Author: Ambuj Sagar, IIT
The twin climate challenges of mitigation and adaption are two of the defining problems of the 21st century, particularly for developing countries. They come at a time when many of these countries’ economies are growing rapidly, leading to large increases in energy demand. Because many developing countries are situated in areas particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, these problems are particularly serious.
But while these problems are serious, they are by no means insurmountable. They are challenges that can be met, in part, by the development of technology. Read more…
Author: Rajiv Kumar, FICCI
Bihar’s election results have come as a ray of sunshine amidst the gloom cast by the sordid saga of large scale, brazen and meticulously planned corruption that has emerged recently in India. With television channels competing for viewership through ever more damaging exposes of systemic corruption, the image of the entire Indian political class, at all levels, has been severely damaged.
The people are now clearly ranged against corruption, and the competitive media, having tasted blood in earlier cases like Jessica Lal, Nitish Katara and Rathore, is doggedly following corruption cases. Read more…
Author: Tae Yong Jung and Jae Eun Ahn, GGGI
On 15 August 2008, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Korea (Korea), President Lee Myung-bak proclaimed ‘Low Carbon, Green Growth’ to be Korea’s new national vision for the next 60 years. This vision and the punchy slogan that heralded it highlighted a new development paradigm of quality-oriented growth based on the use of new and renewable energy resources. Chief among the aims of this strategy is a push to secure Korea’s future as a sustainable economy with expertise in energy conservation and environmental sustainability, which contributes to international efforts to fight climate change. At present, the Korean government is beginning to draw upon existing technological expertise to build the economy in ways that use less energy and ensure environmental sustainability.
The concept of ‘Green Growth’ is relatively new. Read more…
Author: Peter Drysdale, ANU
In Beijing this week a group of top foreign policy professionals is being brought up to speed on developments in Southeast Asia, in a routine review of China’s interests in the region. ASEAN commands priority in Chinese diplomacy because of its anchor role in regional economic and political arrangements, because of its ongoing territorial and other political-strategic interests and because of the growing importance of China’s relations with Indonesia, at the heart of its relations with the Southeast Asian region. In an international conference last week in Beijing, one of China’s top foreign policy analysts matter-of-factly observed that Indonesia would join the BRICs — Brazil, Russia, India and China — as another newly emerging power.
How many foreign policy analysts in Washington, Tokyo or Canberra, let alone Brussels, London, Paris or Berlin, really think about Indonesia as an emerging power? Read more…
Author: Thee Kian Wie, LIPI
The Indonesian economy has managed to achieve very solid growth after successfully weathering the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008. The economy grew at 4.5 per cent in 2009, is likely to grow at 6.0 per cent in 2010 and is projected to grow at 6.2 per cent in 2011. This kind of performance is making many Indonesians wonder whether Indonesia could soon join the BRIC group of high-performing emerging economies.
The term ‘BRIC’ was coined in 2001, by Dominic Wilson of Goldman Sachs, to refer to Brazil, Russia, India and China, which were experiencing rapid economic growth, and were expected to overtake the U.S. by 2018. Read more…
Author: Peter J. Wood, ANU
The UNFCCC COP16 climate conference has come to a successful conclusion with a series of decisions that are known as the Cancún Agreements. On the morning of the final day, there were tense moments, and it was unclear whether there would be much progress at all. But after the draft texts were circulated, the Mexican Foreign Minister, Patricia Espinosa, convened an ‘informal plenary’ where she said that in these texts, every Party had been listened to, and after two hours for people to examine the texts, the plenary will reconvene. There was then sustained applause and a standing ovation. From that moment on, there was a great sense of hope that there would be a positive outcome.
The main decision results from the work of the Ad-hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action. Read more…
Author: Mahendra Ved, New Delhi
People around the world are happy about the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from detention, just as they are unhappy about the way Myanmar held an election that preceded her freedom. For India, Suu Kyi’s release is another step in its complicated diplomatic relationship with Myanmar.
