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.

 


Bangladesh probe into Hasina-era abuses warns ‘impunity’ remains

Updated 56 min 24 sec ago
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Bangladesh probe into Hasina-era abuses warns ‘impunity’ remains

  • The Commission of Inquiry into Enforced Disappearances is probing abuses during the rule of Hasina, whose government was accused of widespread human rights abuses

DHAKA: A Bangladesh government-appointed commission investigating hundreds of disappearances by the security forces under ousted premier Sheikh Hasina on Monday warned that the same “culture of impunity” continues.
The Commission of Inquiry into Enforced Disappearances is probing abuses during the rule of Hasina, whose government was accused of widespread human rights abuses.
That includes the extrajudicial killing of hundreds of political opponents and the unlawful abduction and disappearance of hundreds more.
The commission was established by interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, 84, who is facing intense political pressure as parties jostle for power ahead of elections expected early next year.
Bangladesh has a long history of military coups and the army retains a powerful role.
“Enforced disappearances in Bangladesh were not isolated acts of wrongdoing, but the result of a politicized institutional machinery that condoned, normalized, and often rewarded such crimes,” the commission said, in a section of a report released by the interim government on Monday.
“Alarmingly, this culture of impunity continues even after the regime change on August 5, 2024.”
The commission has verified more than 250 cases of enforced disappearances spanning the 15 years that Hasina’s Awami League was in power.
Commission chief Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury said earlier this month that responsibility lay with individual officers, who were “involved in conducting enforced disappearances,” but not the armed forces as an institution.
Earlier this month, a joint statement by rights groups — including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch — called on the security forces to “fully cooperate with the commission by guaranteeing unfettered and ongoing access to all detention centers... and providing free access to records regarding those seized or detained.”
Hasina,77, remains in self-imposed exile in India, where she fled after she was ousted last year.
She has defied orders to return to Dhaka to face charges amounting to crimes against humanity. Her trial in absentia continues.


Greenpeace joins protests against gala Bezos wedding in Venice

Updated 23 June 2025
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Greenpeace joins protests against gala Bezos wedding in Venice

  • Some locals see the celebration as the latest sign of the brash commodification of a beautiful but fragile city that has long been overrun with tourism while steadily depopulating

VENICE: Global environmental lobby Greenpeace added its voice on Monday to protests against this week’s celebrity wedding in Venice between American tech billionaire Jeff Bezos and journalist Laura Sanchez.
The event, expected to attract some 200 guests including US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as scores of stars from film, fashion and business, has been dubbed “the wedding of the century.”
But some locals see the celebration as the latest sign of the brash commodification of a beautiful but fragile city that has long been overrun with tourism while steadily depopulating.
Activists from Greenpeace Italy and UK group “Everyone hates Elon” (Musk) unfolded a giant banner in central St. Mark’s Square with a picture of Bezos laughing and a sign reading: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax.”
Local police arrived to talk to activists and check their identification documents, before they rolled up their banner.
“The problem is not the wedding, the problem is the system. We think that one big billionaire can’t rent a city for his pleasure,” Simona Abbate, one of the protesters, told Reuters.
Mayor Luigi Brugnaro and regional governor Luca Zaia have defended the wedding, arguing that it will bring an economic windfall to local businesses, including the motor boats and gondolas that operate its myriad canals.
Zaia said the celebrations were expected to cost 20-30 million euros ($23-$34 million).
Bezos will also make sizable charity donations, including a million euros for Corila, an academic consortium that studies Venice’s lagoon ecosystem, Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper and the ANSA news agency reported on Sunday.
Earlier this month, anti-Bezos banners were hung from St. Mark’s bell tower and from the famed Rialto bridge, while locals threatened peaceful blockades against the event, saying Venice needed public services and housing, not VIPs and over-tourism.
The exact dates and locations of the glitzy nuptials are being kept confidential, but celebrations are expected to play out over three days, most likely around June 26-28.


