Daily Brief: China Unveils Ambitious Plan to Reduce Emissions

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. December 19, 2017 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA China Unveils Ambitious Plan to Reduce Emissions China has unveiled long-awaited plans for a carbon trading market that will cover some 1,700 companies in a move praised by environmentalists (FT). The carbon trading scheme will initially cover only the power generation sector (NYT), which was responsible for about half of fossil fuel emissions in the country last year. Plans for the market, which would be the world's largest, seek to eventually include other sectors (Reuters) such as chemicals, paper-making, and steel. The chair of the country's development and reform commission did not say how permits will be allocated to firms or when trading will start. China surpassed the United States (Bloomberg) in 2006 as the largest emitter of carbon dioxide globally.  ANALYSIS "It is a big vote of confidence for climate change initiatives globally from the world's largest emitter," said Sophie Lu of Bloomberg New Energy Finance. "Capping emissions for China's power sector is a daunting undertaking in any case. The sector emits 3.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually, and a carbon trading scheme regulating it would be about 1.7 times bigger than the EU's carbon market," Emily Feng writes for the Financial Times. "All the power plants required to participate in the market will go through a rigorous verification process and then ongoing monitoring. That means, for the first time, the Chinese government will be able to build an accurate measure of the emissions coming from the power sector," Akshat Rathi and Echo Huang write for Quartz. What to Watch in 2018 CFR's Laura Taylor-Kale and Rachel Vogelstein join James M. Lindsay and Robert McMahon to preview the coming year on this episode of The World Next Week.   PACIFIC RIM U.S. Blames North Korea for WannaCry Cyberattack The White House publicly blamed North Korea on Monday (FT) for the WannaCry ransomware attack in May that affected some two hundred thousand computers in 150 countries, in a move apparently aimed at raising international pressure on Pyongyang. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA Pakistan Accuses U.S. of Failures in Afghanistan Pakistan's national security advisor said at a security conference that the United States exports "perpetual instability" to South Asia (VOA) and seeks to scapegoat Pakistan for its own security failures in Afghanistan. AFGHANISTAN: Germany's defense minister said on Monday that NATO troop reductions in Afghanistan in 2014 were carried out too quickly (DW) and that the Central Asian nation will "occupy us for a long time yet." MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA U.S. Vetoes UN Resolution on Jerusalem The United States used its veto in a UN Security Council vote on Monday that would have rejected a move by any state to change the status of Jerusalem (BBC). The vote, which U.S. envoy Nikki Haley called an "insult" (Guardian), followed the U.S. recognition of the city as Israel's capital earlier this month. EGYPT: The Italian energy firm ENI has begun production in the Mediterranean's largest undersea natural gas field (VOA). Egypt's petroleum minister said the project could save his country billions in annual energy costs. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA South Africa's ANC Changes Top Leadership The ruling African National Congress backed Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa (WSJ) on Monday as its party leader and candidate for 2019 elections over Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, a former wife of President Jacob Zuma and the president's pick in the leadership race. CFR's John Campbell discusses Ramaphosa's victory. SOUTH SUDAN: Rival South Sudanese parties began five days of meetings led by the East African regional bloc IGAD in Addis Ababa on Monday in an attempt to revive peace talks (Sudan Tribune).  EUROPE France to Seek Tighter Asylum Rules The French interior minister said President Emmanuel Macron's government will introduce a bill next year (FT) designed to speed up asylum procedures for refugees allowed to live in France and deportations for ineligible applicants. UK: Hundreds of posts by Russia-linked Twitter accounts aimed to "extend the impact" of four terrorist attacks (BBC) in the United Kingdom this year, according to researchers from Cardiff University. The content included both anti-Muslim content and messages critical of such views. Chatham House's Keir Giles discusses Russian information operations on social media. AMERICAS Dozens Injured in Protests Over Argentine Pension Reform Some 150 people were injured and forty-eight people arrested in protests outside Congress (DW) on Monday ahead of a debate on pension reform. Hundreds of flights were grounded after the main trade union called for a twenty-four hour general strike (BBC). BRAZIL: A supreme court justice has backed a proposal to compensate bank depositors (Reuters) for savings they lost due to government policy implemented in the 1980s to end hyperinflation. UNITED STATES U.S. National Security Strategy 'Imperialist,' Russia Says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a national security strategy outlined by U.S. President Donald J. Trump (Reuters) on Monday shows unwillingness to "give up the idea of a unipolar world." The strategy accuses Russia and China of challenging U.S. power and interests (WaPo). CFR's Max Boot writes that Trump's national security strategy is a study in contrasts. A California court has temporarily halted the deportation of some fifty Cambodians (VOA) scheduled for Monday. Many of the detainees, all of whom were convicted of felonies, have been in the United States since childhood.         Council on Foreign Relations — 58 East 68th Street — New York, NY 10065 CFR does not share email addresses with third parties. Forward This Email | Subscribe to CFR Newsletters | Unsubscribe - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  

From: dailybrief@e.cfr.org

Date: December 19, 2017 at 11:04PM