Populism threatens the green revolution

Right-wing politicians are questioning the need to fight climate change [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. The green revolution is in trouble. The rise of the nationalist right in much of the Western world has placed huge question marks over commitments to transition out of fossil fuels to fight climate change. Donald Trump in the US and other populist politicians have vowed to jettison low-carbon policies and downplayed the impact of global warming. Elections to the European Parliament this month showed such messages are hitting home with voters, with big [setbacks for Green parties]( whose rise had spurred the European Union to embrace the world’s most ambitious climate strategy. While the mainstream parties that support efforts to decarbonize the bloc’s economy are still in a majority, the risk is that government resolve will be weakened. In France, Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally, forecast to win the most seats in legislative elections starting June 30, has [pledged to roll back]( key parts of the 27-nation EU’s Green Deal. It would halt the development of wind power, ditch a ban on the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered cars slated for 2035, loosen housing-renovation requirements, and curb plans to bar the most polluting vehicles from major cities. The focus would be on new nuclear reactors and clean fuels such as hydrogen. A win by Trump in the November election is likely to threaten the grants, loans and tax incentives that President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act injects into clean tech. The Republican candidate has vowed to issue an [executive order targeting offshore]( wind development. A report by Wood Mackenzie last month said that if [policy support for low-carbon energy]( is diluted, a net-zero carbon target by 2050 will be out of reach. This year [has already seen extreme heat](, droughts, floods and wildfires on every continent. Recent heatwave-induced deaths in Greece and in Saudi Arabia are just an indication of the threat from inaction. — [Karl Maier]( Southerly winds carry waves of Saharan dust into Athens on April 23. Photographer: Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images Global Must Reads Russia has committed a series of acts clearly intended to provoke and destabilize the nations it shares a 3,550-kilometer (2,210-mile) frontier with together with its ally Belarus. Generally falling short of conventional attacks that could trigger a collective response from NATO, such episodes — including jamming GPS signals and recruiting criminals for petty acts of sabotage — have grown in frequency since President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale war on Ukraine and are increasingly turning the Baltic region into a second front in [the West’s conflict with the Kremlin](. Putin was welcomed in Vietnam, underlining its decades-old relationship with Moscow in the face of US [criticism over the]( [invasion]( of Ukraine. The Russian president arrived in Hanoi today from North Korea, where he signed a comprehensive strategic partnership with Kim Jong Un, who vowed to “unconditionally” support Moscow in the war and both pledged to come to the other’s aid if attacked. Putin and Kim during a farewell ceremony yesterday in Pyongyang. Photographer: Gavriil Grigorov/Pool/AFP/Getty Images China doesn’t really care who wins the US presidential election, American intelligence officials say. Their conclusion suggests Beijing believes that whether Biden or his predecessor Trump emerge victorious, [ties between the world’s two largest economies]( will continue on their long-term downward trajectory. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party is shifting campaign resources out of some districts it currently holds after concluding they’re no longer winnable, sources say. The dramatic move just two weeks from the general election will be viewed [as an effective admission]( that the governing party is set for a historic defeat. Chinese President Xi Jinping indicated he’ll press ahead with one of the biggest [crackdowns on corruption]( ever in the armed forces, saying at a rare meeting that the military must remain loyal to the government. His comments at the event in Yan’an, a stronghold of the Communist Party in central China during the civil war, underscore the difficulty Xi has had rooting out graft since he took power in 2012. The EU has approved a new package of sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a bid to [tighten the enforcement of restrictions]( by widening the scope of measures to Moscow’s network of accomplices and hit its revenues. Violent street protests this week in Kenya’s two biggest cities prompted the authorities [to drop a raft of levies]( that its National Treasury warned risks creating a $1.6 billion financing hole. Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who was convicted for his role in death-squad killings before being pardoned last year, [is officially back in politics](, joining the Popular Force party led by his daughter Keiko. Chadian President Mahamat Déby ordered a probe into an explosion at a strategic munition depot in the capital, N’Djamena, that [killed nine people]( and injured many others. Washington Dispatch As investors, economists, politicians and prospective homebuyers anxiously await a signal from the Federal Reserve about when it might begin lowering interest rates, [questions have arisen]( as to how Trump would deal with the central bank if he’s reelected in November. While Biden predicted in March that the Fed would cut rates and reiterated that assertion in April, he has largely refrained from speaking publicly about monetary policy. Trump has said he won’t reappoint Fed Chair Jerome Powell, and some informal advisers have floated ideas about possible changes that would give him more power over the central bank. When he was president, Trump assailed the institution and its leader for hiking rates. He even discussed firing Powell, something that a president might not have the authority to do. Powell has repeatedly emphasized that the Fed aims to be apolitical and consider only what’s best for the economy. One thing to watch today: Presidential campaign finance reports are due at midnight. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 1 and 5 p.m. ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day Plans by Germany and France to pump billions of euros into Europe’s battery industry to try to catch up with China and the US [are running out of steam](. Facing slowing sales of electric vehicles, companies including Volkswagen, Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz are scaling back or refocusing battery projects, while Chinese manufacturers are slashing costs and the US is drawing away investment with lucrative subsidies. And Finally Prices — that’s what professionals in Istanbul and Ankara focus on when they talk about restaurants and grocery stores. While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan abandoned economic orthodoxy by pursuing growth at any cost, helping lure back some foreign investors and lift millions of Turks out of poverty, many [are now being squeezed]( as the country has endured some of the highest inflation in the world in recent years. Turks are struggling with rising prices. 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