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UN chief warns of 'winter of discontent' as war and climate worsen

20 Sep 2022 20 Sep 2022

The head of the United Nations warned Tuesday of an upcoming “winter of global discontent” from rising prices, a warming planet and deadly conflicts as world leaders sought ways forward on Ukraine and Iran.

The UN General Assembly, the annual gathering of world leaders that clogs Midtown Manhattan, returned in person after two years of pandemic restrictions with only one leader allowed to appear virtually — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the summit with an image of a ship carrying grain out of Ukraine, a symbol of successful diplomacy, but he warned of a dire state of the planet.

“A winter of global discontent is on the horizon,” Guterres said.

“Trust is crumbling, inequalities are exploding, our planet is burning. People are hurting — with the most vulnerable suffering the most.”

With global temperatures rising and a chunk of Pakistan the size of the United Kingdom recently under water, Guterres lashed out at fossil fuel companies and the “suicidal war against nature.”

“Let’s tell it like it is — Our world is addicted to fossil fuels. It’s time for an intervention. We need to hold fossil fuel companies and their enablers to account,” Guterres said.

He called on all developed economies to tax profits from fossil fuels and dedicate the funds both to compensate for damage from climate change and to help people struggling with high prices.

“Polluters must pay,” Guterres said.

– Warnings on Ukraine –

The summit still saw disruption due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, with President Joe Biden of the United States, by tradition the second speaker on the opening day, instead due to speak on Wednesday.

Just as leaders huddled at the United Nations about the war in Ukraine, Russian-backed forces announced they were going ahead with a move the West had long warned against — referendums on annexation by Moscow.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the votes, to be conducted in the coming days in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory, a “sham” that were part of “imperialist aggression” by Moscow.

The war in Ukraine, a major grain producer, has sent global food prices spiraling, hitting developing nations especially hard.

Senegalese President Macky Sall, the current chair of the African Union, urged a “negotiated solution” in Ukraine to “avoid the catastrophic risk of a potentially global conflict.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has fashioned himself as a mediator and played a key role in arranging the grain shipments, called for an end to the war that recognizes Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“Together, we need to find a reasonably practical diplomatic solution that will give both sides a dignified way out of the crisis,” Erdogan told the General Assembly.

Western leaders led by the United States have made clear they do not want the summit to focus exclusively on the Ukraine war itself, mindful of resentment in the developing world to the billions of dollars sent in weapons.

“The brutality of Russia’s war of aggression and its threat to the peace order in Europe have not blinded us to the fact that its dramatic effects are also clearly being felt in many other regions of the world,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will head a meeting on food security, and Guterres on Monday launched a bid to step up funding for education, badly affected by the pandemic.

– Criticism on Iran –

Among leaders who headed to New York was Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner who took office last year and faced noisy demonstrations on the streets of Manhattan.

While talks with Iran at the United Nations will once again focus on the fate of a 2015 nuclear accord, Raisi traveled as protests grip his country following the death of a young woman arrested by “morality police.”

Chilean President Gabriel Boric, a leftist former student leader, in his UN speech paid tribute to 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the unit responsible for enforcing the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women.

Boric called for “an end to abuses by the powerful everywhere,” including Russia’s “unjust war in Ukraine” and “violence against women” in Iran and elsewhere.

Iranian dissidents announced that they had filed a new lawsuit in US courts against Raisi over his role as a judge following the Islamic revolution in which thousands were sentenced to death.

Raisi went ahead with meetings including with French President Emmanuel Macron, who is seeking to revive the nuclear accord trashed by former US president Donald Trump.

Biden supports the accord, under which Iran drastically scaled back nuclear work in return for sanctions relief.

But Raisi has called for “guarantees” a future US leader will not ditch the deal, a promise the Biden administration considers impossible.

China should do more to help avoid debt crisis: US official

20 Sep 2022 22 Sep 2022

The “enormous scale” of Chinese lending to developing nations makes it critical Beijing do more to participate in restructurings to avoid a new international debt crisis, a senior US Treasury official said Tuesday.

In the wake of the pandemic, many countries are facing debt distress, and China has delayed or failed to participate in multinational efforts to try to work out those borrowing loads, said Brent Neiman, counselor to the Treasury Secretary.

“China’s enormous scale as a lender means its participation is essential,” Neiman said in a speech to the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

He noted that estimates of the total of outstanding Chinese official loans, while uncertain due to a lack of transparency, range widely to as much as $1 trillion.

“China became the world’s largest official creditor in 2017, surpassing the claims of the World Bank, IMF, and all Paris Club official creditors combined,” he said.

The high borrowing, outflow of funds from developing nations and strong US dollar amid rising interest rates have increased the pain for debtor countries, and “these ingredients all but assure debt distress in a number of countries,” he said.

“Failure to act on these debts could imply years of ongoing difficulties with the servicing of debts and with underinvestment and lower growth in low and middle income countries.”

