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2. China and the new globalization
- Author:
- Franklin D. Kramer
- Publication Date:
- 01-2023
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- The unitary globalized economy no longer exists. Driven in significant part by security considerations, a new and more diverse globalization is both required and being built. The transition is ongoing, and its final form is yet to be determined. Many of the causal factors for this very significant change revolve around China and the consequent responses to its actions by the United States, other democracies of the transatlantic alliance, and the advanced democratic economies of the Indo-Pacific. There are other important factors generating this new globalization including the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war both on energy markets and on trade and investment with Russia generally, as well as the global requirements for mitigating and adapting to climate change. However, China has been a critical element in what might be described as the “maximum trade-centered globalization,” which has dominated trade and investment policy in the three decades since the end of the Cold War. This issue brief describes the still-developing new globalization focusing on the issues surrounding China. A fundamental challenge that China presents arises because its actions have generated significant security and economic challenges, yet it nonetheless is a massive trade and investment partner for the “advanced democratic economies” (ADEs),1 which for purposes of this analysis include the Group of Seven (G7) countries,2 plus Australia, Norway, the Republic of Korea, and the European Union. Adapting to a new globalization requires establishing a strategic approach that resolves the inherent contradictions between those conflicting considerations.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, Diplomacy, Environment, Politics, Science and Technology, Economy, Business, and Energy
- Political Geography:
- China, Europe, Eurasia, Canada, Asia, United States of America, and Indo-Pacific
3. Economic and Environmental Impacts of China’s New Nationwide CO2 Emissions Trading System
- Author:
- Lawrence Goulder, Xianling Long, Chenfei Qu, and Da Zhang
- Publication Date:
- 05-2023
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Asia Society
- Abstract:
- China’s National Emissions Trading System (ETS) has already become the world’s largest ETS and is expected to contribute substantially toward meeting China’s pledge to peak its carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. The new system is based on a tradable performance standard (TPS), a rate-based system under which each covered facility receives from the government in each compliance period a certain number of emissions allowances based on its output and the government’s assigned “benchmark” ratio of emissions per unit of output. Economic and Environmental Impacts of China’s New Nationwide CO2 Emissions Trading System describes the results from a multi-sector multi-period general equilibrium model designed to assess the potential economic, energy mix, and emissions impacts of different future policy options under China’s National ETS over the period 2020–2035, by sector and province and in the aggregate
- Topic:
- Environment, Economy, Trade, and Carbon Emissions
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
4. Korea Matters for America/America Matters for Korea (2023)
- Author:
- East-West Center
- Publication Date:
- 04-2023
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- The 4th edition of Korea Matters for America/America Matters for Korea, part of the Asia Matters for America initiative, maps the trade, investment, employment, business, diplomacy, security, education, tourism, and people-to-people connections between the United States and South Korea at the national, state, and local levels. This publication and the AsiaMattersforAmerica.org website are resources for understanding the robust and dynamic US-Indo-Pacific relationship.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Climate Change, Economics, Education, Environment, Politics, Science and Technology, Governance, Population, Public Health, and Travel
- Political Geography:
- Asia, South Korea, North Korea, North America, and United States of America
5. Time to say goodbye? The impact of environmental regulation on foreign divestment
- Author:
- Haiou Mao, Holger Görg, and Guopei Fang
- Publication Date:
- 09-2023
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
- Abstract:
- We look at divestments by foreign firms – a topic that has received comparatively little attention in the literature – and investigate how changes in the regulatory environment in the host country may impact on such divestment decisions. We use the implementation of China’s Two Control Zone (TCZ) policy as a “quasi-natural experiment”, using detailed firm level combined with city level data for the empirical analysis. Our results show that the implementation of TCZ policy has led to higher probabilities of divestments by foreign firms in targeted TCZ cities and industries. The mechanism behind this seems to be a TCZ-induced increase in discharge fees and efforts to reduce SO2 emissions. Allowing for heterogeneity of effects, we find that the effect is particularly strong for firms from source countries with less stringent environmental regulation, and those using less advanced technology. We furthermore show that firms using intermediates from polluting industries also experience a higher probability of divestment.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Foreign Direct Investment, Regulation, Business, and Divestment
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
6. Greenhouse Gas Emissions from State-Owned Enterprises: A Preliminary Inventory
- Author:
- Alex Clark and Philippe Benoit
- Publication Date:
- 02-2022
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), Columbia University
- Abstract:
