AUTHOR'S BIO
Jean-Michel Severino
Jean-Michel Severino is the CEO of the Agence Française de Développement and a member of the blog www.id4d.org.
| RECENT COMMENTARIES | FEATURED COMMENTARIES | MOST READ COMMENTARIES |
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Rendezvous with Africa on Climate
Jean-Michel Severino Series: Earth in the Balance 2009-12-03African countries' decision to act as a bloc at the Copenhagen climate-change summit is an important step forward. But Africa and its partners will now have to unite to win the adoption of measures that ensure the sustainable exploitation of Africa’s vast environmental potential in the interest of us all.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 8965
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Development beyond 2015
Jean-Michel Severino Series: Frontiers of Growth 2008-10-30Current global inequalities in living standards are close to those that existed within today's advanced economies over a century ago. What is needed is the creation on a global scale of the same sort of public redistribution mechanisms that were progressively established in the world’s richest societies over the course of the twentieth century. ... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 15412
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Conservation With a Human Face
Jean-Michel Severino and Peter Seligmann Series: Science and Society 2008-08-05The biodiversity hosted by the world’s developing nations provides both local and global services. But that does not mean that poor countries should be barred from exploiting their natural resources in the interest of economic growth.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 15949
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Did Development Fail in Kenya?
Jean-Michel Severino Series: Into Africa 2008-02-01The ongoing violence in Kenya shows that economic development is no panacea, and may create its own set of grievances – particularly when done without regard to the abrupt changes it brings to societies. But Kenya isn’t an illustration of development failing, but of development at work: complex, powerful, and yet fragile.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 15930
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Climate Change and Water Security
Mikhail Gorbachev and Jean-Michel Severino Series: Frontiers of Growth 2007-06-04Water scarcity is ecpected to affect 1-3 billion people by 2100, posing a threat of widespread conflict and war. Our ability to prevent “water wars” will depend on our collective capacity to anticipate tensions, and to find the technical and institutional solutions to manage emerging tensions.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 18564
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Making the IMF and World Bank Work for the Poor
Jean-Michel Severino Series: Frontiers of Growth 2007-04-05To remain relevant, the IMF and the World Bank must resist calls to withdraw from emerging countries and engage them more, not less. These countries cannot afford to "go it alone" – and the rest of the world cannot afford to let them try.... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 15698
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Cultivating Energy
Jean-Michel Severino Series: Science and Society 2006-12-11From climate change to volatile oil prices, all signs point to a looming global energy crisis. Confronting the growing challenge means that humanity can no longer afford to ignore the inexhaustible resource found in the organic material that the sun provides each day through photosynthesis. Solar energy enables plants to absorb carbon gas and thereby produce not only oxygen, but also matter that the animal kingdom uses for food – and that our machines can use for energy. ... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 20973
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The Quest for Investment
Jean-Michel Severino Series: Frontiers of Growth 2006-02-15The Hong Kong meeting of the Doha Round of trade negotiations has left a palpable sense of frustration in the developing world over the slow pace of agricultural liberalization agreed to by the rich countries. It may thus appear naive and counterproductive to raise the bar and suggest that we need to go beyond trade and move investment to the top of our priority list. Yet can any “development round” worthy of its name ignore this challenge?... read Comments: 0 Recommended: 0 Read: 37265
