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Note: This section is provided for issue-based overviews in narrative format, if desired.
In April 2019, Extinction Rebellion's "International Rebellion" closed multiple London streets in protests over climate change with 1130 arrests, [182] and in October further protests saw 1832 arrests. [183]
In December 2019, the World Meteorological Organization released its annual climate report revealing that climate impacts are worsening. [184] They found the global sea temperatures are rising as well as land temperatures worldwide. 2019 is the last year in a decade that is the warmest on record. [185]
Global carbon emissions hit a record high in 2019, even though the rate of increase slowed somewhat, according to a report from Global Carbon Project. [186]
In the first half of 2019, global debt levels reached a record high of $250 trillion, led by the US and China. [187] The IMF warned about corporate debt. [187] The European Central Bank raised concerns as well. [188]
Concerns increased about the European Debt Crisis as both Greece and Italy continued to have high levels of public debt. This caused concerned about stability of the Euro. In December 2019, the EU announced that banking ministers from EU member nations had failed to reach agreement over proposed banking reforms and systemic change. [189] [190] The EU was concerned about high rates of debt in France, Italy and Spain. [191] Italy objected to proposed new debt bailout rules that were proposed to be added to the European Stability Mechanism. [192]
In March 2019, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Theresa May and European leaders negotiated an extension for the Parliament of the United Kingdom to ratify the Brexit withdrawal agreement. [193] [194] The EU position was that the negotiation of terms for withdrawal had already ended in November 2018, and that the extension was only to give the UK Parliament more time to consider the Agreement. [195] Negotiations during 2019 have been primarily within the UK Parliament on whether to accept the Theresa May Government's negotiated settlement, to leave the EU without any agreement, or to abandon Brexit.
In July, the newly assembled Boris Johnson ministry declared intention to re-open negotiations on the withdrawal agreement, with the Irish backstop removed as a pre-condition. UK and EU negotiators met for the first time on 28 August and meetings "will continue twice a week". [196] Fresh proposals were released by the Johnson ministry in October, which the EU dismissed as unworkable. [197] [198]
The Benn Act, passed by the UK parliament in September, required the prime minister to seek a further extension in the event that by 19 October, a deal has not been reached and parliament has not given its consent to a No-deal Brexit. [199] On 28 October 2019, the date was moved back to 2020. [200]
A trade dispute between the US and China caused economic concerns worldwide. In December 2019, various US officials said a trade deal was likely before a proposed round of new tariffs took effect on 15 December 2019. [201] US tariffs had a negative effect on China's economy, which slowed to growth of 6%. [201] In December 2019, new deal was announced regarding US-China trade dispute. [202]