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WTO ministers to confront faltering Doha

Reuters — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:12:00 GMT

Geneva: Luzius Wasescha, Swiss ambassador to the World Trade Organization, likes to recall how negotiators once met for three weeks in the 1950s to haggle over tariffs on hats.

By the time they had finally agreed to open trade in headgear, men’s hats were no longer fashionable.

With the WTO’s Doha round -- already the longest-running set of trade negotiations -- limping into its ninth year, the anecdote sums up the difficulty, if not futility, of trying to reach new deals to open trade in an ever more complex world.

Perhaps it is for that reason that negotiations on Doha, launched in November 2001 to open markets and help poor countries prosper through trade, will not be on the agenda when ministers from the WTO’s 153 members gather in Geneva on Nov. 30 for a delayed conference to take stock of the body and its work.

But for all the formal discussions on the future role of the WTO, Doha is likely to dominate the three-day meeting, with most members wanting to see whether President Barack Obama’s administration is ready to get actively involved in the talks.

“Like it or not, the whole world is looking to the US to bail out the negotiations,” former US ambassador to the WTO Peter Allgeier, whose nominated successor Michael Punke has not yet been confirmed by the US Senate, said on 19 November.

WAITING FOR THE WHITE HOUSE

Obama’s White House has been preoccupied by issues from healthcare to climate change, and does not want to alienate unions and other supporters who see free trade as a tool to destroy American jobs.

Recently, however, Obama and his team have been talking about the ability of exports to generate employment.

But trade insiders say the United States and other powers are not ready to enter the “endgame” that will produce a deal.

“I don’t get the impression that the major players are piling something into this that would change the dynamics,” said Roderick Abbott, a former WTO deputy director-general who has argued WTO members should quickly agree a slimmed-down deal so they can turn to problems from climate change to food security.

Estimates of the value of a deal, and who will benefit most, range widely.

WTO director-general Pascal Lamy says that the deal -- which would cut industrial and agricultural tariffs and farm subsidies and open up trade in services like construction and finance -- is 80 percent done.

But the gaps -- which mainly revolve around waivers for rich countries to protect their farmers and emerging economies to shield their fledgling industries -- are still wide.

Lamy does not want to offer ministers a premature deal that would risk the conference breaking up in disarray, as happened in Cancun in 2003, or 10 years ago in Seattle in 1999 when anti-globalisation protests also disrupted the meeting.

Instead, the meeting will review the WTO’s work, including progress on Doha, and its contribution to economic recovery.

Here the picture is better. Although the slump in demand caused by the crisis has led world trade to contract by 10 percent or more this year -- the biggest drop since the 1930s -- the world has avoided relapsing into tit-for-tat protectionism.

“The global economy has not suffered an outbreak of protectionism. But there has been some policy slippage which could make recovery more difficult,” Lamy wrote to ministers on 18 Nov. “In general terms, the world economy is about as open for trade today as it was before the crisis started.”

The WTO’s dispute settlement system is working actively -- a sign that members are willing to play by the rules.

And although tbe number of anti-dumping investigations -- probes into unfairly priced imports that are the main source of trade disputes -- rose 15% to 217 in the 12 months to June this year, the number of new trade disputes actually launched so far this year has fallen.

Ministers only have two decisions to take at the conference -- rolling over a moratorium on disputes involving intellectual property where no WTO rules have been formally broken, and extending a moratorium on imposing duties on e-commerce.

So they will have plenty of time to discuss the Doha talks in the corridors and hotel rooms.

Political leaders have called for Doha to be completed by 2010, a goal likely to be endorsed again by ministers despite a series of missed deadlines over the past eight years.

Geneva negotiators say it will take only a few tough political compromises -- say on the extent to which big emerging countries like China and India open their markets for manufactured goods, or the United States cuts farm subsidies -- to clinch a deal, and 2010 is possible.

Activists gathering in Geneva for the conference argue the Doha round, far from promoting development, will entrench the disadvantage that poor countries suffer in trade.

But developing countries themselves are calling for an “early harvest” of measures already largely agreed, from cuts in cotton subsidies to duty-free quota-free access for their goods, aware that what is on the table is better than no deal at all.

IMF to expand crisis lending fund to up to $600 bn

Reuters — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:47:00 GMT

Washington: Participants in the International Monetary Fund’s crisis credit facility agreed to expand it by up to $100 billion, add new contributing countries and make the facility more flexible, the IMF said on Tuesday.

At a meeting in Washington, the 26 participants in the IMF’s New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB), a standing loan fund for use in times of financial crisis, agreed to increase the credit arrangements to up to $600 billion from a previous pledge of up to $500 million.

The NAB members also agreed to add an unspecified number of new members from a pool of 13 potential new participants.

A formal decision on expanding the NAB is expected to be taken by the IMF’s executive board in coming weeks.

“Current and potential NAB participants agreed to work quickly to take the necessary measures to make the new enhanced NAB effective as soon as possible,” Japan NAB chairman Daisuke Kotegawa, said in a statement.

For the first time ever this year, emerging market countries such as China, Russia, India and Brazil, contributed toward the NAB facility.

But they have made it clear that any future lending would depend on them acquiring a bigger stake in the way the IMF is run -- a move that would shift power away from over-represented countries mainly in the industrialized world. The emerging economies also want more say over how the resources in the NAB are spent.

Kotegawa said the next review of the NAB facility would be conducted following the next review of quotas, or voting rights, in the IMF. The quota review is due to be completed by January 2011.

Leaders of the Group of 20 industrial and emerging economies in April pledged immediate financing of $250 billion toward a $500 billion increase in NAB resources.

