Paris conference urges global financial system overhaul to combat poverty and climate change 

From right: South African President Ramaphosa, EC President Von Der Leyen, Egyptian President El-Sisi and Colombian President Petro Urrego take part in a roundtable at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris on Thursday. (AN Photo by Ammar Abd Rabbo)
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Updated 23 June 2023
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Paris conference urges global financial system overhaul to combat poverty and climate change 

  • Summit for a New Global Financial Pact aims to improve lending system for developing countries 
  • Without equitable access to finance, poor nations could remain mired in poverty, world leaders warn

PARIS: Without an overhaul of the global financial system, the international community will fail to address the twin challenges of poverty and climate change, world leaders heard on the opening day of the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris on Thursday.

The two-day conference, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and attended by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was organized to find ways to improve the lending system for developing countries mired in poverty and threatened by climate disaster. 

In his opening remarks, Macron told delegates that the world needs a “public finance shock” — a global surge of financing — to fight these challenges, adding the current system was not well suited to address them.




French President Emmanuel Macron opening the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris on Wednesday.  (Photo by Ammar Abd Rabbo)

“Policymakers and countries shouldn’t ever have to choose between reducing poverty and protecting the planet,” Macron told the summit. 

Indeed, those nations that are most vulnerable to extreme weather events caused by climate change are often the least equipped to respond to protect their populations or to implement emissions-cutting policies of their own.

Without some form of debt relief for developing countries to address environmental challenges, or new methods of financing that take into account their poverty-reduction priorities, experts believe the fight against climate change and hardship is already lost. 

During a roundtable on day one of the summit, titled “A new method: green growth partnerships,” moderated by Catherine Colonna, France’s minister for Europe and foreign affairs, world leaders discussed the potential for multi-stakeholder partnerships.




Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (2nd right) attending the New Global Financing Pact in Paris, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on his left and Tunisian President Kais Saied on his right. (AN Photo by Ammar Abd Rabbo) 

Questioned by Colonna about the collective challenges posed by rising temperatures, panelist Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the Egyptian president, said: “Climate change threatens all countries worldwide and requires states to work together to face these challenges.” 

Recalling the UN Climate Change Conference, COP27, held in Egypt’s Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh last November, El-Sisi said: “We have heard many commitments during COP27, but the major problem that persists concerns access to financing both at the national and international levels.” 

El-Sisi called for the implementation of a fair financing system in all sectors that promote sustainable development, highlighting access to vital resources such as water, food and energy. 

“These development programs require the establishment of partnerships,” he said. “We must continue to finance projects that align with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. We must continue to develop multilateral partnerships with defined programs centered on sustainable development.” 

El-Sisi further emphasized the need to find solutions and recommendations to curb or erase the debts of poor countries and to suspend or cancel taxes to enable banks to meet current requirements.

“In Egypt, we have implemented a renewable energy development plan. We need the assistance of our partners and international financial institutions to support us in project implementation,” he added.




Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during the panel discussion.   (Photo by Ammar Abd Rabbo)

During her own intervention, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, called for the creation of an “environment conducive to private capital and to encourage investors to be more involved in energy transition projects.”

She said access to capital markets is crucial. 

“At the European Commission, we are interested in the most attractive sectors in green growth, particularly in emerging and developing countries that face limited financing, lack of training, and an increase in interest rates practiced by banks,” she said.

“We must share our expertise and limit risks for investors.”

Another way to even out the burden of climate costs is the implementation of carbon pricing. One method is to make polluters such as transport and logistics companies pay a tax on their emissions, thereby incentivising more sustainable practices. 




European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (R) and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen attending the Global Climate Finance summit in Paris on June 22, 2023. (Pool via REUTERS)

“They will have the choice to either adopt more environmentally friendly methods or pay a tax that will finance sustainable and environment conscious projects,” von der Leyen told the roundtable.

“Carbon pricing will generate revenue that will be allocated to financing a greener economy,” she added.

Speaking on the same panel, Gustavo Petro Urrego, president of Colombia, said nations should change production methods in industry and agriculture, and cooperate on water conservation. 

“We must reorganize territories and change methods, but these strategies require the mobilization of billions of dollars,” he said. “We all know that capital is essential in achieving the goals of ecological transition and sustainable development.”

To make access to financing more just and equitable, Petro called for a global Marshall Plan — in reference to the post-war reconstruction fund provided to Europe by the US — to address global challenges related to climate change and sustainable development.




French President Emmanuel Macron, right, welcomes Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the New Global Financial summit in Paris onJune 22, 2023. (Pool via AP) 

He also called for debt cancelation for poor countries in exchange for concrete commitments to sustainable development.

