Jesse Chase-Lubitz

United Kingdom

Climate Journalist at Freelance

Climate Reporter at Devex

Articles

Gates alters scholarship rules after complaint of racial discrimination

1 week ago | devex.com | Jesse Chase-Lubitz

The Gates Foundation quietly expanded its scholarship eligibility after a conservative group accused it of discriminating against white students. The Gates Foundation has changed the eligibility criteria of its signature scholarship program after a right-wing activist group argued to the United States’ Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, that it was violating its tax-exempt status by discriminating against white people.
Germany's coalition contract includes new cuts to aid budget

2 weeks ago | devex.com | Jesse Chase-Lubitz

The world’s second biggest provider of official development assistance is officially planning cuts. Germany’s next centrist government announced its coalition contract on Wednesday.
The growing relevance of BRICS to climate finance

2 weeks ago | devex.com | Jesse Chase-Lubitz

This week, Brazil's Minister of Environment and Climate Change Marina Silva said the BRICS group, which began in 2006 as a club of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and later South Africa, has the potential to lead a just climate transition. “We represent around half of the world's population and 39% of global GDP,” she said during the 11th ministerial meeting of BRICS in Brasília, Brazil.
China's big development projects are getting smaller

3 weeks ago | devex.com | Jesse Chase-Lubitz

Around 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping introduced a new catch phrase for how the country would approach foreign aid in the future: small and beautiful. The term was meant to promote community-based, small-scale, sustainable projects — contrary to the infrastructure projects of the century that China had championed for the last decade, most famously the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI.
Germany's coalition government still haggling over aid spending

3 weeks ago | devex.com | Jesse Chase-Lubitz

Germany’s coalition talks reveal a divide over foreign aid spending, with the SPD pushing to maintain 0.7% of GDP while the CDU argues for cuts — raising questions about the future of the country’s development ministry. The two parties that will likely form the next German government disagree about aid cuts, according to a partial draft of the coalition contract leaked to Politico.
Europe is cutting development spending, and it's not because of Trump

1 month ago | devex.com | Jesse Chase-Lubitz

Europe is restructuring its development aid, shifting from traditional grants to investment-driven funding while cutting budgets and prioritizing defense, raising concerns about the future of global development. While the majority of attention is directed at the United States dismantling of its foreign aid apparatus, Europe is going through its own overhaul — one that started long before President Donald Trump took office.
Gaza aid workers say there are 'no aid operations in the field'

1 month ago | devex.com | Jesse Chase-Lubitz

On Tuesday, the Israeli government launched a missile attack into Gaza, killing more than 400 people — including a United Nations staff member — in the most aggressive breach of a two-month ceasefire that began Jan. 19. Some organizations reported smaller previous violations to the agreement, but none as widely recognized as this. Aid increased during the ceasefire — with more than allowed to enter the strip per week, along with 600,000 polio vaccinations, and maternity care for 5,000 births.
Could the future of the World Bank be outside of Washington?

1 month ago | devex.com | Jesse Chase-Lubitz

With the U.S. deprioritizing development, experts say power at the World Bank could be shifting — and with it, potentially even its headquarters. As the Trump administration dismantles foreign assistance, many in the development space are wondering when the government’s attention will turn to the World Bank. Experts say that withdrawing from the bank is very unlikely and wholly unadvised, but possible.
If USAID contractors fold, staff retirement plans will disappear too

1 month ago | devex.com | Jesse Chase-Lubitz

As USAID funding dries up, many employee-owned contractors face bankruptcy, putting workers' jobs, health insurance, and retirement savings at risk. As over 80% of U.S. Agency for International Development programs officially end, many contractors that rely on USAID funding face plummeting stocks and potential bankruptcy. Employees not only stand to lose their jobs but also the funds that they invested in the company’s stock.
Scoop: Brazil hammers out details of forest fund ahead of COP30

1 month ago | devex.com | Jesse Chase-Lubitz

In the lead-up to the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP30, in Belém, Brazil, in November, the Brazilian government is preparing to launch a new fund that will measure which nations have done a good job at preserving their forests and reward them based on that data. The fund called the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, or TFFF, was originally announced at COP28 in Dubai in 2023.