Persecuted since she won an election in 1990, Suu Kyi has had phases of freedom in the past. The difference this time is that the military junta feels international pressures, and after forcing a fait accompli so far as governance is concerned, wants to engage in a public relations exercise. Read more…
Author: Peter J. Wood, ANU
In the final days of the COP16/CMP6 Conference, the negotiators at Cancún are currently trying to negotiate a ‘balanced package’ – also known as a ‘six-pack’, which combines progress on mitigation, transparency (measurement, reporting and verification – or MRV), adaptation, finance, technology, and REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation). The Mexicans are extremely determined to get some sort of outcome from the conference – both for the climate and for multilateral negotiations. They so far seem to have been quite confident in the way that they have facilitated the negotiations, and there seems to be much more trust in the Mexicans from the parties than there was for the Danes last year.
What is uncertain is how ‘good’ the decisions will be – in terms of criteria such as ambition (including capacity to ramp up ambition later), efficiency and equity; how detailed the decisions will be; and whether there is sufficient consensus to get a package of decisions at all. Read more…
Author: Mukul G. Asher, NUS
Asian countries have traditionally seen rapid economic growth as their most important priority. Unfortunately, this has meant that, to a large extent, they have been unable to construct adequate, accessible and robust social protection systems.
Social protection systems typically involve retirement income security (or pensions), accessible and affordable healthcare, arrangements to address work injury and related contingencies, and social assistance. Read more…
Author: Artyom Lukin, FENU
On 22-23 November 2010, the first Intergovernmental Consultation Meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific’s Subregional Office for East and North-East Asia (SRO-ENEA) was held at Incheon, Republic of Korea. The meeting attended by government officials, high-level international and national experts as well as representatives from NGOs became the first major event organised by ESCAP’s new subregional office in Northeast Asia.
The Incheon-based office was officially inaugurated in May 2010. Read more…
Author: Andrei Lankov, Kookmin University and ANU
The leak of the classified U.S. diplomatic cables to the website WikiLeaks is, undoubtedly, the major news of the last week. It also might be seen as the greatest diplomatic scandal of all time.
North Korea also received its share of attention after the WikiLeaks scandal. Read more…
Author: Evan Feigenbaum, CFR
Just over a week into the Korea crisis, the constraints on retaliation by Seoul and Washington have become increasingly apparent. Both fret that Pyongyang lacks escalation control and remain deeply anxious about the consequences of a tit-for-tat escalation.
Events of the past week have mostly underscored the basic calculations of the main parties: Read more…
Author: Andrew Elek, ANU
The most important objective of international economic cooperation in 2011 is to conclude the Doha Round. The United States has the influence to do that if it is prepared to show political initiative and have realistic expectations of others.
The APEC group can also provide leadership within the G20 to tackle global problems. APEC’s Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) can begin to set out a strategy on how the WTO might operate beyond the Doha Round. Read more…
Author: Gary Hawke, NZIER
The decision by ASEAN to invite the US and Russia to participate in the East Asia Summit (EAS) from 2011 was widely interpreted by many commentators as a positive response to a US desire to join the EAS as part of its strategy to re-engage with Asia. But until recently, the nature of the US participation was not clear. The Hanoi meetings clarified some aspects of how the governments of the Asia Pacific will interact: the US and Russia are invited to join all activities, and the existing agenda of the EAS will remain unchanged. Reaching this decision was not simple. Implementing it will be even more difficult.
The first difficulty is revealed in the precise wording of various statements from Hanoi. They all express concern to maintain ‘ASEAN centrality’. Read more…
Author: Sourabh Gupta, Samuels International
On September 7th, in the ‘territorial seas’ of the Senkaku/Daioyu islands, a Chinese fishing trawler rammed two Japanese coast guard vessels with deliberate intent. While the trawler’s detained crew of 14 was released on September 13th after being questioned on a voluntary basis, the skipper was arrested on September 10th and placed under a court-authorised 10-day detention period while prosecutors deliberated whether to indict him or not. Following extension of the detention for a further 10-day period on September 20th, and with Beijing blowing a fit – and ties deteriorating, Tokyo made a political decision on September 24th to release the offending fisherman, though it was officially framed as an independent decision of the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office.
Basic Sovereignty-related Aspects of the Senkakus/Daioyus
Though under Japan’s effective control and administration, sovereignty over the islands is contested by both China and Taiwan. Read more…
