International Coordination Research Articles

Principles Justifying the Reallocation of Taxing Rights to Market Jurisdictions: Do We Need Them?

This article argues that the taxing right of market jurisdictions under Pillar One is justified by commonly invoked and widely accepted principles in international taxation. This is not just a desirable outcome of the international coordination on the allocation of taxing rights but a moral demand that the inter-state allocation of taxing rights must comply with. A principle-based allocation of taxing rights is a precondition for the legitimacy and thus the equity of the international tax regime. Principles, such as ability to pay, the benefits principle and economic allegiance, provide a normative justification for asserting tax jurisdiction. Despite the criticism regarding their vagueness, indeterminateness, and overlaps between their meaning, the benefits principle and economic allegiance have a definite function in the international tax regime insofar as they designate the countries that have a legitimate claim to tax international income. Pillar One, international tax coordination, equity in international taxation, internation equity, legitimacy, principles, justification of taxation, justification of tax jurisdiction, benefits principle, economic allegiance.

Дослідження шляхів розвитку україно-полскої співпраці у сфері координації діялності промислових підприємств

The article examines the ways of developing Ukrainian-Polish cooperation in the field of coordination of industrial enterprises. The authors of the article note that Ukraine and Poland have significant potential for the development of cooperation in the field of industry. Both countries have a developed industrial base, which is represented by enterprises of various profiles and scales. In addition, Ukraine and Poland have a well-established system of transport and logistics infrastructure, which allows for effective production cooperation and trade operations. The state of Ukrainian-Polish cooperation in the field of industry is analyzed. Due to the war in Ukraine and the impossible normal functioning of industrial enterprises in the east and south, many of them moved to Western Ukraine, in particular to the Lviv region, where they faced the problem of production capacities, so it would be worthwhile to create a committee in the Lviv Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which would be able to control and regulate the activities of such enterprises, or diversify their activities, in order to attract all the production capacities of the enterprises in order to maximize their efficiency, as well as coordinate their activities with the industrial enterprises of Poland, in order to ensure the smooth operation of the enterprises, so that materials and finished products are imported / was exported to ensure the maximum sale of goods without downtime and leftovers in the warehouses of enterprises. Due to the hostilities in eastern Ukraine, Lviv's industrial enterprises have an opportunity to expand their market by deepening coordination with Polish industrial enterprises to maximize benefits for both parties. For the development of Ukrainian-Polish cooperation in the field of coordination of the activities of industrial enterprises, it is necessary to: develop and implement a procedure for monitoring and assessing the quality of coordination of industrial enterprises, ensuring the periodicity (once a quarter) of monitoring and assessing the quality of international coordination of the activities of industrial enterprises of Ukraine and Poland, which will make it possible to identify problems in Ukrainian-Polish cooperation in coordinating the activities of industrial enterprises, and take measures to solve them. In order to improve human resources, it is necessary to develop, create and approve a program of professional development and training of specialists in the field of coordination of the activities of industrial enterprises, the organization of foreign internships and training in Poland at enterprises of a similar profile of activity, as well as the adoption of their best practices in this field, which will improve the deepening of the process international cooperation. For the effective operation of the organization, it is necessary to ensure the coordination of the work of all divisions at the enterprise, as well as to establish an effective communication process and communication between employees of all divisions. To do this, it is necessary to develop clear channels of communication between all units of the organization, to ensure that employees have access to the necessary information and documentation to perform their work. The paper proposes a series of successive stages of research into the process of development of Ukrainian-Polish cooperation in the field of coordination of the activities of industrial enterprises, as well as identifies directions for improving the development of Ukrainian-Polish cooperation.

