12/2 Issue
The Iran breakthrough dominated coverage so you may have missed another breakthrough deal in Warsaw at the United Nations Climate Conference.
Writing in the New York Times (November 25, 2013), former UN Secretary General Kofi Anan (1997-2006) lauded the deal for keeping alive hope that an agreement can be reached to carry on from the Kyoto Protocol. He cautions, however, that much remains to be done, and calls the upcoming 2014 conference in Peru the “last shot.” Anan believes governments should start phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, should invest more in renewable energy, and must meet commitments from the 2009 Copenhagen conference to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius. Nevertheless, government action may not be sufficient and Kofi Anan calls on people to take the lead. “We need a global grass-roots movement that tackles climate change and its fallout.”
The Washington Post (November 28, 2013) notes the unexpected path of the Arab spring, which seems to be leading to autocracy in Egypt rather than the hoped for democracy, and questions why the U.S. seems content to overlook this reality.
China may have reached an environmental crisis level and now, according to Institutional Investor (November Issue), seems determined to reduce emissions.
With a unilateral proclamation of air rights, China helped tension in the Pacific reach crisis level. The Economist (November 30, 2013) points out that this tension extends well beyond Japan and has resulted in the worst strain on U.S./China relations in nearly two decades.
In and out of Japan, expectations are growing that the Bank of Japan will maintain or even expand monetary easing. The Wall Street Journal (November 28, 2013) points out that the yen is increasingly expected to weaken against the dollar.
Hoping to make a dollar, many U.S. retailers opened for business on Thanksgiving Day, traditionally a retail holiday. U.S. News & World Report (November 26, 2013) calls the development “disgraceful.”
