The World Health Organisation (WHO) in October 2016 recommended that governments should tax sugary drinks as part of the global campaign against obesity, type 2 diabetes and tooth decay. South Africa’s Treasury plans to introduce a tax on sugary drinks in April 2017, while Ireland announced it would also introduce a sugary drinks tax in 2018. “Consumption of free sugars, including products like sugary drinks, is a major factor in the global increase of people suffering from obesity and diabetes,” said Dr Douglas Bettcher, Director of WHO’s Department for the Prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). “If governments tax products like sugary drinks, they can reduce suffering and save lives. They can also cut healthcare costs and increase revenues to invest in health services.” Taxes that result in a 20% increase or more in the retail price of sugary drinks would result in proportional reductions in consumption of such products, according to the WHO report, “Fiscal policies for Diet and Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs)”. Obesity has more than doubled between 1980 and 2014. By 2014, almost 40% of adults worldwide were overweight, with 15% of women and 11% of men obese. Meanwhile, diabetes has almost quadrupled since 1980, rising from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014. In 2012, 38 million people lost their lives due to NCDs, 16 million or 42% of whom died prematurely – before 70 years – from largely avoidable conditions. More than 80% of people who died prematurely from a NCD were in developing countries. Governments have committed to reduce deaths from NCDs, and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda includes a target to reduce premature deaths from diabetes, cancers, heart, and lung diseases by one-third by 2030.
Health equity in economic and trade policies
The author argues in relation to the BRICS summit in October 2016, that BRICS is no longer just an economic grouping but is fast emerging as a political force in global decision-making. Having successfully launched its New Development Bank and Contingent Reserve Arrangement, BRICS now plans to launch its own credit rating agency to end the dominance of the likes of Standard & Poor's or Moody's and Fitch and to bring in emerging economies' perspectives to further enhance their standing and competitiveness in international markets. Similarly, learning from the July 12 Arbitration on South China Sea, BRICS Legal Forum endorsed in August 2016 its own robust arbitration mechanisms to address the problem of double standards of advanced nations. In addition to a now-functioning disputes resolution centre in Shanghai, such as a BRICS-wise arrangement will include commercial arbitration allowing BRICS to resolve disputes for foreign investors. Faced with continuing global financial crisis, leaders have also been discussing developing a BRICS bond market to address challenges of debt securities trading to strengthen their existing lack of liquidity making them vulnerable to foreign portfolio investors.
COSATU reflected in relation to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of states summit the need for concrete solutions to the concrete problems faced rather than policy statements that do not improve the lives of the people. COSATU identifies the following key issues as key for SADC: desperate conditions of poverty, hunger, and unemployment, human rights abuses, exploitation of natural resources and environmental degradation, job losses and starvation wage crisis, policy crisis and poverty. They call for policies for active industrialisation and to tackle underdevelopment, as raised at the 2016 SADC Civil society Apex Forum and the Southern African Peoples Solidarity Forum held on the sidelines of the SADC Summit. Whilst COSATU welcomed small steps towards a paradigm shift in the Industrialisation policy debate, they called for concrete steps to build the regions manufacturing base and industrial capacity to produce goods and services, in order to stimulate economies and create the much needed jobs, enhance decent work and improve the quality of life for the majority of people and called for bold and inspiring leadership.
The ‘Rise of the South’ and the role of ‘emerging powers’ in global development has animated much of the political and economic discourse of the past decade. There is, however, little empirical evidence on the contribution that emerging Southern partners make to sustainable development, due to the lack of common measurement systems for South–South cooperation (SSC). This case study utilises the analytical framework developed by the Network of Southern Think Tanks (NeST) to assess the range, extent and quality of South Africa’s peace, governance and economic support to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The study reveals that South Africa, in absolute financial terms, is a significant development partner in the DRC, and even exceeds the traditional donors when its aid is measured in proportion to gross national income. The qualitative field research highlights that South Africa’s approach to development co-operation to a large extent reflects the core values of SSC, although with a mixed bag of successes and failures in terms of the results of co-operation activities. This pilot study of the South Africa–DRC development partnership is one of the first in which the NeST conceptual and methodological framework has been tested for the purpose of further refining tools and indicators for SSC analysis, so as to assist the future monitoring and evaluation endeavours of South Africa and other emerging development partners.
