Transnational Bodies

WTO Panel Rules Boeing Tax Breaks Violate Trade Rules

April 03, 2019

The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Appellate Body has ruled that the US ignored previous WTO rulings by allowing Washington state to continue to apply a business and occupancy tax rate reduction for airplane manufacturing giant Boeing in violation of international trade law.
NATO Members Increase Defense Spending

March 18, 2019

Politico reports that, amid ongoing pressure by the Trump Administration on fellow NATO members to hit the treaty alliance’s two percent target for defense spending, such spending as a proportion of GDP by the EU members of NATO hit a five-year high in 2018.
World Bank Publishes Action Plan on African Climate Aid

March 14, 2019

The World Bank Group has published an Action Plan on Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience that seeks to inject $50 billion into projects aimed at “managing climate risks by fostering sustainable national development throughout every sector,” with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa.
WEF Initiative Gains Influence over Indonesian Policies on Waste

March 14, 2019

In its first partnership with a national government, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Plastic Action Partnership, which includes businesses and nongovernmental organizations, has announced collaboration with the Indonesian government on a national plan to reduce plastic waste.
World Bank Launches Global Project Embracing Wind Energy

March 13, 2019

As part of the ongoing embrace by multilateral development institutions of the UN’s Paris climate goals, the World Bank Group has launched a program to advise developing countries on the prospects of their installation of offshore wind energy projects and develop a “pipeline” of such projects as targets for private investment.
Schaefer: US Must Track All Contributions to International Bodies

March 12, 2019

Brett Schaefer of the Heritage Foundation has called on the US Congress to require government reporting tracking all US contributions to international organizations to improve transparency of such spending and permit lawmakers to hold the recipients of such contributions accountable.
World Bank Funds Climate Project in Bangladesh

March 07, 2019

Highlighting the global development institution’s expanding focus on fulfilling the UN’s agenda on combating climate change, the World Bank recently approved $185 million for a renewable energy generation project in Bangladesh that will help the country cut its greenhouse gas emissions.
OECD Calls on Turkey to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

February 22, 2019

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published an Environmental Performance Review calling on the Turkish government to ramp up investments in renewable energy and to remove tax and other incentives for the use of fossil fuels in line with the UN’s Paris climate agreement.
OSCE Office Presses US on Voting Rights

February 21, 2019

In its report on the 2018 US congressional elections, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights called on the US to give full representation rights to the District of Columbia and overseas territories and to grant voting rights to citizens with criminal records.
World Bank Touts Funding of Biodiversity Efforts in Africa

February 20, 2019

The World Bank has published a press release on its efforts to “conserve and sustainably manage” biodiversity in Africa, providing an example of the global development institution’s expansion of focus from combating poverty to advancing a broad range of environmental initiatives.