- State-owned enterprises (SOEs) play a major role in the production of goods and services across many of the world’s largest economies, particularly in electricity generation, oil and gas, and heavy industry. SOEs (defined in this report as companies for which 50 percent or more of voting shares are held by a government) are also major sources of greenhouse gas emissions. The governments that control these SOEs are also signatories to the Paris Agreement on climate change. State ownership provides these governments with a major direct point of control over the climate and energy outcomes of these companies, both in terms of reducing emissions and directing future investment into low-carbon technologies and infrastructure. Improving the measurement of SOEs’ contribution to both national and global-level emissions provides important information to help understand to what extent SOEs should be targeted and to design strategies to maximize their potential role in the broader energy transition. This report provides an accounting of direct emissions associated with SOEs globally. It is challenging to comprehensively identify every SOE, as the total is estimated at well over 100,000. In addition, most identified SOEs do not disclose their emissions nor are estimates of these emissions available in the public domain. Despite these limitations, data compiled for this report covering almost 300 major SOEs suggest that SOEs globally are responsible for at least 7.49 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) annually in direct (Scope 1) emissions. While the true scale of SOE-related emissions is likely to be substantially higher, particularly when accounting for national oil companies and iron and steel manufacturers that do not currently report their emissions, this figure is over 1 GtCO2e greater than various previous estimates, and larger than the total annual emissions of any country except China.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Green Technology
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, and Global Focus
7. Mine Action and the Environment in Karabakh
- Author:
- Emil Hasanov
- Publication Date:
- 04-2022
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Baku Dialogues
- Institution:
- ADA University
- Abstract:
- The now‑liberated areas of Azerbaijan are contaminated by mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), the clearance thereof being one of Baku’s highest post‑conflict priorities. Before proceeding any further, we must provide proper definitions of these terms, since they are technical in nature and thus may not be familiar to the general reader. According to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti‑Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction that was adopted in Oslo in 1997 and entered into force in 1999 (it is colloquially called the AntiPersonnel Mine Ban Convention, or APMBC), an anti‑personnel mine “means a mine designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person and that will incapacitate, injure or kill one or more persons.” An antivehicle or antitank mine is effectually the same thing, except that it is designed to explode when triggered by a vehicle. Together, they fall under the catchall term mine, which the same document defines as a “munition designed to be placed under, on, or near the ground or other surface area and to be exploded by the presence, proximity, or contact of a person or a vehicle.” Furthermore, explosive remnants of war (ERW) are defined as explosive munitions left behind after a conflict has ended. They include unexploded artillery shells, grenades, mortars, rockets, air‑dropped bombs, and cluster munitions. If such weapons fail to detonate as intended for whatever reason, they are called unexploded ordnance (UXO); if, on the other hand, they have not been used during an armed conflict and have been left behind by the party that brought them to the battlefield, they are called abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO). Lastly, cluster bombs or cluster munitions, which are defined as weapons containing from several to hundreds of explosive submunitions. They are dropped either from the air or fired from the ground and are designed to break open in mid‑air, releasing submunitions and saturating an area that can be as wide as several football pitches. Based on past practice, the failure rate of cluster munitions to explode as intended stands at between 10 and 30 percent.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Economics, Environment, Mining, and Recovery
- Political Geography:
- Central Asia, Asia, and Azerbaijan
8. How China’s Environments Changed its Modern History: An interview with Micah Muscolino
- Author:
- Micah Muscolino and Rustam Khan
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- The Toynbee Prize Foundation
- Abstract:
- It is hard to imagine the environmental calamities of our age without invoking China today. The “world’s factory” – as it is colloquially and sometimes derogatively called – has come to forefront of many discussions about the need to avert the dangers of planetary degradation. Images such as the thick carpets of smog covering Beijing or gripping documentaries, such as Death by Design (AMBRICA, 2016) and Plastic China (Jiu-Liang Wang, 2016), have revealed how China’s social and natural landscapes have experienced the ‘Anthropocene’s’ coming of age. In such narratives, the environment in China is usually seen as the victim of unfettered industrial production and global consumption starting with the country’s ‘reform and opening up’ period in the late 1970s. But to what extent does this periodization and the logics of the Anthropocene that rest upon it make sense against the longer historical record? A wave of scholarship has scrutinized the abstract idea of the environment in China’s restless history over the past two centuries. Bracketing the origins of the today’s environmental crises exclusively within the globalization debate is to miss something important. Namely, ecological thinking featured prominently in the country’s experiences with modernization, colonialism, and nation-building starting in the long 19th century. Micah Muscolino’s work is a great example that rethinks the conventional framework of modern Chinese history. Muscolino shows how the making of Qing, National, and PRC rule were often built on its relationships to natural resources. He has also come to see many similarities between today’s environmentalist transformations and China’s past. China stands, as he asserts, at the heart of the world’s present-day predicaments. The Toynbee Prize Foundation had the pleasure of interviewing Professor Micah Muscolino. He is the author of two acclaimed monographs, Fishing Wars and Environmental Change in Late Imperial and Modern China (2009) and The Ecology of War in China: Henan Province, the Yellow River, and Beyond, 1938-1950 (2015). With his Ph.D. in Chinese history from Harvard in hand, Muscolino taught at St. Mary’s College of California, Georgetown University, and the University of Oxford, before taking up the Pickowicz Endowed Chair in Modern Chinese History at UC San Diego in 2018. He took the time to tell us more about the China’s past and present entanglements with the environment.
