Paris conference urges global financial system overhaul to combat poverty and climate change 

From right: South African President Ramaphosa, EC President Von Der Leyen, Egyptian President El-Sisi and Colombian President Petro Urrego take part in a roundtable at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris on Thursday. (AN Photo by Ammar Abd Rabbo)
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Updated 23 June 2023
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Paris conference urges global financial system overhaul to combat poverty and climate change 

  • Summit for a New Global Financial Pact aims to improve lending system for developing countries 
  • Without equitable access to finance, poor nations could remain mired in poverty, world leaders warn

PARIS: Without an overhaul of the global financial system, the international community will fail to address the twin challenges of poverty and climate change, world leaders heard on the opening day of the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris on Thursday.

The two-day conference, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and attended by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was organized to find ways to improve the lending system for developing countries mired in poverty and threatened by climate disaster. 

In his opening remarks, Macron told delegates that the world needs a “public finance shock” — a global surge of financing — to fight these challenges, adding the current system was not well suited to address them.




French President Emmanuel Macron opening the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris on Wednesday.  (Photo by Ammar Abd Rabbo)

“Policymakers and countries shouldn’t ever have to choose between reducing poverty and protecting the planet,” Macron told the summit. 

Indeed, those nations that are most vulnerable to extreme weather events caused by climate change are often the least equipped to respond to protect their populations or to implement emissions-cutting policies of their own.

Without some form of debt relief for developing countries to address environmental challenges, or new methods of financing that take into account their poverty-reduction priorities, experts believe the fight against climate change and hardship is already lost. 

During a roundtable on day one of the summit, titled “A new method: green growth partnerships,” moderated by Catherine Colonna, France’s minister for Europe and foreign affairs, world leaders discussed the potential for multi-stakeholder partnerships.




Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (2nd right) attending the New Global Financing Pact in Paris, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on his left and Tunisian President Kais Saied on his right. (AN Photo by Ammar Abd Rabbo) 

Questioned by Colonna about the collective challenges posed by rising temperatures, panelist Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the Egyptian president, said: “Climate change threatens all countries worldwide and requires states to work together to face these challenges.” 

Recalling the UN Climate Change Conference, COP27, held in Egypt’s Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh last November, El-Sisi said: “We have heard many commitments during COP27, but the major problem that persists concerns access to financing both at the national and international levels.” 

El-Sisi called for the implementation of a fair financing system in all sectors that promote sustainable development, highlighting access to vital resources such as water, food and energy. 

“These development programs require the establishment of partnerships,” he said. “We must continue to finance projects that align with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. We must continue to develop multilateral partnerships with defined programs centered on sustainable development.” 

El-Sisi further emphasized the need to find solutions and recommendations to curb or erase the debts of poor countries and to suspend or cancel taxes to enable banks to meet current requirements.

“In Egypt, we have implemented a renewable energy development plan. We need the assistance of our partners and international financial institutions to support us in project implementation,” he added.




Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during the panel discussion.   (Photo by Ammar Abd Rabbo)

During her own intervention, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, called for the creation of an “environment conducive to private capital and to encourage investors to be more involved in energy transition projects.”

She said access to capital markets is crucial. 

“At the European Commission, we are interested in the most attractive sectors in green growth, particularly in emerging and developing countries that face limited financing, lack of training, and an increase in interest rates practiced by banks,” she said.

“We must share our expertise and limit risks for investors.”

Another way to even out the burden of climate costs is the implementation of carbon pricing. One method is to make polluters such as transport and logistics companies pay a tax on their emissions, thereby incentivising more sustainable practices. 




European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (R) and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen attending the Global Climate Finance summit in Paris on June 22, 2023. (Pool via REUTERS)

“They will have the choice to either adopt more environmentally friendly methods or pay a tax that will finance sustainable and environment conscious projects,” von der Leyen told the roundtable.

“Carbon pricing will generate revenue that will be allocated to financing a greener economy,” she added.

Speaking on the same panel, Gustavo Petro Urrego, president of Colombia, said nations should change production methods in industry and agriculture, and cooperate on water conservation. 

“We must reorganize territories and change methods, but these strategies require the mobilization of billions of dollars,” he said. “We all know that capital is essential in achieving the goals of ecological transition and sustainable development.”

To make access to financing more just and equitable, Petro called for a global Marshall Plan — in reference to the post-war reconstruction fund provided to Europe by the US — to address global challenges related to climate change and sustainable development.




French President Emmanuel Macron, right, welcomes Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the New Global Financial summit in Paris onJune 22, 2023. (Pool via AP) 

He also called for debt cancelation for poor countries in exchange for concrete commitments to sustainable development.

