Daily News Brief

June 28, 2023

Top of the Agenda

The world lost 10 percent more primary tropical forest in 2022 than it did the previous year, according to a study done by the University of Maryland and the World Resources Institute. The uptick comes despite pledges (NYT) by 145 countries at the 2021 UN climate conference to end deforestation by the end of the decade. Last year’s destruction released 2.7 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions, roughly equivalent to India’s annual fossil fuel emissions.  

Nearly half of the world’s tropical forest loss last year occurred in Brazil, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Bolivia. Ghana lost almost 70 percent more (FT) primary forest than in the previous year. In Indonesia and Malaysia, meanwhile, deforestation has fallen significantly since 2016, reaching near record-lows.

Analysis

“[Brazil’s President] Lula has campaigned on the promise to bring deforestation levels in the Amazon down to zero. The question is whether he can in fact deliver. Brazil has developed an addiction to deforestation. In order to break it, the incoming president will have to muster all the support he can find,” Fundação Getúlio Vargas’s Matias Spektor and Vanderbilt University’s Guilherme Fasolin write for Foreign Affairs. 

“All these high-level commitments sound good in a public forum, but they have no teeth,” Columbia University’s Ruth DeFries told Vox. “There’s no enforcement and very little reason for countries to have accountability.”

This InfoGuide looks at deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest.

Pacific Rim

The U.S. Department of Commerce could expand the restrictions amid security and defense concerns as soon as early July, the Wall Street Journal reported. The head of U.S. technology firm Nvidia has spoken out against previous such controls announced in October, saying they threaten to cause “enormous damage” (FT) to the U.S. tech industry.

This episode of the Why It Matters podcast discusses the importance of semiconductors to the global economy, innovation, and security. 

Japan/Taiwan: Taiwan’s vice premier is visiting Japan (Bloomberg) for the first such trip in twenty-nine years this week. He is meeting with Japanese companies and government officials to discuss bolstering semiconductor supply chains and bilateral economic relations.

South and Central Asia

The power ministry’s plan, which would run through to 2030, would reward companies that work toward establishing a manufacturing capacity of fifty gigawatt hours’ worth of battery cells, the Financial Times reported.

Afghanistan: The country’s rural health system is deteriorating amid a prolonged economic crisis, causing patients to overwhelm hospitals, the Washington Post reports. The surge in patients also comes as Western donors are increasingly hesitant to send aid to Afghanistan.

This Backgrounder by Lindsay Maizland looks at Afghanistan under Taliban rule.

Middle East and North Africa

The Ministry of Water Resources has called the drought Iraq’s worst water shortage in a century (Al Jazeera), affecting around seven million people, and many families do not have the economic means to leave the country. 

Israel/Palestinian territories: Israel’s defense minister and a senior Palestinian official discussed the recent violence in the West Bank during a rare phone call yesterday. Israel pledged to exact penalties (Reuters) for rioters, according to the Israeli readout of the call.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Incumbent Julius Maada Bio won 56 percent of the vote, narrowly clearing the threshold (BBC) needed to avoid a runoff election. International observers have raised concerns over transparency in the vote tallying process.

Ghana: The opposition's victory in a parliamentary by-election could put at risk the government’s efforts to enact laws to meet the conditions of a $3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg reported.

Europe

The attack in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh came as foreign ministers from both countries began peace talks (Politico) in Washington yesterday.

Ukraine: A Russian strike on a popular pizza restaurant in the eastern city of Kramatorsk killed at least ten people (AP) and wounded at least sixty-one, Ukraine’s National Police said.

Americas

The International Criminal Court (ICC) ordered that an investigation into alleged human rights abuses by officials in the Nicolás Maduro government should proceed (El País) after it had previously been paused. 

Brazil: The country aims to pass framework regulations for the offshore wind and green hydrogen sectors by the end of 2023, its energy minister told Reuters.

United States

In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court rejected a legal theory (Politico) that argues that state courts have little to no authority to question state legislatures on setting rules for federal elections.

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