David Miliband

China-European Commission agreement on CCS

I blogged recently about the need to finance environmental measures in developing countries ('A Greener World'). I was pleased to see the European Commission's announcement on Thursday of its intention to help fund carbon capture and storage demonstration with China - particularly since the original EU-China Partnership on Climate Change was launched through a joint declaration during the UK's last EU Presidency in 2005.

We have long argued that providing global certainty on the demonstration of CCS (by 2015) and its deployment (by 2020) is central to any credible climate change agreement which deals effectively with fossil fuel, and coal in particular.

A credible global CCS demonstration effort will require substantive international collaboration between major coal dependent economies. The Commission's announcement is a welcome step in the right direction. Funding CCS demonstration in China would complement the G8's commitment to launch 20 demonstrations in 2010.

More broadly this Commission-Chinese initiative can provide a model for more proposals for collaborative projects between developed countries and emerging economies. Nevertheless we need to act much faster and more ambitiously on CCS and other mitigation technologies as we approach Copenhagen.

Posted at 15:00 30 June 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[1]

Tian'anmen

4th June will mark the twentieth anniversary of the tragic events that took place in Tiananmen Square and across China in 1989. Many of us will remember clearly the images of that time as we mark the anniversary. And some of those detained then remain in prison now.
 
Promoting respect for human rights is a key part of our foreign policy. China has made big improvements in economic and social rights since 1989. But progress on civil and political rights has been far slower. Respect for human rights helps create stability and growth. And China's stability and growth is in our own interests.

So promoting human rights remains a key part of our policy towards China - this year and every year.

Posted at 12:25 02 June 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[6]

Indispensible Power

The Guardian today launches a Chinese edition online  For the launch I set out how China is to become an indispensible power in this century in the way the US became such in the 20th century (as described by Madeleine Albright).

It is important to keep a sense of perspective. For example Chinese GDP per head is 1/20 the US level and China will not replace the US as the US replaced Britain. But if we are not to have a "G2" world then a third leg of the stool needs to come from Europe - not a Europe modelled on a nation state, but a Europe that brings together national strengths for common work. In trade and climate negotiations we are getting there; in foreign policy it will be a long term process. But we need to work at it.

Posted at 18:46 18 May 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[3]

EU-China

The visit of Premier Wen to Brussels, before his trip to London, involved an announcement of renewed EU/China cooperation.  In the talks over the last 3 days in London the EU was a significant presence – as a trade block and partner above all, and an institution where the Chinese want Britain to have a strong view.  The two PM’s announced a new drive in bilateral trade and inter cooperation, for example on climate change; but this goes side by side with stronger European ties, not at the expense of them.

Posted at 10:58 03 February 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[5]

Big year for UK-China relations

2008 marked for many people a symbolic turning point in China's place in the world in august China hosted a stunning Olympics. In the autumn the world sought China's help in tackling the economic crisis. It is in recognition of China's emerging global role that the FCO yesterday published the UK-China Strategic Framework. The rationale is simple; between now and 2012 we have a special opportunity to raise the level and productivity of relations between Britain and China, at the level of government business and people to people contacts including education.  

I launched the framework at the Manchester Chinese arts centre yesterday.  Manchester boasts the third largest Chinese community in Europe and Manchester University has one of the largest Chinese student populations in Britain (out of about 75,000 Chinese students in Britain - the biggest number in Europe).

The Framework focuses on cooperation on the economy, climate change, international security and gives proper attention to dialogue on issues of human rights.   I think it is valuable.

Posted at 19:08 23 January 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[9]

Carbon capture and storage

One of the last but most important questions to be resolved in the climate and energy deal just agreed at the European Council was how to finance the demonstration of carbon capture and storage (CCS), the technologies that remove carbon emissions from fossil power plants and bury them indefinitely in geological reservoirs underground. In the event we managed to secure a package that will fund the construction of the 10 or so plants we will need in order to discover if we can make CCS work safely and affordably at scale. This fulfils the commitment European leaders made at their Summit last spring.

This is a breakthrough agreement. Coal is a reality. China has in recent years been building 2 new coal plants a week. The US and Germany get 50% of their electricity from coal. Unless we can find a way of ensuring that the coal that is inevitably going to be burned is emission free, there will be no chance of avoiding dangerous climate change.

Today's deal in effect establishes one of the most transformational technology partnerships ever seen. It brings us a big step closer to establishing the zero emission power systems we urgently need, not only in the EU but also in the US, China and elsewhere. It will help those in the US Congress like Senator Kerry who have been pressing for a similar package to change the game on coal in the US. It thereby puts in place a critical precondition for the agreement we need to reach at Copenhagen next year on a new international framework for climate change. That will now take centre stage.  

Posted at 10:48 15 December 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[4]

UNGA Re-Cap 3: Friends of Pakistan

I have spent more time on Pakistan than any other issue in the last few weeks, including two meetings with the newly elected President Zardari. He has one of the toughest jobs in government around the world. In the wake of the Marriott bombing in Islamabad governments around the world want to help - on the economic as well as the security front.

