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Prognozy dla globalnego Południa
The author contends that the TTIP agreement will harm countries in the Global South, specifically citing risks to Mexico's clothing industry and citrus exports from South Africa, Egypt, and Morocco. The text argues that the primary goal of TTIP is for the EU and USA to establish global standards and maintain economic dominance, potentially forcing other nations to accept unfavorable terms or splitting the world into competing trade blocs. This process is viewed as a move away from the transparent, multilateral trade order established after World War II.
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Document type: Statement
The EU-US Free Trade Agreement: Bad Prospects for the Global South
The author contends that the TTIP will harm the Global South through the diversion of trade flows and the imposition of EU-US standards on other nations. Mexico is highlighted as particularly vulnerable, specifically in its garment industry. The text suggests the agreement is a strategic attempt by the US and EU to bolster their diminishing economic influence and sideline the BRICS nations, potentially undermining the multilateral trading system in favor of a non-transparent, power-driven trade regime.
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Document type: Statement
Why not rescue the banks instead of rescuing Spain?
The author contends that Spain's economic crisis stems from a real estate bubble and high private debt rather than irresponsible public spending. They argue that austerity policies are counterproductive, increasing unemployment and public debt. The text proposes a European bank bailout fund funded by banks (similar to the US FDIC) and the use of Eurobonds to protect against interest rate spikes, while suggesting green taxes and estate taxes as alternatives to social cuts.
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Document type: Statement
Austerity in Spain: a failed ideology
The document argues that Spain's adherence to EU-mandated austerity—termed the 'Euro Dogma'—has deepened its recession by contracting aggregate demand and undermining public services. It criticizes the Popular Party's labour reforms for reducing worker protections and wages without addressing the root causes of the crisis, such as the property bubble and lack of technological investment. The author highlights significant cuts to R&D, education, and health, while noting that military spending and grants to the Catholic Church remained relatively protected. The text suggests that Spain could instead leverage its human capital and renewable energy potential, and increase revenues by tackling tax evasion and taxing the wealthy, to achieve a sustainable recovery.
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Document type: Research paper
Debating in the maelstrom: Do the Greens have the answers to the crisis?
The document argues that the Eurozone crisis is a symptom of a failing 'liberal-productivist' economic model and a lack of democratic legitimacy in EU governance. It proposes a 'Green New Deal' focusing on renewable energy, financial re-regulation, and social justice to replace GDP-centric growth. Specific analyses cover the structural failures of austerity in Portugal, the political shift toward majoritarian nationalism in Hungary, and the need for a transnational European public sphere to foster solidarity and democratic reform.
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Document type: Report
FOSSILIZED THINKING
The report examines the World Bank's 3.75 billion dollar loan to Eskom for the Medupi coal-fired power plant, asserting that the Bank's Economic Analysis ignored critical environmental and social costs. It highlights failures to assess transboundary impacts on Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, as well as domestic risks regarding water scarcity, water quality, and air pollution. The authors argue that this pattern of under-valuing externalities leads to over-investment in large-scale centralized fossil fuel projects at the expense of decentralized renewables.
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Document type: Report
A DANGEROUS OBSESSION
The report argues that carbon trading is a fundamentally flawed mechanism that fails to drive real emissions reductions or technological innovation, instead creating risks of financial speculation and locking economies into high-carbon infrastructure. It specifically critiques the use of offsetting as an unjust 'escape hatch' that shifts responsibility from developed to developing nations. The authors advocate for a shift toward direct government interventions, including carbon taxation, strict regulation, and massive public investment in low-carbon infrastructure, while calling for developed countries to provide at least €200 billion per year in new and additional climate finance to the global South.
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Document type: Report
Rethinking the buy local conditions in the SA infrastructure investment programme
The author critiques the push for 'buy local' conditions in South Africa's R787 billion infrastructure programme, arguing that import substitution is unsuitable for a modern economy with integrated supply chains. The text highlights that local suppliers often lack the necessary scale, skills, and technological know-how, meaning that preferential procurement could lead to higher prices and lower quality. While noting that South Africa is not a signatory to the WTO's Government Procurement Agreement, the author contends that the government should instead focus on industrial diversification and exports to ensure long-term competitiveness.
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Document type: Research paper
Generated User Benefits and the Heathrow Expansion: Understanding Consumer Surplus
The report critiques the DfT's cost-benefit analysis for Heathrow expansion, arguing that the projected ₤9 billion in 'generated user benefits' is based on speculative and biased assumptions regarding airfare, fuel costs, and passenger demand. It contends that without these theoretical benefits, the project's costs would outweigh its benefits by ₤3-5 billion. The authors highlight ethical concerns, noting that the benefits accrue primarily to wealthy travelers and aviation investors, while the environmental and social costs are borne by local low-income communities.