A separate roundtable on Thursday focused on ways to enable environments for the private sector to implement sustainable infrastructure and financing for small- and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs. 

According to Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan’s minister of foreign affairs, achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 will be challenging due to the post-pandemic global context.

Nevertheless, asked about the contribution of the private sector to sustainable development and the green economy, Hayashi said Tokyo had incentivised firms to make private capital contributions to the development of green economy programs. 

“We encourage the private sector to get involved in achieving our objectives in terms of sustainable development and respect for human rights,” he said. 




Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi stressed the need for the public and private sectors to work together to invest in infrastructure construction. (Pool photo via AFP) 

Hayashi said the public and private sectors must work together to invest in infrastructure construction, citing Japan’s support for programs launched by companies involving the ecological transition.

Speaking on the same roundtable, Khadem Khadem Al-Remeithi, executive director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, a UAE sovereign wealth fund, recommended working “with various organizations such as the French Development Agency to identify concrete solutions, particularly in terms of building infrastructure.”

In the course of his work, Al-Remeithi said he ensures the actions carried out by the investment fund are committed to implementing regulatory rules and operational platforms to organize selected projects and programs.

“We ensure that our actions yield results,” he said, citing successful projects carried out by the African Development Bank in many countries. 

“The financing of small- and medium-sized enterprises engaged in sustainable development and the investments necessary for the construction of basic infrastructure require the support of capital from international financial institutions.”

Al-Remeithi, who called for the establishment of regulatory mechanisms that effectively combat “the hesitations of banks and potential investors regarding risks,” said such measures would encourage dialogue between public and private operators to enhance their contributions to sustainable development programs.

Beyond policy shifts at the nation and boardroom level, however, the world’s developing countries need to see tangible change in the rules-based order of finance if they are to reap any benefits in the short-to-medium term.

Speaking during the summit’s opening session on Thursday, Mia Mottley, prime minister of Barbados, called for a reimagining of the role of the World Bank and IMF in an era of climate crisis.




Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley. Supplied)

Mottley, whose Caribbean island nation is threatened by rising sea levels and tropical storms, said: “What is required of us now is absolute transformation and not reform of our institutions. We come to Paris to identify the common humanity that we share and the absolute moral imperative to save our planet and to make it livable.” 

Outlining the challenges facing developing countries, Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, said more than 50 nations were now in or near debt default, while many African countries are spending more on debt repayments than on health care. 

Guterres said the post-Second World War global financial system was failing to rise to modern challenges and now “perpetuates and even worsens inequalities.”




UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (R) is received by French President Emmanuel Macron (C) for an official dinner at the Elysee Palace on the sidelines of the New Global Financial Pact Summit in Paris on June 22, 2023. (AFP)

“We can take steps right now and take a giant leap toward global justice,” he said, adding that he has proposed a stimulus of $500 billion a year for investments in sustainable development and climate action. 

In a nod to those looking for tangible progress from the summit, IMF Director Kristalina Georgieva announced that a key pledge to rechannel $100 billion of liquidity boosting “special drawing rights” into a climate and poverty fund had been met. 

Macron said he was hopeful that a 2009 pledge to deliver $100 billion a year in climate finance to poorer nations by 2020 would finally be fulfilled this year, although actual confirmation the money has been delivered will take months, if not years.

 


China establishes global mediation body in Hong Kong

Updated 2 sec ago
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China establishes global mediation body in Hong Kong

HONG KONG: China signed a convention on Friday setting up a global mediation body in Hong Kong, which aims to be comparable to organizations such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Beijing has taken a more proactive approach in international affairs in recent years, expanding its influence in global bodies such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization — especially as the United States has taken the opposite direction under President Donald Trump.
The move is also being seen as an attempt to shore up Hong Kong’s reputation as a leading place to conduct business, after Beijing’s imposition of a wide-ranging national security law in 2020 shook confidence in the impartiality of the city’s legal system.
Initiated by Beijing, the establishment of the International Organization for Mediation Convention (IOMed) was co-signed by 31 other “like-minded” countries ranging from Serbia and Pakistan to Papua New Guinea and Venezuela.
“The birth of IOMed will help transcend the zero-sum mentality of ‘win or lose’, promote the amicable resolution of international disputes, and build more harmonious international relations,” said China’s foreign minister Wang Yi, who presided over the signing.
Hong Kong’s government said IOMed will be the first intergovernmental body dedicated to mediation, while Wang said it would “fill a gap in the field.”
Mediation is when a neutral third party intervenes into a dispute to help two sides negotiate a jointly acceptable resolution to a conflict, as opposed to, for example, political bargaining or litigation.
The body will mediate disputes between countries, between countries and individuals from another country, and between private international entities.
IOMed “is on a par with” the United Nations’ ICJ and the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, said the Hong Kong government.
One of the latter’s more well-known rulings was in favor of the Philippines against China over territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Beijing refused to take part in the proceedings and has ignored the judgment.
Paul Lam, Hong Kong’s secretary for justice, wrote in an article that IOMed’s establishment came as “hostile external forces are attempting to de-internationalize and de-functionalize” Hong Kong.
IOMed will start operating by the end of this year or early 2026.

