France belongs in the Quad
The announcement last year of a security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States to procure nuclear submarines sent shockwaves across the Indo-Pacific. AUKUS promises to transform America’s force posture in the region and build the foundations of an integrated strategy to respond to China’s rise as a military power. Yet from the outset AUKUS faced major criticism, not so much from China as from America’s oldest ally, France. Paris accused Washington of a ‘stab in the back’ after Australia ‘blindsided’ France with the unceremonious termination of a $60 billion contract with the French shipbuilder Naval Group to develop a fleet of diesel–electric submarines for the Royal Australian Navy. Since it was agreed in 2016, France had hailed the contract as a pillar of Paris’s defence engagement and enduring security commitment to the Indo-Pacific. Today, that robust strategic posture is in tatters. The loss of the contract and France’s overall exclusion from AUKUS demonstrated Europe’s increasingly marginal role in Asian security affairs. This is despite attempts by France and Germany to support freedom-of-navigation operations in defiance of China’s actions in the South China Sea. Were these manoeuvres not enough to convince Washington that the European Union offered a robust commitment to Asia? A careful study of France’s strategic interests reveals that the republic could never become the fully integrated military ally the US desires in the Indo-Pacific. Historically, modern France was torn between continental and maritime security responsibilities. Despite its attempts to form an overseas empire to rival Britain (which failed), France’s core security interests remained in Europe—and particularly after two world wars with the perennial threat of Germany. That experience taught France that it can’t rely on the UK, let alone the US, to maintain its security. The seas acted as a natural barrier for the Anglo-Saxon states not available to the Gallic French.
India targets net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, says Modi
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
COP26: What climate summit means for one woman in Bangladesh
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Why China's climate policy matters to us all
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Deliver on promises, developing world tells rich at climate talks
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.