Kashmir floods and Cyclone Hudhud caused loss of USD 18 billion and have been the most economically costly event in 2014 reveals this latest edition of Annual Global Climate and Catastrophe Report. 258 global natural disasters in 2014 caused economic losses of USD132 billion says the report. 

Global growth again disappointed in 2014 but a lackluster recovery is underway, with increasingly divergent prospects in major economies. Looking ahead, growth is expected to rise slowly, supported by continued recovery in high-income countries and receding domestic headwinds in developing economies.

The period of rapid economic growth over the past 50 years was exceptional and will not be repeated without an unprecedented acceleration in productivity growth, according to a new report from the McKinsey Global Institute.

The overall aim of the Economics of Sanitation Initiative (ESI) is to promote evidence-based decision making to increase the volume, effectiveness, and sustainability of sanitation expenditure.

China and India together are expected to account for half the growth in global energy demand because these two developing economies will lead the world in terms of population size and the pace of growth in standards of living says this new report by Exxon Mobil

Africa’s regional integration has been a key economic and political aspiration since the independence decade of the 1960s – some 50 years ago. It is also an important pillar for the work of the African Development Bank, which is celebrating its 50th Anniversary as Africa’s premier development finance institution during 2014.

The Climate Change Performance Index is an instrument supposed to enhance transparency in international climate politics. Its aim is to encourage political and social pressure on those countries which have, up to now, failed to take ambitious actions on climate protection as well as to highlight countries with best-practice climate policies.

Wage growth around the world slowed in 2013 to 2.0 per cent, compared to 2.2 per cent in 2012, and has yet to catch up to the pre-crisis rates of about 3.0 per cent, according to the ILO’s Global Wage Report 2014/15 .