“Today’s agreement on an enlarged NAB marks an important moment for multilateralism and the Fund, which will help the IMF’s effectiveness in its response to crises and help strengthen the international financial architecture” said IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.

Under the NAB agreement, the chair rotates annually among participants according to alphabetical order, with Japan transferring this position to South Korea.

Obama welcomes Singh, hails ‘indispensable’ India

Shaun Tandon / AFP — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:39:00 GMT

Washington, DC: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offered a hand to the US to help build an “open and inclusive” Asia as US President Barack Obama prepared to toast him on Tuesday with his first state dinner.

Common ground: US President Barack Obama (right) greeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the White House on Tuesday. Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

Singh said the world’s two largest democracies had common aims on issues from Afghanistan to global health, and said he and Obama would reach some form of common statement on climate change.

Obama hailed India as “indispensable” as he welcomed Singh to the White House on the first state visit of his presidency. “This visit reflects the high esteem in which I and the American people hold your wise leadership,” Obama said.

“We seek to broaden and deepen our strategic partnership and to work with the United States to meet the challenges of a fast-changing world in this 21st century,” Singh said.

Some in India were uneasy about Obama’s early focus on reconciling with China and his giant aid package for Pakistan.

Singh, in an address to the Council on Foreign Relations, said the US and India together can reshape the political landscape in the wake of last year’s US-bred global economic meltdown. “Our generation has an opportunity given to few to remake the new global equilibrium after the irreversible changes” of the crisis, Singh said. “The India-US partnership can contribute to an orderly transition to the new order and be an important factor for global peace and stability,” he said.

Saying Asia was the focal point for major changes, Singh said: “India and the United States can work together with other countries in the region to create an open and inclusive regional architecture.”

Obama welcomed Singh days after the US leader paid his maiden visit to China. While Singh declined to criticize China, he brushed aside concern that India has not grown as quickly as the other Asian giant. He said New Delhi can be proud of its respect for human rights and cultural and religious minorities.

“There are several dimensions of human freedom which are not caught by the number with regard to the gross domestic product,” said Singh, himself an economist.

In an earlier address, Singh highlighted efforts to open the economy and appealed for US investment—even in once taboo areas of defence and nuclear energy. “A strategic relationship that is not underpinned by a strong economic relationship is unlikely to prosper,” Singh told a luncheon of the US Chamber of Commerce and the US-India Business Council.

Under the former president George W. Bush administration, the US signed a landmark agreement to end India’s isolation on civilian nuclear markets despite New Delhi’s refusal to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Obama has pledged to move ahead on the nuclear accord, even though some members of his Democratic Party had initially opposed it.

Singh offered Obama advice on his key foreign priority—Afghanistan—urging him to stay committed.

“Any premature talk of exit will only embolden the terrorist elements who are out to destabilize not only our part of the world, but civilized world everywhere,” Singh said.

Singh has also called for the US to step up pressure on Pakistan to rein in Islamic radicals, one year after the Mumbai attacks that killed at least 183 people.

Red carpet welcome by Obama awaits Manmohan Singh

PTI — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:48:00 GMT

Washington: A red carpet welcome awaits Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as he lands at the Andrews Air Force Base on Sunday as the first state guest of President Barack Obama for a visit that is expected to take the Indo-US strategic relationship to the next level.

The Prime Minister, his wife Gursharan Kaur, and his delegation would be welcomed by a group of children and the Indian American community, before he drives to the Willard Intercontinental Hotel, three blocks away from White House.

Singh would be staying at the hotel instead of the historic Blair House, US President’s designated guest house.

The Prime Minister’s state visit actually starts on November 24 when US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michell would personally welcome Singh and his wife at the White House and he would be given a 21-gun salute.

Singh, however, would kick-off his trip tomorrow by addressing the American business community, which is his way of acknowledging their contribution in strengthening of the US-India relationship and in particular their role in the passage of the landmark civilian nuclear deal.

There is a huge enthusiasm among the US corporate leaders with many of them flying in from various parts of the country just for this event.

Later in the evening, he would address the intellectual community at the prestigious think tank Council on Foreign Relations and would directly respond to their questions.

The two countries are also expected to ink MoUs in renewable energy, IPR in agriculture and announce Singh-Obama Knowledge Initiative.

The Prime Minister and the Indian delegation would also be hosted for lunch by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joseph Biden.

The most anticipated part of the entire trip however has been the evening of 24 November, when Obama and Michell host the first black-tie dinner for the Prime Minister.

An invitation to the dinner is believed to be the hottest ticket in Washington this week.

While no official list has been announced so far, media reports say that some 400 people have been invited to the dinner, which would have the President and the First Lady’s personal touch, including on the menu and entertainment.

While officials on both sides are reluctant to discuss the possible outcome of the Indo-US summit, it is widely expected that the Obama-Singh meeting would mark another milestone in the history of Indo-US relationship.

Administration officials have said it is no co-incidence that Manmohan Singh is Obama’s first state guest.

In fact, Singh is one of the rarest of the world leaders who has been a State Guest twice, and in two different administrations.

Bill Clinton had earlier invited Atal Bihari Vajpayee on a state visit in 2000.

The Prime Minister is expected to conclude his trip to the US by meeting leaders of the influential Indian American community, a large number of whom are flying to Washington from various parts of the country to attend his reception hosted by the Indian Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar.

Before he leaves Washington for the Commonwealth Heads of the Government meetings in Trinidad and Tobago, observers here feel the Prime Minister would leave his permanent stamp on the Indo-US relationship, taking it to the ‘3.0 level´.

