The Disappointment of the Quad Vaccine Partnership
On May 25, the leaders of the Quad – the loose grouping of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States – met in Tokyo to announce several new initiatives, including plans to surveil deep-water fishing in the Pacific, a new educational exchange program, and more. These initiatives caught international attention and prompted predictable yet fiery criticism from the Quad’s chief rival, China, which complained that the alliance was becoming a hyper-militarized and destabilizing force in the region. However, also announced at the Tokyo Quad Summit was a less-discussed yet still significant initiative: a $100 billion investment by the Bank of Japan to finance the ongoing Quad Vaccine Partnership. Announced in March 2021, the Quad Vaccine Partnership aimed to donate 1.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the Indo-Pacific by the end of 2022. Under this partnership, India would produce vaccine doses, the United States would finance dose production, and Australia and Japan would aid in vaccine manufacturing, distribution, and financing efforts. Beyond humanitarian motives, this Quad Vaccine Partnership was a thinly veiled counter to China’s vaccine diplomacy, under which Beijing has sold 1.9 billion doses to 118 countries worldwide, including to nearly all Indo-Pacific nations, and donated another 246 million. Indeed, upon its launch, observers lauded the Quad Vaccine Partnership as a chance for the alliance to move beyond its traditional military domain and use diplomatic engagement to counter China in the region.
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.