Civil Rights

• [New] The anti-China lobby in EU and beyond, will try to run campaign against it by engaging human right and environmental organizations.
• [New] Among the highest likelihood risks of the next 10 years are extreme weather, climate action failure and human-led environmental damage, the report states, as well as digital power concentration, digital inequality and cybersecurity failure.
• [New] Closing racial gaps in wages, housing credit, lending opportunities, and access to higher education would amount to an additional $5 trillion in gross domestic product in the American economy over the next 5 years.
• [New] The Biden administration will incorporate liberal norms and democratic values back into the United States' Russia policy, so Putin can expect more criticism of Russian autocracy and more support for human rights.
• [New] Three of the world's biggest miners including BHP could be forced to close down Latin America's largest open pit mine, with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) set to investigate environmental destruction and alleged human rights abuses.
• [New] COVID-19, a jobs crisis and extreme weather are expected to be the most serious risks facing the world in the next two years, followed by cybersecurity threats and digital inequality.
• [New] The UK Government will surely not want to pick unnecessary fights with Scotland, whose own Government has put human rights at the centre of many of its political initiatives.
• [New] Should the Taliban return to power in Kabul, the social gains in education, health and the rights of women might be quickly overturned, while hostilities could intensify as other groups contest its rule.
• [New] The Commerce Department accused CNOOC of harassing and threatening offshore oil and gas exploration and extraction in the South China Sea to drive up the political risk for its rivals, including Vietnam.
• [New] Human rights are expected to return as a foreign policy priority for the Biden administration, but some governments in Asia grew comfortable with Trump turning a blind eye.
• [New] Reaching a trade deal (which Trump could not), human rights issues in Kashmir, extending visa regimes, and emphasizing climate change cooperation would be some of the other areas of thrust for Biden's India policy.
• [New] Biden's goal of advancing human rights should command agreement from a wide range of potential partners and will help the United States reaffirm its commitment to universal values after four years of selective advocacy of certain rights, such as religious freedom.
• [New] CNOOC has repeatedly harassed and threatened offshore oil and gas exploration and extraction in the South China Sea, with the goal of driving up the political risk for interested foreign partners, including Vietnam.
• [New] Over the next years, with 68% of the people in the world living in them, cities will shape every aspect of global development - including the manner in how human rights are won and implemented.
• [New] The possibility that the UK might end the year without a deal with the EU on future relations raised concerns about a negative impact on food and medicine supplies, on human rights in Northern Ireland and that the UK might seek to water down employment and other rights derived from EU law in future.
• [New] Almost three-quarters of organizations said they expect their cybersecurity budgets to increase in the next three years, despite overall IT budgets cuts in response to the pandemic, which suggests they have got their priorities in the right place.
• [New] Going forward, while the US' rhetoric could increase, owing to Biden's focus on non-traditional threats and human rights issues, regional powers will assume prominence on security and economic matters.
• [New] One right choice after another entails the wisdom and correctness of the policies made by the Imran Khan administration which gives Pakistan great hope for fast economic development.
• The post-COVID - 19 economic environment might make it easier to hire people with some of the critical skills companies will need in the coming years, such as in data science and IoT engineering.
• We cannot rule out the possibility that the US-China commercial relationship will deteriorate further in 2021, as more sensitive, complicated, and structural issues began to get involved, such as national security, forced labor, and human rights.
• The UN Human Rights Council will consider possible measures regarding Sri Lanka at its February-March 2021 session, including calls for an international accountability mechanism to pursue justice for past abuses.

Last updated: 24 January 2021