The past few years have seen near-constant discussion about the implications for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the evolving power rivalry between the United States and China. Over the years, ASEAN has taken pride in its role as a key player in regional security and economic processes, an ambition that is captured in the notion of “ASEAN centrality.” As U.S.-China strategic competition intensifies in the region, the idea of ASEAN centrality has been increasingly challenged by the rise of the “Indo-Pacific” as a strategic concept. What is the regional bloc’s standpoint on the Indo-Pacific? Since its coining by Japan and adoption by the U.S. government in 2017, the term has been contested and political, and is open to manipulation and interpretation following configurations of interest and power by external powers. For the most part, ASEAN member states have been ambivalent about the Indo-Pacific idea. There are several reasons why. For decades, the region’s identity has been anchored in the broader concept of the Asia-Pacific. For some nations, the term signals a U.S.-led strategy to counter China’s growing power and influence. This is a contest in which most ASEAN member states are determined not to choose a side. The bloc’s preferred vision of the Indo-Pacific is one that prizes multilateral cooperation, connectivity, and economic interaction. China’s heightened sensitivity towards the Indo-Pacific has likely added to the reluctance of some Southeast Asian nations to fully and officially endorse the concept.
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.
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.
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.
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.