Martin AbelMartin Abel
Navigating the metacrisis with pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will.

📅 From now on, EU Member States have less than 1 year to identify renewables acceleration areas (hashtag#RAAs).

Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU decided to further boost the clean energy transition by designating low-conflict areas with extra easy permitting procedure for the renewables. The hashtag#red3 directive gave states until 21.02.2026.

🤔 With some delay, NGOs, consultancies and finally the European Commission itself started to issue guidelines on how to complete this unprecedented task. Now, many Member States had already identified priority areas before, but a few if any were ready (and indeed allowed) to drop the thorough assessment of individual projects (incl. EIA). Unfortunately, none of those guidelines really explains how to do it on the technical level.

🪰 The fly in the ointment is - as almost ever - the resources. Not € as much as people. With the ongoing brain drain in the public sector (particularly in CEE and southern states), even the willing governments find it challenging to find the experts for the job. Nowhere is the problem more tangible than in biological site assessments. The EU law says: choose RAAs, you have 2.5 years. But the EU law also says: whatever you choose, send authorised professionals there to survey the area. And one need not be an expert to understand that 1000s km2 cannot possibly be all surveyed in a year - there is just not enough people.

⚖️ With the hashtag#red3 deadline approaching, most EU countries must choose which directive they are going to abide by and, in effect, whether to prioritise the speed of the transition or the integrity of the biosphere on site. And hey, before you exclaim that the world is burning and we need those renewables to replace the the fossil fuels and lower our dependence on Russia, consider that globally the renewables have done little to squeeze out (but rather supplemented) the fossil energy so far and that the biosphere needs to be respected now more than ever.

So... what would you do?

I'm happy I could work on the topic in CZ with colleagues from Ministerstvo životního prostředí and Výzkumný ústav pro krajinu, v. v. i. and I'm certainly looking forward to discussing these issues at ESEW in Brussels this June.

Handful of countries responsible for climate crisis, top court told | Climate crisis | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/02/handful-of-countries-responsible-for-climate-crisis-icj-court-told

Over the next two weeks, the court will hear statements from 98 nations, including wealthy developed nations with the greatest historical responsibility for the climate emergency, such as the UK and Russia, and states that have contributed very little to global greenhouse gas emissions but stand to bear the brunt of their impact, including Bangladesh and Sudan as well as Pacific island nations.

The US and China, the world’s biggest emitters, will make statements too, even though neither fully recognises the court’s authority.

Regenvanu told the court that states continued to emit vast amounts of greenhouse gases in spite of “increasingly dire warnings” from scientists, noting that emissions had increased by more than 50% since 1990.

...

Wewerinke-Singh said responsible states were required to make full reparation for the injury they had caused and this must be “proportionate to historic contributions to the harm”. She said this could include monetary compensation in addition to cash committed under the UNFCCC.

https://x.com/AkshatRathi/status/1862064097799598377

Just days after scoring a win at COP29, Saudi Arabia, along with Russia and Iran, is at it again trying to weaken the global plastics treaty.

Článek: https://www.climatechangenews.com/2024/11/27/global-plastics-pact-hangs-in-balance-as-petrostates-block-talks/

onovitelne zdroje ve valce
Ukraine has seen success in building clean energy, which is harder for Russia to destroy | AP News
https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-clean-renewable-energy-russian-bombing-distributed-1f226213742cc057f9f65208167e6f38

Attacks on two DTEK solar farms last spring are a good example. They destroyed many solar panels and some of the transformers, which step up voltage for long distances or step it down for use in homes. Replacing the transformers and swapping out destroyed panels allowed the farms, which generate 400 megawatts, to be back up in seven days.

Timchenko said an attack on a thermal generating station, which experienced a similar amount of damage, took three to four months to rebuild.

“That’s the difference between centralized and so-called decentralized generation. It’s much more resistant and difficult to destroy,” said Timchenko.

Russia-Ukraine war live: Moscow claims advance in Ukraine’s east has ‘accelerated’ | Ukraine | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/nov/23/russia-ukraine-war-live-latest-news-updates

Russia has included the territories it occupies in Ukraine in its recent greenhouse gas inventory report to the United Nations, drawing protests from Ukrainian officials and activists at the Cop29 climate summit this week.

...