As Russia intensifies attacks, Ukraine air defenses under strain

Updated 13 min 10 sec ago
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As Russia intensifies attacks, Ukraine air defenses under strain

  • Despite peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow, Russia has launched the heaviest assaults on Ukraine since the start of war with more than 900 drones and 90 missiles over last weekend alone

KYIV: A wave of massive Russian aerial attacks has stretched Ukraine’s air defenses, raising fears about Kyiv’s reliance on Western systems to protect its skies in the fourth year of Russia’s invasion.
As the two sides open peace talks and Kyiv pushes for an immediate ceasefire, Moscow has launched its heaviest air assaults of the war, pummelling Ukraine with more than 900 drones and 90 missiles in a three-day barrage last weekend.
Ukraine downed over 80 percent of the incoming projectiles, but more than a dozen people were killed.
Experts worry how long the country can fend off the nightly attacks if Russia maintains — or escalates — its strikes.
“Ukraine’s air defenses are stretched thin and cannot guarantee protection for all cities against persistent and sophisticated Russian attacks,” military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady told AFP.
Russia’s drone and missile attacks have become more complex — and harder to thwart — throughout the war.
Kyiv’s air force says around 40 percent of drones launched recently are decoys — cheaper dummy craft that mimic attack drones and are designed to exhaust and confuse air defenses.
Russia increasingly sets drones to fly at a higher altitude — above 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) — and then dive down onto targets.
“At that altitude, they’re more visible to our radars but unreachable for small arms, heavy machine guns and mobile fire teams,” air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat told RBK Ukraine.
In addressing the threat, Ukraine is trying to strike a balance between pressing the West to deliver new systems and not wanting to concern a war-weary public at home.
“There’s no need to panic,” a Ukraine military source told AFP.
“We’re using all air defense systems that are available in Ukraine now, plus helicopters and aircraft. We are fighting somehow,” they said.


Moscow has the capacity to fire 300 to 500 drones a day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this week.
“By scaling up the use of Shaheds, they are forcing us to resort to expensive options,” military analyst Sergiy Zgurets said, referring to the Iranian-designed drones that are packed with explosives to detonate as they crash into buildings.
“This is a war of attrition that must be based on economic grounds — we must shoot down Shaheds with less sophisticated alternatives,” he said.
Ukraine uses several tools to protect its skies — from advanced Western fighter jets and air defense batteries like the US-made Patriot anti-missile system, to small mobile air defense teams armed with guns.
New technology has also become vital, such as the electronic jamming of drones to make them drop from the sky.
Increasingly, interceptors are being deployed — smaller, cheaper drones that take on enemy drones mid-air.
“We are already using them. The question now is when we will be able to scale up,” Zelensky said of the interceptors.
He too sees the issue as one of economics.
“The question is no longer about production capacity... It is a financial issue,” he told journalists.


Beyond drones, Russia is also deploying super-fast ballistic missiles, which are much more difficult to intercept.
“The biggest vulnerability lies in defending against ballistic missiles,” said analyst Gady.
A midday strike last month on the northeastern city of Sumy killed at least 35 people, while a hit near a children’s playground in Zelensky’s home city of Kryvyi Rig left 19 dead, including nine children.
To fend off ballistic missile attacks, Ukraine relies on a small number of Patriot systems.
They are concentrated around Kyiv, leaving other areas more exposed than the relatively better-protected capital.
Gady said the current supply of missiles for them is “sufficient” given the level of Russian strikes at the moment.
“But it is generally insufficient when compared to Russian ballistic missile production.”
Ukraine also faces potential shortages given delays in US output, according to Zgurets, creating “gaps” in Ukraine’s “fight against enemy hypersonic targets and ballistics.”
Deliveries of other key Western systems are expected over the next 18 months, but uncertainty is high given President Donald Trump’s criticism of aid for Ukraine.
US packages approved under predecessor Joe Biden are trickling in, but Trump has not announced any fresh support.
“Delivering air defense systems to us means real protection for people — here and now,” Zelensky said in a recent call for Western backing.
On a visit to Berlin on Wednesday, he said: “Defending our cities requires constant support with air defense systems.”