Europe names Belgian PM as first President

Roderick Thomson / AFP — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:55:00 GMT

Brussels: European Union (EU) leaders picked little known Belgian prime minister Herman Van Rompuy as Europe’s first president with a mission to give the continent a greater world profile.

Catherine Ashton of Britain became EU’s foreign policy supremo in the new team after Britain dropped its campaign for former prime minister Tony Blair so that Van Rompuy got unanimous approval at a special leader’s summit called to make the appointments.

US President Barack Obama welcomed the appointment of an EU president saying it would make Europe an “even stronger partner” to the US.

“This is the new leadership team of Europe,” said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeld, flanked by Van Rompuy and Ashton, speaking after the dinner summit.

Van Rompuy said he regretted giving up the Belgian premiership, but accepted the challenge of managing member states frequently at odds over competing national agendas. He said he would be a president “with conviction”.

The nominations prompted accusations that the EU leaders had chosen lightweight representatives for the heavyweight bouts that lie ahead on issues such as the economy, climate change, nuclear power and the war in Afghanistan.

Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, rejected the suggestions at a post-summit press meet. “It is so important that Britain remains at the heart of the European project and Cathy Ashton brings the global visions that Britain has,” he said. “She is our foreign minister.”

Ashton, who only became the EU trade commissioner in 2008 but has swiftly earned a reputation as an effective negotiator, said: “Judge me on what I do and I think you will be pleased and proud of me.”

IMF’s Lipsky sees sluggish global economic recovery

Martin Dokoupil / Reuters — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:24:00 GMT

Dubai: The global economy is heading toward a sustained recovery but given the risks of another downturn it is too soon to withdraw stimulus, International Monetary Fund deputy managing director John Lipsky said on Friday.

“We think that we are on a trajectory towards sustained growth but that the recovery is going to be relatively moderate and relatively sluggish,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Dubai.

“At the same time you cannot discard the risks that there could be a new stagnation.”

Concerns about a rebound in world economic growth has gripped global markets in recent days, amid rising US unemployment and worries some European economies may slip deeper into recession next year.

The IMF has urged countries to refrain from slashing extraordinarily lax policies in what is referred to as an “exit” strategy.

Lipsky said while it was time to think about withdrawing the stimulus, no action should be taken yet and governments should implement any additional stimulus already pledged for 2010.

He also said that the dollar was still a bit stronger on a multilateral, medium term equilibrium basis, while many Asian currencies were undervalued.

“The dollar is a bit on the strong side but not far from where it should be,” Lipsky said.

Gulf Peg

The IMF’s second-in-command also said Gulf Arab nations should stick with their currency peg to the US dollar.

The issue has gained momentum after the dollar’s slide to 15-month lows and an oil price recovery that is helping economies in the world’s top oil exporting region emerge from a downturn.

“For the Gulf right now, those currencies that are pegged to the dollar, their economies are not having problems with inflation,” Lipsky said. “The currency pegs have served these economies well over the last few years and continue to do so at the present time.”

Earlier this week, a Kuwaiti official said Gulf Arab countries will discuss pegging their planned single currency to a basket instead of the US dollar at a Gulf rulers summit in December. Kuwait dropped its dollar peg in 2007 in favour of a currency basket which includes the greenback.

The Kuwait remarks came after an advisor to Qatar’s ruler said on 12 November that Gulf states should be more willing to discuss the viability of linking their currencies to the greenback.

Saudi Arabia’s central bank governor on Thursday said the basket option for the planned single currency was one option though not the perfect solution.

Lipsky said there were “many options” for Gulf states to mull.

“The issue of what is best is really a pragmatic issue not a theoretical one,” he said. “For now the system is working, other options could be considered in the future and with changing circumstances potentially other options could even be preferred.

“But for now there does not seem to be a problem.”

Tackle rise in population to fight climate change: UN

Richard Ingham / AFP — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:38:00 GMT

Paris: Braking the rise in Earth’s population would be a major help in the fight against global warming, according to an unprecedented UN report published on Wednesday that draws a link between demographic pressure and climate change.

“Slower population growth... would help build social resilience to climate change’s impacts and would contribute to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the future,” the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) says in its report, the 2009 State of World Population.

Its 104-page document emphasizes that population policies be driven by support for women, access to family planning, reproductive health and other voluntary measures.

“It really is the first time that a United Nations agency has looked hard at the connections between population and climate change,” lead researcher Bob Engelman, vice-president for programmes at the green group Worldwatch Institute, said. “People are at the root of the problem and at the solution of it, and empowerment of women is the key.”

Today, the world’s population stands at around 6.8 billion. By mid-century, it will range between 7.959 billion to 10.461 billion, with a mid-estimate of 9.15 billion, according to UN calculations.

Climate talks make progress, pressure on US to outline cuts

Alister Doyle and Anna Ringstrom / Reuters — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:01:00 GMT

Copenhagen: Environment ministers made progress on Tuesday towards a scaled-down climate deal in Copenhagen next month, with Washington facing pressure to promise deep cuts by 2020 in greenhouse gas emissions, although a political statement at the much-awaited climate talks, barely 18 days from now, is uncertain.

Getting ready: Danish climate minister Connie Hedegaard (L) and executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Yvo de Boer at a press conference in Copenhagen on Tuesday. Casper Christoffersen / AFP

“We still need more movement,” Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Climate Change secretariat, told a news conference at the end of two days of talks among 40 ministers from around the world on a deal meant to be agreed at the 7-18 December meet in Denmark.

“Industrialized countries must raise their targets and financial commitments further... I look to the US for a numerical mid-term target and a clear commitment on finance,” he said.

