What Does ASEAN Want From Washington? – Analysis
The recent high-level US–ASEAN Summit has shown that, despite challenges, there is room for productive engagement between Washington and Southeast Asia. In recognising the region’s strategic importance, the summit marked a divergence from former US president Donald Trump’s America First foreign policy. It also saw over $US150 million in investment promised towards climate action, sustainable development, education, health and maritime cooperation. The summit demonstrated that Washington’s ‘presence’ in the region — undergirded by the new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) — is critical to the Biden administration’s competition with Beijing. But ASEAN needs to clarify what it means when it says it wants a US ‘presence’ in the region. Since the 2010s, China has been consistent in its efforts to counter US influence in the region, with a focus on economic development facilitated through the Belt and Road Initiative and loans from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. It intensified these tactics during the pandemic through vaccine diplomacy and pandemic assistance. China has also increased its maritime capabilities and use of grey-zone activities — coercive statecraft short of war — in the disputed South China Sea. China’s growing economic and military influence forced Biden into ‘catch-up mode’ throughout his first year in office — with US–ASEAN relations taking a backseat to the European Union, NATO and the Quad. US engagement with ASEAN member states picked-up in the second half of 2021 with high-level visits and meetings such as the and the East Asia Summit (EAS).
India targets net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, says Modi
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
COP26: What climate summit means for one woman in Bangladesh
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Why China's climate policy matters to us all
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Deliver on promises, developing world tells rich at climate talks
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.