Daily News Brief

January 11, 2023

Top of the Agenda

Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States grew by 1.3 percent (FT) in 2022 compared to the previous year, a report by research firm Rhodium Group found. It was the second year in a row that U.S. emissions rose, though the growth was smaller than the 6.5 percent increase in 2021. New clean energy subsidies could lead to a decline in planet-warming emissions as early as this year. However, the report said, “more aggressive policies are needed” to meet the country’s goal of reducing emissions by 50–52 percent, compared to 2005 levels, by 2030. 

Ongoing rainstorms in California are the latest example (NYT) of climate change’s deadly impact, with seventeen people killed in eleven days. The financial toll of continued warming is also high; annual costs from climate- and weather-fueled disasters in the United States have exceeded $100 billion (NPR) in five of the last six years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) reported yesterday.

Analysis

“The good news is that there are signs that the U.S. economy is already starting to kick its addiction to planet-warming emissions,” Grist’s Jake Biddle writes. “Emissions didn’t rise as fast as overall economic output, indicating that the U.S. economy became less carbon-intensive even as it roared back to life after the 2020 lockdowns.”

“With the House [of Representatives] now under Republican control, the White House will have a harder time getting its climate agenda through Congress, leaving executive action, agency regulations, and states as the biggest levers of US climate policy,” Vox’s Umair Irfan writes.

CFR’s Alice C. Hill writes that the United States needs to prepare for more billion-dollar climate disasters.

Pacific Rim

The agreement, expected to be signed today (Nikkei), would allow forces from each country to be deployed to the other for training and disaster relief. It will be Japan’s first such deal with a European country.

CFR’s Sheila A. Smith looks at how Japan is doubling down on its military power.

Indonesia: President Joko Widodo voiced regret for rights abuses (AFP) committed by past Indonesian governments, including killings that occurred during an anti-communist purge in the 1960s and the forced disappearances of protesters in the 1990s.

South and Central Asia

Tensions have simmered (Bloomberg) along the countries’ disputed border since a deadly clash in June 2020.

Canada/Sri Lanka: Canada announced sanctions (Canadian Press) on four senior Sri Lankan politicians, including two former presidents, over human rights violations committed during the country’s twenty-six-year civil war.

Middle East and North Africa

The Houthi rebels have detained (Al Jazeera) three dissident YouTube personalities since late December and transferred their cases to a court in the capital, Sanaa, local media reported. YouTube has been a rare space for dissent in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen. 

Saudi Arabia: The country plans to use domestically sourced uranium (Reuters) to grow its nuclear power industry, its energy minister said. Riyadh has said it is seeking to diversify its energy mix.

Sub-Saharan Africa

World Health Organization (WHO) officials detected no new cases (NYT) after forty-two days, allowing them to declare the epidemic over by agency standards. The epidemic killed at least fifty-five people. 

Ethiopia: Rebels in the Tigray region began turning in weapons (Reuters) to the Ethiopian army as part of an African Union–mediated peace process.

Europe

Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group are assisting Moscow’s forces (WaPo) in the town, which is six miles from the strategically significant city of Bakhmut. 

For Foreign Affairs, Ivo H. Daalder and James Goldgeier write that the West should prepare for a protracted conflict in Ukraine.

Greece: The trial began (DW) for twenty-four aid workers who rescued migrants at sea between 2016 and 2018. Prosecutors say the defendants engaged in human smuggling. Human rights groups have criticized the trial and called for all charges to be dropped.

Americas

A Supreme Court judge approved a warrant (WaPo) for the arrest of the top security official in Brasília and the district’s military police commander. They are accused of failing to stem the occupation and vandalism of the country’s seat of government on Sunday.

CFR’s Jacob Ware discusses how the Brasília attack echoed the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot.

Peru: The national prosecutor’s office announced (DW) that President Dina Boluarte Zegarra and other top officials will be investigated for “genocide,” referring to deaths that occurred during Peru’s recent weeks of violent protests. At least forty people have been killed and hundreds more have been injured.

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