South Korean presidential frontrunner Lee Jae-myun proposes revising constitution on martial law

Updated 30 May 2025
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South Korean presidential frontrunner Lee Jae-myun proposes revising constitution on martial law

  • More South Koreans turned out for early voting on Friday after reaching record numbers on Thursday
  • As of noon on Friday, 25.8 percent of eligible voters had voted, the highest turnout compared to other polls in the same period

SEOUL: South Korea’s left-wing presidential frontrunner Lee Jae-myung proposed on Friday to amend the constitution to make it more difficult to impose martial law, aiming to prevent political crises like the one that erupted last year.

As candidates entered their final stretch before the snap presidential election on June 3, Lee and his Democratic Party urged South Koreans to come out to vote to end the political turmoil that has gripped the country since ousted conservative leader Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law declaration in December.

“Our national prestige has fallen, but it (martial law) happens. We have to make that impossible systematically,” Lee told a live-streaming talk show on YouTube.

“Overcoming the insurrection (crisis) is no-brainer. Without it, our country will collapse,” Lee said, adding that economic growth and unity would be among his other top priorities.

Lee said he would seek to revise the constitution to strengthen martial law requirements, for instance by not allowing leaders to implement martial law without getting parliament’s approval within 24 hours.

More South Koreans turned out for early voting on Friday after reaching record numbers on Thursday. Early voting ends at 6 p.m. (0900 GMT) on Friday.

As of noon on Friday, 25.8 percent of eligible voters had voted, the highest turnout compared to other polls in the same period.

Lee also said a special prosecutor should investigate the December 3 martial law incident to make sure those responsible were punished, although he called for leniency for those in the military who were reluctant to follow orders.

Yoon Yeo-jun, chair of the Democratic Party’s election campaign, said that the vote would be an opportunity to set the country right so that the “Yoon Suk Yeol tragedy would never happen again.”

Kim Moon-soo, Lee’s rival candidate from the conservative People Power Party, said he would stop “legislative dictatorship” by Lee’s Democratic Party that holds a majority in parliament.


Trump administration considers allowing tariffs of up to 15% for 150 days, WSJ reports

Updated 30 May 2025
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Trump administration considers allowing tariffs of up to 15% for 150 days, WSJ reports

President Donald Trump’s administration is considering a stopgap effort to impose tariffs on large parts of the global economy under an existing law that includes language allowing for tariffs of up to 15 percent for 150 days, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The administration has not made a final decision and it could wait to impose any plans after a federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily reinstated the most sweeping of Trump’s tariffs following a trade court ruling to immediately block them, the report added.


Tens of thousands demonstrate in Nepal seeking restoration of ousted monarchy

Updated 30 May 2025
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Tens of thousands demonstrate in Nepal seeking restoration of ousted monarchy

KATMANDU, Nepal: Tens of thousands of protesters demanding the abolished monarchy be restored and the former king be made the head of state of the Himalayan nation demonstrated in Nepal Thursday.
The protesters, waving flags and chanting slogans, demanded the return of the king and the restoration of Hinduism as a state religion as they marched through the main circle in the capital, Katmandu.
Just a few hundred meters (yards) from the pro-monarchy protesters, their opponents, who are supporters of the Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, had gathered at the exhibition grounds to celebrate Republic Day.
There was fear that these two groups could likely clash and create trouble in the city. Hundreds of riot police kept the two groups apart and authorities had given them permission on different times to carry out their rallies.
Nepal abolished the monarchy and turned the nation into a republic in 2008, bringing in a president as the head of the state.
“Bring king back to the throne and save the country. We love our king more than our lives,” the estimated 20,000 protesters chanted with a few playing traditional drums and musical instruments.
“We are going to continue our protests until the centuries-old monarchy is brought back and the country turned in to a Hindu stage for the interest of the country,” said Dil Nath Giri, a supporter of the former king at the rally.
The pro-monarchy supporters had announced they were restarting their protests from Thursday.
In their last protest on March 28, two people including a television cameraman, were killed when protesters attacked buildings and set them on fire while police fired bullets and tear gas on the protesters. Several protesters arrested on that day are still in jail.
There has been growing demand in recent months for Gyanendra Shah to be reinstated as king and Hinduism to be brought back as a state religion. Royalist groups accuse the country’s major political parties of corruption and failed governance and say people are frustrated with politicians.
Massive street protests in 2006 forced Gyanendra to give up his authoritarian rule, and two years later the parliament voted to abolish the monarchy.
Gyanendra, who left the Royal Palace to live as commoner, has not commented on the calls for the return of monarchy. Despite growing support, the former king has little chance of immediately returning to power.