WELCOME & INTRODUCTION Aid and Our Changing Environment Stockholm, 4 June 2013 Finn Tarp UNU-WIDER

What is ReCom? Aid is diverse and complex – no single individual can encompass it all A large and comprehensive joint research, documentation and communications initiative (initiated in early 2011) Motivated by the desire to understand better four key questions about aid

Four key questions What works? What could work? What is scalable? What is transferrable?

Five thematic focus areas Growth and employment Governance and fragility Social sectors Environment and climate change Gender equality Note: Poverty and associated human development issues are addressed throughout

Why? The development job far from done –1.3 billion people absolutely poor –Poor farmers face environmental challenges On top comes climate change –Global temperature rise –Plus many other issues Need to develop, mitigate and adapt We study how can aid help

Today’s questions include – Part I What works, what does not work, and what could work in foreign aid in the pursuit of a sustainable human development agenda characterized by global environmental change and the need for planetary stewardship? Has aid become “greener”? Have recent institutional innovations worked and what would be required to make them work better? What is required to rise to the 21st century challenges in land use? How can aid contribute to more effective governance in the pursuit of sustainable development objectives? What is the role of renewables in Africa’s energy future and how should environmental issues influence these choices?

Today’s questions include – Part II What are the respective strengths and weaknesses in bilateral versus multilateral aid in relation to environmental issues? What are the distinctions between traditional development aid and financial transfers related to the environment? What are the issues and difficult choices associated with focusing aid finance and/or aid institutions on issues in middle income countries (environmental or otherwise)? What are the roles of aid institutions in fomenting the transformations necessary to address global environmental problems, particularly climate change? Is the aid system as presently designed up to the task of addressing climate change? What, if any, institutional reforms to the aid system are required to address 21st century issues?