Responsible Consumption and Production

The present paper shows the current trends in private sector investment in the water and sanitation sector. After peaking in 2007 private investment in the water and sanitation sector has been volatile. The decline in private investment has also been accompanied by a shift in the type and size of investments taking place. Post-2007 private investment is increasingly concentrated in a few large and wealthy countries and municipalities; and are bankrolle Read More

A commonly held belief in the 1970s was that price indices rise because of temporary noise and then revert after a short interval (Cecchetti and Moessner 2008). Accordingly policy should not respond to the inflation because of these volatile components of the price indices. This led to the development of the concept of core inflation (Gordon 1975) which is headline inflation excluding food and fuel inflation. It was strongly believed that in the long run he Read More

This paper reveals that over the period 1985-2013 the wealthier states of India experienced a prevalence of the feedback hypothesis between real gross domestic product growth and petroleum consumption in the short run and the long run. Over the short term the whole (major) 23 Indian state panels show support for the conservative hypothesis. Regarding the panels comprising low- and middle-income Indian states although there appeared to be sig Read More

The multilateral efforts led by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to address base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) have attracted much attention from tax policy makers practitioners and academics. In 2012 the OECD/G20 BEPS Project was launched to address BEPS through a range of international tax policy measures. A key part of the BEPS package was the Action 11 report which considered the fiscal and economic im Read More

Three childhood experiences set me on the course to working to restore degraded land through helping to connect people to nature. My mother’s strong and unwavering faith helped me to appreciate that life was about more than what we could accumulate in the present and that we could trust a loving heavenly father for all our needs. The abuse of beautiful forests and mountain streams seemed to be an expression of greed and disregard for future gene Read More

In recent years policy-makers have given paramount attention to “competitiveness” working to ensure that domestic economies attract investment jobs and tax revenues. Toward this end countries have steadily lowered corporate tax rates in an attempt to attract mobile international businesses. This paper discusses the desirability of this policy stance in light of data on the world’s biggest companies. Using Forbes lists of the top “Global 2000” compani Read More

The digital economy is becoming an ever more important part of the world economy. It is revolutionizing the way we do business and it has important implications for foreign direct investment (FDI). However little systematic analysis has been done to investigate the investment patterns of digital multinational enterprises (MNEs). This study conducted in the context of UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2017 (WIR17) is an attempt to fill som Read More

International trade investment and tax policies are inextricably linked. Tax is a key investment determinant influencing the attractiveness of a location or an economy for international investors particularly those heavily engaged in international trade. Taxation tax relief and other fiscal incentives are key policy tools to increase exports and attract investors. Investors once established add to economic activity and the tax base of host economies and make direc Read More

Recent years have seen a significant increase in the complexity of multinational enterprise (MNE) ownership structures. Complex corporate structures raise concerns about the effectiveness of national and international investment policies based on the notion of investors’ nationality. This motivates this research effort aimed at analysing the ownership structures of some 700 000 foreign affiliates (FAs). A new methodology the bottom-up approach is introdu Read More

This study applies both the internationalization and regulatory focus theories to understand what motivates SMEs to implement springboard strategies – i.e. to invest in a country to re-export to third countries. While some academics emphasize the importance of free trade agreements and cost differentials others highlight the role played by the individual and network dimensions. We conducted 66 in-depth interviews and five days of non-participant observati Read More

The shuttering of commercial activity in the face of the Corona (Covid-19) pandemic will have a dramatic effect on the global economy. UNCTAD’s Division on Investment and Enterprise has been monitoring the impact on investment as well as its implications for development.1 In the face of the unprecedented circumstances this issue of the Transnational Corporations furnishes a brief overview of this work notably from the perspective of foreign direct in Read More

We are at a crossroads in human history. Our actions are changing the planet in unprecedented ways and if we carry on as at present the consequences could be disastrous. But right now we still have an opportunity to change course. If we come together to take the decisive steps needed we could chart the way toward a sustainable future where people live in harmony with nature.

Canada is proud to host this year’s World Environment Day. The United Nations General Assembly first designated June 5 as World Environment Day 45 years ago. Today it remains a chance to connect with our environment and each other and to continue to build a more sustainable world for our kids and grandkids.

It was a chilly February day. Dangwen and his wildlife monitoring team from the village of Yunta patrolled along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. The river was frozen solid easy for poachers to walk over. That day they encountered 220 blue sheep five white-lipped deer and a line of otter footprints. On the infrared camera traps that they had set up throughout the valley three snow leopards appeared a mother and two cubs – and the cubs had grown Read More

This amazing spinning ball of rock and water hurtling through space at more than 100000 kilometres an hour provides us with everything we need to live and be healthy. It’s a delicate balance with various interconnected natural systems — hydrologic and carbon cycles ocean and atmospheric currents among them — creating ideal conditions for human life.

Canada has 46 national parks and reserves 171 national historic sites and four national marine conservation areas adding up to 300000 square kilometres of protected areas. They represent the country's massive yet varied landscapes from the towering mountains of Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta to the sparkling sands of Sable Island National Park Reserve off Nova Scotia to the lush rain forest of Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve on the coast of Read More

Conditions are conducive to human life in most inhabited areas much of the time but nature can strike at almost any moment. When severe natural catastrophes hit densely populated and economically developed areas these rare events bring large economic costs. They can also hurt a sovereign credit rating a reflection of a national government’s ability and willingness to honor its financial obligations on time and in full.

Forests lakes rivers and fertile land provide income and employment for many men and women living in Africa. But unsustainable use of these resources can trap them in poverty. One way to reduce poverty and catalyse change is by producing and using evidence that brings together the environmental economic and social dimensions of development. This is the so-called integrated approach to sustainable development.

World Environment Day is very important for Bhutan. We take advantage of it to further enhance awareness of environmental conservation and to bring together communities from all walks of life to show solidarity towards keeping our environment beautiful and healthy. Our small Himalayan kingdom while pursuing economic development has taken strong steps to maintain our environment for this and future generations.

Some 30 years ago the celebrated author Annie Proulx was driving through the backroads of Michigan's Upper Peninsula when she came to a highway junction marked only by an apparently closed laundromat. “Across the road” she told Our Planet “was a large sign announcing that in that place in the nineteenth century had grown the finest white pine forest in the world. There was not a single white pine in sight”.

As part of my work at the Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan since 1982 I spent twenty years with Qi Qi [pronounced chee-chee] the world’s only captive baiji Yangtze River Dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer “the flag-bearer who was left behind”).

There are changes taking place all over the planet at all latitudes. Most often we are unaware of them. And yet they are altering the distribution ranges of the species on which we depend directly. This redistribution of living things is the tangible manifestation of the invisible movement of isotherms – imaginary lines of the same mean temperature that move towards the poles and mountain peaks like waves driven by global warming.