Tianjin, 11 October (Lim Li Lin) - The working group of the Kyoto Protocol closed on Saturday (9 October) in Tianjin, China with the Protocol’s future still hanging by a thread. Deep divisions between developed and developing countries over its survival and the further emission reduction commitments of Annex I (developed country) Parties under the Kyoto Protocol remain unresolved despite the legal mandate to conclude discussions at the 6th Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties (CMP) in Cancun, Mexico later this year.
Tianjin, 9 October (Meena Raman) - Of the $30 billion promised by developed countries under the Copenhagen Accord, only 13 per cent or $3.9 billion has actually been given so far and just 7 per cent or $2.2 billion is additional to pre-existing aid commitments, said the World Development Movement, a U. K based NGO in a report entitled 'A long way to go' on the state of fast start climate finance.
Washington, D.C. - A new paper from the Center for Economic and Policy Research examines whether policies prescribed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may pose a danger to economic growth and recovery in a number of countries, including Greece, Latvia, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and Romania. The paper finds that the IMF has overestimated growth projections for various countries now pursuing fiscal tightening, austerity measures, and other pro-cyclical policies – often at the IMF’s urging – and that the Fund may continue to underestimate the downside risks to these countries’ economies. The lead author, CEPR economist Co-Director Mark Weisbrot, debated these issues with the IMF during the Annual Meetings in Washington October 9.
