Note: RFF on the Issues will be on hiatus until the new year.
Lima Climate Action
The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Lima ended with the creation of the “Lima Call for Climate Action,” which was designed to appease poor nations concerned about shouldering disproportionate economic burdens, as well as rich nations who want “fast-growing economies to rein in fast-rising emissions.”
In a recent Marketplace interview, RFF’s Ray Kopp discussed how climate agreements involving the responsibilities of rich and poor countries have traditionally been framed. Kopp comments: “The way the paradigm has been laid out for the last 20 years, developing countries—China included—really don’t have to take actions or make commitments. Only the developed world needs to do that.”
Oil’s Foreign Policy Impacts
Low oil prices have the potential to impact US foreign policy goals involving countries that depend on the production and export of crude oil. Losing large amounts of oil-based income could “prod Russia into abiding by a ceasefire in Ukraine [or] make Iran more pliable in talks over its nuclear program,” but may also “hurt some governments the US wants to protect,” such as Nigeria.
RFF’s Stephen Brown recently discussed the effects of plummeting oil prices on US diplomacy and energy security interests on RFF’s blog. Brown writes that while output is likely to drop in “politically stable countries” with higher production costs, cheap oil will cause income losses in countries such as Russia, Iran, and Venezuela that may “weaken their ability to oppose US interests.”