“We see that Russia is using international platforms to legalise their actions, to legalise their occupation of our territory,” Ukraine’s deputy environment minister Olga Yukhymchuk told Reuters.

She said Ukraine is in touch with officials from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the U.N.’s main climate body, to ask it to resolve the dispute.

Officials representing the Russian foreign ministry and the UNFCCC did not respond to requests for comment sent on Thursday.

At issue is Russia’s National Inventory Report of greenhouse gas emissions for 2022, which Moscow submitted to the UNFCCC on 8 November. In the submission, reviewed by Reuters, Russia said it could only provide data for 85 out of 89 of its territories “due to the absence of baseline data on land use for the territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Luhansk People’s Republic, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, annexed in September 2022.”

Russia had already included emissions from Ukraine’s Crimea region, annexed in 2014, in its last few reporting submissions to the UNFCCC. It also included Crimea’s land development plans in a report to the UN Global Biodiverity Framework in 2020.

Ukrainian environment minister Svitlana Grynchuk raised the issue in a speech to delegates at the Cop29 summit earlier this week, saying Russia’s reporting on Ukraine territories undermines the integrity of global climate efforts.

Climate change presents serious problems for Russia, from intensifying forest fires to the melting of the permafrost that covers roughly two-thirds of Russian territory. However, in the coming decades, Russia’s most serious problems will be caused not by climate change itself, but by the actions other governments are taking to mitigate it. Chief among these is the shift away from the burning of fossil fuels towards renewable sources of energy.

Russia, Climate Change and the Global Energy Transformation | Royal United Services Institute
https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/russia-climate-change-and-global-energy-transformation

YMLADRIS: Ano, trochu už to pár týdnů sleduji, ne že by od toho mohl člověk moc očekávat. :shrug:

“China and US push each other on priorities for UN COP29 climate talks…

“Washington’s top climate diplomat John Podesta has pressed Chinese leaders to come up with ambitious plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 in one of the final meetings between the world’s two largest polluters ahead of the UN COP29 climate summit in November.”

Subscribe to read
https://www.ft.com/content/784bb728-a0d7-485a-9ab9-89da0d516f61
https://archive.fo/ecZe9

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“Good Cop, Bad COP29: Azerbaijan’s greenwashing ahead of crucial climate summit…

“Since it was announced as this year’s host in November last year, Azerbaijan has intensified crackdowns on independent media and academics, arresting dozens on falsified charges this year alone. And concerns are intensifying around Azerbaijan’s commitments to expanding its fossil fuel industry.”
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/podcast-episode/good-cop-bad-cop29-azerbaijans-greenwashing-ahead-of-crucial-climate-summit/j5qm1xxq5

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"Satellite data shows an increase in gas flaring since Azerbaijan last reported its emissions six years ago, calling into question BP and state oil company’s pledge to eliminate methane flaring by 2030."

"Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries are required to submit their emissions data every two years. Yet Azerbaijan, which will host the COP29 climate summit in November, has failed to do so since 2018. "
wonderful

"The Presidency of COP29 is headed by Mukhtar Babayev, who is currently serving as Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan, Babayev previously worked as the SOCAR’s Vice President for ecology."

https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-gas/cop29-host-azerbaijan-failing-report-ever-growing-methane-emissions/

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Several major oil-producing countries, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, are pushing back against talks on an agreement at the upcoming COP29 climate summit to mitigate the use of fossil fuels.

https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Petrostates-Push-Back-Against-UN-Talks-on-Shift-from-Fossil-Fuels.html

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“COP29 host’s own climate plans are ‘critically insufficient’, says expert group…

“Campaigners have expressed concerns about the selection of yet another country that is heavily reliant on the sale of oil and gas to oversee the world’s most important climate negotiations. Questions about human rights followed after several arrests of government critics.”

Subscribe to read
https://www.ft.com/content/8ca61260-743a-4e4b-8699-e937a07d7cfc
https://archive.fo/Nlg2O

Australian fossil fuel exports ranked second only to Russia for climate damage with ‘no plan’ for reduction | Climate crisis | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/12/australian-fossil-fuel-exports-ranked-second-globally-for-climate-damage-with-no-plan-for-reduction

Australia ranked second on an emission basis. It overtook the US due to a majority of Australia’s exports being coal, a particularly emissions-intensive fuel.

