Daily News Brief

June 23, 2023

Top of the Agenda

At a summit in Paris yesterday, World Bank President Ajay Banga announced a new “toolkit” in response to climate change (Reuters) that includes provisions for debtor countries hit by climate disasters. The bank will allow countries to pause their debt repayments and have flexibility to redirect loan funds toward an emergency response, he said. Nearly forty heads of state at the summit also agreed to create a roadmap (The Guardian) to reform global financial institutions in the wake of climate change.

The summit, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, aimed to highlight long-standing complaints by low-income countries most vulnerable to climate shocks. They have argued that current international financial structures are inadequate for funding their responses to the climate crisis. Governments at the summit were ordered to present concrete proposals for how to set up a loss and damage climate fund before November’s UN climate conference.

Analysis

“[Macron] is right that only international negotiations can address how finance is failing both the climate battle and the developing world,” the Observer Research Foundation’s Mihir Sharma writes for Bloomberg.

“The covenant between wealthier countries and lower-income ones has always been rooted in a shared interest in living together in a more stable, healthy, and prosperous world. A reimagined development finance system would support that goal, including by giving low-income and middle-income countries the resources they need to address poverty and climate change,” Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley and the Rockefeller Foundation’s Rajiv J. Shah write for Foreign Affairs.

Pacific Rim

The shifting trade balance could reflect the effect of export controls discouraging the sale of semiconductors to China, and surging U.S. demand for Korean cars. The last time Seoul exported more to Washington than to Beijing was almost two decades ago (FT).

Indonesia: Indonesia changed the location (Reuters) of the first-ever joint military drills held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to avoid a part of the South China Sea where China and other countries have overlapping territorial claims.

South and Central Asia

When asked about allegations of democratic backsliding in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that “democracy is in our DNA” (PBS).

CFR expert Manjari Chatterjee Miller and CFR’s Clare Harris examine how Modi’s state visit reveals U.S. foreign policy priorities.

India: India will charge a higher rate (Reuters) for electricity used during nighttime, its peak demand period, in a bid to reduce emissions.

Middle East and North Africa

After a week of attacks in which fourteen people were killed, UN human rights chief Volker Türk today called for an end to the violence (OHCHR) that he said serves “only to drive Israelis and Palestinians deeper into an abyss.”

This Backgrounder by CFR’s Kali Robinson unpacks U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Iran/UAE: Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian discussed plans for a bilateral tax and investment deal (Al-Monitor) with Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed in Tehran yesterday, as Iran seeks to mend fences with other Arab countries..  

Sub-Saharan Africa

China and other creditors agreed to extend the payment deadline (FT) on $6.3 billion in loans to Zambia yesterday. For months prior, Zambia had been unable to access emergency loans from the International Monetary Fund while China clashed with other bilateral creditors on how to restructure debts. 

South Africa: A gas explosion in a disused mine shaft killed thirty-one people (AP) last month. Authorities said they only recently discovered the miners, who are suspected of using the shaft illegally.

Europe

According to the draft resolution, genetically modified crops designed to withstand drought and other climate-related stresses would be exempt (FT) from a slow-moving regulatory regime for genetically modified organisms (GMO). 

Americas

Three of the most popular presidential candidates were barred from the election in judicial decisions widely seen as political, NPR reported. General elections Sunday will elect a new president, vice president, and Congress.

Canada: Canada’s legislature passed a law (NYT) requiring technology companies to pay news outlets for linking to their articles, prompting Meta, the owner of Facebook, to say it will stop linking to news in the country.

United States

It is the largest government backing (Bloomberg) for an automaker since the 2009 financial crisis and the largest-ever loan issued by the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office. 

This Backgrounder by Anshu Siripurapu and CFR’s Noah Berman looks at the return of U.S. industrial policy.

In this interactive piece, the Washington Post delves into why a lake in Canada could mark the official starting point for the Anthropocene, a new geologic era initiated by the moment when human activities fundamentally change the environment.  

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