As of March 2026, this website is no longer being updated. I now work mainly on climate issues, especially in Brighton and Hove, and new work can be found on the website of Climate:Change, our independent think-tank on socially inclusive action in the City: www.climatechangebh.org.uk.
Meanwhile, however, this website has over 850 entries, mostly representing my work on international development from 2010-2025. Among much else, there are over 50 book reviews, more than 20 papers and training cases on bridging research and policy and on managing think-tanks, and many papers on other topics, including aid, food security and nutrition, and the future of international development. See ‘Topics and Themes’ for more details. I can be reached at sm@simonmaxwell.net.
Giant strides or fairy footsteps
Giant strides are needed to decarbonise the world economy, and giant strides need a giant causeway - marked out on the landscape by a global deal on emissions targets, generous finance, and a high and rising international price of carbon. But what happens if the road-builders are on strike, or working to rule, as seems to be the case in the global negotiations on climate change? Are there other pathways, less suited to giant strides, but perhaps open to fairy footsteps, which might lead to the same destination?
To see Simon's recent article in open democracy, see here.