Merkel. «Tedeschi, volete ‘clima’ od acciaio?»

Giuseppe Sandro Mela.

2017-06-22.

Il World Economic Forum non ha ancora finito, sempre che ci riesca, ad elaborare il lutto per la scomparsa dei fondi che gli Stati Uniti gli elargivano. A lui ed a tutta quella Via Lattea di agenzie domestiche ed internazionali e di Ong desiderose di auto beneficiarsi arrivavano fiumi immani di denaro pubblico rattamente reinvestito negli affarucci di bottega. Anche i Sarcoptes scabiei devono vivere, direbbe qualcuno: ma non si capisce perché mai dovrebbe vivere spendendo denaro americano e dei Contribuenti. Riportiamo in extenso il comunicato emesso.

«By reversing his predecessor’s policies to reduce CO2 emissions, Trump is rolling back the new model of cooperative global governance embodied in the 2015 Paris climate agreement»

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«Trump’s climate-change policy does not bode well for US citizens – many of whom are now mobilizing resistance to his administration – or the world»

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«Still, an effective US exit from the Paris agreement is a menacing development. The absence of such an important player from the fight against climate change could undermine new forms of multilateralism, even if it reinvigorates climate activism as global public opinion turns against the US»

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«Trump’s proposed budget would place restrictions on federal funding for clean-energy development and climate research. Likewise, his recent executive orders will minimize the financial costs of US businesses’ carbon footprint, by changing how the “social cost of carbon” is calculated»

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«These are all unwise decisions that pose serious risks to the US economy, and to global stability»

Gli amici del World Economic Forum non si son certo spremuti le meningi per scrivere questo testo: hanno solo ripreso i soliti temi.

– «Trump’s climate-change policy does not bode well for US citizens – many of whom are now mobilizing resistance to his administration – or the world». Secondo il Wef i cittadini americani si sarebbero mobilitati alla “resistenza” contro Mr Trump, ma nel contempo lo avrebbero votato in cinque consecutive elezioni suppletive. Se Mr Trump fosse stato così impopolare come dicono, bene, gli Elettori non lo avrebbero votato. Invece gli Elettori non hanno votato i democratici, fervidi sostenitori del ‘clima’.

– «it reinvigorates climate activism as global public opinion turns against the US». Non ci si era francamente accorti che tutto il mondo esecrasse gli Stati Uniti dopo aver abbandonato l’Accordo di Parigi. Prima sembrava che non li amassero un gran ché. Si direbbe invece che molti paesi, Germania in testa, cerchino di far di tutto per blandirli.

– Come da copione, il Wef è seriamente preoccupato della pessima fine che dovrebbe fare l’economia americana per aver abbandonato il ‘clima’. Sono dei veri filantropi, dei novelli San Francesco.  Forse, sembrerebbero piange sulle proprie tasche, che da stracolme si sono trovate immantinente vuote.

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Anche il discorso della Bundeskanzlerin Frau Merkel agli industriali è stato un mesto epitaffio.

Quasi non ha parlato di ‘clima’, come se non fosse più la struttura portante del G20. Forse il suo pensiero errava verso il Nord Stream 2 ed alla interdizione ad agire sul suolo americano per le ditte coinvolte in un’opera colpita dalle sanzione messe proprio da Frau Merkel.

Frau Merkel si consola con il libero commercio.

Parlando ad un’associazione di industriali quasi non ha menzionato il ‘clima’ come argomento del G20.

Forse inizia ad impensierirsi per altri argomenti.

«The findings of an investigation by Trump’s administration into whether foreign-made steel imports pose a risk to U.S. national security are expected to be released later this week. German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries has written a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in which she criticized Washington’s plans to take action against steel imports»

Parafrasando una celebre frase:

«Tedeschi, volete ‘clima’ od acciaio?»

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→ Reuters. 2017-06-22. Germany to focus on free, fair trade at G20 summit: Merkel

Germany wants to make progress in its presidency of the Group of 20 leading economies on improving free and fair trade and will try to get broad agreement on open markets at next month’s leaders’ summit, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday.

She cautioned, however, that this might not be easy with U.S. President Donald Trump who has made waves with his protectionist rhetoric.

“Open markets and free, fair sustainable and inclusive trade is a key focus of our G20 presidency,” said Merkel, who will host the G20 in Hamburg next month.

She added that such conditions were beneficial for everyone and globalization was not just fate but rather a process that could be shaped on the basis of Germany’s belief in the social market economy.