A separate roundtable on Thursday focused on ways to enable environments for the private sector to implement sustainable infrastructure and financing for small- and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs. 

According to Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan’s minister of foreign affairs, achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 will be challenging due to the post-pandemic global context.

Nevertheless, asked about the contribution of the private sector to sustainable development and the green economy, Hayashi said Tokyo had incentivised firms to make private capital contributions to the development of green economy programs. 

“We encourage the private sector to get involved in achieving our objectives in terms of sustainable development and respect for human rights,” he said. 




Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi stressed the need for the public and private sectors to work together to invest in infrastructure construction. (Pool photo via AFP) 

Hayashi said the public and private sectors must work together to invest in infrastructure construction, citing Japan’s support for programs launched by companies involving the ecological transition.

Speaking on the same roundtable, Khadem Khadem Al-Remeithi, executive director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, a UAE sovereign wealth fund, recommended working “with various organizations such as the French Development Agency to identify concrete solutions, particularly in terms of building infrastructure.”

In the course of his work, Al-Remeithi said he ensures the actions carried out by the investment fund are committed to implementing regulatory rules and operational platforms to organize selected projects and programs.

“We ensure that our actions yield results,” he said, citing successful projects carried out by the African Development Bank in many countries. 

“The financing of small- and medium-sized enterprises engaged in sustainable development and the investments necessary for the construction of basic infrastructure require the support of capital from international financial institutions.”

Al-Remeithi, who called for the establishment of regulatory mechanisms that effectively combat “the hesitations of banks and potential investors regarding risks,” said such measures would encourage dialogue between public and private operators to enhance their contributions to sustainable development programs.

Beyond policy shifts at the nation and boardroom level, however, the world’s developing countries need to see tangible change in the rules-based order of finance if they are to reap any benefits in the short-to-medium term.

Speaking during the summit’s opening session on Thursday, Mia Mottley, prime minister of Barbados, called for a reimagining of the role of the World Bank and IMF in an era of climate crisis.




Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley. Supplied)

Mottley, whose Caribbean island nation is threatened by rising sea levels and tropical storms, said: “What is required of us now is absolute transformation and not reform of our institutions. We come to Paris to identify the common humanity that we share and the absolute moral imperative to save our planet and to make it livable.” 

Outlining the challenges facing developing countries, Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, said more than 50 nations were now in or near debt default, while many African countries are spending more on debt repayments than on health care. 

Guterres said the post-Second World War global financial system was failing to rise to modern challenges and now “perpetuates and even worsens inequalities.”




UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (R) is received by French President Emmanuel Macron (C) for an official dinner at the Elysee Palace on the sidelines of the New Global Financial Pact Summit in Paris on June 22, 2023. (AFP)

“We can take steps right now and take a giant leap toward global justice,” he said, adding that he has proposed a stimulus of $500 billion a year for investments in sustainable development and climate action. 

In a nod to those looking for tangible progress from the summit, IMF Director Kristalina Georgieva announced that a key pledge to rechannel $100 billion of liquidity boosting “special drawing rights” into a climate and poverty fund had been met. 

Macron said he was hopeful that a 2009 pledge to deliver $100 billion a year in climate finance to poorer nations by 2020 would finally be fulfilled this year, although actual confirmation the money has been delivered will take months, if not years.

 


World leaders head to France for UN summit on ocean threats

Updated 08 June 2025
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World leaders head to France for UN summit on ocean threats

  • The UN Ocean Conference must try to turn a corner as nations feud over deep-sea mining, plastic litter and exploitative fishing, against a backdrop of wider geopolitical tensions

NICE, France: World leaders descend on the French Riviera on Sunday ahead of a high-level summit to tackle a deepening crisis in the oceans driven by overfishing, climate change and pollution.
The United Nations says oceans face an “emergency” and leaders gathering in Nice will be under pressure to commit much-needed money and stronger protections for the ailing seas and the people that depend on them.
The UN Ocean Conference must try to turn a corner as nations feud over deep-sea mining, plastic litter and exploitative fishing, against a backdrop of wider geopolitical tensions.
Some 50 heads of state and government are expected to attend, including Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Argentine counterpart Javier Milei.
On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to sail to Nice from Monaco, where he is attending a related event aimed at raising private capital for ocean conservation.
He will be joined on the shimmering Mediterranean Sea by other vessels in a colorful maritime parade, before touring an exhibition center on land transformed into the cavernous belly of a whale.
That evening, Macron will host leaders for a dinner of Mediterranean fish ahead of the summit’s formal opening on Monday.
Peaceful demonstrations are expected over the five-day event and France has deployed 5,000 police to the heritage-listed city where scientists, business leaders and environmental activists are also attending in big numbers.
A strong turnout is also expected from Pacific Island nations, whose delegations will demand greater financial assistance to fight the rising seas, marine trash and plunder of fisheries that threatens their very survival.
The United States under President Donald Trump — whose recent push to fast-track seabed mining in international waters sparked global outrage — is not expected to send a delegation.