- Topic:
- Environment, Globalization, History, Displacement, Ecology, and Food Crisis
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
9. Planetary health: An alternative framework for disaster governance in ASEAN?
- Author:
- S. Nanthini and Lina Gong
- Publication Date:
- 08-2022
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
- Abstract:
- The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the search for a better way of managing human activities and their environmental impact thereby zeroing in on the specific actions needed to maintain a balance for Planet Earth’s sustainability.
- Topic:
- Environment, Health, International Cooperation, Governance, Sustainability, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Asia and ASEAN
10. ndonesia’s 2060 Net-Zero Ambition: The Challenges Ahead
- Author:
- Margareth Sembiring
- Publication Date:
- 10-2022
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
- Abstract:
- Recent developments in Indonesia’s sustainability outlook that includes a net-zero goal by 2060 are pointing to stronger commitments to reducing carbon emissions from energy use. At the same time, short- to medium-term realities, and a lack of public trust may derail the long-term sustainability vision.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Sustainability, and Carbon Emissions
- Political Geography:
- Indonesia and Asia
11. Climate finance in Asia: Assessing the state of climate finance in one of the world’s most climate vulnerable regions
- Author:
- Christopher Roy
- Publication Date:
- 11-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Asia is particularly vulnerable to climate hazards including extreme temperatures, flooding, droughts, cyclones, and sea level rise. The most vulnerable communities need financial support to help adapt to the climate crisis – they cannot do so alone. Developed countries have promised $100 bn in climate finance to developing countries every year until 2025. This promise has not been met. Asian countries have outlined the support they require and delivering on these needs is integral to bringing climate justice to those most vulnerable to – yet least responsible for – the climate crisis. We find that the climate finance provided to Asia is woefully inadequate to support the necessary adaptation actions and vulnerable communities are suffering as a result.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Finance, and Climate Finance
- Political Geography:
- Asia
12. China's Course to Carbon Neutrality
- Author:
- Cory Combs
- Publication Date:
- 09-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Asia Society
- Abstract:
- China is in the midst of a wholesale economic transformation, driven by the central government’s pursuit of sustainability in all its forms: economic, social, and environmental. At the heart of this transformation sit Xi Jinping’s “dual carbon” targets: one to peak emissions before 2030, and the other to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. However, such straightforward guiding targets belie the monumental complexity of unraveling and then rebuilding the fossil fuel–driven economy that enabled China’s rapid rise as a global economic power. The difficulties of moving China’s economy up the value chain – particularly from low-grade, emissions-intensive industrial manufacturing toward high value-add, green and low-carbon production – are compounded by the immense political frictions posed by entrenched interests and bureaucratic inertia. In this context, it is imperative for observers – particularly those keen on engaging with China during its grand green transformation experiment – to understand the many pieces, players, and problems involved. To this end, this report takes stock of China’s planning and reform efforts across the domains of climate, energy, and industrial upgrading since the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) was adopted. It then assesses the key drivers and constraints shaping these efforts, with the aim of elucidating the most likely path ahead – even as Beijing itself continues to map it out.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Economy, Sustainability, and Carbon Emissions
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
13. Taiwan Matters for America/America Matters for Taiwan
- Author:
- East-West Center
- Publication Date:
- 09-2022
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- The inaugural edition of Taiwan Matters for America/America Matters for Taiwan, part of the Asia Matters for America initiative, maps the trade, investment, employment, business, diplomacy, security, education, tourism, and people-to-people connections between the United States and the Taiwan at the national, state, and local levels. This publication and the AsiaMattersforAmerica.org website are resources for understanding the robust and dynamic US-Indo-Pacific relationship.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Climate Change, Economics, Education, Environment, Politics, Science and Technology, Governance, Culture, Population, and Travel
- Political Geography:
- Taiwan and Asia
14. New Opportunities for the United States-Kingdom of Thailand Alliance in the Indo-Pacific
- Author:
- Lance D. Jackson
- Publication Date:
- 09-2022
