Inside Daily Brief

For July 08, 2023

Hey there, Insiders!

Welcome to today's edition of the Inside Daily Brief.

Discover how the U.S. urges China to boost climate finance funds. Dive into the world of renewable energy capacity and learn about the thousands of people marching through Bosnia in memory of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, Europe's only acknowledged genocide since World War II.

And that's not all: we've got the scoop on the Golden Horde-era mausoleum discovered in Kazakhstan.

Keep scrolling to catch our Quick Hits for the latest news bites. Don't forget to visit our Knowledge Hub for valuable insights and resources.

Happy reading!

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The Biden administration, represented by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, has urged China, the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, to increase its support for international climate finance funds. China has been selective in its support, arguing its status as a developing nation, despite being a significant investor in renewable energy.

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Yellen is the second Biden administration cabinet member to visit China recently, following Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit last month.
- Yellen delivered this message during her second day of meetings in Beijing.
The U.S. is seeking areas of cooperation between the two nations on climate change.
China has supported programs helping other countries cope with climate change effects.
- However, China has been selective in choosing which funds to support.
The U.S. believes that as one of the largest investors in renewable energy, China has a joint responsibility to lead the way.
- China has pledged $3.1B to climate change mitigation efforts in developing countries but has only delivered about 10% of that amount.
Yellen suggested that the impact could be significantly amplified if China supported multilateral climate institutions like the Green Climate Fund and the Climate Investment Funds.
John Kerry, the special envoy for climate change, plans to visit China later in July to restart global warming negotiations between the world's two largest polluters.

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According to World Bank data, China accounted for 28% of global CO2 emissions in 2019.
Per a BBC report, China is the largest consumer of coal and the leading investor in renewable energy.

What the numbers say: According to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), China, the U.S., and Brazil were the top countries in installed renewable energy in 2022. China, with a significant lead, emerged as the global leader in installed renewable energy in 2022, boasting a capacity of approximately 1,161 gigawatts. The U.S. ranked second with around 352 gigawatts, highlighting the substantial gap between the two nations.

Relevance: In the first five months of the year, China experienced growth in its installed clean energy capacity, with wind power increasing by 12.7% and solar power by 38.4% compared to the previous year. The country's total installed power generation capacity reached approximately 2.67 billion kilowatts, marking a 10.3% year-on-year rise. China's commitment to green development is reflected in its continued investment in renewable energy.

Impact: China is projected to solidify its position as a dominant player in renewable energy, contributing 55% of global capacity additions by 2024. The country's commitment to large-scale solar projects, which offer cost-effective energy solutions, and the promotion of smaller installations for public institutions and state-owned businesses contribute to its renewable energy success.

Thousands of people marched through eastern Bosnia in memory of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, Europe's only acknowledged genocide since World War II. The annual 100km march retraces the route of thousands of Bosniak men and boys killed by Bosnian Serb forces during the 1992-95 war.

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The march is part of several events preceding the actual date and commemorating the massacre on July 11.
Nearly 4,000 people joined this year's march, according to the organizers.
The Bosnian conflict erupted in 1992, when the former Yugoslavia broke up and Bosnian Serbs launched a rebellion and a land grab to form their own state and join Serbia.
More than 100,000 people died before the conflict ended in 1995.
In July 1995, more than 8,000 Bosniak males were separated by Serb troops from their wives, mothers, and sisters, chased through woods around Srebrenica, and killed.
So far, the remains of more than 6,600 people have been found and buried at a vast and ever-expanding memorial cemetery outside Srebrenica.

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The United Nations war crimes court in The Hague, Netherlands, has sentenced to life both the wartime Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic and the former military commander Ratko Mladic for orchestrating the genocide.
The remains of 30 more victims will be put to rest on Tuesday as remains of newly identified victims are continuously being unearthed from mass graves and reburied each year on July 11, the day the killing began in 1995.

