The U.S., meanwhile, declined to join a coalition including the European Union, Canada, Mexico, the U.K. and Norway that promised during the conference to embrace “ambitious” new climate plans by early next year. U.S. officials did not explain their absence from the effort, even though the Biden administration had helped orchestrate the pledge. Broadly, nations arrived unwilling to … Read more
Rebalancing climate finance to increase and ‘ring fence’ investment and incentives across the full agri-food value chain – including in the hidden middle – is critical to stimulate momentum in food systems transformation and to simultaneously strengthen food security. This is particularly true for small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for most of the sector’s businesses.[7] … Read more
Now the balance of power has reversed. Macron has lost influence in Brussels following defeats in European and national elections, while Barnier’s government faces an immediate challenge to rein in the public debt and could be toppled by Marine Le Pen of the far right at any time. The freshly-reappointed von der Leyen is, meanwhile, … Read more
“The Draft Law on Environmental Impact Assessment, though submitted to the Serbian parliament in October 2023, remains unadopted and contains critical gaps, such as not preventing the issuance of construction permits before the completion of the EIA,” Berishaj explained. Opposition to the project, including roadblocks across the country and thousands of protesters, was so strong … Read more
Not everyone was buying von der Leyen’s sphinx-like approach. The French Greens, for example, broke with their group to oppose von der Leyen, denouncing her for not detailing a “proactive pursuit of the Green Deal,” among other shortcomings. Green NGOs were similarly skeptical. Von der Leyen’s offerings “show there is no going back on climate,” … Read more
“It is important to understand that these are not punitive tariffs,” Habeck said, contrasting the EU measures with those implemented by countries such as the U.S., Brazil and Turkey, according to a Reuters report. Habeck said that for nine months, the European Commission had examined in great detail whether Chinese companies had benefited unfairly from … Read more
Washington was pushing to “put China in the text every two sentences,” said one European diplomat who was granted the condition of anonymity to speak candidly. “It kept hammering on the Chinese nail.” To Washington’s satisfaction, the two sides committed to team up with other countries to tackle “China’s non-market policies and practices in the … Read more
“It’s been very successful,” said Daniel Mullaney, the former top U.S. negotiator on trade issues with Europe, of the TTC. “We’ve had high-level attention, including at the presidential levels, on all of these issues. That’s kept the momentum going.” The question now is what happens if Trump wins back the White House in November. Even … Read more
“We have pointed out a few things as a potential, very natural [with] the Baltic states, both on air policing, but also other tasks,” he said, highlighting Sweden’s undersea capability in the Baltic Sea, a crucial zone of activity for the Russian navy around Kaliningrad. He also stressed Sweden’s strong defense industry as a role … Read more