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Document type: Report
Comercio ecológico
The document examines how international trade contributes to climate change, primarily through transport emissions, and explores whether trade mechanisms can be repurposed to support sustainability. It discusses specific tools such as 'fair miles' labeling, the liberalization of environmental goods and services, and the implementation of energy efficiency technical standards. The text highlights a conflict between the EU's 'A Global Europe' strategy—which emphasizes market liberalization—and its climate commitments, arguing that intellectual property rights and trade barriers often hinder the transfer of clean technologies to developing nations. Furthermore, it analyzes the legal uncertainty within the WTO regarding carbon footprint labeling and border tax adjustments, calling for a 'mutual support' principle where trade rules are interpreted to facilitate, rather than obstruct, multilateral environmental agreements.
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Document type: Briefing
les mythes du gazoduc de l'afrique de l'ouest
The report argues that the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP), a 681 km project involving Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Ghana, fails to deliver its promised benefits. It contends that the project does not promote genuine regional integration, may increase energy costs for Ghana, and is unlikely to significantly reduce gas flaring in Nigeria. The document highlights concerns over the project's legal structure in Bermuda, the lack of environmental impact studies for the Escravos pipeline, and the continued reliance on fossil fuels.
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Document type: Report
the world trade system how it works and what’s wrong with it
The document critiques the world trade system and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), asserting that the principles of 'free trade' are fundamentally flawed and lead to increased global inequality, environmental degradation, and economic instability. It highlights how the system prioritises corporate interests over public health, food security, and sustainability, specifically critiquing the TRIPs Agreement and the Agreement on Agriculture. The briefing also details the influence of transnational corporations (TNCs) on trade policy and the failures of various WTO Ministerial Conferences, including Seattle, Doha, and Cancún.
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Document type: Briefing
Towards a Decolonial African Feminist Theory of Debt and the Climate Crisis
The paper argues that the current international financial architecture and neoliberal debt sustainability frameworks ignore gender and ecological dimensions, disproportionately burdening women and nature in Sub-Saharan Africa. It proposes a decolonial African feminist approach based on six principles—epistemic liberation, historicity, specificity, intersectionality, dignity, and justice—to shift the focus from capital-centric growth to social and ecological reproduction.
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Document type: Research paper
towards sustainable economies
The report critiques neoliberal economics for causing inequality, environmental degradation, and the erosion of democracy. It proposes a transition toward sustainable economies by redefining economic goals to prioritise human needs and planetary limits over profit, advocating for the decentralisation of economic decision-making, the cancellation of ecological debt, and the regulation of corporate power. The authors call for a redesign of global financial and trade institutions, suggesting they be integrated into the United Nations and subordinated to multilateral environmental and human rights treaties.
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Document type: Report
CÓMO TRANSFORMAR NUESTRA ECONOMÍA
The report critiques neoliberalism for causing environmental destruction and inequality, advocating for a transition to a sustainable economy. It proposes five key pillars: expanding public services through tax justice, scaling up cooperatives and solidarity economies, supporting local markets and fair trade, adopting wellbeing-based economic indicators instead of GDP, and establishing binding international regulations to curb the power of transnational corporations.
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Document type: Report
Delete the Debt: Africa’s Liberation from Debt Supremacy
The document examines the crisis of external debt in Africa, noting that for some commodity-dependent nations, debt-to-GDP ratios exceeded 100% after the COVID-19 pandemic. It argues that current debt relief efforts by the G20 and UN are insufficient because they lack binding frameworks for private creditors. The authors contend that the global financial system reproduces colonial extraction and that only a coordinated effort to write off private, public, and multilateral debt can ensure a just recovery and protect socio-economic rights.
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Document type: Research paper
NATURAL CAPITALISM
The text proposes 'natural capitalism' as a successor to the current industrial system, which the authors claim liquidates natural capital and treats it as income. It outlines four core strategies—radical resource productivity, biomimicry, a service and flow economy, and investing in natural capital—to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation. The document emphasizes that the limiting factor for future prosperity is no longer industrial capacity but the availability of life-supporting ecosystem services.
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Document type: Report
NATURAL CAPITALISM
The document critiques the industrialization of agriculture, highlighting the degradation of topsoil, loss of genetic diversity, and high fossil fuel dependence. It proposes a shift toward 'natural capitalism' through resource productivity, closed-loop systems, and the restoration of natural capital. Key alternatives discussed include organic farming, biointensive minifarming, and management-intensive rotational grazing, emphasizing their potential to sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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Document type: Report
NATURAL CAPITALISM
The text examines the gap between theoretical 'perfect' markets and real-world economic behavior, specifically regarding the under-investment in energy and resource efficiency. It identifies failures in capital allocation, organizational inertia, and perverse regulatory incentives that discourage sustainability. The author proposes solutions such as 'negawatt' markets, decoupled utility earnings, and improved informational feedback loops to align profit motives with the preservation of natural capital.
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Document type: Report