Features of taxation of digital services in Ukraine and the EU: a comparative legal analysis

Introduction. This paper is devoted to a comparative legal analysis of digital services taxation systems in the European Union and Ukraine. In the modern conditions of the development of the e-commerce market, the question of revising the approaches to taxation of digital services is becoming more and more relevant. The purpose of the paper is to identify and compare the specifics of the legal problems of taxation of digital services and the mechanisms for solving them in the European Union and Ukraine. Results. The legal aspects and legal acts governing the taxation of digital services in both jurisdictions have been studied. Special attention is paid to the application of the concept of Digital Permanent Establishment (taxation based on digital presence), which is applied in the context of taxation of digital companies and their presence in countries where they do not have physical offices or branches. The authors highlighted the factors affecting the determination of the jurisdiction (country) for the provision of digital services: 1) the place of company registration; 2) physical presence; 3) location of the consumer; 4) value added tax rules and sales volume; 5) international agreements and tax treaties; 6) judicial practice; 7) rules of a specific industry. In the conclusions, the authors cite current trends and challenges related to digital taxation, and provide recommendations for the further development of these systems. Digital taxation is a topical issue for the EU and Ukraine. Both jurisdictions have implemented systems for taxing digital services through VAT. However, it is considered important to pay more attention to international coordination and improvement of tax regimes to support the development of the digital economy and entrepreneurship.

The international governance of corporate tax avoidance:

Since the 1970s, constraints on public revenues have resulted in a policy condition of austerity while tax competition has induced governments to retrench welfare programs, rather than enhance tax revenues. Yet, after the global financial crisis, governments intensified efforts to increase tax revenues, through international measures to combat corporate tax avoidance and evasion. These efforts complement, rather than replace, the earlier focus on retrenchment but may have the potential to reduce pressures of austerity in the medium term. The article investigates three initiatives at international tax policy coordination, with the aim of assessing their potential to limit tax competition and to generate revenue increases.

The impossible love of fossil fuel companies for carbon taxes

Economists agree that carbon taxes are the most effective solution for climate change mitigation. But where do fossil fuel companies stand on carbon taxes? I analyse how the 100 largest oil and gas companies communicate on carbon taxes. Surprisingly, I find that 54% of companies that have a policy on carbon taxes support them (78% for the 50 largest). This is puzzling as an effective carbon tax should reduce the revenues and reserve value of fossil fuel companies. To understand this paradox, I offer non-mutually exclusive reasons why fossil fuel companies might support carbon taxes. Oil and gas companies could use a carbon tax to get rid of the competition from coal, create a level playing field and remove regulatory uncertainty. Or they think that these taxes will not affect them because demand for oil and gas is inelastic or that international coordination will fail and lead to leakages. Finally, it could be that this is simply a communication exercise. A carbon tax helps them shift the responsibility from fossil fuel companies to customers, voters and elected officials.

Information security in the system of measures to prevent criminal offences in the field of information technology: еxperience of EU and United States countries

The article is devoted to the problems of prevention of crimes in the field of information technology. To achieve this goal, the author used general scientific and special scientific research methods: formal-logical, systemic, comparative legal, etc. A review of scientific research in the field of information security is carried out. It is noted that the study of measures to prevent criminal offences in the field of information technology is becoming increasingly relevant and requires an objective criminological analysis in the context of martial law and post-war reconstruction. The author analyses modern threats in the field of information technology. Among the threats, the author singles out the negative information and psychological impact on the public consciousness of Ukrainian citizens. This impact is due to the systematic dissemination of disinformation, incomplete or biased information about political, economic and social processes taking place in Ukraine. The unsatisfactory state of information security causes a distorted view of the processes taking place in Ukraine; destructive changes in the behaviour and communication of individuals; and contributes to the formation of deformed moral attitudes. The author presents an analysis of modern foreign programmes aimed at preventing crimes in the field of information technology. These programmes are effective in the EU and the USA. The programmes are characterised according to the following algorithm: the purpose of the programme; the main areas of activity; the amount of funding; involvement of governmental and non- governmentalorganisations; therangeof specialists, etc. A significant number of the established projects operate as independent international institutions, with virtually no support from government funding. Funds for project implementation come in the form of non-governmental funding, grant contributions or donations from member and associated organisations. The target audience of the projects is civil society rather than the general population, which is explained by the more active role of civil society in Western countries and the passivity of the majority of the public. The author concludes that international cooperation and coordination of efforts of the national and international community to prevent criminal offences in the field of information technology is expedient. The importance of raising public awareness and literacy about disinformation and its methods through information and explanatory work is proved. The importance of developing a national model for the balanced and responsible use of the digital environment is emphasised. The main idea of the model is a combination of criminal law, regulatory, technical, organisational and managerial measures.

