This summary is prepared by the External Affairs Department of the World Bank. All material is taken directly from published and copyright wire service stories and newspaper articles. The daily summary and other news can be found on the World Bank's external website at http://www.worldbank.org/news. For inquiries call (202) 473-7660 or send a written request to the News Bureau.
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Tuesday, June 07, 2011
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Today's Headlines:
- UN Says Climate Talks Will Miss Kyoto Deadline
- World 2011 Grain Output Seen Up, Prices High: FAO
- African Growth Set To Slow To 3.7 Percent
- International Energy Agency Says Gas In Golden Age
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UN Says Climate Talks Will Miss Kyoto Deadline. "UN talks have run out of time to meet a December 2012 deadline to put in place a binding successor to the Kyoto Protocol on curbing greenhouse gases, the UN's top climate official said on Monday. 'Even if they were able to agree on a legal text ... that requires an amendment to the Kyoto Protocol, it requires legislative ratifications on the part of three-quarters of the parties, so we would assume that there's no time to do that between Durban and the end of 2012,' said UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres…." [Reuters]
AP adds that "…developing countries insist the Kyoto obligations be extended and new targets adopted. Industrial countries say they want emerging economies to accept similar binding commitments. But Figueres said negotiators are trying to move outside of the rich-poor boxes. 'Countries are being much more constructive and creative,' she told reporters. 'We don't know yet where it's going to lead, but there is a very healthy atmosphere of really listening to each other.'…" [Associated Press]
AFP reports that "…the 'G77 and China' group – a bloc of 131 developing countries – reiterated Monday its demand for Kyoto pledges to be renewed when the present commitment period ends at the end of 2012. This would be 'one of the key outcomes' in Durban, the group said in a press release. 'Its continuity demands a strong political decision from all parties.' Russia, Japan and Canada, however, have said they will not sign up for a new round of cuts unless rising giants such as China, India and Brazil accept constraints as well…." [Agence France Presse]
World 2011 Grain Output Seen Up, Prices High: FAO. "World cereals output is expected to rise to a new record in 2011 due to more planting and improved yields but low stocks are set to keep prices high and volatile, the UN food agency said. Global cereals output is expected to rise 3.5 percent to 2.315 billion tons this year, recovering after a 1 percent fall in 2010, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Tuesday in its first estimate of 2011 total global crops…." [Reuters]
RTT News adds that "…the record cereals production seen for 2011 is likely to barely meet consumption as the demand is also increasing, providing support to prices, the FAO added. The next few months will be critical in determining how the major crops will fare this year, the FAO report said. Despite encouraging signs in some countries such as the Russian Federation and Ukraine, weather conditions, featuring too little and in some cases too much rain, could hamper maize and wheat yields in Europe and North America, it warned…." [RTT News]
Meanwhile, Bloomberg notes that "…world food prices lingered near record levels in May as meat and dairy costs rose, contributing to inflationary pressures that may drive millions into hunger, even as grain prices fell. FAO Food Price Index slid to 232.4 points from 234.8 points in April. 'The high-price situation is not something that's just going to vanish over one season,' FAO Senior Economist Abdolreza Abbassian said. 'The fundamentals are still what they are, a very tight situation for almost all commodities.'…" [Bloomberg]
African Growth Set To Slow To 3.7 Percent. "Growth in African countries will to slow to 3.7 percent this year owing to upheavals in northern Africa and increased food and fuel prices, the 2011 African Economic Outlook report said on Monday, pointing to a rally in 2012. The report, compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the African Development Bank (AfDB), UN Development Program (UNDP) and UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), forecast growth to recover to 5.8 percent next year…." [Agence France Presse]
Bloomberg writes that "…India, Turkey, South Korea and Brazil are emulating China's push to boost trade with Africa, eroding the market share of the continent's traditional European and North American trading partners, according to the African Economic Outlook. So-called emerging partners accounted for about 39 percent of Africa's trade in merchandize in 2009, up from 23 percent a decade earlier, said the report. 'Africa now has two engines to fly on,' OECD economist Jean-Phillipe Stijns, one of the report's authors, said by phone from Paris. 'The diversification of its trading partners bodes well for its ability to resist better the ups and downs of the global business cycle.'…" [Bloomberg]
BusinessDay adds that "… 'A challenge is to avoid neglecting traditional partners while nurturing its strategically important emerging partnerships,' the report said. The report urged African countries to develop closer cross-border ties in dealing with both traditional and emerging partners.