The US is the second greenhouse gas emitter behind China, but US carbon-capping legislation is stalled in its Senate. Many nations say that Washington should promise a deep 2020 cut to help unlock a deal in Copenhagen.

“In the end, an agreement in Copenhagen will depend on an American number. Without a clear and ambitious number, the whole agreement will be in danger,” Swedish environment minister Anders Carlgren, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency, said.

Ministers said the informal 16-17 November talks, the last big meeting before Copenhagen, marked a constructive step.

“My feeling is that it looks better today than when we started meeting,” Danish climate and energy minister Connie Hedegaard told a news conference after the meeting.

Several ministers said there was widening acceptance of the idea that the summit would agree a politically binding accord on key issues, but that time was too short to agree a legally binding treaty this year as originally hoped.

“We made progress, but we have a long way to go,” Indian environment minister Jairam Ramesh said. “The next six months are going to be much more intensive because you have to translate this politically binding agreement into a treaty.”

Ramesh, who returned to India on Wednesday, said that there was still some hope for an operational agreement in December, which might be like a Copenhagen mandate for action for the coming year.

In 2007, a Bali action plan was finalized so that the world could strike a deal at Copenhagen, which will be delayed further if no agreement is struck.

“More or less the earlier points were reiterated and developing countries said that any proposal that does not conform to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), or the protocol, will not get our support,” Ramesh said.

Many developing nations have strongly opposed any delay of a full treaty, saying their citizens are most vulnerable to impacts of climate change such as heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, rising sea levels, disease or species extinctions.

Denmark envisages a political deal that will include deep 2020 cuts in emissions by all prosperous nations, actions by poor nations to fight climate change, and cash and technology to help the poor cope with global warming.

Ministers in Copenhagen welcomed US President Barack Obama’s statement after a summit in China that Copenhagen should end with a deal that has “immediate operational effect” even if the goal of a legally binding pact is no longer achievable.

Hedegaard said the looming deadline had helped bringing new commitments in recent weeks from nations such as the US, Brazil, South Korea, Indonesia, Mexico and Norway.

Outside the conference centre, a group of demonstrators fell over and played dead beside giant letters spelling “Delay Kills”. They say Copenhagen must agree a full legal text or risk ever more deadly impacts from water shortages and hunger.

But others saw hope of a deal next month. “Reports this week that Copenhagen is as dead as a dodo were wildly exaggerated,” Kim Carstensen, head of WWF’s global climate initiative, said.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, host of the summit, said that Obama’s acceptance of a proposed deal on key points in Copenhagen while delaying a full treaty implied US willingness to promise clear 2020 targets for cuts.

“The American president endorsed our approach,” he said.

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Mint’s Padmaparna Ghosh contributed to this story from New Delhi.

IMF chief reiterates stand on reserve currency

Alan Wheatley and Simon Rabinovitch / Reuters — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:03:00 GMT

Beijing: The imperative of greater global currency stability means the world can no longer rely, as it has done since the end of the gold standard, on a currency issued by a single country, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday.

Money talk: Strauss-Kahn at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Monday. He says an undervalued currency yields some advantages, but China needs to look further ahead to long-term stability. Jason Lee / Reuters

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of IMF, restated his view that a new global currency might evolve out of the special drawing right (SDR), the fund’s in-house unit of account.

“That probably has to be a basket,” Strauss-Kahn said of the eventual replacement for the dollar. “In a globalized world there is no domestic solution,” he told a forum.

Speaking later at a news conference, Strauss-Kahn reiterated the message that has been a constant refrain during his visit—that China needs a stronger yuan as part of a package of policies to help rebalance its economy by promoting domestic demand.

“For us, because it just is consistent with the new economic policy in China, the sooner the better. How fast? It will take time. It is not something which will change in one step overnight,” Strauss-Kahn said.

China has kept the yuan, also known as the renminbi (RMB), pegged around 6.83 per dollar since July 2008, following a 21% rise over the previous three years, to help its exporters weather the global economic crisis.

“We do believe firmly in the IMF that the RMB is undervalued and that it is not only in the interests of the global economy but also in the interests of China to have a revaluation of the currency,” he said.

An undervalued currency introduces economic distortions, which might confer certain advantages but at a cost to other parts of economy, Strauss-Kahn explained.

“So China has a trade advantage, but it also has the wrong prices, leading to wrong decisions about investment in the long run. It is now time for China, having accumulated a lot of advantages from an undervalued currency, to look more forward to investment and long-term stability, and this long-term stability goes with getting rid of this distortion,” he said.

The US in particular has argued that an undervalued yuan is exacerbating economic imbalances that were a root cause of the global financial crisis. However, visiting US President Barack Obama referred only fleetingly to the issue after talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

“I was pleased to note the Chinese commitment made in past statements to move toward a more market-oriented exchange rate over time,” Obama said.

Strauss-Kahn expressed concern that political willingness to overhaul the international monetary system will falter if, in a year’s time, the visible signs of the economic crisis have faded.

He said the momentum to cooperate had already eased somewhat, six months after the London summit of the Group of Twenty agreed on a need for change to ensure a more stable global financial order.

A former IMF chief, Michel Camdessus, said time was of the essence to embark on reform of the global monetary system.

“This favourable window of opportunity is there. It will not stay open forever,” he said.

Camdessus gave broad backing to a recent proposal by Chinese central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan that an expanded SDR could eventually replace the dollar as the global reserve currency.

“Our Chinese friends mean business,” he said of Zhou’s plan. As a corollary of a strengthened role for the SDR, governance changes were needed at the fund to shift power to big emerging economies, Camdessus said.