Long plasma duration operation analyses with an international multi-machine (tokamaks and stellarators) database

Combined high-fusion performance and long-pulse operation is one of the key integration challenges for fusion energy development in magnetic devices. Addressing these challenges requires an integrated vision of physics and engineering aspects with the purpose of simultaneously increasing time duration and fusion performance. Significant progress has been made in tokamaks and stellarators, including very recent achievement in duration and/or performance. This progress is reviewed by analyzing the experimental data (109 plasma pulses with a total of 3200 data points, i.e. on average 29 data per pulse) provided by ten tokamaks (in alphabetical order: Axially Symmetric Divertor Experiment Upgrade, DIII-D, Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, Joint European Torus, JT-60 Upgrade, Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research, tokamak à configuration variable, Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor, Tore Supra, W Environment in Steady-State Tokamak) and two stellarators (Large Helical Device and Wendelstein 7-X) expanding the pioneering work of Kikuchi (Kikuchi M. and Azumi M. 2015 Frontiers in Fusion Research II: Introduction to Modern Tokamak Physics (Springer)). Data have been gathered up to January 2022 and coordination has been provided by the recently created International Energy Agency-International Atomic Energy Agency international Coordination on International Challenges on Long duration OPeration group. By exploiting the multi-machine international database, recent progress in terms of injected energies (e.g. 1730 MJ in L-mode, 425 MJ in H-mode), durations (1056 s in L-mode, 101 s in H-mode), injected powers, and sustained performance will be reviewed. Progress has been made to sustain long-pulse operation in tokamaks and stellarators with superconducting coils, actively cooled components, and/or with metallic walls. The graph of the fusion triple products as a function of duration shows a dramatic reduction of, at least two orders of magnitude when increasing the plasma duration from less than 1 s to 100 s. Indeed, long-pulse operation is usually reached in dominant electron-heating modes at reduced density (current drive optimization) but with low ion temperatures ranging from 1 to 3 keV for discharges above 100 s. Difficulties in extending the duration may arise from coupling high heating powers over long durations and the evolving plasma-wall interaction towards an unstable operational domain. Possible causes limiting the duration and critical issues to be addressed prior to ITER operation and DEMO design are reported and analyzed.

International tax competition with rising intangible capital and financial globalization

The last three decades has witnessed: (a) a rise in the share of intangible capital, and (b) an increase in cross-country ownership of assets (financial globalization). We study the significance of these trends for international tax competition within a two-country model, where governments choose profit and income tax rates without committing to future policies and without international coordination. Higher share of intangible capital has led to lower profit taxes, while increased financial globalization higher profit taxation with the first effect being larger. The combined effects yield a 6% reduction in profit the tax rate and 0.55% gains in welfare (accounting for the transition).

International Coordination of Research on Infectious Animal Diseases (ICRAD) First Call: Editorial and Abstracts