The author analyses that Trump’s victory in the US elections is partly because the world is changing. He writes that the world is witnessing a civilisational shift – the slow, painful death of the Western Empire. Even in rich America millions of people go hungry and without shelter. He argues thus that Africa will in this current era use its own resources and ingenuity to prosper. He notes that if Trump rejects the TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) and the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) then he can count on his support. Tandon welcomes the idea that he might scrap AGOA (which he sees as divisive of Africa) and Obama's "Power Africa" $7 billion initiative. These “initiatives” he argues are to help corporate America, not Africa. He also notes that if Trump talks with Russia, China, Iran and Syria, then he could help forces of peace and reconciliation that the world badly needs. He notes that Trump does not have Africa on his map and has criticised the notion of "exporting democracy", which Tandon also welcomes.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) hosted the 3rd Africa Trilateral Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa in September 2016. Attended by the delegates from the unions affiliated to the three federations; Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), and Trade Union Congress, Ghana (TUC); the Summit was held under the theme: Building a progressive workers movement for development alternatives for Arica: Decent work, industrialisation and Job Creation NOW. The Summit proposed formulating alternative growth and development path for both Africa’s industrialisation and a re-industrialisation approach to create jobs and fight poverty and to actively campaign against corruption, illicit financial flows and for tax justice, fair trade and inclusive development. The Summit proposed that unions work to build a democratic developmental state that serves the needs of its people and guarantees peace, justice and security, and to fight for a comprehensive social security system for all workers. The Africa Trilateral Cooperation is the historic relationship between COSATU (South Africa), NLC (Nigeria) and TUC (Ghana) on the African continent.
Despite the global consensus on the importance of shifting to a model of sustainable development, identifying pathways that can simultaneously and equally fulfil social, economic and environmental goals remains extremely difficult. After briefly tracing the evolution of the concept of sustainable development to its central place in current international development debates, the paper explains what is understood by eco-social policies. This paper analyses opportunities for and barriers to the effective adoption of eco-social policies in national programmes by undertaking a comparative analysis of three case studies: Payment for Ecosystem Services in Costa Rica, the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputin (ITT) proposal for Yasuní National Park in Ecuador and the Virunga Alliance in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The three programmes had varying degrees of success. The Virunga Alliance is a development project that aims to foster peace and prosperity through the responsible economic development of natural resources for 4 million people who live within a day’s walk of the park’s borders. The project identified poverty and the lack of a sustainable business sector as the root causes of Virunga’s problems, forcing the park’s inhabitants to over-exploit natural resources for their daily fuel and food needs. While the Payment for Ecosystem Services was a successful national programme that led to unprecedented forest recovery in Costa Rica, the ITT proposal was a governmental policy initiative that failed due to various national and international issues. The Virunga Alliance operated with an eco-social logic by involving job creation and clean energy provision. While the outputs were successfully achieved, the outcomes were at risk in part due to regional insecurity and a fragile national economy. The author looks at the different approaches taken in each country, analysing the benefits and trade-offs as well as the factors that led to their adoption or defeat. After briefly tracing the evolution of the concept of sustainable development to its central place in current international development debates, the paper explains what is understood by eco-social policies.
Vedanta Ltd is a mining company which various subsidiaries has operations in India, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Liberia, Ireland and Australia in copper, zinc, silver, aluminium, oil, gas, iron ore and power segments. This article reports on Vedanta’s annual general meeting in London and some of the debates that took place at the meeting, including in relation to the report back by shareholders who visited mine sites and reported on what they had seen on working and environmental conditions. The author comments that in part a promise of “zero harm” by large extractive corporations is illusory and can lead to real problems being hidden. The author argues for reports to rather be clearer about the real conditions and situation on the ground to include and allow debate on the improvements intended to manage them.
A new report published by Public Eye, 'Dirty Diesel' reports that Swiss commodity trading firms exploit lax regulatory standards to sell African customers fuel with high sulfur content that have been banned in Europe. Operating behind the Energy brands, trading companies have a dominant position in the import and distribution of petroleum products in many African countries. Public Eye researchers drew fuel at local pumps in eight countries, viz: Angola, Benin, the Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Senegal and Zambia. The result revealed that the diesel samples contained up to 378 times more sulfur than is permitted in Europe. Furthermore, other toxic substances, such as benzene and polycyclical aromatic hydrocarbons, were also found in concentrations that are also banned in Europe. The 160-page report further indicates that the traders mix up a petrochemical cocktail from refinery products and other components known in the industry as "African Quality". These toxic fuels are reported to be mainly mixed in the ARA-Zone (Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp) where Swiss trading firms have their own refineries and storage facilities. Many West African countries that export high grade crude oil to Europe receive toxic low quality fuel in return. The authors indicate that these fuels investigated contribute to rising air pollution in African cities and jeopardise health, as noted in studies on rapidly increasing levels of air pollution and estimates that by 2030 Africa will have three times as many deaths from traffic-related particle dust than Europe, Japan, and the US combined. Respiratory illnesses are already a major health issue and diesel fumes can cause cancer. The authors argue that African governments need to set and enforce stricter standards. In a petition addressed to Trafigura, Public Eye and its West African partners call on the Geneva-based commodities giant to only sell fuel that meets European standards in all of its global operations, and the UN-Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights adopted in 2011.
Members of the Ugandan Parliament (MPs) under the Parliamentary Committee on Science and Technology have tasked scientists at Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute(KARI) to educate the public more on Genetically Modified crops. The MPs raised concern over the unawareness of the public about genetically modified crops, the misconceptions people have concerning genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and problems in some of the genetically modified crops that have been introduced locally. This was during a meeting at the Agricultural Research Institute. Hon. Rose Mutonyi (Bubulo West) said the public is not convinced about genetically modified crops.