Friday saw the launch of the new 'Friends of Pakistan' group Britain participates but so do the Emiratis, China, the US and half a dozen others. The agenda is central to the success of the new civilian government: economic modernisation, with real investment especially in young people on the back of economic stabilisation, alongside security enhancement to address the huge challenges Pakistan faces. No one can now fail to see that the terrorist threat to British service personnel (and diplomats and aid workers) in Afghanistan is also a threat to Pakistan and its people.

Posted at 12:11 01 October 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[3]

UN General Assembly Re-Cap 1: Millennium Development Goals

The Special Session of the UNGA on Thursday, plus forty panel sessions involving government, NGOs and campaigners from Bill Gates to Bob Geldof was remarkable not just for its dynamism but for what it achieved: $16 bn of contributions to the struggle against disease and want in the poorest parts of the world.  The Prime Minister's contribution is here  .

I thought the most striking thing was the determination not to be deflected by the global economic crisis.  The second most striking thing was that people were talking about comprehensive plans covering not just aid but trade, conflict prevention and good governance. And the third most striking thing, the role of China. Premier Wen spoke at the opening plenary   and the figures from his country are stark.  600 million people lifted out of poverty since the economic reforms began 30 years ago.  Annual per capita income up from $200 in 1979 to $2200 in 2006.  China has met its MDG targets on halving the impoverished population, on universal education and reducing infant mortality, as well as making progress on maternal health and gender equality.  Despite that, 200 million Chinese live on less than $1.25 a day and 500 million (38% of population) on less than $2 a day.  A huge hill still to climb.

Posted at 10:29 01 October 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[2]

Thankfully...August is over

It must be a western conceit to think that just because we are on holiday in August there should be fewer crises in foreign policy. Sure enough, August is usually full of crises: coups, scares etc. We go on holiday; we jet back from holiday. Why do we even think that two weeks could go by without a problem?

This year has proved no different. And the Georgia crisis is a real crisis. The European Council meets today in emergency session for the first time since September 11 2001. Over 100,000 Georgian refugees have joined the 200,000-plus left over from the civil wars of the early 1990s. That is reason enough to say there is a crisis.

But the rupture in international norms is more significant. As recently as April, Russia supported a UN Resolution affirming the territorial integrity of Georgia. Today it is occupying and recognising two breakaway states. Talk about unilateral use of force without UN cover ...

Many people have made the point that "we" need Russia - if not for gas then over Iran or Afghanistan. This is true. But Russia needs "us" too. As Fareed Zakaria cleverly points out in Newsweek, Russia's actions in Georgia are a potentially serious strategic blunder: Europe has been united by Russian action; trans-Atlanticism revived; and China alienated. Not a clever day's work.

I do not celebrate this breach. Russia's integration into global economics and politics is actually the best hope for a country losing population at Russia's rate.

Europe and America have not rushed thoughtlessly into action. We will be deliberate and effective in choosing the right ways to react to Russia's actions. In the short term we support democratic and sovereign countries, starting with Georgia, which need economic and political help. In due course we will raise the costs to Russia of such behaviour.

This isn't about winning or losing, as the Russian Foreign Minister pointed out in the FT two weeks ago. What we want to see is Russia on a different course, not Russia ground down. A weak Russia is as little in our interests as an aggressive one.

Posted at 21:51 01 September 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[27]

The Doha Round is About More than Trade

Once again the world's trade negotiators are trying for a decisive breakthrough.  "Last chance" meetings have come and gone. It is not easy to be optimistic after seven years of negotiation. No multilateral trade negotiation has ever failed.  Many commentators now suggest that Doha will be the first.
 
The cost of failure would be huge.  New trade from the deal would be worth tens - even hundreds - of billions of Euros annually. A shot in the arm the global economy desperately needs.  At a time of global economic uncertainty Doha would lock in new economic opportunities around the world, for developed and developing countries alike.

If Doha fails these benefits will be lost.  But the effects will go wider. 

Doha is the first world-wide negotiation to reflect the new global economic order.  Brazil, India, China and other emerging economies are equal players in the WTO, as central to its success as the EU, US and Japan.    It is right, therefore, as Peter Mandelson has done, to demand that they make a fair, proportionate contribution to a world system from which they greatly benefit.

If Doha slips away,  a unique opportunity to strengthen the multilateral, rules-based system will be lost - that  would be a big knock to international confidence.  If we cannot reach a trade agreement after seven years, can we really expect to succeed next year on a truly global successor to Kyoto?  How will we generate a global commitment needed to shift to low carbon growth? 

We need international institutions that accommodate the shifts of power and influence in the world and can deal more effectively with both familiar and new challenges.  We still need to manage international disputes and resolve conflicts.  But we also need collectively to address climate change, global economic shocks, food and energy insecurity and terrorism. The old institutions, created in the aftermath of the second world war,  are insufficiently geared to   meet these challenges.  India, China, Brazil and others must take a proportionate but bigger share of responsibility for world problems in return for a bigger say in world institutions. In the WTO they already have that bigger say. So Doha is, therefore, a test case.   It if fails, sceptics will see little chance of improving the UN's ability to respond to post conflict situations. Or reforming the IMF to give better early warning of global economic shocks. Or turning the World Bank into a bank for the environment as well as development. 