To that end, the SDR basket must be modified to include the yuan and perhaps the Indian rupee and Brazilian real as well.

“The RMB must be there. Period,” Camdessus said.

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Denmark suggests end-2010 for binding climate pact

Reuters — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:27:00 GMT

Copenhagen: Denmark, the host of the Copenhagen UN climate change talks, on Monday proposed the end of 2010 as a new deadline for the conclusion of a binding treaty on greenhouse emissions.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen on Sunday suggested that next month’s badly bogged down Copenhagen conference aim for political agreements on emission cuts and financing, but delay the drafting of a legally binding treaty.

US President Barack Obama, whose difficulty in passing a domestic climate change package has been one of the main obstacles to a global deal, quickly fell in behind the plan.

Some 40 environment ministers are meeting in Copenhagen to find ways to rescue at least a political deal to fight global warming at next month’s summit, despite splits on central issues such as who should cut greenhouse emissions by how much.

Danish climate and energy minister Connie Hedegaard said countries could still agree on key elements such as cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by developed nations and new funds to help developing nations.

She said the December summit should set a clear deadline for agreeing a full legal text. Talks are scheduled for Bonn in mid-2010 and Mexico in December 2010.

“Maybe a realistic deadline would be Mexico but it depends on how far parties go on crunch issues,” she told reporters.

She said the 16-17 November talks in Copenhagen would address these issues, including emissions cuts and finance.

Denmark wants world leaders to sign up for a 5-8 page “political agreement” next month.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a UN food summit in Rome that a climate deal was crucial to fighting global hunger as climate change hurts farm output in poor countries.

“There can be no food security without climate security,” he said. “Next month in Copenhagen, we need a comprehensive agreement that will provide a firm foundation for a legally binding treaty on climate change.”

China studying delay

China, which is under pressure to restrict its emissions growth even though its industrial expansion is very recent, said it was “studying” the Danish proposal for a delay.

But it made clear it is keen to tie down points that have been agreed in principle on technology transfer and funding from long-industrialised nations to the developing world.

“China believes that no matter what form of document is agreed in Copenhagen ... (it should) consolidate and expand the consensus and progress already made in negotiations concerning mitigation, adaptation, funding, technology transfers and other aspects,” its Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

Poor nations insisted that a binding treaty was still possible next month, even though Obama and most other leaders reckon it has slipped out of reach, not least because the US Senate is unlikely to pass carbon-capping laws by December.

“We believe that an internationally legally binding agreement is still possible,” Michael Church, the environment minister of Grenada who chairs the 42-nation Alliance of Small Island States, told Reuters.

India’s Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh said:

“It seems like the inability of the US to come forward with a meaningful emissions cut by the year 2020 has led to such a situation ... I am hoping that we can get a full agreement but it looks increasingly unlikely.”

Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, Sudan’s UN ambassador, who represents developing nations in the Group of 77 and China at the UN climate talks, said they were “not moving away” from a belief that a full treaty was possible in Copenhagen.

Developing nations say they are most at risk from heatwaves, droughts, floods, disease and rising sea levels, and so are pressing for action most urgently.

A scenario by the UN Climate Panel said that developed nations should cut their emissions to 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 to avoid the worst of global warming.

Offers so far total between 10 and 15%, India’s Ramesh said.

Australia reaches out to India with climate aid

Reuters — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:23:00 GMT

New Delhi: Australia said it will invest $50 million to develop green technologies in India, in a sign Canberra was trying to bridge differences with New Delhi over climate change negotiations.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made the announcement during a visit that was also aimed at soothing bilateral relations strained after several Indian students were assaulted in Australia, sparking an outrage in India.

“Our challenge is to work together and shape a common future for us all, requiring real action on part of all countries.”

India has slammed the so-called “Australian Proposal” on climate change that seeks to remove the distinction between rich and poorer nations, calling on both sides to cut emissions.

Developing countries led by India and China say negotiations should be based on a previously agreed UN framework that requires rich nations to take deep emission cuts while putting no such restrictions on poorer countries, Indian officials say.

India is also unhappy Australia refuses to supply uranium to nations that have not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, undermining an India-US civilian nuclear deal which allowed uranium to be supplied to India for the first time in decades.

“What Australia is trying to do is reduce disputes and build on whatever opportunities that exist. Issues like climate change, attacks on Indians and the nuclear deal are a few,” said Naresh Chandra, former ambassador to the United States.

Representatives from about 190 countries will meet in Copenhagen next month to discuss a new climate change pact.

“The Australian proposal is already facing opposition from China, G-77 and other developing countries. India is saying no to the proposal and Australia would definitely want India to dilute its stand,” said K. Srinivas, a Greenpeace climate change expert.

The Australia Prime Minister made the investment announcement in Delhi after a meeting with Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Clinton urges Myanmar to free Suu Kyi

Manny Mogato / Reuters — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:10:00 GMT

Manila: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called again on Thursday for the unconditional release of Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, but suggested there could be high-level contacts with the country’s military leaders at a summit this weekend.

She said that Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, who has been in detention for 14 of the last 20 years, had every right, as any person should have to participate in the active democratic life of her country.

“We believe that her detention over so many years is baseless and not founded on any concern other than she is the leader of the political opposition,” Clinton said at a news conference in the Philippine capital, Manila.

Clinton called for the opposition to be allowed to take part in the reclusive state’s planned 2010 election.

But she also said that there could be high-level contacts with the former Burma’s junta at a meeting this weekend of Southeast Asian states to be attended by US President Barack Obama—though no formal bilateral meeting was planned.