The ICRAD ERA-NET launched its first call in 2020, with funding partners from twenty European countries. The aim was to foster a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach towards developing innovative instruments for the control and prevention of animal infectious diseases. Particularly, with a focus on creating vaccine and diagnostic technology platforms to enhance preparedness for major epidemic threats such as African swine fever and animal influenza. The first ICRAD call received significant support, totaling €17.4 million from partner countries alongside an additional €6.7 million top-up from the European Commission (EC). These funds were allocated to nineteen research project consortiums, consisting of researchers from across Europe. Through their collective efforts, these consortia have made remarkable progress in addressing various infectious disease risks faced by European animal health and the livestock industry. The following text encapsulates abstracts from eleven out of the nineteen projects that received funding through the first ICRAD research call. It’s noteworthy to observe that several of these projects are addressing pressing issues related to ongoing animal health outbreaks. For instance, three of these funded projects are dedicated to enhancing our comprehension of the African swine fever virus (ASFV) and fostering the development of a potential vaccine. Another project is honing its focus on avian influenza, with the objective of deciphering the factors contributing to increased virulence in low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) viruses. This could potentially enable us to better predict the severity of emerging avian influenza virus (AIV) strains. In addition, there are several other projects that align seamlessly with the overarching goals of ICRAD. These include but are not limited to, the development of innovative DNA vaccine technologies and the creation of diagnostic tools for a spectrum of pig diseases. Overall, we have funded a range of projects that align excellently with the overall goals of ICRAD, supporting innovative, cross-cutting research on animal health and welfare, with associated benefits for the environment and the economy. These projects represent significant strides in improving animal health, welfare, and food production throughout Europe. By fostering collaboration between partner institutes and bringing together experts from various countries and disciplines, these joint efforts can effectively combine knowledge, resources, and expertise to address complex challenges and threats. This coordination is crucial for identifying, preventing, and responding to emerging animal diseases that could not only endanger animal health but also have direct or indirect implications for human well-being. Moreover, this cross-border cooperation can yield more comprehensive research outcomes while developing innovative solutions and strategies for disease prevention and control. Ultimately, international scientific coordination on animal health showcased in the following abstracts demonstrates a strong commitment to cooperation while providing robust evidence to safeguard the health of animals, humans, and the environment. ICRAD, which organized this call and allocated grants to these projects is an ERA-NET, a co-funded project under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program.

Civil Aviation Policies and Practices in Turkey in a Global Context Through Sustainable Aviation.

The negative environmental effects of global civil aviation growth since the 19th century lead to the emergence of the "sustainable aviation" concept. This study aims to determine the current status of sustainability discussions in developing Turkish civil aviation and its alignment with global sustainable aviation policies. The research data are collected through document analysis and key expert interviews. Document analysis is to review reports on sustainable aviation and to compare two cases of AirFrance-KLM and Turkish Airlines. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with key experts from airline companies, public institutions, and subsidiary services in the Turkish aviation sector. The analysis results are presented under the themes of "institutional, conceptual, Turkey's current situation, motivations, role of international organizations, cooperation and coordination, problems and obstacles." The results show that the Turkish civil aviation industry is enthusiastic about catching up with international standards and is successful in keeping up with the latest technologies. The private sector is leading the sector by targeting global competitiveness. Current deficiencies stem from legislation, incentives, obligations, resources, and environmental awareness. The main contribution is to be the first source and guide for future studies that aim to shed light on policymaking in Turkey as an emerging country case.

Legal: The Freezing of the Russian Central Bank’s Assets

Abstract The freezing of the Russian Central Bank’s (CBR) foreign currency reserves in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been unparalleled in terms of the amounts involved and the swiftness of its international coordination. Despite the scepticism in some quarters of unilateral sanctions writ large, the key issue under international law is the compatibility of such measures with state immunity. Specifically, two questions arise. The first one is whether the law of state immunity allows for executive, as opposed to judicial, freezing of central bank property. The second one is whether, even if such measures were otherwise in breach of international law, circumstances precluding wrongfulness nonetheless render them lawful. As this article shows, the answer to the first question is finely balanced, but it is virtually certain that the ongoing attachment of the CBR’s assets constitutes lawful countermeasures.

EU Solidarity in the Face of External Security Threats: The example of the Crimea Platform Initiative

CEEOL: https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=1197958 The Crimea Platform is a diplomatic initiative of Ukraine, designed as an international coordination mechanism to reverse the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by the Russian Federation. The initiative attracted the attention of EU member states, due to the very nature of the annexation – a result of Russia’s aggressive and assertive foreign policy. However, attitudes to the issue of the annexation and the perception of its impact on the security of the EU vary greatly from one Crimea Platform participant to another, which leads to numerous discussions on the level of the security threat to the EU and the support to be provided to its eastern neighbours. For this article, I have used process tracing to track the formation of the attitudes to the annexation of EU members participating in the Crimea Platform, which is an essential step in conducting a comprehensive analysis of European solidarity in the face of external security threats

Addressing Challenges in Long-Term Strategic Energy Planning in LMICs: Learning Pathways in an Energy Planning Ecosystem