'Africa is growing but there are risks. Urgent attention is needed to foster inclusive growth, to improve political accountability and address the youth bulge,' it said. The youth bulge referred to high unemployment among young people…." [BusinessDay (South Africa)]
International Energy Agency Says Gas In Golden Age. "Increasing gas supply and demand for the fuel could set off a 'golden age of gas', the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. The IEA report showed that demand for gas could outstrip coal by 2030, and get close to demand for oil by 2035. The agency points to the uncertain future of nuclear energy as one of the main reasons for gas becoming so popular. The IEA said that growth in the sector would be led by China and the US…." [BBC News]
The FT adds that "…the IEA believes that the commodity will take steps towards becoming a truly global market over the next two decades. But pure globalization is far away. 'Natural gas markets are becoming more global and regional prices are expected to show signs of increased convergence, but the market does not become truly globalised,' the IEA says in the study Are We Entering a Golden Age of Gas?, part of its forthcoming World Energy Outlook 2011.
The price of the commodity in key regions, including much of Europe and Asia, will remain anchored in decades-old practices: long-term contracts indexed to the cost of oil or refined oil products. As such, natural gas prices do not reflect the supply and demand fundamentals for that commodity, but rather those of the oil market…." [Financial Times]
The Economic Times reports that "… 'There is a strong potential for gas to take on a larger role, but also for the global gas market to become more diversified and therefore improve energy security,' IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said. Praising natural gas as the 'cleanest fossil fuel', the agency said it can be a considerable contributor to lower emissions of greenhouse gases as well as local pollutants if it replaces other fossil fuels…." [The Economic Times of India]
Also in This Edition, Briefly Noted… Food protests such as the one witnessed in Nairobi last week are set to escalate in Africa unless governments move fast to address the widening gap between demand and supply of food as well as soaring prices, according to Oxfam. [Business Daily (Kenya)]
In response to a growing demand for strengthened capacity in price risk management for the cotton industry, the World Bank's Agricultural Risk Management Team (ARMT) working in collaboration with the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) is delivering a price risk management training to the East African cotton sector. [African Press Association]
Equatorial Guinea has unveiled a new city of luxury villas, an artificial beach and a golf course built in just two years to host this month's AU summit, state radio reported Monday. [Agence France Presse]
A leaked version of Zimbabwe's voters' roll contains some 2.6 million too many names, according to the South African Institute of Race Relations. There are more than 41,000 people aged over 100 - four times more than in the UK, which has a far larger population and far longer life expectancy. [BBC News]
China's far western Xinjiang region will earmark $7.7 billion for poverty alleviation in the next five years. [Xinhua]
The World Bank has approved a loan of $150 million to Vietnam to implement a medical waste treatment project, the Vietnam Ministry of Health reported on Monday. [Xinhua]
After India's recent massive census, the country has decided to conduct its first survey on the poor populations of urban areas. The objective is to ensure the success of ambitious schemes for slum-free cities. [Deutsche Welle]
The Bangladeshi government Monday signed a loan agreement worth $615 million with the Asian Development Bank for construction of the country's Padma Multipurpose Bridge. [Xinhua]
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde brought her International Monetary Fund roadshow to India on Tuesday in the latest leg of a world tour aimed at overcoming opposition in emerging countries to her bid to lead the institution. [Agence France Presse]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group will hold their 2012 Annual Meetings in Tokyo, Japan, in October 2012, announced the IMF on Monday. [Xinhua]
A broad international effort is needed to halt the rapid spread of cancer in poor and middle-income countries, leaders from world cancer organizations said at the 47th annual conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) held in Chicago. [Agence France Presse]
The world must invent new ways to protect people driven from their homes by climate change without copying safeguards for those uprooted by wars or persecution, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said on Monday. [Reuters]
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said Monday he will run for a second five-year term after his current term expires December 31. [Kyodo News]
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