“First of all there is no meeting,” she said adding: “There may very well be an opportunity for the leaders, including myself, including the president, to meet the leaders of Burma, something that we have not done before.”

The Obama administration decided in September to pursue deeper engagement with Myanmar to try to spur democratic reforms. Obama will be at the summit in Singapore on Sunday, where Lieutenant General Thein Sein, Myanmar’s Prime Minister, will also be present.

Myanmar’s military government is shunned by the West over its rights record, which has kept previous US presidents from meeting all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a part.

Clinton said of next year’s planned election: “I will underscore our scepticism about an election that does not include all of the people or their representatives who are in opposition.”

There were no plans, she said, to drop US economic sanctions on Myanmar.

“We have made it very clear we are not lifting sanctions on Burma but we are trying to encourage Burma to conduct the kind of internal dialogue with all the stakeholders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, that could lead to there being fair, free and credible elections next year.”

Appointments | Rajiv Shah to head US foreign aid arm

NYT — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:33:00 GMT

Washington: The US administration on Tuesday named Rajiv J. Shah, 36, a medical doctor and health economist now at the country’s agriculture department, to run its main foreign aid arm, the US Agency for International Development.

Shah’s appointment, if confirmed by the US Senate, would bring an end to 10 months of leadership drift at the agency that has deeply frustrated Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Barack Obama may go to Copenhagen to clinch deal

Patricia Wilson and Matt Spetalnick / Reuters — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:56:00 GMT

Washington: US President Barack Obama said on Monday he would travel to Copenhagen next month if a climate summit is on the verge of a framework deal and his presence there will make a difference in clinching it.

Climate concerns: Obama considers his talks with Chinese leaders this month to be crucial in clearing remaining obstacles to an accord. Bloomberg

It was Obama’s strongest statement yet he may go to Denmark in mid-December to help secure a new global compact in the fight against climate change, a process clouded by disputes between rich countries and big developing nations.

“If I am confident that all of the countries involved are bargaining in good faith and we are on the brink of a meaningful agreement and my presence in Copenhagen will make a difference in tipping us over edge, then certainly that’s something that I will do,” Obama said.

Obama, who has faced resistance from opposition Republicans and even some fellow Democrats to setting caps on greenhouse gas emissions, acknowledged that the US Senate would not pass climate change legislation before Copenhagen.

Delays in the US Congress have rankled European allies and added to questions about how significant the deal that emerges from Copenhagen will ultimately be.

But Obama insisted he remained optimistic that the 7-18 December summit could yield a “framework” agreement.

“I think the question is can we create a set of principles, building blocks, that allow for ongoing and continuing progress on the issue and that’s something I’m confident we can achieve,” he said.

Obama made clear he considers his talks with Chinese leaders during an Asia tour later this month to be crucial in clearing remaining obstacles to some kind of accord.

“The key now is for the United States and China, the two largest emitters in the world, is to be able to come up with a framework that, along with other big emitters like the Europeans and those countries that are projected to be large emitters in the future, like India, can all buy into,” he said. “I remain optimistic that between now and Copenhagen that we can arrive at that framework.”

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Hurricane Ida aims for Gulf of Mexico oil fields

Reuters — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:57:00 GMT

San Salvador: Hurricane Ida roared through the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, where important oil fields are located, after triggering floods and mudslides that killed 124 people in El Salvador.

Ida was expected to weaken gradually on Monday as it heads toward some of the oil and gas production facilities in the central Gulf, the US National Hurricane Center said.

The storm reached hurricane force again late on Saturday and strengthened to a Category 2 storm on Sunday with sustained winds of near 165 kph, the Miami-based hurricane center said in its 8:30am advisory.

Some energy companies in the Gulf of Mexico were evacuating workers from offshore platforms and several large producers shut down some oil and gas production as a precautionary measure.

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the only terminal in the United States capable of handling the largest tankers, said it would stop unloading ships due to stormy seas.

A quarter of US oil and 15% of its natural gas are produced from fields in the Gulf and the coast is home to 40% of the nation’s refining capacity.

In El Salvador, rivers burst their banks and hillsides collapsed under relentless rains triggered by Ida’s passage, cutting off parts of the mountainous interior from the rest of the country.

El Salvador’s government said 124 people were killed as mudslides and floods swept away rudimentary houses.

The bulk of the Central American country’s coffee is grown in areas far from the worst affects of the flooding but the national coffee association had no estimate of potential damage to the harvest.

The hurricane center set a hurricane warning from Pascagoula, Mississippi, to Indian Pass, Florida, meaning hurricane conditions could be expected in the area within 24 hours.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for parts of Louisiana and Mississippi including the city of New Orleans, which is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Louisiana prepares

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency on Sunday, allowing the government to mobilize troops and rescue workers.

If Ida makes landfall in Louisiana it would be the first storm to strike the state since Hurricane Gustav came ashore in September 2008.

As of 8:30am, Ida was 645 km south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and was moving north-northwest near 22 kph, the hurricane center said. Ida was expected to turn toward the north and move faster toward the Gulf Coast before veering off to the northeast late on Monday.

Ida swept past the Mexican resort of Cancun on Sunday, doing little damage to the city.

About 1,000 people were evacuated from Mexico’s Holbox Island, an isolated fishing community and sanctuary for thousands of flamingos and other exotic birds located northwest of Cancun.

Ida first became a hurricane on Thursday off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, where heavy rains forced more than 5,000 people into shelters.

The country’s coffee crop was not directly affected by the storm, according to the local coffee council.