This paper presents an innovative approach to addressing critical global challenges in long-term energy planning for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The paper proposes and tests an international enabling environment, a delivery ecosystem, and a community of practice. These components are integrated into workflows that yield four self-sustaining capacity-development outcomes. Planning long-term energy strategies in LMICs is particularly challenging due to limited national agency and poor international coordination. While outsourcing energy planning to foreign experts may appear to be a viable solution, it can lead to a reduction in government agency (the ability of a government to make its own informed analysis and decisions). Additionally, studies commissioned by external experts may have conflicting terms of reference, and a lack of familiarity with local conditions can result in misrepresentations of on-the-ground realities. It is argued here that enhancing national agency and analytical capacity can improve coordination and lead to more robust planning across line ministries and technical assistance (TA) providers. Moreover, the prevailing consulting model hampers the release and accessibility of underlying analytics, making it difficult to retrieve, reuse, and reconstruct consultant outputs. The absence of interoperability among outputs from various consultants hinders the ability to combine and audit the insights they provide. To overcome these challenges, five strategic principles for energy planning in LMICs have been introduced and developed in collaboration with 21 international and research organizations, including the AfDB, IEA, IRENA, IAEA, UNDP, UNECA, the World Bank, and WRI. These principles prioritize national ownership, coherence and inclusivity, capacity, robustness, transparency and accessibility. In this enabling environment, a unique delivery ecosystem consisting of knowledge products and activities is established. The paper focuses on two key knowledge products as examples of this ecosystem: the open-source energy modeling system (OSeMOSYS) and the power system flexibility tool (IRENA FlexTool). These ecosystem elements are designed to meet user-friendliness, retrievability, reusability, reconstructability, repeatability, interoperability, and audibility (U4RIA) goals. To ensure the sustainability of this ecosystem, OpTIMUS is introduced—a community of practice dedicated to maintaining, supporting, expanding, and nurturing the elements within the ecosystem. Among other ecosystem elements, training and research initiatives are introduced, namely the Energy Modelling Platform for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia-Pacific as well as the ICTP Joint Summer School on Modelling Tools for Sustainable Development. Once deployed via workflows, the preliminary outcomes of these capacity-development learning pathways show promise. Further investigation is necessary to evaluate their long-term impacts, scalability, replication, and deployment costs.

Italian translation and cultural adaptation of health literate organisation self-assessment tool

Abstract Background The International Working Group Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Literate Healthcare Organizations has developed an English-language self-assessment tool for Organizational Health Literacy of Hospitals, designed to quality managers of healthcare organizations. It aims to diagnose strengths and weaknesses of the organization's health literacy, and our goal is to translate and culturally adapt it for Italy. Methods We have been following the Translation, Review, Adjudication, Pretesting, and Documentation team model for cross-cultural translation of questionnaires. Initially, two separate teams of translators worked independently to translate the tool from English to Italian. Next, the national coordinator organised six meetings to discuss, integrate, and unify the two versions, and any translation difficulties and suggested solutions were reported in the supporting tool that will be sent along with final agreed version of the tool to the International Coordination Centre. Finally, two experts will review the translation for the cultural adaptation. Results Difficulties related to comprehension in translation can arise from ambiguity in word choice, the need for contextual precision, and a lack of cultural appropriateness. The translation of English words that have become part of Italian language (e.g. ‘feedback', ‘stakeholder', ‘management', ‘standard') was also hugely discussed between the teams. Finally, to categorize the information entered into the supporting tool, 50% pertains to adaptation to context, 30% to simplification or clarification, and 20% to non-applicable items. Conclusions Cultural adaptation will improve the translation by reducing ambiguities, providing contextual clarifications, and rephrasing items to make them more appropriate for Italy. The Italian version of the tool will be piloted in local hospitals to support healthcare operators, patients, and the community in better managing the complexities of healthcare organizations. Key messages • Translation of health literacy self-assessment tool for Italian hospitals, aiming to reduce ambiguity and increase appropriateness for local context. • Culturally adapted tool to diagnose organizational health literacy in Italian hospitals will help healthcare organizations deal with complexity of healthcare and improve patient outcomes.

