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The UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16) kicked off this week in Cali, Colombia, gathering global leaders and stakeholders to advance the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted at COP15 in 2022. This framework includes 23 targets to protect nature, and at COP16, countries are expected to present their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) to outline how they will achieve these targets. Additionally, the conference will focus on mobilising resources to meet funding commitments of $20 billion by 2025, with a long-term goal of $30 billion annually by 2030.Today’s #ChartOfTheDay provides context on the relationship between ecological impact and economic affluence. The chart plots each country’s Ecological Footprint of consumption against its GDP per capita. The data reveal that while wealthier nations tend to have a higher footprint, they also use resources more efficiently. However, the rising impact of affluence presents a challenge: as income grows, so does ecological pressure, raising critical questions for balancing economic growth with sustainable resource use—a core theme at COP16.
Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson have been awarded the 2024 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.”Today’s #ChartOfTheDay recreates and extends a chart from their seminal 2005 paper, showing the divergent economic paths of North and South Korea. The laureates present the case of the two Koreas as a natural experiment between two halves organised in radically different ways - a system of Soviet socialism and a system of private property with government.In 1960, South Korea was one of the world’s poorest countries, with a GDP per capita comparable to that of Liberia or Guatemala. Today, it is a global economic powerhouse, with a per capita income more than 30 times greater than its northern neighbour.
Last year, UK productivity was 24% lower than if it had continued climbing at its pre-2008 trend. Before the crisis, productivity grew at about 2% per year. Since the crisis, it has grown at just 0.5% per year. Slow productivity growth is hurting families, costing the average UK household £11,500 per year.What can be done to address the challenges facing the UK? Join us today at the Festival of Economics to find out how we can boost Britain’s low productivity. Our expert panel will debate the causes of the UK’s productivity stagnation and consider potential policy solutions. Join us to explore the extent of the challenge and to discover how boosting investment, improving education and training, exploiting technological innovation, and changes in regulation could help address the UK’s productivity puzzle.
In the last two decades, China has come to dominate the world’s steel supply. At the turn of the millennium, 16% of the world’s raw steel came from China. Today, it is a majority.European steel production has been squeezed hardest, making up just 7% today. In the UK, the industry is now on its last legs. With the forthcoming closure of the Port Talbot steelworks, the UK will become the only G7 country unable to make ‘virgin’ steel.Listen to Richard Davies, the director of the Economics Observatory, explore the decline of the industry in the new Radio 4 documentary Steel Dragons.
More than 200 countries and territories are taking part in the Paris Olympics. At the opening ceremony, some countries needed full double-decker boats for their athletes, while others waved their flags from small Murano boats.China (388 athletes) and the USA (594) have large athlete delegations, while France (572), Slovenia (74), New Zealand (212), and Australia (460) have some of the highest athlete-to-population ratios.Despite their large populations, Pakistan (7), Bangladesh (5), and Myanmar (2) have few athletes at the Olympics.Somalia, with over 18 million people, has just one athlete. The Netherlands, with a population almost the same size, has 276 athletes competing.To find out more about the 2024 games, read this Economics Observatory article about home advantage.
The UK has a lower view of itself that its peers.In 2021, an Ipsos poll asked UK and G20 citizens whether they favored the UK's people, government, and institutions. In all three categories, a majority or G20 respondents said they favored the UK favorably. The UK was the second most attractively-rated country in the survey, behind only Italy. UK respondeds favored their country overall, but not as strongly. Unfavorable ratings were far lower for all three categories, especially for the government (34%). The UK appears to be less confident in itself than the rest of the world. What are the implications of this lack of confidence and is it warranted?On October 3rd, join our panels of economists, authors, and other experts for the final day of our Festival of Economics as we discuss "Britian's Place in the World." We will discuss how to remake Britian, how to "get Britian exporting again," and British foreign policy. Visit our events page to find out more about this event and more at the Festival of Economics.
Amid pressure to remove the two-child cap on benefits, the government has launched a new Child Poverty Unit. The cap, introduced by the Conservative government in 2017, means that families do not receive additional child tax credit or universal credit for third or fourth children born after April 2017.Over the last two decades, relative child poverty - the proportion of children in households with equivalised incomes below 60% of the median - has fallen slightly, though there has been a mild upward trend since 2013. Increases in the poverty rate for households with three or more children have been offset by a reduction for those with one or two children.To find out more about child poverty in the UK, read this Economics Observatory article detailing its history over the last 30 years.
The de facto ban on onshore wind energy in England has been lifted. From 2015, stringent English planning regulations meant that any local opposition could halt onshore wind projects and all projects had to form part of a local development plan - conditions not applied to other energy types.As one of the cheapest forms of electricity, wind energy will be central to the UK’s net-zero transition. Last year, the National Infrastructure Commission called for onshore wind to be ‘scaled up’, following years of stagnation in England. Since 2017, English capacity has risen by just 2%, while in Scotland – unaffected by the ban – it has surged by 86%.To find out more about the green transition, read this Economics Observatory article, which links to the full range of our coverage of the issue.
