Publications

A new GPF working paper, jointly published with Brot für die Welt and MISEREOR, gives an overview of the debate around how to create an international legally binding instrument to hold transnational corporations accountable for human rights abuses. The scope reaches early efforts to formulate the UN Code of Conduct to the current initiative for a binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights. The paper particularly focuses on the responses by TNCs and their leading interest groups to the various [...]

Global Policy Forum and Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung—New York Office publish a joint report on the concept of a Responsibility to Protect (R2P). "In whose name? A critical view on the Responsibility to Protect” by Lou Pingeot and Wolfgang Obenland provides an overview of the history and content of R2P, its positive contributions and its flaws. It concludes that R2P does not give a satisfying answer to the key question it is supposed to address: how best to prevent and, if [...]

Today Global Policy Forum and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung—New York Office publish a new report on recent developments and practices of the security outsourcing of the UN. GPF's Lou Pingeot discusses the increasing use of private military and security companies (PMSCs), the shifting understanding of their role and activities, and how this influences the perception of the UN by other actors. The report discusses the UN’s attempt to increase transparency and accountability in their selection processes of PMSCs. Finally, Pingeot [...]

In a new working paper, GPF's Lou Pingeot discusses the influence of transnational corporations in the Post-2015 process. This working paper by Brot für die Welt, Global Policy Forum and Misereor provides an overview of the main corporate actors in the post-2015 process and how they shape the discourse on development. The paper advocates for more transparency around the participation of corporations in UN processes, including their financial support to UN initiatives, and for more reflection on the risks of [...]

A new working paper by Global Policy Forum, MISEREOR and Brot für die Welt sheds light on how greater corporate transparency can help overcome the dependence by countries in the Global South on foreign donors and mobilize sufficient government revenue to provide an adequate level of public goods. Corporations have devised various ways of getting their money out of a country without paying tax. If transnational companies are to be more honest in their tax affairs, their payment flows must [...]

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has published a report authored by GPF’s Barbara Adams and Lou Pingeot. The report titled “Whose Development, Whose UN?” gives an analysis of the future 'we don’t want' and the challenges facing the UN in the run up to the deadline of the Millennium Development Goals in 2015. It takes a look at the state of the UN’s historically values-based framework and the interests of the different development actors shaping the post-2015 development paradigm, particularly focusing on the [...]

A new policy paper published by the German NGO Forum on Environment and Development argues that the G8 New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Africa will not be able to combat hunger and food insecurity in Africa. On the contrary, the paper, to which Global Policy Forum contributed, points out that the New Alliance is mainly focused on providing multinationals with opportunities to reap profits through the creation of environments conducive to investment. Thus, the paper calls for [...]

The debates on an agenda for international co-operation and development beyond 2015 offer the opportunity to (re-)address in a holistic manner well-being and justice in societies. Given the economic, social and ecological challenges in the world, this is urgently needed.

The present framework of international development goals centering on the MDGs and the related strategies do not provide adequate answers to the global problems, be they accelerated global warming, the growing gap between rich and poor, the financialization of the [...]

In our series of papers coming out of the international conference „Tax Justice – Human Rights – Future Justice” in Berlin on the 27th November 2012, we are happy to present the latest edition on „Environmantal tax reform in countries of the South“. The paper ist he ninth in our series of Policy briefs „Info Steuergerechtigkeit“ on issues of tax justice, published in cooperation with the Tax Justice Network Germany.

Fiscal policy – and hence also tax policy – is one of the most important steering instruments of governments. The true priorities of policies are often revealed more clearly by budgets and tax legislation than they are by declarations and action programmes. Also, a government’s fiscal policy reflects the political influence of certain interest groups. Are defence budgets or social welfare budgets being raised? Who enjoys tax reliefs, and how are they compensated for? Answers to these questions are crucial [...]