The King's Diary: International Business

Dear Me

So nice to be around peers. I love coming to the Secluded Kingdom. Good wine, powerful company and BIG money. The mountain air does me well. I’m in such a good mood, I even allowed myself to divulge in charity.

Yesterday I met the Leader from the Island Kingdom. He assured me of his continued support. I wished he had left it at that. But he continued to waffle about value for money and even ... climate change. Adapt or perish I believe he said! How hard it was to keep a straight face. As if climate change is on my list of things to worry about! Leadership change, maybe. But climate change?

Still, I believe I managed to make a somewhat intelligible remark stating that I would probably be a first victim of rising sea levels as my palace is close to the ocean’s shore. I pulled it off and money will continue to flow. That is what matters really.

Speaking of money, the elections were so costly that we are out of cash. Two weeks ago I ordered the Ministry of Finance to send a letter to the representatives of Great Nations requesting for additional funds. Today provides an opportunity to reiterate my request. To soften the minds, I will demonstrate what a responsible international player the Kingdom is. I’ll make some goodwill gestures. Maybe by stating that the Serengeti highway will not harm wildlife. And, I could agree to discuss setting up a court to try pirates.

To top it all up, I’ll ask my secretary to book a stop-over in one of the Evil Nuclear Nations. With the newly discovered uranium reserves, it will send a clear message that I am not just begging for money; I mean business.

January 31, 2011

TEDxDAR: Selemani Kinyunyu

"Green is Sexy." Yes it is. With this message, Selemani aimed to recruit the participants into doing their bit for climate change* in Tanzania. Whether that means biking to work, separating trash and composting, not printing every email or any host of daily activities that can actually make a difference, however small, in the ultimate fate of the environment. He's already doing his part. Selemani's talk was about what climate change has to do with Tanzania.

I asked Selemani to try and explain what the heck this carbon trading business is all about. And he did: the market for the environment aims for reduced emissions from avoided degradation and deforestation. Carbon emmission is a good measure of environmental degradation. Since 60% of Tanzania's GDP comes from the extraction of natural resources (tourism, mining, agriculture), climate change will directly affect how NRs will be used in Tanzania. In effect, through this carbon trading market we can, as nations, buy and sell 'carbon emissions' in a global market. And this is where I leave you to venture ahead on your own because I 'failed' Economics more than once due to my complete inability to understand let alone speak Economese.

*In the interest of time I am not going to blog what Climate Change is and the fiddly bits of the Kyoto and Montreal Protocols. Please watch Al Gore's movie and use your Googling skillz.