assets.â
đ Narrative warfare in critical minerals: Information manipulation and governance challenges - The Extractive Industries and Society | In this research article Vlado Vivoda, Lachlan Nieboer and Rowan Bisshop provide the first typology of information manipulation in the governance of critical minerals governance; map 15 global cases across supply chains from rare earths to lithium; and show how disinformation, omission and greenwashing shape the politics of perception as global demand grows.
đĄď¸ On climate impacts
Sea levels are rising across the world. But in Greenland, scientists say theyâre about to fall - Euronews | Liam Gilliver reports on a study that documents how as the ice sheet loses mass, the land beneath it loses its weight and risesâan effect like the decompression of a memory-foam mattress after the person lying on it gets up. Greenlandâs sinking sea levels are expected to have a ripple effect on coastal communities, shipping routes, fishing and infrastructure.
Why sinking cities may now be a bigger climate crisis than rising seas - BBC Science Focus | Highly populated river deltas are sinking, Tom Howarth reports, and in many cases the subsidence is happening faster than the sea is rising.
âEveryone should buckle upâ: Scientists change El Nino labelling to keep up with temperature spike - Euronews | A new study sheds light on the scientific mystery of why Earthâs already rising temperature spiked to a new level over the past three years, report Seth Borenstein with AP: it finds that the natural El Nino cycle is both adding to and shaped by a warming world.
đą On environmental protection
Water âBankruptcyâ Era Has Begun for Billions, Scientists Say - Bloomberg | A report by the UNâs think tank has declared a new era of âglobal water bankruptcy,â with humans depleting freshwater systems to the point they canât recover. Writing in Dialogue Earth, UNU head Kaveh Madani said he wants the world to fundamentally change how it considers water problems. For Euronews, Liam Gilliver breaks down what the new label actually means.
âThe UNU report defines water bankruptcy as a âpersistent over-withdrawal from surface and groundwater relative to renewable inflows and safe levels of depletionâ. The term also requires âirreversible or prohibitively costly loss of water-related natural capitalâ. This differs from water stress which reflects high-pressure situations that remain reversible or a water crisis, which is used to describe acute shocks that can be overcome.â
How Heat and a Megadrought Primed Chile for Devastating Wildfires - Bloomberg Green | Fire seasons have become longer and more life-threatening since record-breaking blazes in 2017, Fabiano Maisonnave reports.
Seeking solutions
Plagued by Flooding, an African City Reengineers Its Wetlands - Yale E360 | For nearly a decade, Rwandaâs capital has been turning degraded swamps into high-functioning wetlandsâa series of ponds, a riverine forest, and a savannaâwhich not only transform its landscape but store carbon, mitigate flooding and filter pollution. Kigaliâs success now serves as a blueprint for building urban resilience through nature-based infrastructure.
Glacier grafting: How an Indigenous art is countering water scarcity - Al Jazeera | As rising temperatures threaten Pakistanâs 13,000 glaciers, residents in the Himalayan region are reviving the ancient technique of âmarryingâ pieces of ice by transporting distinct âmaleâ and âfemaleâ blocks to specific high-altitude locations. The goal is to spark the growth of new glaciers to provide a vital water source. But experts say the success of this indigenous solution remains precariously tied to weather fluctuations and the fallout of regional conflict.
How seaweed farms could change the arithmetic of ocean carbon captureâŚfor the better - Anthropocene | New research reveals that seaweed farms do more than just grow plantsâthey boost ocean alkalinity to soak up millions of tons of extra carbon, providing data needed to scale the blue carbon credit market.
Eating insects: A sustainable solution or an overhyped idea? - The Conversation | âEdible insects are not just a culinary curiosity or a simple source of alternative protein: they are at the heart of a broader debate on the sustainability of our food systems,â write Nina Klioueva and Maude Perreault from the University of Montreal. âTheir potential challenges the way we produce, consume and value food.â
đĽ Navi Mumbai: A pioneering initiative for recycling fast fashion - DW | This Indian city has launched a first-of-its-kind textile recovery facility that diverts discarded garments from landfills to be upcycled or downcycled, providing employment for 80 women while scaling a local circular economy.
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ICYMI | in other editions
UPDATE | from the network
A new analysis from Impact Global Health shows that three global health innovations originally developed for low- and middle-income countries are now delivering major health gains and billions in savings in the US, UK, EU, and Japanâread the report summary here.
The United Nations Capital Development Fund has launched a call for Expressions of Interest to identify and support nature-positive businesses in Central Africaâdeadline 28 February.
The SDG Academy has launched a MOOC on Scaling impact for sustainable development, which offers a practical roadmap to help researchers, practitioners, funders, policymakers or students to navigate the scaling of promising solutions to global challenges so they can reach their full potentialâaccess the free course here.
The latest edition of the Disasters Avoided newsletter was published in November with contributions from independent consultant Lisa Robinson, African journalist Onengiyeofori Fyneface, and myselfâall interviews exploring the theme âcommunicating effectively about avoiding disastersâ. Read the issue and sign up here.
PS.
Thank you.
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Created and edited by Anita Makriâjournalist/writer, producer and editorial adviser covering global development and science in society. I also help selected organisations with compatible values to strengthen their media work. LinkedIn | Instagram | Email