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- In March 2022, the East-West Center in Washington (EWCW), in collaboration with the Royal Thai Embassy, Washington, DC, convened a two-day seminar in which experts from Thailand and the United States discussed issues and opportunities for the US-Thailand alliance. The workshop included a diverse array of discussants hailing from government, military, academic, think tank, and private sector backgrounds. This report, which adheres to the “Chatham House Rule” under which observations referred to in the report are not attributed to any individual participant, is a summary of the group discussions and the key themes from the seminar. The recent signing of the United States-Thailand Communique on Strategic Alliance and Partnership and a memorandum of understanding (MOU) focused on promoting supply chain resilience on July 10, 2022, highlight the pertinence of this report and the associated seminar. The topics detailed in this report aligned with many of the pressing issues addressed in the Communique and MOU, including expanding law enforcement cooperation, deepening cybersecurity collaboration, supporting resilient transportation corridors, advancing military modernization, and catalyzing Thailand’s bio-circular-green (BCG) economy. The report also covered topics and key themes from a series of jointly produced public webinars and an Asia Pacific Bulletin series of policy briefs on US-Thai affairs.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Climate Change, Economics, Education, Environment, Politics, Science and Technology, Governance, Population, Leadership, Public Health, and Travel
- Political Geography:
- Asia, North America, Thailand, Southeast Asia, United States of America, and Indo-Pacific
15. How Is the Asian Economy Recovering from the COVID-19 Pandemic? Evidence from the Emissions of Air Pollutants
- Author:
- Kazunobu Hayakawa
- Publication Date:
- 03-2021
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
- Abstract:
- This study empirically examines how economic and social activities in Asia were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic by using the emissions amounts of various air pollutants to represent those activities. Review of the emissions data suggests that from 2019 to 2020, the amount of emitted air pollutants decreased in most subnational regions in Asia. Data also show how economic and social activities have restarted in some regions; regression analyses are used to uncover the regions that restarted early. Regional characteristics are identified by employing a remotely sensed land cover dataset (i.e. ESALC) and OpenStreetMap. Results reveal that for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, economic and social activities in cropland, industrial estates, accommodations, restaurants, education, and public services still have not returned to normal.
- Topic:
- Environment, Economy, Pandemic, COVID-19, Air Pollution, and Economic Recovery
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Southeast Asia
16. Gains Associated with Linking the EU and Chinese ETS under Different Assumptions on Restrictions, Allowance Endowments, and international Trade
- Author:
- Malte Winkler, Sonja Peterson, and Sneha Thube
- Publication Date:
- 05-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
- Abstract:
- Linking the EU and Chinese Emission Trading Systems (ETS) increases the cost-efficiency of reaching greenhouse gas mitigation targets, but both partners will benefit – if at all – to different degrees. Using the global computable-general equilibrium (CGE) model DART Kiel, we evaluate the effects of linking ETS in combination with 1) restricted allowances trading, 2) adjusted allowance endowments to compensate China, and 3) altered Armington elasticities when Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets are met. We find that generally, both partners benefit from linking their respective trading systems. Yet, while the EU prefers full linking, China favors restricted allowance trading. Transfer payments through adjusted allowance endowments cannot sufficiently compensate China so as to make full linking as attractive as restricted trading. Gains associated with linking increase with higher Armington elasticities for China, but decrease for the EU. Overall, the EU and China favor differing options of linking ETS. Moreover, heterogeneous impacts across EU countries could cause dissent among EU regions, potentially increasing the difficulty of finding a linking solution favorable for all trading partners.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, International Trade and Finance, Regional Cooperation, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- China, Europe, and Asia
17. Water and Fire at Kyrgyz-Tajik Border: Ferghana Valley’s Security Environment could take a Turn for the Worse
- Author:
- Kristiina Silvan
- Publication Date:
- 05-2021
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Finnish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The latest clash between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan casts a shadow over the region’s already fragile security situation. The simmering conflict in Central Asia’s Ferghana Valley could potentially escalate into an open armed conflict between the two states.