G-20 working to promote balanced global economy

PTI — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:20:00 GMT

London: The finance ministers of G-20 nations have agreed on a timetable for the new framework for balanced and sustainable growth of the global economy, but made a little progress on financing efforts to reduce global warming.

The world’s leading developed and emerging economies committed to have peer review and “more specific policy recommendations” in place by next November.

The finance ministers during the two-day meeting at St Andrews in Scotland yesterday hoped that if all countries put political weight behind the negotiations over the next year, the world can recover without developing the huge trade and financial imbalances of the past decade.

But there was no agreement on a specific set of common objectives, not a mechanism to resolve disputes.

On the climate change issue, the finance ministers agreed only to keep working for an ambitious outcome at next month’s meeting in Copenhagen but could not agree on the amount of money developed countries will offer to poorer countries to help them reduce their carbon dioxide emissions.

The World Wildlife Fund said, “The finance ministers of the world’s dominant economies failed to reach agreement on the financing required for a global agreement to stave off catastrophic climate change.”

The meeting was also overshadowed by a dispute about the possibility of a global tax on financial transactions.

Addressing the meeting, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown floated the idea of such a tax would help banks to pay for the insurance they receive from taxpayers.

Within hours of the suggestion, the idea appeared still-born when US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told Sky News: “A day-to-day financial transaction tax is not something we are prepared to support.”

But some of the other measures mentioned by Brown - an insurance fee to reflect the risk of some banks, a pre-funded pool of money to support orderly bank bankruptcies and contingent capital arrangements - have more international support. The US is supportive of efforts to ensure banks cannot rely on taxpayers to bail them out in future.

The lack of progress made by the G-20 in St Andrews, follows a week of difficult negotiations in UN climate talks in Barcelona as the world heads towards the crucial UN climate conference in Copenhagen in a month’s time.

The G-20 finance Ministers were asked to look at financing required to make a new global deal at Copenhagen work.

According to sources, the G-20 acknowledged the need to increase significantly and urgently the scale of funding but failed to make any reference to the sums required, estimated to be about 160 billion dollars a year of public financing.

G-20 nations failed to agree on new sources of funding for a climate deal, such as auctioning emissions credits and levies on aviation and shipping.

Overseas students hit by Australia college closure

Reuters — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:38:00 GMT

Melbourne: Australia’s image as a top destination for foreign students suffered another setback on Friday after four bankrupt colleges closed, leaving more than 2,000 students stranded. Australia’s A$13 billion ($12 billion) international student sector, the country’s third-largest export earner behind oil and coal, has come under fire after reports some colleges had taken payments for certificates and residency visas.

The issue has caused diplomatic discomfort for Australia, with Indian officials expressing concern over the treatment of Indian students, who make up the largest number of overseas students in Australia.

A spate of attacks on Indian students in Australia earlier this year also sparked angry protests in India and prompted prime minister Kevin Rudd to call his Indian counterpart to assure him of student safety.

Global Campus Management Group, which owns four private colleges in Sydney and Melbourne, was placed into voluntary administration on Thursday.

India’s deputy high commissioner to Australia, V.K. Sharma, said an estimated 300 or so of the affected students were Indians and that the recent collapse of some colleges had led to a sharp fall in student arrivals from India.

“There was also a lot of fraud going on in the system,” he added.

He said the current shake-out of Australia’s education system was necessary to restore the confidence of overseas students, a process that could take a couple of years.

The Australian Education Union said greater regulation of the private colleges was needed.

“There are a growing number of private colleges collapsing and it’s the students who pay the price,” said union president Angelo Gavrielatos.

“The scrutiny of new and existing operators has not been adequate to ensure that they are financially viable and delivering a quality education to international and domestic students.”

Afghan leader Karzai vows inclusive government

Reuters — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:22:00 GMT

Kabul: Re-elected Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed on Tuesday to form an inclusive government after stern warnings from Western supporters he would have to work harder to root out corruption.

Afghan election officials on Monday cancelled a needless presidential run-off vote after Karzai’s only rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew citing serious concerns about the election.

The outcome leaves Washington and other Western supporters to work with a partner whose legitimacy has been questioned, while Karzai himself faces the prospect of having to work with a newly strengthened opposition.

Karzai’s return removes at least one obstacle as US President Barack Obama weighs whether to send up to 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan, where violence this year reached its worst levels since the Taliban were in 2001.

Faced with stern warnings from Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other Western leaders, Karzai vowed to form an inclusive government.

“My government will be for all Afghans and all those who want to work with me are most welcome,” Karzai said in a nationally televised victory speech.

“There will be crucial changes in our future government. Now we are determined to use all our forces, by any means, to remove this stain (of corruption) from our soil,” he said.

Taliban Claim Success

Afghanistan endured weeks of political uncertainty after the 20 August first round was marred by widespread fraud, much of it in favour of Karzai, a crisis deepened by a resurgent Taliban who had vowed to disrupt the vote.

The Taliban termed Karzai’s return a farce and vowed to continue its fight to drive foreign forces out of Afghanistan.

The Islamist militants launched sporadic attacks in the first round and vowed to disrupt the run-off. They said their fighters had “paralysed” the electoral process with their attacks, including an assault on a U.N. guest-house last week in which five foreign UN staff were killed.

“Even they were not spared in the UN guest house in the heart of Kabul,” the Taliban said in a statement sent to Reuters.

Afghanistan’s government-appointed Independent Election Commission (IEC) called off the vote on Monday, saying it wanted to spare the Afghan people the expense and security risk of a vote with just one candidate.

Obama congratulated Karzai, but told him in a telephone call on Monday he had to get serious in cracking down on corruption and better serving his people.