Beijing issues weather warning for hottest days of year

Updated 23 June 2025
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Beijing issues weather warning for hottest days of year

  • An orange heat warning — the second-highest in a three-tier system — was issued on Monday as officials encouraged people to limit outdoor activity and drink more fluids to avoid heatstroke

BEIJING: Beijing residents sought shade and cooled off in canals on Monday as authorities issued the second-highest heat warning for the Chinese capital on one of its hottest days of the year so far.
China has endured a string of extreme summers in recent years, with heatwaves baking northern regions even as parts of the south have seen catastrophic rain and flooding.
Authorities in the city of 22 million people urged the public to take precautions, with temperatures expected to peak at around 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday.
“It’s been really hot lately, especially in the past few days,” intern Li Weijun told AFP on Monday afternoon.
The 22-year-old said he had stopped wearing formal clothes to work and delayed his daily exercise until after 10:00 p.m. to stay safe.
“I think it’s related to climate change, and maybe also to the damage done to nature,” he said.
An orange heat warning — the second-highest in a three-tier system — was issued on Monday as officials encouraged people to limit outdoor activity and drink more fluids to avoid heatstroke.
Construction workers should “shorten the amount of time consecutively spent at labor,” while elderly, sick or weakened individuals ought to “avoid excessive exertion,” according to the guidelines.
Zhang Chen, 28, said she carried an umbrella outdoors to prevent sunburn.
“I used to ride a bike, but once it gets this hot, I basically stop doing that,” the IT worker told AFP.
Despite the beating sun, legions of delivery drivers zipped through downtown areas at noon to bring sustenance to Beijing’s office workers.
A few lazed on the backs of their scooters in a shady spot, while elsewhere, people cooled off with ice creams or by taking a dip in the city’s canals.


Beijing is still a few degrees short of breaking its record for the hottest-ever June day, set at 41.1C in 2023.
Human greenhouse gas emissions are driving climate change that causes longer, more frequent and more intense heatwaves.
China is the world’s largest producer of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas, though it has pledged to bring its emissions to a peak by the end of this decade and to net zero by 2060.
The country has also emerged as a global leader in renewable energy in recent years as it seeks to pivot its massive economy away from highly polluting coal consumption.
In a shady spot near an office building, 42-year-old Lucy Lu spent her lunch break with friends, kicking a shuttlecock through the air — a traditional Chinese game known as “jianzi.”
“I was born and raised in Beijing, and summer here has always been like this,” she said.
“But I do think when the temperature goes over 40C, there should be some time off or work-from-home options to reduce the risk of heatstroke.”


UK police ban Palestine Action protest outside parliament

Updated 23 June 2025
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UK police ban Palestine Action protest outside parliament

  • The pro-Palestinian organization is among groups that have regularly targeted defense firms and other companies in Britain linked to Israel since the start of the conflict in Gaza

LONDON: British police have banned campaign group Palestine Action from protesting outside parliament on Monday, a rare move that comes after two of its members broke into a military base last week and as the government considers banning the organization.
The group said in response that it had changed the location of its protest on Monday to Trafalgar Square, which lies just outside the police exclusion zone.
The pro-Palestinian organization is among groups that have regularly targeted defense firms and other companies in Britain linked to Israel since the start of the conflict in Gaza.
British media have reported that the government is considering proscribing, or effectively banning, Palestine Action, as a terrorist organization, putting it on a par with Al-Qaeda or Daesh.
London’s Metropolitan Police said late on Sunday that it would impose an exclusion zone for a protest planned by Palestine Action outside the Houses of Parliament — a popular location for protests in support of a range of causes.
“The right to protest is essential and we will always defend it, but actions in support of such a group go beyond what most would see as legitimate protest,” Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said.
“We have laid out to Government the operational basis on which to consider proscribing this group.”
Palestine Action’s members are alleged to have caused millions of pounds of criminal damage, assaulted a police officer with a sledgehammer and, in the incident last week, damaged two military aircraft, Rowley added.


Italy against suspending EU-Israel accord, foreign minister says

Updated 23 June 2025
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Italy against suspending EU-Israel accord, foreign minister says

ROME: Italy is against a suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement over alleged human rights violations in Gaza, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday.
“Our position is different from that of Spain,” Tajani said on the sidelines of a meeting with EU colleagues in Brussels, referring to Spain’s support for a suspension of the deal.
Tajani said it was important to keep relations open with Israel, saying that this had facilitated the evacuation of some civilians out of Gaza.