Thursday, December 17, 2009

[RED DEMOCRATICA] CFR.org Daily Brief, December 17, 2009

 

From the Council on Foreign Relations

December 17, 2009

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

- Copenhagen issues may go unresolved.
- Yemen foils al-Qaeda plot, it says.
- Opposition calls for Zardari to resign.
- Fed will shut down emergency lending.

Top of the Agenda: Copenhagen Hopes Fade

With two days left at the Copenhagen climate talks, the United States pledged (WashPost) to help build a $100 billion annual fund to help poor countries, while observers predict that many issues will go unresolved. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States would only commit to building the fund if participating nations at Copenhagen reach an international accord that includes emissions reduction commitments from developed and major developing countries, financial and technological support for poor countries, and an international system to verify the cuts countries make. She did not specify how much the United States would contribute to the proposed fund if an agreement was reached. The European Union also committed to creating a $100 billion fund, while Japan pledged $15 billion in shorter-term funding to poor countries over three years if an agreement is struck. Clinton said "without the accord, the opportunity to mobilize significant resources to assist developing countries with mitigation and adaptation will be lost." Clinton also said China's resistance to international verification of its emissions cuts made a global pact seem unlikely. China said earlier this week that it does not expect an immediate, operational agreement from Copenhagen.

A participant in the talks said China would only agree to a brief political declaration, leaving virtually all major issues unresolved. The ongoing deadlock is due (NYT) in large part to delays by the Group of 77, poor and emerging countries that are dissatisfied with industrial countries' concessions and demands. U.S. President Barack Obama arrives on Friday, joined by roughly one hundred other heads of state.

Analysis

An editorial in the Jakarta Post says the main contention between developed and developing countries is whether to continue the Kyoto Protocol. It takes the position that any agreement reached at Copenhagen should strengthen Kyoto because it "is the only legally binding instrument available so far to force developed countries to actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

In the Wall Street Journal, Howard Bloom says climate change is not the fault of man. It's "Mother Nature's way," and removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere is "too limited of solution."

Background

An agreement on international action on deforestation may be one of the few concrete deals to come out of the Copenhagen climate talks. This CFR Backgrounder looks at deforestation and its impacts.

MIDDLE EAST: Yemen al-Qaeda Plot

Yemeni officials say they foiled (YemenObserver) an al-Qaeda suicide bomb plot on Yemen's soil, killing thirty-four al-Qaeda members and arresting seventeen others.

Iraq: Militants in Iraq used cheap software to hack U.S. Predator drone video feeds, the Wall Street Journal reports.

PACIFIC RIM: North Korea-U.S. Relations

U.S. Ambassador Stephen Bosworth won't confirm (CSMonitor) whether he carried a personal message from President Obama to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.

Vietnam: Vietnam will buy (GlobalTimes) submarines and fighter jets worth billions of dollars from Russia amid escalated sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA: Zardari Graft Charges

Pakistani opposition party the Muslim League called (Dawn) for Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari's resignation after the supreme court nullified an amnesty deal protecting him from graft charges.

Afghanistan: On the final day of a three-day anti-corruption conference, the country's attorney general released (al-Jazeera) a list of government ministers it deemed corrupt, including five senior members of the Karzai government.

AFRICA: UN Congo Campaign

UN envoy to the Democratic Republic of Congo Alan Doss says the United Nation's joint campaign against rebels in the east of the country will end (BBC) this month after having "largely achieved its goal of weakening Rwandan Hutu rebels.

Niger: President Obama called (Reuters) for more democracy in Niger ahead of the republic's fifty-first anniversary, as Nigerian President Mamadou Tandja is facing growing international criticism for rewriting the constitution to extend his mandate and expand his powers.

AMERICAS: Fed's Emergency Measures

The U.S. Federal Reserve said it will shut down (WashPost) emergency lending facilities put in place at the height of the financial crisis by February 1, while leaving interest rates near zero.

Mercosur: Brazil's Senate voted (MercoPress) this week to incorporate Venezuela as a full Mercosur member, leaving only Paraguay's support pending, but Paraguay's Senate is divided on the issue.

EUROPE: Greek Protests

Greece's most militant trade union predicts (FT) a record showing at protests in Athens against the Greek government's new economic austerity measures.

Italy: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was released (Guardian) from the hospital after four days of treatment following an attack.
 

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