Conservationists have warned the summit — which will not produce a legally binding agreement — risks being a talk fest unless leaders come armed with concrete proposals for restoring marine health.
Chief among these is securing the missing finance to get anywhere near protecting 30 percent of the world’s oceans by 2030, a globally agreed target.
“We’ve created this sort of myth that governments don’t have money for ocean conservation,” Brian O’Donnell, director of Campaign for Nature, told reporters.
“There is money. There is not political will,” he said.
So far, only around eight percent of oceans are designated marine conservation zones and even less are considered truly protected.
Greenpeace says at this rate, it could take another 82 years to reach the 30 percent goal.
In a boost this week, Samoa declared 30 percent of its national waters under protection with the creation of nine new marine parks.
Conservationists hope others at Nice follow suit.
“All eyes should be on the many Pacific leaders attending... Their ambition and dedication to ocean protection can serve as inspiration to all countries,” said Kevin Chand from the nonprofit group Pristine Seas.
There has also been a concerted push for nations, including France, to ban bottom trawling — a destructive fishing method that indiscriminately scrapes the ocean floor.
On Saturday, Macron told the Ouest-France newspaper that bottom trawling would be restricted in some national marine protected areas.
Inching closer toward the numbers required to ratify a global treaty on harmful fishing subsidies, and another on high seas protection, will also be a summit priority.
France is spearheading a separate push in Nice to build support for a moratorium on deep-sea mining ahead of a closely-watched meeting of the International Seabed Authority in July.
On Sunday, an expert scientific panel will hand Macron a list of recommendations for leaders at the summit, including pausing seabed exploration when so little is known about the deep oceans.

 


Trump deploying California National Guard over governor’s objections to LA to quell protests

Updated 37 min 54 sec ago
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Trump deploying California National Guard over governor’s objections to LA to quell protests

  • Border czar says National Guard to deploy on Saturday evening
  • White House aide Stephen Miller calls LA protests an ‘insurrection’
  • Trump’s DHS says Democrat rhetoric contributing to violence against ICE

PARAMOUNT, California: President Donald Trump is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops over the governor’s objections to Los Angeles over where protests Saturday led to clashes between immigration authorities and demonstrators.
The White House said in a statement Saturday that Trump was deploying the Guardsmen to “address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester” in California.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, objected to the move and said in a post on X that the move from the Republican president was “purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.”
The White House’s move to dramatically ratchet up the response came as protests in Los Angeles extended into a second day where tear gas and smoke filled the air as protesters faced off with Border Patrol personnel in riot gear.

 

Trump federalized part of the state’s National Guard under what is known as Title 10 authority, which places him, not the governor, atop the chain of command, Newsom told The Associated Press.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that the work the immigration authorities were doing when met with protest is “essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States. In the wake of this violence, California’s feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens.”
The president’s move came shortly after he issued a threat on his social media network that said that if Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass didn’t “do their jobs,” then “the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!”

 

Newsom said in his statement on social media that local authorities “are able to access law enforcement assistance at a moment’s notice,” and “there is currently no unmet need.”
“This is the wrong mission and will erode public trust,” he added.
Border Patrol personnel in riot gear and gas masks stood guard outside an industrial park in the city of Paramount, deploying tear gas as bystanders and protesters gathered on medians and across the street. Some jeered at officers while recording the events on smartphones.
“ICE out of Paramount. We see you for what you are,” a woman said through a megaphone. “You are not welcome here.”
One handheld sign read, “No Human Being is Illegal.”
Smoke rose from burning shrubbery and refuse in the street, and demonstrators kicked at a Border Patrol vehicle. A boulevard was closed to traffic as Border Patrol agents circulated through a community where more than 80 percent of residents identify themselves as Latino.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a message on social media addressing “LA rioters” and warning that interference with immigration enforcement will not be tolerated.
In 2020, Trump asked governors of several states to deploy their National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to quell protests that arose after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officers. Many of the governors agreed, sending troops to the federal district.