Archaeologists have unearthed a 15th-century mausoleum from the Golden Horde era in the Korgalzhyn district of the Akmola Region, Kazakhstan. The discovery, which includes various household items but no human remains, is expected to provide valuable insights into the burial traditions, religious rites, and culture of the Golden Horde.

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The mausoleum is an octagonal structure built of burnt and half-baked brick, fastened with lime mortar, and was once a site of pilgrimage.
The condition of the mausoleum's structures is poor due to its location on agricultural land.
Some burial structures were exposed to robberies, leading to the absence of human remains.
The presence of the mausoleum indicates the existence of a previously unknown cultural, political, and sacred center of the nomadic hordes who inhabited the steppes of Kazakhstan.
The Golden Horde, also known as the Ulug Ulus ("Great State") in Turkic, was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate founded in the 13th century.

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The Golden Horde's territory extended from the Carpathian Mountains in eastern Europe to the steppes of Siberia, bordering on the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, and the Iranian territories of the Mongol dynasty known as the Il-Khans.

South Koreans strongly oppose Japan's plan to discharge treated radioactive water from the Fukushima plant, despite the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) assurance that the release will have a negligible environmental impact. The South Korean government has stated that its analysis aligns with the IAEA's findings, but public protests persist, reflecting concerns for marine life and potential impacts on local industries.

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The IAEA's director general, Rafael Grossi, visited Seoul to meet with the foreign minister and a top nuclear safety official following his trip to Japan.
IAEA's two-year review concluded that Japan's plans for the water release from the tsunami-hit plant would have a negligible environmental effect.
Despite the South Korean government's announcement that it respected the IAEA's report, hundreds of people protested against the plan.
The opposition Democratic Party leader, Lee Jae-Myung, suggested that the government try to halt the plan and take the case to the international tribunal for the law of the sea.
Despite its assent to the plan, a ban on food and seafood products from the Fukushima region remains in place in South Korea, and some concerned shoppers have bought up sea salt.

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The issue of nuclear waste disposal is a global concern. The World Nuclear Association provides an overview of the methods and challenges of nuclear waste management.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is in talks with King Willem-Alexander to form a caretaker administration following the collapse of his center-right government over migration policy disputes. Rutte, who has been in power since 2010 and is the longest-serving prime minister in the Netherlands, is considering running for a fifth term.

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The government's collapse was triggered by a disagreement over a proposal to limit the arrival of children of war refugees already in the Netherlands and to make families wait at least two years before reuniting.
The proposal was opposed by the small Christian Union and liberal D66, leading to the government's downfall.
The king is expected to ask Rutte's coalition to remain a caretaker government until a new administration is formed after the election, which usually takes months in the fragmented Dutch political landscape.
Rutte assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that his government's caretaker status would not affect Dutch support for Ukraine.
The latest Ipsos poll, conducted a week before the government collapse, projected Rutte's VVD to remain the biggest party in the 150-seat parliament with 28 seats.
- Still, the Farmers' Protest party BBB is predicted to surge from one seat to 23, making it the second largest.
The Netherlands, which already has one of Europe's strictest immigration policies, saw asylum applications jump by a third last year to over 46,000.

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Telegraaf political commentator Wouter de Winther said forming a new government could take "a very long time," particularly since Rutte reportedly said he would like to remain a leader.

QUICK HITS:

Formulated by Ph.D. doctors and scientists from Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Berkeley, and Stanford, this probiotic naturally replenishes your gut microbiome. Get 20% off the first month with code INSIDE20.*
Robots reassured humans at the first AI press conference.
Tennis star Andy Murray is struggling for motivation after a second-round exit at Wimbledon.
Latvia's long-serving foreign minister Edgars Rinkevics has become the first openly gay head of state of an EU nation.
Six people were killed on Saturday after a small plane from Las Vegas crashed near an airport in Murrieta, California.
Earth is at its hottest in thousands of years, according to the observations from satellites and the Earth's surface.
NATO allies criticized the U.S.'s move to send cluster bombs to Ukraine.