The European Union in Global Competition of Jurisdictions

International legal regimes are a factor in regulating relationships between subjects of international relations, constructive interaction, policy coordination and resolution of contradictions. When conflicts arise, the interaction of the legal systems of states, regional associations and international organizations can be both complementary and competitive in nature, affecting the legal qualification of the parties’ actions. Competitiveness manifests itself in the interpretation of the actions of the same entities within different jurisdictions. The conflict of interests of the parties, as confirmed by examples from the contractual legal practice of relations between the EU and the USA, Canada and a number of other countries, is quite surmountable. The cluster of contradictions characterizing the current situation on the European continent gives an existential character to the search by all parties for a rational strategy for resolving the crisis. The purpose of international law is to put contradictions into the legal plane in order to avoid escalation of tension in relations between the warring parties. An objective assessment of the positions of the world centers of power and the basic legal principles that guide them in the strategy of global presence requires taking into account the problems that gave rise to the replacement of the previous attitude towards «integration of integrations» by a direct clash of the parties. A critical analysis of the key areas of the EU’s implementation of external competencies, including sanctions (implemented with varying degrees of effectiveness in recent years), is important for understanding the strategy that Brussels is implementing. The current crisis is a serious test of the EU’s resistance to stress, and of the Union’s value system for resilience in unfavorable external conditions. The subject of this paper is the real possibilities of the European Union to offer an alternative to the confrontational scenario.

Розвиток понятійного апарату у сфері обліку і оподаткування цифрових активів

Introduction. In recent years, the digital economy has become the main driver of economic growth both at the global and national levels. Within this paradigm, a number of socio-economic challenges are being overcome: creating new jobs, ensuring digital inclusion of people around the world. Problem Statement. The national institutional environment in the field of the digital economy is currently under development, in particular in terms of consistency of conceptual apparatus. The purpose of the article is to analyze the conceptual and categorical apparatus used in the regulatory and legal framework for accounting and taxation of objects arising from the activities of business entities in the digital economy, and to determine the directions of its development. Methods: institutional approach; comparative analysis; synthesis; hierarchical classification method. Results. A bibliographic analysis of scientific and professional publications showed that all categories of “non-fungible token”, “virtual asset”, “cryptoasset” are inherently digital assets, i.e. assets that are stored or transmitted in digital format and have economic or cultural value. The global nature of digital assets has led to the need for international coordination on their legal status and resolution mechanisms. Such digital assets as virtual assets, cryptoassets and their subtypes are regulated at different levels: international (FATF, OECD); regional (EU); national (UK, Ukraine). The presented review of the documents defining the concepts of “digital asset”, “cryptoasset” and “virtual asset” at the international and regional levels, as well as in individual countries, demonstrates that there is currently no generally accepted definition of these terms. Conclusions. The conducted study of the features in forming the conceptual and terminological apparatus of accounting and taxation of objects, the appearance of which is determined by the activities of economic entities under the digital economy, in regulatory documents at various levels showed that when developing institutional support for the regulation of the circulation of digital assets and operations with them in Ukraine the approach used by the FATF was chosen. In terms of its content, the category of “virtual assets” corresponds to the interpretation of the category of “cryptoassets” laid down by European legislation. The author identifies terminological inconsistencies in the Ukrainian legal framework that require further resolution through a cross-analysis of legislation to unify approaches to the interpretation of digital economy objects.

Assessment of the Implementation of the International Health Regulations during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Portugal as a Case Study.

