
In a move that underscored Donald Trump’s isolation on trade and climate change, the two major economies inserted a reference to the Paris Agreement into Ceta.
As EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström visited Canadian minister Jim Carr, they adopted an update to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta), which entered into force last year. The two economies agreed to “promote the mutual supportiveness of trade and climate policies”, with reference to their commitment to the Paris Agreement.
The statement fleshed out Ceta’s provisions for environmental cooperation and underscored US president Donald Trump’s isolation on trade and climate change. It came shortly after French president Emmanuel Macron told the UN countries rejecting the Paris pact should not benefit from economy-wide commercial deals.
Asked by Bloomberg if that ruled out a trade pact with Trump’s US, Macron said: “With America disrespecting the Paris Agreement, for sure, I could not accept…we are asking a lot of efforts [from] our farmers, our industrials, our citizens precisely to make such a shift [to a low carbon economy]. If you opened your market to products and goods coming from a country that decided not to accept the same rules and constraints, it would be totally crazy.”
Trump has declared his intention to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement and started dismantling policies to cut greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, he has pursued protectionist trade policies, using his speech at the UN general assembly this week to denounce “globalism”. Malmström has said any new trade deal must mention the Paris pact, although commission president Jean-Claude Juncker took a softer stance on a visit to Washington DC in July.
It’s official: India has been elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for 2021-22. Previously, the country has adopted a cautionary approach towards climate security. While it may not significantly shift its positions, global realities may trigger more openness, with an eye on multilateralism, rule of law and fairness.
75 years ago, the UN was born. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the UN looks back at several important achievements, but much work on persisting challenges still lies ahead. Increased UN engagement in three areas can make the region more resilient to future challenges.
Conflicts connected to water-security are often related to climate change issues. However, the link between water-scarcity-related risks and security challenges is not as straightforward, direct and immediate as often perceived. The online workshop ‘Mobilising decision-makers on water scarcity-induced conflict risks: The Water, Peace and Security Partnership’, organised by the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO) and adelphi, looked into this complex relationship.
Insecurity is plaguing north-western Nigeria, due to persistent herder-farmer tensions, rising crime and infiltration by Islamist militants. Federal and state authorities should focus on resolving conflict between agrarian and pastoralist communities, through dialogue and resource-sharing agreements, while also stepping up law enforcement.