- Topic:
- Security, Environment, Territorial Disputes, Water, and Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Central Asia, Asia, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan
18. Stories of Kinship, Care, and COVID-19: Connecting Nepal and Himalayan New York
- Author:
- Sienna Craig
- Publication Date:
- 04-2021
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- For centuries, people from Mustang, Nepal, have relied on agriculture, pastoralism, and trade as a way of life. Seasonal migrations to South Asian cities for trade as well as temporary wage labo abroad and Mustang-based tourism have shaped their experiences for decades. Yet, more recently, permanent migrations to New York City are reshaping lives and social worlds. Drawing on more than two decades of fieldwork and friendship with people in and from Mustang, The Ends of Kinship: Connecting Himalayan Lives between Nepal and New York, the book on which this presentation is based, combines narrative ethnography and short fiction to explore how individuals, families, and communities care for each other and carve out spaces of belonging in and through diaspora, at the nexus of environmental, economic, and cultural change. This presentation will also discuss how COVID-19 has impacted the lives of Himalayan and Tibetan New Yorkers, and how regional cultural practices and Tibetan Buddhist philosophies are shaping responses to this pandemic. This event was organized by the Modern Tibetan Studies Program and cosponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Environment, Diaspora, Ethnography, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- New York, Asia, Nepal, and Tibet
19. Climate Variability and Steppe Empires: New Findings and Future Directions
- Author:
- Nicola Di Cosmo
- Publication Date:
- 03-2021
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Nicola Di Cosmo, Henry Luce Foundation Professor of East Asian History, Institute for Advanced Study; Associate Member at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University Moderated by: Gray Tuttle, Leila Hadley Luce Professor of Modern Tibetan Studies, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University Three decades of climatological research in Mongolia and neighboring regions have transformed our knowledge about the environmental history of Inner Asian empires. The processes that gave rise to these political formations, many of which have played a distinct and crucial role in Chinese history, are still very poorly understood. High-resolution climatic reconstructions, when placed in historical contexts, provide clues about the nomads' responses to climatic variability, and thus illuminate critical nexuses between economic production, social structures, and political change. By illustrating a range of representative historical cases studies, this lecture will explore both the nature of the data and the methods that historians and climatologists have adopted to gauge the impact of climate upon pre-modern nomadic peoples.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Politics, History, and Economy
- Political Geography:
- China, Mongolia, and Asia
20. Understanding Climate Change on the Tibetan Plateau: Climate Data and Community Knowledge
- Author:
- Emily Yeh, Huatse Gyal, Kelly Hopping, Hung Nguyen, Boniface Fosu, and Brendan Buckley
- Publication Date:
- 07-2021
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- The Tibetan Plateau spans more than one million square miles at the center of Eurasia with an average elevation of over 12,000 feet - by far the most extensive high-altitude region on Earth. Resulting from the collision of continental plates more than 50 million years ago, the Tibetan Plateau continues to play a major role in determining the climate that we experience today. More recently, the Tibetan Plateau has seen more significant warming than surrounding regions due to its higher altitude. As such, Tibetan communities are at the forefront of experiencing the impacts of climate change and their knowledge of such changes may contribute to better understanding the effects of a changing climate on this most significant region. This round table brought together social science researchers working with Tibetan pastoralist communities on the Tibetan Plateau and climate scientists who have worked in the Himalayas and Asia to discuss how interdisciplinary approaches might enrich understandings of climate change on the Tibetan Plateau and contribute to our knowledge of global climate change.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Pastoralism, and Social Science
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Tibet
21. What Railway Deals Taught Chinese and Brazilians in the Amazon
- Author:
- Adriana Erthal Abdenur, Maiara Folly, and Maurício Santoro
- Publication Date:
- 08-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- Over the past decade, Chinese investments in Brazil have expanded and diversified considerably, especially ones involving infrastructure. Chinese investors have also diversified geographically. Increasingly, major Brazilian infrastructure projects are being planned or implemented with Chinese backing in environmentally sensitive regions such as the Amazon rain forest and the Cerrado, a large savanna region in Central-West Brazil. Chinese actors have become directly involved in such projects against a backdrop of sharpening debates about sustainability and other consequences of large-scale infrastructure projects. This is especially true in protected areas such as land populated by Indigenous groups and conservation units. A notable example is the Ferrogrão project, a major railway line designed to cross sections of the Amazon and Cerrado to deliver goods to Brazilian ports. This paper examines the diverse ways that Brazilian and Chinese actors have learned from each other as they negotiate the terms of these deals. It also explores how these learning processes have been conditioned by intense domestic political debates over these projects in Brazil. Official documents and secondary sources reveal that, rather than a set Chinese way of doing business or a stock Brazilian response, such projects entail dynamic institutional learning. Such learning is shaped not only by the particulars of the Ferrogrão project but also by Chinese actors’ broader engagement with Brazilian infrastructure projects over the past ten years.