It meant that while Australia releases about only 1% of global emissions at home, it was linked to about 4.5% once its exports were counted.

TADEAS:

Keir Starmer refuses to intervene over lengthy Just Stop Oil prison sentences
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/19/former-justice-secretary-uncomfortable-just-stop-oil-prison/

Millionaire Labour donor Dale Vince pressures Keir Starmer to repeal protest law that led to Just Stop Oil founder being jailed for 'disproportionate' five years over M25 plot - likening it to somethi...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13651323/Millionaire-Labour-donor-Dale-Vince-pressures-Keir-Starmer-repeal-protest-law-led-Just-Stop-Oil-founder-jailed-disproportionate-five-years-M25-plot-likening-Putins-Russia.html

CHOSIE: si mi jeste pripomnel:

"The reserves uncovered are said to contain around 511 billion barrels worth of oil, equating to around 10 times the North Sea’s output over the last 50 years."

Russia reportedly finds vast oil and gas reserves in British Antarctic territory | Offshore
https://www.offshore-mag.com/geosciences/article/55039736/russia-reportedly-finds-vast-oil-and-gas-reserves-in-british-antarctic-territory

Z cyklu #doomed

BP imposes hiring freeze and halts new offshore wind projects | BP | The Guardian
https://amp.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jun/27/bp-imposes-hiring-freeze-and-halts-new-offshore-wind-projects

New boss Murray Auchincloss reverses move away from fossil fuels, which had weighed on company’s share price

The head of BP has imposed a hiring freeze and halted new offshore wind projects, in an apparent attempt to placate investors who are unhappy with the oil company’s green targets.
...
Looney, who had committed BP to some of the industry’s greenest climate goals, was ousted last September for failing to disclose relationships with colleagues.

The decision to slow BP’s green ambitions has stoked concerns that Looney’s plan to move the company away from fossil fuels, with a pledge to “become a net zero company by 2050 or sooner”, may soon be derailed.

BP has come under pressure from shareholders over its green targets because some renewable projects have proved more costly than expected, and profits from oil and gas have soared after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago.

In response, the company set out plans earlier this year to cut oil and gas production by just 25% between 2019 and 2030 – well short of its previous target of a 40% reduction over the same timeframe.
...
Earlier this month BP’s rival Shell set out its own plans to scale back its green growth ambitions, reducing the number of staff working on low-carbon solutions by about 200 roles while shifting the focus towards high-profit oil projects and expanding its gas business.

PAN_SPRCHA:"A že bychom se měli bát Ruského útoku na jadernou elektrárnu je absurdní, vždyť by se to rovnalo jadernému útoku a Rusko jaderné zbraně má."

Nevim, kdes byl posledni 2 roky, ale tohle se stalo letos v dubnu: 3 prime zasahy UAV do kontejnentu Zapor. JE
A predtim xkrat po ostrelovani beh prim. chlazeni na jedinej poruchovej agregat, s dochazejici naftou a zmlacenou zajatou obsluhou.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/07/europe/russian-controlled-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-reactor-damaged-following-drone-attack/index.html
The drone attack included three direct hits against the facility’s main reactor containment, the agency’s director-general, Rafael Grossi, said on X.

a tomuhle verili US zpravodajci (kteri jedini spravne varovali UA a svet tesne pred invazi):
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/09/politics/us-prepared-rigorously-potential-russian-nuclear-strike-ukraine/index.html
In late 2022, the US began “preparing rigorously” for Russia potentially striking Ukraine with a nuclear weapon

%%%

'Německá veřejnost si opravdu autenticky přála ukončit provoz JE. Právě pod vlivem Ruskem řízené propagandy. '

Presne tuhle odpoved jsem cekal, ale nechtel jsem predbihat. Takze prosim tvou domenku podloz dukazy, ze Nemci, kteri v DDR zalozili prvni protijaderna hnuti v Evrope, byli uspesne zmanipulovani Ruskem k Atomausstieg a nejednali z vlastniho usudku.

PAN_SPRCHA: neni, muze se to samofrejme menit zeme od zeme, ale treba u nas jsou rusko-afiliovany subjekty zpravidla vyrazne projaderny.
obecne rusko vyuziva jadernou technologii k vytvareni zavislosti podobne jako vyuziva fosil. casto dokonce vyuziva zdroje z fosilni energetiky, aby cenove podhazoval nabidky -viz treba finsko (resp tvrdi napriklad veli-pekka tynkkynen zde
The Energy of Russia: Hydrocarbon Culture and Climate Change Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen )

The Energy of Russia
https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/the-energy-of-russia-9781788978590.html

mohlo by nekoho zajimat...