 

At the time, Trump also threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act for protests following Floyd’s death in Minneapolis — an intervention rarely seen in modern American history. But then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper pushed back, saying the law should be invoked “only in the most urgent and dire of situations.”
Trump did invoke the Insurrection Act during his first term and did not invoke it Saturday, according to Leavitt and Newsom.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers executed search warrants at multiple locations Friday, including outside a clothing warehouse in the fashion district. The action came after a judge found probable cause that the employer was using fictitious documents for some of its workers, according to representatives for Homeland Security Investigations and the US Attorney’s Office.
A tense scene unfolded outside as a crowd tried to block agents from driving away.
Advocates for immigrants’ rights said there were also migration detentions outside Home Depot stores and a doughnut shop.
DHS said in a statement that recent ICE operations in Los Angeles resulted in the arrest of 118 immigrants, including five people linked to criminal organizations and people with prior criminal histories.
Following the Friday arrests, protesters gathered in the evening outside a federal detention center, chanting, “Set them free, let them stay!”
Some held signs with anti-ICE slogans, and some some scrawled graffiti on the building.
Among those arrested at the protests was David Huerta, regional president of the Service Employees International Union. Justice Department spokesperson Ciaran McEvoy confirmed that he was being held Saturday at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles ahead of a scheduled Monday court appearance.
It was not clear whether Huerta had legal representation.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for his immediate release. In a social media post, he cited a “disturbing pattern of arresting and detaining American citizens for exercising their right to free speech.”
The immigration arrests come as President Donald Trump and his administration push to fulfill promises of mass deportations across the country.
Mayor Karen Bass said the activity was meant to “sow terror” in the nation’s second-largest city.
In a statement Saturday, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons chided Bass for the city’s response to the protests.
“Mayor Bass took the side of chaos and lawlessness over law enforcement,” Lyons said. “Make no mistake, ICE will continue to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and arrest criminal illegal aliens.”


US believes Russia response to Ukraine drone attack not over yet, expects multi-pronged strike

ire and smoke rise in the aftermath of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 6, 2025.
Updated 08 June 2025
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US believes Russia response to Ukraine drone attack not over yet, expects multi-pronged strike

  • Russia launched an intense missile and drone barrage at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday and Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strike on military and military-related targets was in response to what it called Ukrainian “terrorist acts” against Russia

WASHINGTON: The United States believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threatened retaliation against Ukraine over its drone attack last weekend has not happened yet in earnest and is likely to be a significant, multi-pronged strike, US officials told Reuters.
The timing of the full Russian response was unclear, with one source saying it was expected within days. A second US official said the retaliation was likely to include different kinds of air capabilities, including missiles and drones.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity. They did not detail Russia’s expected targets nor elaborate on intelligence matters. The first official said Moscow’s attack would be “asymmetrical,” meaning that its approach and targeting would not mirror Ukraine’s strike last weekend against Russian warplanes.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Putin's retaliation for Ukraine drone strike has yet to fully unfold, US officials say

• Strikes expected to including missiles, drones, US officials say

• Moscow's retaliation expected to be 'asymmetrical,' official says

Russia launched an intense missile and drone barrage at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday and Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strike on military and military-related targets was in response to what it called Ukrainian “terrorist acts” against Russia. But the US officials believe the complete Russian response is yet to come.
A Western diplomatic source said that while Russia’s response may have started, it would likely intensify with strikes against symbolic Ukrainian targets like government buildings, in an effort to send a clear message to Kyiv.
Another, senior, Western diplomat anticipated a further devastating assault by Moscow. “It will be huge, vicious and unrelenting,” the diplomat said. “But the Ukrainians are brave people.”
The Russian and Ukrainian embassies in Washington and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Michael Kofman, a Russia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said he expected Moscow might seek to punish Ukraine’s domestic security agency, the SBU, for its role in last weekend’s assault. To send a message, Russia could employ intermediate-range ballistic missiles for the attack, he said.
“Most likely, they will attempt to retaliate against (SBU) headquarters, or other regional intelligence administration buildings,” Kofman said, adding Russia could also target Ukrainian defense manufacturing centers.
Still, Kofman suggested Russia’s options for retaliation may be limited as it is already throwing a lot of its military might at Ukraine.
“In general, Russia’s ability to substantially escalate strikes from what they are already doing — and attempting to do over the past month — is quite constrained,” he said.