- Topic:
- Environment, Infrastructure, Investment, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, Brazil, South America, and Amazon Basin
22. An Overview of Agricultural Support Policies in Turkey: A Comparative Regional Analysis
- Author:
- Hakan Uslu
- Publication Date:
- 12-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
- Institution:
- Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
- Abstract:
- The agricultural sector is seriously affected by changes in many economic, social, or environmental factors. Hence, the necessity of supporting the sector by governments in various ways has become an indisputable reality. However, regional characteristics must be taken into account in order for these supports to reach their goals. Using a dataset spanning from 2002 to 2020, the current study comparatively analyses the changes in the agricultural support and agricultural production, income, and the value of products in two agricultural regions of Turkey, Central Anatolia and Southeast Anatolia regions. The results highlight that the increase in agricultural income is very low in both regions compared to the substantial changes in agricultural support policies. Additionally, the increase in the values of agricultural products in both regions is much higher than the increase in agricultural income, suggesting that the costs in agricultural activities are too high in the analysed regions.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Economics, Environment, Governance, and Rural
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, and Asia
23. Increasing Global Climate Ambition and Implications for Korea
- Author:
- Jinyoung Moon, Soo Hyun Oh, Youngseok Park, Sunghee Lee, and Eunmi Kim
- Publication Date:
- 05-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)
- Abstract:
- Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, wider and decisive actions to tackle climate change and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been called for in the international community. Many countries are seeking a sustainable economic recovery plan that reflects climate change and environmental considerations. The private sector has also been trying to expand environmentally sustainable investments and disclose relevant information on climate change. In particular, major GHG emitters such as China, the United States (U.S.), European Union (EU), Japan and Korea have pledged to move forward carbon neutrality. For this goal, the EU has established action plans for the European Green Deal, including a plan for introducing a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). In this context, this study aims to propose policy recommendations for Korea by analyzing measures to strengthen reduction targets and the economic impact of the EU's CBAM. The following implications can be derived. First, it is necessary to support low-carbon transition efforts in industries. Second, it is also important to support low-carbon technological innovation. Third, monitoring and response measures for the CBAM should also be prepared. Fourth, the private sector should expand voluntary efforts to reduce emissions and environmentally sustainable investment. Lastly, it is necessary to actively engage in international cooperation, not only in terms of reducing GHG emissions but also responding to climate change.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Science and Technology, Sustainability, Carbon Emissions, and Paris Agreement
- Political Geography:
- Asia and South Korea
24. Climate, State, and Sovereignty: Self-Determination and Sea Level Rise
- Author:
- Christina Hioureas and Alejandra Torres Camprubi
- Publication Date:
- 06-2021
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
- Abstract:
- Climate change and sea-level rise are existential threats to low-lying island States, which face the looming submergence of their territory and the correlative depopulation and severe restrictions on their governmental capacity, at a national and international levels. Four States are particularly endangered because they are exclusively (or almost exclusively) composed of coral islands and atolls below 10 or even five meters of altitude. They are Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. In its Fifth Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change foresaw an average rise of sea level of 98 cm by 2100. This prospect, often regarded as conservative, in fact represents a possible death sentence for these States. As a result, low-lying island States are considering and deploying legal and physical strategies to protect their continuity as States, sparking new debates on the potential evolution of the law on Statehood and the international law of the sea.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Sovereignty, Governance, and Self Determination
- Political Geography:
- Asia, Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, and Maldives
25. The Southern Gas Corridor and the New Geopolitics of Climate Change
- Author:
- Morena Skalamera
- Publication Date:
- 04-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Baku Dialogues
- Institution:
- ADA University
- Abstract:
- It has been argued that the U.S. shale revolution, the Trump Administration’s energy policies, and the global shift towards low‑carbon energy sources and renewables have contributed to shape a new energy order—one that challenges the market power traditionally enjoyed by petro‑states. Nowhere are these developments more relevant than in Azerbaijan, as the country’s expensive investments in the Southern Gas Corridor come under increasing pressure. Unless Azerbaijani gas can be decarbonized at a competitive cost, it may risk becoming redundant within a couple of decades as Europe embraces a greener future. Geopolitics and Geo‑economics The Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) is a $45bn mega‑project ($25bn for the development of the Shah Deniz II field and at least $15bn for the delivery system) to supply natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe and, by so doing, reduce reliance on Russian imports. This is a priority that has taken on urgency in the wake of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and the sharp deterioration in relations between Moscow and Brussels that ensued. Currently, the SGC is made up of two pipelines to deliver gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz II field to Turkey and Europe—one called TANAP that is already operational and runs the length of Turkey, and another known as TAP stretching from Turkey’s border with Greece across Albania to Italy, which started pumping gas in late 2020. This is how a leading ADA University policy expert described the situation to me in October 2020, in light of technical delays in the pipeline’s inauguration and the big changes in energy markets described above: “the TAP pipeline is 90 percent completed and will be inaugurated soon. Unlike oil pipelines, whose flexible delivery to the end‑consumer can be sorted out once they are built— as oil travels via tanker, rail, etc.— gas pipelines are more rigid investment endeavors. [...] You don’t agree on a gas pipeline unless you have secured a buyer on the other end.” While natural gas supplies from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field are already contracted, the project has seen numerus twists and turns since it was signed with great fanfare at the end of 2013. The SGC is an expensive endeavor and the institutions that lined up to finance it are a testament to the degree of strategic importance it carries for the EU. The project has, indeed, been designated as one of the EU’s “priority projects.”
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Natural Resources, and Gas
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Asia, and Azerbaijan
26. Climate Politics and the Crisis of the Liberal International Order
- Author:
- Felipe Leal Albuquerque
- Publication Date:
- 08-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Contexto Internacional
- Institution:
- Institute of International Relations, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
- Abstract:
- The election of Donald Trump brought disarray to the climate change regime. The changes in what was up to then a promoter of the liberal international order (LIO) exacerbated existing tensions while creating new ones. This paper investigates how that challenge impacted the behaviours of Brazil, China and the European Union (EU) by comparatively analysing their dissimilar positions with respect to three indicators before and after Trump’s coming into power. These indicators are individual pledges and climate-related policies; approaches to climate finance; and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC). The analysis first shows how the US started eroding the broader LIO and the climate change regime to then delve into the behaviours of the three respective key players concerning climate talks. I sustain that the EU, despite its inner divisions, is already counteracting Washington, whereas China is combining a pro-status quo position based on a rhetorical condemnation of the United States. Brazil, in turn, had a transition towards a climate-sceptic government, shifting from being a cooperative actor to abdicating hosting the COP25.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Liberal Order, Multilateralism, and International Order
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, Brazil, South America, North America, and United States of America
27. Planetary Health and Triple Planetary Crisis: Relevance for Multilateral Cooperation on Biodiversity Protection and Conservation in Southeast Asia
- Author:
- Margareth Sembiring
- Publication Date:
- 09-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
- Abstract:
- The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a search of its causes. Among the various theories available, nature decline offers a compelling explanation for the outbreak and the spread of the disease. This coincides with the formulation of the term ‘triple planetary crisis’ which refers to simultaneous issues of pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss confronting the world today. These propositions give biodiversity protection a stronger focus and gain planetary health concept greater traction. In this regard, biodiversity protection and conservation measures at the regional level are particularly important given their transboundary coverage. Despite existing initiatives, they have yet to yield to outcomes sufficient to address triple planetary crisis. The rise of planetary health concept amidst this pandemic time could potentially
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Multilateralism, Conservation, Pandemic, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Asia
28. Community Gardens: Singapore’s “Fourth Food Basket”?
- Author:
- Jose M. L. Montesclaros and Paul Teng
- Publication Date:
- 11-2021
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
- Abstract:
- Can community gardens be a potential “basket” in Singapore’s food security strategy? As a “Fourth Food Basket” community gardens can complement imports, commercial domestic production, and overseas production, especially through the use of digital technologies.
- Topic:
- Environment, Science and Technology, Community, and Digital Revolution
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Singapore