NEW: The first evidence of a solar take-off in Africa☀️✈️
x33 rise in Algeria solar panel imports in the 12 mths to June 2025, compared to previous 12 mths.
x8 in Zambia
x7 in Botswana
x6 in Sudan
x3 in each of Liberia, DRC, Benin, Angola, Ethiopia
🧵
"By shifting incentives to reward long-term thinking, collective action, and bold risk-taking, individual foundations and the sector as a whole can help build the resilient, just, and hopeful future the world urgently needs."
Read more from @davidmcnair.bsky.social: tinyurl.com/ywst3bmj
A colleague shared this image #Canada
As our societal resilience to risks breaks down, we elect leaders that entertain us, distract us from reality, and take us down the road of conflict
That we can find limitless money for weaponry but deal with fundamental threats to our survival is baffling
🌍Can we trust current climate finance claims?
🎥At the launch of the 2025 DFI Transparency Index, @davidmcnair.bsky.social from @onecampaign.bsky.social breaks down why transparent, harmonised reporting is critical for accountability in climate finance.
#ClimateFinance #DFITransparency #2025Index
With much of the Global North turning away from development, it's clear a new vision of global solidarity is needed.
@davidmcnair.bsky.social laid out a template for what that could look like
www.independent.co.uk/voices/aid-b...
I wrote a piece for @the-independent.com on the future of development policy.
focus on
👉🏿 goals not budgets
👉🏿mutual interest not charity
👉🏿universal values not preaching
www.independent.co.uk/voices/aid-b...
#ffd4 #acm25
Moore's law, past & future
Technological change over last 50 years was dominated by Moore's law, & resulting exponential increase in computer power.
That period is now drawing to a close, just as the demand for computer power is growing exponentially:
my blogpost
www.softmachines.org/wordpress/?p...
@davidmcnair.bsky.social, your LinkedIn post also resonated and I'd love your thoughts: Are we focusing on the right issues, or "trying to go back".
I recently was gifted the planting of 10 trees which i was delighted about.
🚗More than 1 in 4 cars sold worldwide this year is set to be electric according to the International Energy Agency (IEA)
Dominated by China 🇨🇳with European manufacturers in second place. 🇪🇺
The energy transition is happening with or without politics. ✅
🌍 Health crises know no borders
🤝 Invest in Africa’s CDC, Medicines Agency, and manufacturing hubs
If you’re in Geneva and fancy a coffee, let me know
#WHA
What Needs to Change?
Much of it is about broader economic management:
➡️ Smarter taxes
➡️ Reduce debt costs
➡️ End illicit flows
➡️ Protect health budgets
➡️ Embrace new forms of finance
➡️ Treat health like infrastructure: invest…
#WHA
In Africa for example:
💰 Govs invest just 1.48% of GDP in health far below the WHO recommendation of 4-5%
💸 Households carry 34% of costs
👶 With 2.4B people by 2050, a resilient health system is critical.
#WHA
But this is also a moment of opportunity for countries to support their own ✨ Health sovereignty and build more resilient approaches to health globally.
But doing so requires that we:
⚙️ Fund it
🧠 Govern it
#WHA
The World Health Organisation itself has just restructured following major US funding cuts.
And developing countries are facing major risks:
❌ Up to $8B/year in donor funding at risk
❌ Millions of lives on the line
❌ Decades of progress could unravel
#WHA
Early start as I head to #Geneva for the World Health Assembly.
This is the annual gathering of Health Ministers and officials to discuss global health governance.
There are lots of headwinds….
#WHA
Over the past two decades, we've helped unlock over $1 trillion in financing, trained 5,000+ youth activists, and helped save 50 million lives.
Whether you signed a petition, met with your reps, or shared a post — you helped make it happen.
Here’s to 20 years of action, and many more to come! 💥
Remittances have long been a lifeline to low-income countries, often exceeding aid and foreign direct investment combined.
After aid cuts, their importance has increased- sometimes markedly.
In a new @cgdev.org blog, @helen-dempster.bsky.social and I explore how their benefits can be maximised.
A genuine question for an article I'm working on:
Is anyone in progressive movements / working on multilateral reform calling for *less* multilateralism?
I mean focus on problems only international cooperation can solve and leave the rest to national and local?
Recommendations v welcome!
As the #Conclave to select the next #Pope begins this article is a good overview of the front runners.⛪️
I’ve only met one of the candidates and don’t really feel qualified to comment
But moral leadership is thin on the ground & this is a vote that matters.🗳️
www.nytimes.com/article/next...
✅ Ireland should launch a ‘People & Planet Fund’ 🌍💶:
Using part of the 14bn Apple windfall to create a global investment vehicle for:
♻️ Renewable energy
🌱 Climate resilience
🚀 A Win-Win Approach: Could boost Ireland’s global influence, create new markets, while building a fairer, greener world.
🎙️ I spoke with @africanews about Emerging Market Debt in 2025 . 🌍📉
📊 African countries will pay $88bn in debt service.
💰 Half to private creditors at expensive rates.
🌟 The G20 could help bring these costs down by reducing risk ratings.
africanews.com/2025/01/09/w...
🌍✨ Next week, I’ll be in #Davos for the World Economic Forum.
There's so much public data out there that can improve policy making.
But the friction involved in accessing it is too high.
We’ll be showcasing how we’re removing those barriers 📊🔍.
If you want to catch up, let me know. 🌟
Yes please!
" I am telling you very clearly: we must prepare for war"
www.ft.com/content/f268...
I think leadership on EU development cooperation was really hurt by the UK leaving - and there is a case for a ‘Friends of Global Cooperation’ led by Ireland, Spain, Denmark and maybe Poland to fight for a better approach in the MFF etc.
But overall it does feel like Ireland is one of the few European countries which can make a case for doing this kind of partnership independently rather than joining into something EU branded. Although then equally I would like to see Ireland getting EU action more effective and partnershippy.
8/ It’s time for Ireland to think big and act boldly. 💪
We can lead a new era of international cooperation—one that serves both Irish values and global prosperity.
#GlobalDevelopment #PeopleAndPlanet #SustainableInvestment #ForeignAid #AfricaOpportunity #IrishAid #SoftPower 🌍💶
7/ 📖 History shows us this works. Remember the Marshall Plan?
💰 Rebuilt Europe post-WW2
🛒 Helped create the world’s largest trading bloc
🤝 Boosted US business & global influence—all while promoting peace
6/ 🚀 A Win-Win Approach:
✅ Boost Ireland’s global influence 🌍
✅ Create new markets for Irish business 📈
✅ Build a fairer, greener world 🌱