The International Health Regulations (IHR) were developed to prepare countries to deal with public health emergencies. The spread of SARS-CoV-2 underlined the need for international coordination, although few attempts were made to evaluate the integrated implementation of the IHR's core capacities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether IHR shortcomings stem from non-compliance or regulatory issues, using Portugal as a European case study due to its size, organization, and previous discrepancies between self-reporting and peer assessment of the IHR's core capacities. Fifteen public health medical residents involved in contact tracing in mainland Portugal interpreted the effectiveness of the IHR's core capabilities by reviewing the publicly available evidence and reflecting on their own field experience, then grading each core capability according to the IHR Monitoring Framework. The assessment of IHR enforcement considered efforts made before and after the onset of the pandemic, covering the period up to July 2021. Four out of nine core IHR capacities (surveillance; response; risk communication; and human resource capacity) were classified as level 1, the lowest. Only two were graded level 3 (preparedness; and laboratory), the highest. The remaining three) (national legislation, policy & financing; coordination and national focal point communication; and points of entry) were classified as level 2. Portugal exemplifies the extent to which implementation of the IHR was not fully achieved, which has resulted in the underperformance of several core capacities. There is a need to improve preparedness and international cooperation in order to harmonize and strengthen the global response to public health emergencies, with better political, institutional, and financial support.

Challenges and Opportunities Presented by Modern Financial Instruments to Accounting Standards and Statements

This paper aims to explore the challenges and opportunities that modern financial instruments present to accounting standards and statements. This paper first introduces the purpose and significance of the research, then sorts out and evaluates the influence of modern financial instruments on accounting standards and statement presentation, and introduces the research methods, results, discussions and conclusions. It is found that the influence of modern financial instruments on the presentation of accounting standards and statements is mainly reflected in the following aspects: It is difficult for accounting standards to accurately describe and standardize the characteristics and transactions of modern financial instruments; The innovation of modern financial instruments brings more risks and uncertainties to the presentation of corporate statements; Modern financial instruments provide enterprises with more financial management opportunities, such as optimizing the structure of assets and liabilities. In response to the challenge, we should improve the recognition and measurement criteria of financial instruments, strengthen the fair value measurement, and improve the presentation and disclosure of financial statements. In terms of taking advantage of opportunities, we should improve the international coordination of accounting standards and financial statements, strengthen the audit of financial statements, and bring more financing channels and investment opportunities to enterprises by using the innovation and development of modern financial tools.

How can technology significantly contribute to climate change mitigation?

ABSTRACT This paper highlights how technology can contribute to reaching the 2015 Paris Agreement goals of net zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and global warming below 2°C in 2100. It uses the Advanced Climate Change Long-term model (ACCL), particularly adapted to quantify the consequences of energy price and technology shocks on CO2 emissions, temperature, climate damage and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The simulations show that without climate policies the warming may be +5°C in 2100, with considerable climate damage. An acceleration in ‘usual’ technical progress not targeted at reducing CO2- even worsens global warming and climate damage. According to our estimates, the world does not achieve climate goals in 2100 without ‘green’ technologies. Intervening only via energy prices, e.g. a carbon tax, requires challenging hypotheses of international coordination and price increase for polluting energies. We assess a multi-lever climate strategy combining energy efficiency gains, carbon sequestration, and a decrease of 3% per year in the relative price of ‘clean’ electricity with a 1 to 1.5% annual rise in the relative price of polluting energy sources. None of these components alone is sufficient to reach climate objectives. Our last and most important finding is that our composite scenario achieves the climate goals.

Are transport networks in low-income countries prepared for climate change? Barriers to preparing for climate change in Africa and South Asia

Climate change, through extreme weather events and slow onset climatic changes, disrupts the operation of transport networks, and those in low-income countries (LICs) across Africa and South Asia are particularly vulnerable to climate change. This paper explores the barriers that LICs face across Africa and South Asia regarding preparedness of transport infrastructure to climate change, with the intent of addressing the knowledge gaps and consequential needs of LICs to support the delivery of more climate-resilient transport. Literature on climate change adaptation and transport resilience among LICs is reviewed to identify the broad challenges and barriers regarding climate change adaptation. Semi-structured interviews with 13 transport stakeholders across Africa and South Asia were also conducted to understand the challenges specific to the transport sector in the regions. Several barriers were identified, including a lack of data and knowledge on climate change impacts, design and prioritisation of remedial actions, budgeting and planning for climate change, and identifying and engaging with stakeholders. Findings from this paper and the wider research project it comprises inform policy guidance that calls for greater national and international coordination to develop practical, relevant and usable data, tools, advice and support for some of the most at-risk transport networks to climate change in the world.