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54 I Eurasia bne March 2021
That makes Ulaanbaatar one of the most polluted cities in the world.
There is a backdrop of societal and economic change in Mongolia that has taken place since the 1990s, when the country became a democracy. The state stopped subsidising herders and
head count never surpassed 25mn. In 2019, according to the national statistics office, it stood at 70.9mn.
This high number might stem from the introduced market economy and liberalisation of herding, but it is doubtful that herders are incentivised
number of livestock given the greater vulnerabilities now facing the nomadic herder.
The dzuds, the degradation of grazing land, the climate change causing desertification. Each of these growing woes interact with one another and it becomes more and more difficult to find sufficient sheltered lands with viable grazing. Keeping as much livestock
as one can to survive the ever more treacherous steppes is grasped as
a solution.
The prevailing perspective right now
is that it seems many herders this winter escaped the bleak devastation
of the dzud with swift action and some government intervention. The search for sustainable solutions, however, risks being overtaken by worsening events.
“Suffering a lack of livestock, a substantial number of poverty-trapped nomadic herders have in recent times headed for Ulaanbaatar to find work”
the organisation that ran livestock population management was dissolved. Prior to Mongolia shifting away from the communist regime, the livestock
to keep a high number of animals because of actual market demand. The situation is more likely tied to fear – fear of suffering from a diminished
US accepts invitation to nuclear deal talks with Iran hosted by EU
bne IntelIiNews
The US has agreed to take part in multilateral talks with Iran hosted by the EU, Washington announced late on February 18.
The aim is to find a way of bringing the US back into the 2015 nuclear deal and to restore full Iranian compliance with the accord.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US would accept the invitation of the EU high representative for discussions with Iran and the five other countries that agreed the nuclear deal (formally named the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA), under which Tehran agreed to tight restrictions on its nuclear development programme in return for sanctions relief.
There was no immediate announcement from Tehran on whether it was ready to join the talks. US officials said the timing and location of the talks would be up to the EU hosts, and warned that they were unlikely to lead
to a quick breakthrough.
The US delegation for the talks would be led by special envoy Rob Malley, who helped negotiate the JCPOA six years ago.
Enrique Mora, the EU political director and lead negotiator, tweeted an invitation to the planned talks.
“The JCPOA at a critical moment,” Mora wrote. “Intense talks with all participants and the US. I am ready to invite them to an informal meeting to discuss the way forward.”
The US has, meanwhile, dropped special restrictions on Iranian diplomats in New York imposed by the Trump administration. The restrictions limited them to the Iranian mission, the ambassador’s residence, the airport and a six- block radius around the UN building. They will now be subject to the limits that were in force before the Donald Trump era, namely a 25-mile radius around midtown Manhattan.
www.bne.eu
US State Department spokesman Ned Price announced the US was accepting the invitation.