OPERATION ‘SPIDER’S WEB’
Kyiv says Sunday’s audacious attack employed 117 unmanned aerial vehicles launched deep from within Russian territory in an operation code-named “Spider’s Web.”
The United States assesses that up to 20 warplanes were hit — around half the number estimated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — and around 10 were destroyed.
The Russian government on Thursday denied that any planes were destroyed and said the damage would be repaired, but Russian military bloggers have spoken of loss or serious damage to about a dozen planes, including those capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
The strikes, prepared over 18 months and conducted by drones smuggled close to the bases in trucks, dealt a powerful symbolic blow to Russia, which throughout the Ukraine war has frequently reminded the world of its nuclear might.
Putin told President Donald Trump in a telephone conversation on Wednesday that Moscow would have to respond to attack, Trump said in a social media post.
Trump later told reporters that “it’s probably not going to be pretty.”
“I don’t like it. I said: ‘Don’t do it. You shouldn’t do it. You should stop it,’” Trump said of his conversation with Putin. “But, again, there’s a lot of hatred.”

 


Germany has three years to overhaul military: official

Updated 08 June 2025
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Germany has three years to overhaul military: official

  • Germany’s chief of defense, General Carsten Breuer, recently warned that Russia could be in a position to “launch a large-scale attack against NATO territory” as early as 2029

BERLIN: Germany’s armed forces have three years to acquire the equipment to tackle a possible Russian attack on NATO territory, the head of military procurement said Saturday.
Defense spending has risen up the political agenda since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and more recently with the United States pushing NATO members to increase their commitments.
“Everything necessary to be fully prepared to defend the country must be acquired by 2028,” Annette Lehnigk-Emden, head of the Federal Office for Military Procurement, told the Tagesspiegel newspaper.
Germany’s chief of defense, General Carsten Breuer, recently warned that Russia could be in a position to “launch a large-scale attack against NATO territory” as early as 2029.
He said there was a Russian build-up of ammunition and tanks for a possible attack on NATO’s Baltic members.
Lehnigk-Emden said that Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s new government was enabling the upgrade by allocating hundreds of billions of euros for defense.
She said the priority would be for heavy equipment such as Skyranger anti-aircraft tanks.
Merz has made rearmament a priority of his coalition government to make German forces “the most powerful conventional army in Europe.”
Rearmament had already begun under the previous government of Olaf Scholz after Russia launched its war in Ukraine.
And US President Donald Trump has raised the stakes further this year by pushing NATO members to increase their defense spending to five percent of GDP from the current level of two percent.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Thursday that 50,000 to 60,000 new soldiers would be needed in the coming years to meet the increased NATO defense needs.
Last year, the army had more than 180,000 soldiers and set a goal of exceeding 203,000 by 2031.
Germany is meanwhile looking to speed up the establishment of shelters where the population could find refuge in the event of conflict, according to the president of the German Federal Office for Civil Protection, Ralph Tiesler.
At the end of last year, the authorities began to catalogue tunnels, subway stations, underground carparks and cellars of public buildings that could be converted into bunkers.
“We are going to create one million shelter places as quickly as possible,” Tiesler told the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, indicating that a plan to this effect would be presented this summer.

 


DR Congo, Burundi thwart Rwanda on regional bloc presidency

Updated 08 June 2025
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DR Congo, Burundi thwart Rwanda on regional bloc presidency

  • Presidency of the 11-nation ECCAS had been due to pass to Kigali
  • Rwanda is accused of helping M23 rebels fighting DR Congo government

MALABO, Equatorial Guinea: Rwanda was blocked Saturday from taking the rotating presidency of the central African economic bloc because of the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The presidency of the 11-nation Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) had been due to pass to Kigali, but at a heads of state and government meeting, DR Congo and Burundi objected.
“The conference postponed to another time the transfer of the rotating acting presidency of the community to the Republic of Rwanda and consequently decided to keep His Excellency Obiang Nguema Mbasogo as acting president of the community for an additional year,” a communique said.
One ECCAS official described the atmosphere between Rwanda and DR Congo’s representatives at the meeting in Equatorial Guinea’s capital Malabo as “tense.”
The Congolese contingent said “if Rwanda took the presidency, they would not be able to travel to Rwanda for community activities or events,” the official added on condition of anonymity.
“Burundi is also on the same path.”
Diplomatic ties between Kinshasa and Kigali are fraught, with the Congolese government accusing Rwanda of supporting the M23 armed group that has taken swathes of territory in the mineral-rich eastern DRC since the start of the year.
Neighbouring Burundi has sent more than 10,000 soldiers since 2023 to help the Congolese army fight the M23 and other armed groups operating in the conflict-wracked region.
On Thursday, Qatari mediators presented the DRC government and the M23 group “a peace proposal” to end the conflict, a source with knowledge of the talks told AFP.