Devex Newswire: Norway’s climate moral 'hypocrisy'

The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation hosted its annual development gathering on climate and biodiversity yesterday. But all did not go according to plan when it was severely scolded for “moral and economic madness.” Also in today’s edition: We look at how the Medicines Patent Pool will accelerate access to medicine in lower-income nations, and a few details on Australia’s development policy. Join us: On Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. EAT (4 p.m. WAT/10 a.m. ET), we’ll be hosting a Twitter Spaces conversation on what are the top priorities for the new Africa CDC chief. Norway feels the heat Norway got a dressing down at its flagship development conference yesterday when a Ugandan activist took to the stage and accused the government of “hypocrisy and lies” in its climate policy. Vanessa Nakate, known for her climate campaigning with Greta Thunberg, was pretty blunt during her opening speech. But her comments highlight recent criticism hurled at Norway for authorizing record oil and gas drilling in the Arctic, writes my colleague William Worley, who witnessed the scene. The Scandinavian nation made a record 884 billion Norwegian kroner ($89 billion) from fossil fuels in 2022 amid the energy crunch in Europe, with revenue expected to rise to NOK 1.38 trillion this year. Meanwhile, uncertainty remains over the aid budget. “Norway often likes to portray itself as a climate leader,” Nakate told the room full of officials, politicians, and aid workers, calling for the government to cease financing new fossil fuel developments. “But just last week, the Norwegian government announced its plans to offer a record number of oil exploration blocks in the Arctic. … Does this sound like climate leadership to you?” “It is time to stop the moral and economic madness,” she said. “Norway, you cannot have it both ways.” Read: Norway's aid accused of climate 'hypocrisy and lies' Bad behavior Much has been said about the World Health Organization’s work to prevent and improve its response to sexual misconduct by its personnel. But questions remain on its handling of those cases. My colleague Jenny Lei Ravelo tells me that Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus informed WHO board members on Tuesday that three of its staffers placed on administrative leave for allegedly mishandling sexual misconduct cases involving WHO staff in the Democratic Republic of Congo will soon be returning to work. The reason? The allegations against them, made by an independent commission that WHO established in 2020, were “unsubstantiated,” according to an investigation of the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services. Tedros said there were “significant inconsistencies” between the two reports, but didn’t elaborate on what those inconsistencies are, raising concerns from member states. The Netherlands in particular asked for clarity on the reasons for the discrepancies, whether the independent commission has already been informed of the discrepancies, and how it should be dealt with. Some member states questioned leakages of WHO cases to the media. One, in particular, is the case of a Fijian physician who works for WHO alleged to have sexually assaulted a doctor during last year’s World Health Summit in Berlin. The member state representative from Fiji said “due process must be respected.” Tedros said an investigation involving the physician has now been completed, and that the case has been submitted to WHO’s newly formed Global Advisory Committee, which is also under the purview of the DG, for review. Disciplinary actions will be taken if the allegations are found to be true, he said. Stay tuned for Jenny’s wider story on this, and on how WHO deals with sexual misconduct allegations. Aiming high The Medicines Patent Pool has an ambitious plan. By 2025, it aims to have 10 new licenses, support 10 technology transfers, and develop five new drugs that will reach 30 million people. The United Nations-backed organization, known for its work in the generic licensing of drugs for infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis, wants the medicines delivered to low- and middle-income countries at the same time they get to high-income countries. Lower-income countries often wait years to access drugs already available in high-income countries. Take antiretroviral drugs for HIV treatment, for example — what was available in the United States in the late 1980s took another decade to reach Africa. Today, Paxlovid, Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral pill, which has been doing the rounds in the U.S. since December 2021, remains unavailable in many countries. “I want to get generic versions into low- and middle-income countries within a year of their launch in the developed world. That's really the aim,” Charles Gore, the executive director at MPP, tells Jenny. Read: Medicines Patent Pool has a plan to get drugs to low-income nations fast (Pro) + Not yet a Devex Pro member? Start your 15-day free trial of Pro today to read the piece. Get your networking mojo back You’re putting yourself out there — mingling, handing out business cards, drinking lousy wine, and doing your best to network, but for some reason, it’s not panning out. Perhaps it’s time to remember the old refrain: Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results. “People get frustrated when they're not working or in a job search because they're not getting the results they want. And I want to encourage everyone to really stop and look at your techniques and strategies and think, OK, am I doing the same thing and not getting the results I want,” said Jennifer Bangoura of Nexford University. Bangoura joined international coach Simone Anzböck during a recent Devex live event on LinkedIn for tips on how to revive and reboot your networking game. Read: How to reset your networking strategy in 3 steps (Career) + A Devex Career Account membership includes all the valuable tools you need to be successful in your globaldev job hunt. Sign up today and start your 15-day free trial. What’s up Down Under? It’s all up in the air in the world of Australian development policy, says my colleague Vince Chadwick. Since the center-left Labor Party took office last year, it has been mulling an overhaul of its foreign aid sector, including an increase of about $1 billion in official development assistance over the next four years. But Vince is keen to find out what else to expect. To that end, he badgered Foreign Minister Penny Wong during a panel yesterday in Brussels — but didn’t get very far, especially about the pros and cons of creating an Australian development finance institution, which is currently under consideration. “We are seeking to look at how we might drive Australia’s development dollar more effectively,” Wong said, noting simply that a new DFI could be part of that. Nor did Vince garner much from Wong when he asked whether Australia believes World Bank reform would be credible without a capital increase. “I don’t think I’d be in a position to comment on that right now,” Wong said. But all was not lost. Australia’s general proposition is that multilateral institutions should be “reflective of the needs of the countries who will be accessing them,” she said. On climate finance, for instance, she asked the leaders of Pacific island nations whether they prefer multilateral, regional, or bilateral mechanisms. “I didn’t have those discussions with the intent of making them public,” she told Vince when nudged about how Pacific leaders responded. “But I think it’s pretty clear a lot of those countries have not found some of the multilateral funds to be effective for them.” In other news Kenya is expecting to receive at least $700 million in disbursements from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to boost its foreign exchange reserves. [Bloomberg] A recent attack in Germany involving a "stateless" person has reignited debate about tightening deportation laws in the country. [DW] UNICEF's Global Outlook report identified eight world crises that could adversely affect children around the world in 2023. [UN News] Sign up to Newswire for an inside look at the biggest stories in global development.