Ukraine holds, but the war against climate change is being lost

<p>Kia ora,</p><p>Welcome to Tuesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.</p><p>I'm David Chaston and this is the International edition from Interest.co.nz.</p><p>Today we lead with news that while we are all transfixed by the war in Ukraine, are ignoring an even bigger threat.</p><p>But first in Russia, sanctions are biting, almost as quickly as the war in Ukraine escalates. The Ukrainian forces are holding on much better than many expected. Kyiv still holds uncaptured. Kharkiv too, which is a huge surprise. However Kharkiv's dogged resistance is drawing increasing Russian bombardment and terror bombings of civilian areas.</p><p>The Russian Central Bank has instituted a huge rate increase, taking it from an already high 9.5% to 20%. The Moscow stock exchange has suspended trading. The <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/russia/currency" target="_blank"><strong>ruble</strong></a> has reached 119:USD, although it is lower now, but it is a huge net -30% devaluation in just a few days, on top of earlier drops.</p><p>The Swiss have suspended their usual neutrality in horror of what is happening, and have <a href="https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/fdfa/fdfa/aktuell/news.html/content/eda/en/meta/news/2022/2/28/87386" target="_blank"><strong>frozen Russian funds</strong></a> in their banking system. This is an extreme measure for them. Norway is quitting its Russian investments. Fund managers around the globe are too.</p><p>Meanwhile the cyber war is intensifying. Toyota, the world’s largest carmaker, said that it had suspended all production in Japan after a possible cyberattack at a major supplier. Hino and Daihatsu have also shut down.</p><p>The other battle raging in the world - on climate change - is now an news afterthought. But it is arguably more serious, certainly in the long run. And it is being lost. The IPCC now <a href="https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6wg2/pdf/IPCC_AR6_WGII_SummaryForPolicymakers.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>says</strong></a> the dangers