According to the latest Military Balance report, global defense spending for 2020 stood at $1.83 trillion, an increase of 3.9 percent in real terms. The annual publication produced by the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) noted that this was only “slightly lower” compared to 2019. Global military expenditures as a percentage of GDP went up from an average of 1.85 percent in 2019 to 2.08 percent in 2020. The Military Balance report further noted that global economic output had been severely impacted by the pandemic, seeing a contraction of 4.4 percent. Despite the economic downturn, military spending has been maintained almost at the same level of the previous year. This at least partly illustrates the growing security competition that is clearly feeding growing military spending. It is unlikely that this trend will reverse in the near term because there is no guarantee that the security environment in the Indo-Pacific will ease up anytime soon.
Mar 2, 2021
LONDON – China, which long targeted rapid industrial growth despite its environmental consequences, now aims to become the global leader in “low-carbon tech for a carbon-constrained world” as it unveils its new five-year plan this week, analysts say.
That shift is likely to include an accelerated pullback from its role as a major financier of new coal-fired power plants at home and abroad, Isabel Hilton, founder of China Dialogue, a nonprofit news organization, told an online event on Monday.
China is today the world’s largest emitter of planet-heating gases, responsible for about 28% of total global emissions.
Its 2021-2025 economic and social development plan is expected to reinforce a strong signal to Chinese industry to move away from fossil fuels and is likely to mean national emissions start falling within five years, predicted Li Shuo, a senior policy adviser for Greenpeace East Asia.
China expected to favor green tech over coal in new five-year plan japantimes.co.jp - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from japantimes.co.jp Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - China, which long targeted rapid industrial growth despite its environmental consequences, now aims to become the global leader in “low-carbon tech for a carbon-constrained world” as it unveils its new five-year plan this week, China analysts said.
That shift is likely to include an accelerated pullback from its role as a major financier of new coal-fired power plants at home and abroad, Isabel Hilton, founder of China Dialogue, a nonprofit news organisation, told an online event on Monday.
China is today the world’s largest emitter of planet-heating gases, responsible for about 28% of total global emissions.
Rejoining the Iran Nuclear Deal Is Not Enough
WHEN JOE BIDEN and his top advisors describe their approach to relations with Iran, they usually emphasize two goals. First, they want to reenter the 2015 nuclear deal. Second, they want to resist Iranian influence in the Middle East, which they consider singularly malevolent. Biden, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have all characterized Iran’s foreign policy as “destabilizing.” Biden has also called Tehran’s behavior “aggressive,” while Blinken has added the epithet “egregious.”
In Washington, the first goal attracts the most attention because it’s the most controversial. Virtually all the Republicans in Congress, and some of the Democrats, believe the nuclear deal was a mistake, and oppose reviving it. The second goal, obstructing Iranian regional influence, occasions less discussion because the presumption underlying it that Iran is a uniquely bad actor in its neighborh