The present collection of short papers is an experimental, explorative and introspective German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) project on international and transnational cooperation for development and sustainability. It is the product of internal brainstorming discussions at...

This Discussion Paper makes the case for universality in United Nations (UN) development work. So far, the UN development pillar has largely remained wedded to a 20th-century approach to development cooperation that centres on two groups of states and a one-way relationship between them: rich...

Namibia is a highly competitive location for solar and wind energy, which can be utilised to produce green hydrogen and derivatives that are essential for decarbonising the global economy. Its government therefore has high hopes for this entire industrial complex, as do several European...

Wie bedingen sich Rechenschaftslegung und organisationales Lernen im weltweit zweitgrößten bilateralen System der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (EZ)? Wir analysieren Interviewdaten von Mitarbeitenden der beiden deutschen größten EZ-Durchführungsorganisationen: der Deutschen Gesellschaft für...

The early 1960s can be regarded as the "Big Bang" for international cooperation and development policy. The US was pushing an international system to support developing countries, and in 1961, it established the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The same year saw the Organisation...

The international development debate is increasingly referring to the notion of the "social contract" - often, however, without a clear definition of the term and its implications. We therefore make a suggestion for measuring at least some elements of social contracts in order to make it easier...

Cities are increasingly affected by the changing climate and a corresponding mobility and immobility of people. Hence, localising global and national frameworks and policies on climate im/mobility at the city level is increasingly important. This discussion paper examines how urban governance in...

Relations between the global North and global South have grown more contentious in recent years. As frustration rises in tandem with global power shifts, the United Nations (UN) has become an arena for the negotiation of a new global governance. Within this framing, the Group of 77 (G77),...

Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and meeting global climate targets will necessitate unprecedented levels of investment, particularly in developing countries. A substantial portion of this investment must be sourced from the private sector, given the scale of the...

While there is increasing consensus in the academic debate on the regressive nature of energy subsidies and the necessity to reduce them, this is much less so for food subsidy reforms - not least because of the positive impact of food subsidies for food security. They make food affordable even...