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Four futures for a Global development cooperation system in flux: policy at the intersection of geopolitics, norm contestation and institutional shift

Klingebiel, Stephan / Andy Sumner (2025)
Policy Brief 11/2025

This brief situates the crisis of Official Development Assistance (ODA) within a broader transformation of global development cooperation. Today’s challenge goes beyond shrinking aid budgets; it reflects deeper pressures on the post-Cold War development consensus and its institutional architecture.

The Changing Landscape of Sustainability Governance. What next for VSS?

Bonn, 31. March 2025

The UNFSS Academic Advisory Council (AAC) annual meeting brought together an international mix of academic and policy experts from various disciplines and backgrounds to consolidate the knowledge on Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) and contribute to a comprehensive understanding of VSS effectiveness. The global sustainability…

The European Green Deal and the war in Ukraine: addressing crises in the short and long term

Iacobuţă, Gabriela Ileana / Alexia Faus Onbargi et al. (2022)
External Publications

Resume support for the agency for Palestine refugees

Loewe, Markus (2024)
The Current Column, 23. April 2024

Germany should also approve new funds for Gaza and expand further its support for UNRWA.

From Rovaniemi to Tromsø spirit?

Methi, Kirsti / Dorothea Wehrmann (2023)
The Current Column, 30. May 2023

A new Tromsø Arctic spirit is needed to co-create a democratic legitimacy and relevance of the Arctic Council with respect for the peoples and local governance structures in the Arctic region.

300 researchers publish communiqué with recommendations for action to G7

At the Think7 Summit, more than 300 researchers from G7 countries and beyond meet today and tomorrow to present solutions to major global challenges.

Investment Facilitation for Development: How Asian and Pacific Economies Will Benefit

Online, 19. May 2022

This high-level event is meant to offer a platform for a strategic exchange on the negotiations on an Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), launched in September 2020 after over two years of preparatory discussions. The negotiations bring together over 110 WTO Members at all levels…

Investment Facilitation for Development: How Arab Economies Will Benefit

Online, 01. June 2022

This high-level event is meant to offer a platform for a strategic exchange on the negotiations on an Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), launched in September 2020 after over two years of preparatory discussions. The negotiations bring together over 110 WTO Members at all levels…

Reconstruction in Assad’s Syria despite an exclusive social contract?

Zintl,Tina / Yannick Sudermann (2021)
The Current Column, 15. March 2021

While the international community is grappling with the 2030 Agenda and how to leave no one behind, Syria’s regime excludes anyone who (allegedly) objects to its rule.

New dynamics in South-South cooperation

Fues, Thomas (2013)

The transatlantic free trade agreement: think of the consequences!

Berger, Axel / Clara Brandi (2013)
The Current Column, 04. March 2013

Conference of the Parties (COP 21)

Paris, 30. November 2015

From 30 November to 11 December, the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will take place in Paris. A new global agreement on climate change is to be adopted. This agreement will be decisive for future life on our planet. Climate change…

Land ahoy! Appreciating the value of our common ground

Bauer, Steffen / Lindsay C. Stringer (2015)
The Current Column, 14. September 2015

This week, 15 September, the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative will launch its report “The Value of Land” at the European Commission in Brussels. The launch of the ELD report couldn’t be more timely.

A seal of approval for German development cooperation? The OECD’s new peer review of Germany

Keijzer, Niels / Stephan Klingebiel (2015)
The Current Column, 04. November 2015

Every four or five years, the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) organises a peer review in which a team of experts closely examines the policies of the member in question. The new peer review of Germany will be unveiled on 4 November in Berlin.

The Lesson of Lampedusa – Why the EU and Africa Need a Strategic Partnership

Hackenesch, Christine / Svea Koch (2013)
The Current Column, 28. October 2013

The boat tragedy off the coast of Lampedusa has once again brought Africa to the attention of the European media with shocking news.

International day for biological diversity: not a day for celebration

Richerzhagen, Carmen (2010)
The Current Column, 17. May 2010

The famine in East Africa: how far are climate change and the long neglect of agriculture to blame?

Kaplan, Marcus / Chinwe Ifejika Speranza (2011)
The Current Column, 22. August 2011

Setting the course for global development in the second decade of the 21st century

Messner, Dirk (2011)
The Current Column, 10. January 2011

How Brexit hits EU External Action: the UK’s European legacy

Henökl, Thomas (2017)
The Current Column, 16. March 2017

As announced by Prime Minister Theresa May, the British Government is seeking a “clean break” with the EU and is prepared to leave the single market and the customs union in the process.

Trump’s tariffs as a risk for the Global South and possible options

Kornher, Lukas / Clara Brandi (2025)
The Current Column, 24. March 2025

It is ultimately the economically weaker states that will pay the price in a large-scale trade war.