There are currently around 67,000 U.S. troops and 42,000 allied troops in Afghanistan. A White House spokesman said a decision by Obama on troop levels was still weeks away.

While under a critical eye from the West, Karzai still has plenty of support, especially in the Pashtun-dominated south and east. Hundreds took to the streets in celebration in Herat on Monday.

But not everyone in the capital was happy with his return.

“Whatever he has done during the last seven or eight years, it will be the same again,” Kabul resident Haji Daulat told Reuters television. “So many people died during his term, and prices went up for everything.”

Karzai has ruled since US-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in 2001.

“The credibility of the Karzai government is not going to be simply decided by this election, it will now be decided by the actions the president takes over the coming days and weeks,” said a Kabul-based Western official who asked not to be named.

Consumer confidence highest in India; Indonesia, Norway follow

Susan Fenton / Reuters — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:03:00 GMT

Hong Kong: Global consumer confidence is rebounding, and in the US has risen for the first time since 2007, amid signs that the world economy is picking up although spending is still restrained, a survey showed on Wednesday.

Confidence was highest in India, followed by Indonesia and Norway, and was weakest in Japan, Latvia, Portugal and South Korea, although in Korea it had improved markedly, according to a quarterly survey by Nielsen Co., conducted between 28 September and 16 October.

Graphics: Ahmed Raza Khan / Mint

“Consumer confidence is rising faster in Bric countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) than other markets, driven by increasing job prospects,” Oliver Rust, managing director of Nielsen Hong Kong, said.

In the US and Europe, high unemployment continued to discourage spending on big-ticket items although confidence had improved as the worst appeared to be over for those economies, New York-based Nielsen said.

In the US, consumer sentiment rose from three months ago for the first time since early 2007. The data contrasts with a Conference Board index of US consumer confidence, released on Tuesday, which showed a sharp deterioration in confidence this month.

The US reading in The Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence survey at 84 was up 4 points from a similar survey in July but just below the global average reading of 86 and well below India’s score of 120 and Indonesia on 115.

“While consumer confidence in the US edged up 4 index points, that hasn’t translated into spending confidence for the vast majority of American consumers,” said James Russo, vice-president, global consumer insights at Nielsen Co. “Clearly, this recovery will be manifested in measured and restrained spending as consumers work to repair their balance sheets.”

A reading above 100 is considered optimistic. The global average was up four points from a similar survey in July.

Japan and Spain were the only markets in the latest survey to register a decline in confidence from July.

Japan’s score dropped by 2 points while the reading for Spain—which the International Monetary Fund has predicted will be the only euro zone economy to contract in 2010—fell 4 points to 74.

Hong Kong, which pulled out of recession in the second quarter, marked the biggest increase in confidence as its score jumped 14 points from the July survey to 93.

South Korea’s score rose by 13 points to 53 although it ranked third lowest among markets covered. Brazil’s score increased by 12 points to 108, or fifth place. Australia and New Zealand also saw double-digit increases in their scores to 106 and 100, respectively.

The survey polled around 30,500 consumers in Europe, the Asia-Pacific, North America and West Asia about their confidence levels and economic outlook.

Confidence in major European markets remained low with Germany scoring just 77, up from 72 previously; the UK on 75, up from 72; and France on 67, up from 60.

At least 60% of French, German and Irish consumers believed that economic recovery was more than a year away, Nielsen said. Europe, especially eastern Europe—where scores were on average 10 points below those of western Europe—expected a longer road to recovery than all other regions including the US, the survey showed.

Among the other Bric economies, Russia’s score rose 4 points from the previous survey to 85 while China’s increased by 6 points to 101.

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WFP says 1 bn people hungry

Rod Mcguirk / AP — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:46:00 GMT

Canberra, Australia: Most of the developing world is paying more for food despite drops in commodity market prices during the global economic slowdown, with 200 million people joining the ranks of the hungry in the past two years, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday.

The agency’s executive director Josette Sheeran blamed climate change, escalating fuel costs and falling incomes.

She said the number of “urgently hungry” had now reached its highest ever—1.02 billion.

“One out of six people in humanity will wake up not sure that they can even fill a cup of food,” Sheeran told reporters. “We have to make no mistake that hunger is on the march.”

She said while prices had tumbled on global commodities markets due to the financial crisis, the prices of most food staples in the developing world have soared.

“The food crisis is not over. We have an anomaly happening where on global, big markets, the prices are down, but for 80% of commodities in the developing world, prices are higher today than they were a year ago, and the prices a year ago were double what they were the year before that,” Sheeran said.

“What it means is for about 80% of the developing world, people can afford one third as much food today as they could two or three years ago,” she said.

Sheeran signed on Monday an AU$140 million (Rs600 crore) four-year aid agreement with the Australian government. The agreement includes AU$40 million to provide school meals in South-East Asia, Africa and possibly South America and will add to the WFP’s overall budget for global food aid.

Sheeran, who flew to Canberra from Manila on Sunday, said the Philippines could lose well up to 1.1 million tonnes of rice because of the recent typhoons.

Africa and India were also losing crops due to drought and floods.

Sheeran said the two back-to-back typhoons in late September and early October that killed nearly 1,000 people in the Philippines, coupled with the earthquake in Indonesia that killed more than 1,000 on western Sumatra and the recent tsunami that killed 183, mostly in Samoa, were examples of natural disasters becoming more frequent and ferocious in recent decades.

Sheeran said there had been a fourfold increase in the number of natural disasters in the past 20 years.

“All we know is that the world is facing increasingly frequent and ferocious natural disasters and the most vulnerable people and nations are getting hit hard and we better prepare now,” she said.