“We’ll do all we can to get as broad an agreement on this as possible in Hamburg. Given the new American administration that’s not easy but nonetheless we need to make the effort,” Merkel told an event hosted by the BDI industry association.

She added that G20 leaders would also discuss the steel industry, saying that progress needed to be made on the issues of overcapacity and fair competition in the sector.

“There’s not just trade – it must be based on rules and needs to be fair,” she said.

The findings of an investigation by Trump’s administration into whether foreign-made steel imports pose a risk to U.S. national security are expected to be released later this week.

German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries has written a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in which she criticized Washington’s plans to take action against steel imports, a German newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Merkel also said she deeply regretted Trump’s decision to quit the Paris climate pact, which she described as an “ecological must”.

She added: “I don’t think that changes anything about the arguments in favor of this accord … so we need to continue with this but I think we have set out an ambitious path and implementing that is now the most important task.”

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→ World Economic Forum. 2017-06-22. What President Trump’s climate policies mean for the G20

At the start of 2016, the United States was well positioned to lead the global fight against climate change. As the chair of the G20 for 2017, German Chancellor Angela Merkel had been counting on the US to help drive a deep transformation in the global economy. And even after Donald Trump won the US presidential election, Merkel gave him the benefit of the doubt, hoping against hope that the US might still play a leading role in reducing global greenhouse-gas emissions.

But at Merkel and Trump’s first in-person meeting, no substantive statements were issued, and their body language made the prospect of future dialogue appear dim. Trump’s slogan “America first” seems to mean “America alone.”

By reversing his predecessor’s policies to reduce CO2 emissions, Trump is rolling back the new model of cooperative global governance embodied in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. The countries that signed on to that accord committed themselves to sharing the risks and benefits of a global economic and technological transformation.

Trump’s climate-change policy does not bode well for US citizens – many of whom are now mobilizing resistance to his administration – or the world. But the rest of the world will still develop low-carbon, resilient systems. Private- and public-sector players across the developed and developing worlds are making the coming economic shift all but inevitable, and their agendas will not change simply because the US has a capricious new administration. China, India, the European Union, and many African and Latin American countries are still adopting clean-energy systems.

As long as this is the case, businesses, local governments, and other stakeholders will continue to pursue low-carbon strategies. To be sure, Trump’s policies might introduce new dangers and costs, domestically and worldwide; but he will not succeed in prolonging the fossil-fuel era.

Still, an effective US exit from the Paris agreement is a menacing development. The absence of such an important player from the fight against climate change could undermine new forms of multilateralism, even if it reinvigorates climate activism as global public opinion turns against the US.

More immediately, the Trump administration has introduced significant financial risks that could impede efforts to address climate change. Trump’s proposed budget would place restrictions on federal funding for clean-energy development and climate research. Likewise, his recent executive orders will minimize the financial costs of US businesses’ carbon footprint, by changing how the “social cost of carbon” is calculated. And his administration has already insisted that language about climate change be omitted from a joint statement issued by G20 finance ministers.

These are all unwise decisions that pose serious risks to the US economy, and to global stability, as United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres recently pointed out. The US financial system plays a leading role in the world economy, and Trump wants to take us all back to a time when investors and the general public did not account for climate-change risks when making financial decisions.

Since 2008, the regulatory approach taken by the US and the G20 has been geared toward increasing transparency and improving our understanding of possible systemic risks to the global financial system, not least those associated with climate change and fossil-fuel dependency. Developing more stringent transparency rules and better risk-assessment tools has been a top priority for the financial community itself. Implementing these new rules and tools can accelerate the overall trend in divestment from fossil fuels, ensure a smooth transition to a more resilient, clean-energy economy, and provide confidence and clarity for long-term investors.

Given the heightened financial risks associated with climate change, resisting Trump’s executive order to roll back Wall Street transparency regulations should be a top priority. The fact that Warren Buffet and the asset-management firm Black Rock have warned about the investment risks of climate change suggests that the battle is not yet lost.

Creating the G20 was a good idea. Now, it must confront its biggest challenge. It is up to Merkel and other G20 leaders to overcome US (and Saudi) resistance and stay the course on climate action. They can count as allies some of the world’s large institutional investors, who seem to agree on the need for a transitional framework of self-regulation. It is incumbent upon other world leaders to devise a coherent response to Trump, and to continue establishing a new development paradigm that is compatible across different financial systems.

At the same time, the EU – which is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome this year – now has a chance to think about the future that it wants to build. These are difficult times, to be sure; but we can still decide what kind of world we want to live in.