The EU should lead by example.  We should negotiate hard for our interests, but with an eye on the bigger picture. Our grand-children will not blame us for making the small concessions needed to achieve a trade deal.  They will blame us, and rightly, if we miss the opportunity in the Doha Round to build a platform for managing the complicated and uncertain world they will inherit.

Posted at 10:15 24 July 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[5]

Mediation or pressure?

The vote at the UN yesterday on Zimbabwe was not a North/South split - after all Burkino Faso voted for the resolution. But it did reveal, in the use of the veto by Russia and China, two different ways of thinking about the exercise of responsibility in the modern world.

The argument at one level was about whether to give mediation "longer". But how much longer? And how much more suffering in the interim?

But there is a more fundamental point - or two actually. First, since when does pressure on a regime that has been flagrant in its abuse of human rights and democratic standards undermine mediation? Surely it brings home much more clearly that the world is determined to tilt the balance away from a government that has forfeited international respect? But second, the argument of China and Russia was that the Security Council had no business "interfering" in a national issue. But the crisis in Zimbabwe has gone way beyond that - not least through three million plus refugees caught up in the violence fleeing to South Africa (see above "If your neighbour's house is on fire" of 8 July).

The Russian and Chinese vetoes have shielded Robert Mugabe and 13 of his top supporters from international pressure. Their preferred route of mediation will have the chance to prove itself - too late for too many but no one will be happier than I if I wake up one day soon and find that this route has delivered a government that respects the March 29 election result.

Meanwhile the governments of western and other democracies should have no regrets about bringing into the open a vital debate. The alternative is for the threat of veto to mean we all clam up and pretend that there is no disagreement. That is not real diplomacy.

Posted at 18:19 12 July 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[8]

Blog 24 June: Zimbabwe: UN Action

Yesterday's UN Security Council statement represents a significant step forward in the way the world has engaged with the issue of Zimbabwe. The language is unequivocal - condemnation of the regime. It won unanimous support - including South Africa as well as China. The desire for regional leadership - from the AU and SADC - clearly expressed.

Yesterday's exchanges in the House of Commons I hope clarified the difference between recognition of a state - which is necessary for diplomatic representation - and recognition of the legitimacy of a government, which is different. We of course "recognise" Zimbabwe as a country; we do not recognise the legitimacy of Mugabe's rule, not least since even he accepts that he lost the Parliamentary and Presidential election on 29 March (even if the Opposition challenger did not get 50% of the vote in the first round).

I hope they also exposed the hollow claim that we have to choose between self defeating megaphone diplomacy and silence. In every part of the world history matters. Britain's history of global engagement includes good and bad. But while we are conscious of our history, and conscious of the way it can be misused and caricatured, that history is a reason for good judgment about what to say - not a reason to say nothing.

Posted at 09:40 26 June 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[3]

G8 plus 5

I met the Mexican Foreign Minister yesterday to discuss her country’s key bridging role between the G8 “leading industrialised countries” and the plus 5 “emerging economies (Mexico, China, India, Brazil, South Africa).  I support their inclusion in G8 discussions but this is a sore point; their participation in G8 meetings is limited.  I think that is a pity as most of the big G8 issues eg climate change or energy require a deal between the emerging and developed economies.  Not much chance of a deal if they are not at the table.

Posted at 12:06 18 June 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[0]

Iran: Nuclear Ball in their Court

At the beginning of May I chaired a meeting in London to agree a renewed offer to Iran of economic and scientifitic (including civil nuclear) cooperation if they would suspend uranium enrichment to allay fears of it being used for nuclear weapons. This package has now been delivered in Tehran. You can read it here

I would emphasise the comprehensive nature of the package; the unanimous view of the EU 3 plus the USA, Russia and China in support of the package; the difference it would make to the Iranian people; and the fact that the ball is now in the Iranian court.  The Russian government is delivering nuclear fuel to the Bushehr plant for civil nuclear purposes; we support this; it shows the possibilities of cooperation; but that requires openness and transparency.  This is a good place to start.

Posted at 10:40 16 June 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[1]

Memories of San Francisco

I haven't been to San Francisco since 1978 when I spent a year in the US as a junior high school student and my parents took us to California for a holiday. Four or five hours doesn't make up for 30 years. I remember the trolley cars from 1978 and didn't get onto one this time. Last time I didn't meet the mayor; this time I did meet Gavin Newsom who has just been re-elected. He hosted a seminar for me on San Francisco's experience as the (admittedly self-appointed) US gateway to China and the common cause he is trying to forge over climate change policy.  He reports that 860 US cities have now signed up to the Seattle Mayor's initiative which effectively gets cities onto a Kyoto emissions reduction track.

Posted at 11:22 28 May 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[2]