The year 2010 offered mixed results concerning global climate policy, with serious setbacks as well as some small victories. This publication offers regional analysis of climate policy in 2010 and the UN climate conference in Cancun (COP 16).
The grave financial and economic crisis that broke into full view in the fall of 2008 has dominated not only headlines but also government and business deliberations. Bailout efforts and stimulus packages of unprecedented scope have taken center stage, as attempts to stave off the specter of a second Great Depression unfold. In sharp contrast with the laissez-faire attitude of the past three decades, the question now is not whether government can play a useful and central role, but what the specifics of government action should be.
The central ambition of this paper is to offer a framework for the appropriate climate finance architecture, one that identifies the key elements for a national set of institutional arrangements, and that would in its design serve to foster improved access and efficient, cost-effective, transparent, accountable, and equitable utilisation of climate finance by countries in Africa.
This edition of Perspectives asks, “What are sustainable African cities?”. In so doing, it offers a snapshot of Africa’s urban sustainability challenges, ranging from tensions between heritage and urban renewal.
