At UN Climate Summit, Guterres Warns Inaction Has Opened ‘Gates of Hell’ |
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that humanity has “opened the gates to hell” (The Guardian) by failing to phase out fossil fuels and take strong action against climate change at a summit led alongside the UN General Assembly yesterday. The event was designed to highlight countries the United Nations deemed to have shown improved climate action. The United States and China, the world’s two biggest polluters, were not invited to speak (NYT).
While some participants at the conference, such as Brazil and Thailand, highlighted newly ambitious emissions reduction targets, they were starkly contrasted by an announcement yesterday by major polluter the United Kingdom (UK) that it would downgrade climate targets (FT) by delaying a ban on the sale of new oil and diesel-powered cars and relaxing the phaseout target for new gas boilers. Mia Mottley, prime minister of Barbados and a staunch climate activist, questioned why the UN Security Council did not take climate change as seriously as it is taking the war in Ukraine.
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“Their absence [of leaders of major economies] is illustrative of the point we aren’t taking seriously the magnitude of the task right now,” Tufts University’s Kelly Sims Gallagher tells the Guardian. “If we were serious, all of them would be at the table today. It’s concerning.”
“Rishi Sunak’s decision to water down a key part of the UK’s green agenda represents a gamble that conceding some ground to the climate-skeptic political right will appeal to Britons buffeted by a cost-of-living crisis,” Bloomberg’s Emily Ashton, Kitty Donaldson, Ellen Milligan, and Alex Wickham write. “Reports of the sudden shift had sparked a backlash within his Conservative Party over fears it would damage Britain’s international standing and dissuade carmakers from investing.”
This article by CFR’s Noah Berman and Sabine Baumgartner looks at how climate change induced a year of unprecedented weather extremes.
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Syria’s Assad Visits China |
President Bashar al-Assad is seeking aid (SCMP) for Syria’s economic reconstruction on his first official visit to China since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011. China has backed Assad in the civil war.
Indonesia: Despite holding the world’s largest nickel reserves, Indonesia’s efforts to build an electric vehicle (EV) battery industry have been hampered by a difficulty securing lithium supplies and accessing U.S. EV incentives, Nikkei reports. Indonesia lacks an agreement with the United States that would allow it to access subsidies via the Inflation Reduction Act.
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India Suspends Visa Provision in Canada |
India’s visa processing center in Canada announced the suspension (Globe and Mail, AP) today as tensions mount over Ottawa’s probe into the murder of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India also issued a travel advisory, urging its citizens and travelers in Canada to be cautious of “growing anti-India activities.”
Pakistan: Election authorities announced that the general election will occur in January 2024 (Dawn) after a monthslong delay while electoral districts were redrawn. |
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Middle East and North Africa |
Biden, Netanyahu Talk Judicial Reform and Israel’s Relations With Palestinians, Saudis |
The leaders of the United States and Israel met for the first time (AP) yesterday since Benjamin Netanyahu became Israeli prime minister last year. U.S. President Joe Biden urged Netanyahu to reach a compromise on his efforts to overhaul Israel’s judiciary and improve conditions in the West Bank. The leaders also discussed a potential normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
This In Brief by CFR expert Steven A. Cook unpacks Israel’s judicial overhaul.
Qatar: Qatari officials held separate bilateral meetings with U.S. and Iranian officials this week about U.S. concerns over Iran’s nuclear program and military links to Russia, Reuters reported.
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U.S.-Africa Trade Conference to Proceed After Concerns About Russia Links |
Allegations that South Africa supplied arms to Russia and allowed a sanctioned Russian ship to dock at a South African port caused U.S. lawmakers to call for Washington to exclude South Africa from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). However, both the United States and South Africa announced the AGOA conference scheduled for November will proceed (AP) in Johannesburg.
This Backgrounder by Claire Klobucista explains the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
Mali: Islamist extremists are blocking food and other aid to the city of Timbuktu as part of a war on the country’s military government. Analysts told the Financial Times that the extremists were taking advantage of a security vacuum amid UN peacekeeping forces’ ongoing withdrawal by the end of the year.
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Zelenskyy to Meet With Biden as Russia Launches Strikes Across Ukraine |
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit today (NYT) comes as Biden seeks to rally Congressional support behind a new $24 billion military and humanitarian aid package for Ukraine. The White House said its timing is critical as Ukraine struggles in its counteroffensive; hours before the meeting, Russian missiles targeted sites across Ukraine.
This article by CFR’s Jonathan Masters and Will Merrow shows U.S. aid to Ukraine in six charts.
Poland/Ukraine: After Poland’s prime minister said the country has stopped shipping weapons to Ukraine amid a dispute over grain trade, Polish officials walked the comments back, saying that Warsaw is carrying out shipments (Bloomberg) of ammunition and arms they previously agreed to send.
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U.S. Grants Temporary Work Authorization to Half a Million Venezuelans on U.S. Soil |
Some 472,000 Venezuelans are due to be affected by yesterday’s decision, which grants them protection from deportation (NYT) and legal authorization to work for eighteen months. Venezuelan asylum seekers in the United States had previously faced a long backlog for work authorization.
Haiti/Kenya: The two countries established diplomatic ties (Reuters) yesterday after Kenya said in July that it was willing to lead a multinational security force to intervene in Haiti’s security crisis.
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Biden Announces Climate Jobs Program |
As part of a new federal initiative, the U.S. government will offer training (AP) on jobs related to clean energy and climate resilience to more than twenty thousand young people. |
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Council on Foreign Relations |
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