In a now familiar message, repeated by government officials as well as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, Neiman called on China to end the “enormous delays” in participating in the international efforts to provide relief.

The G20 has agreed on a “common framework” for debt restructuring for the poorest countries, but to date only three have qualified, and only one, Zambia, has received assurances from China of debt restructuring, allowing it to secure an IMF aid package.

Neiman warned the delays “may discourage others from requesting needed treatments, and preclude the best outcomes.”

Middle income countries have fared no better in debt workouts with Chinese creditors, he said, and crisis-hit countries like Sri Lanka are not eligible for the common framework.

He called on Beijing to take steps to speed the workouts, including setting up a single entity to deal with bad loans, and providing more transparency on the terms and lending amounts.

China should do more to help avoid debt crisis: US official

20 Sep 2022 21 Sep 2022

“China’s enormous scale as a lender means its participation is essential,” Neiman said in a speech to the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

He noted that estimates of the total of outstanding Chinese official loans, while uncertain due to a lack of transparency, range widely to as much as $1 trillion.

“China became the world’s largest official creditor in 2017, surpassing the claims of the World Bank, IMF, and all Paris Club official creditors combined,” he said.

“Failure to act on these debts could imply years of ongoing difficulties with the servicing of debts and with underinvestment and lower growth in low and middle income countries.”

Neiman warned the delays “may discourage others from requesting needed treatments, and preclude the best outcomes.”

Middle income countries have fared no better in debt workouts with Chinese creditors, he said, and crisis-hit countries like Sri Lanka are not eligible for the common framework.

He called on Beijing to take steps to speed the workouts, including setting up a single entity to deal with bad loans, and providing more transparency on the terms and lending amounts.

Fiona, a Category 3 hurricane, batters Turks and Caicos

20 Sep 2022 20 Sep 2022

Hurricane Fiona, a powerful Category 3 storm, was battering the Turks and Caicos islands on Tuesday after leaving two people dead and triggering major flooding and power outages in the Caribbean.

“Hurricane Fiona has proven to be an unpredictable storm,” Anya Williams, the deputy governor of the British Overseas Territory, said in a broadcast.

Williams said no casualties or serious injuries had been reported in the Turks and Caicos overnight as heavy rain and strong winds lashed the islands but she urged residents to continue to shelter in place.

Blackouts had been reported on Grand Turk and several other islands in the archipelago and 165 people had been admitted to shelters, she said, adding that Britain’s Royal Navy and the US Coast Guard are standing by provide assistance if needed.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Fiona was packing maximum winds nearing 115 miles (185 kilometers) per hour, making it a major hurricane, and is expected to become even stronger.

“Heavy rains around the center of Fiona impacts the Turks and Caicos through this afternoon with continued life-threatening flooding,” the NHC said.

Fiona has left two people dead so far: one man whose home was swept away in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe and another in the Dominican Republic who died while cutting down a tree.

Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader has declared three eastern provinces to be disaster zones: La Altagracia — home to the popular resort of Punta Cana — El Seibo and Hato Mayor.

Several roads were flooded or cut off by falling trees or electric poles around Punta Cana where the power was knocked out.

Footage from local media showed residents of the east coast town of Higuey waist-deep in water trying to salvage personal belongings.

“It came through at high speed,” Vicente Lopez, in the Punta Cana beach of Bibijagua told AFP, bemoaning the destroyed businesses in the area.

The NHC said “heavy rainfall and localized life-threatening flash flooding” would continue over part of the Dominican Republic on Tuesday.

US President Joe Biden has meanwhile declared a state of emergency in Puerto Rico — where the storm hit a day earlier — authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance in the US island territory.

Governor Pedro Pierluisi said the storm had caused catastrophic damage since Sunday, with some areas receiving more than 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rain.

– ‘I have food and water’ –

Across Puerto Rico, Fiona caused landslides, blocked roads and toppled trees, power lines and bridges, Pierluisi said.

A man was killed as an indirect result of the power blackout — burned to death while trying to fill his generator, according to authorities.

On Monday afternoon, Nelly Marrero made her way back to her home in Toa Baja, in the north of Puerto Rico, to clear out the mud that surged inside after she evacuated.

“Thanks to God, I have food and water,” Marrero — who lost everything when Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico five years ago — told AFP by telephone.

Fiona knocked out power to much of Puerto Rico, an island of three million people, but electricity had been restored for some customers on Monday, the governor said.

The hurricane has also left around 800,000 people without drinking water as a result of power outages and flooded rivers, officials said.

After years of financial woes and recession, Puerto Rico in 2017 declared the largest bankruptcy ever by a local US administration.

Later that year, the double hit from two Hurricanes, Irma and Maria, added to the misery, devastating the electrical grid on the island — which has suffered from major infrastructure problems for years.

The grid was privatized in June 2021 in an effort to resolve the problem of blackouts, but the issue has persisted, and the entire island lost power earlier this year.