The Energy of Russia
Hydrocarbon Culture and Climate Change

This timely book analyses the status of hydrocarbon energy in Russia as both a saleable commodity and as a source of societal and political power. Through empirical studies in domestic and foreign policy contexts, Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen explores the development of a hydrocarbon culture in Russia and the impact this has on its politics, identity and approach to climate change and renewable energy.

Cogent and compelling, this book demonstrates how the Russian state leverages its oil and gas reserves in order to create and maintain power both domestically and internationally. Tynkkynen uses empirical studies of key topics such as the national gas programme Gazprom, the Arctic, climate discourse and anthropogenic climate change denial, and the Russia-Finland energy trade to critically examine the situation. The book concludes with a convincing argument for the potential of renewable energy to build a more resilient and sustainable future for Russia and how this might be achieved.

This will prove crucial reading for scholars and students of Russian and Eastern European studies and energy and environmental studies, as well as geographers, anthropologists and political scientists. Those working in governments, international organizations and corporations with an interest in Russian energy will also find its insights useful.

The Energy of Russia
https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/the-energy-of-russia-9781788978590.html

Russia’s Addiction: How Oil, Gas, and the Soviet Legacy Have Shaped a Nation's Fate - Softcover
Russia’s dependence on its oil and gas wealth is much deeper than generally recognized. Since their privatization in the 1990s, a small number of oligarchs have taken control of the economy, and the fates of millions of Russians. Vladimir Putin’s system of personal protection has been successful in keeping peace among these oligarchs and Russia’s industrial heartland but can it continue?
In Russia’s Addiction, Clifford Gaddy and Barry Ickes argue that the country’s addiction to oil and gas are a comparable to a physiological compulsion the country understands that it is destroying itself by continuing down this road, but is unable to stop. They investigate the country’s dependence on oil, and how Putin manages to run his corrupt system, focusing on keeping oligarchs happy and expecting their full support in return. And they ask the important question: What will happen to this system when Putin is gone?

Russia’s Addiction: How Oil, Gas, and the Soviet Legacy Have Shaped a Nation's Fate - Gaddy, Clifford G.; Ickes, Barry W.: 9780815727705 - AbeBooks
https://www.abebooks.com/9780815727705/Russia%E2%80%99s-Addiction-Oil-Gas-Soviet-0815727704/plp

Starsi ale zajimavy

Russian Energy in a Changing World
What is the Outlook for the Hydrocarbons Superpower?

Description
For a long time Russia’s position as a key global energy player has enhanced Moscow’s international economic and political influence whilst causing concern amongst other states fearful of becoming too dependent on Russia as an energy supplier. The Global Financial Crisis shook this established image of Russia as an indispensable energy superpower, immune to negative external influences and revealed the full extent of Russia’s dependence on oil and gas for economic and political influence. This led to calls from within the country for a new approach where energy resources were no longer regarded wholly as an asset, but also a potential curse resulting in an over reliance on one sector thwarting modernization of the economy and the country as a whole. In this fascinating and timely volume leading Russian and Western scholars examine various aspects of Russian energy policy and the opportunities and constraints that influence the choices made by the country’s energy decision makers. Contributors focus on Russia’s energy relations with the rest of the world alongside internal debates about the need for diversification and modernisation in a changing economy, country and world system where overdependence on energy commodities has become a key concern for customer and supplier alike.

Russian Energy in a Changing World: What is the Outlook for the Hydroc
https://www.routledge.com/Russian-Energy-in-a-Changing-World-What-is-the-Outlook-for-the-Hydrocarbons-Superpower/Godzimirski/p/book/9781138279780

Russia, one of the world's top emitters of greenhouse gases, is already feeling the impacts of climate change. But compared to Western countries, where concerns about the climate crisis are widespread, this topic is nearly invisible in Russian media, politics and education.

In this episode, we decided to find out how Russian society views climate change and the factors that cause many Russians to ignore environmental issues. Climate activist Arshak Makichyan and climate scientist Alexei Kokorin join us to discuss.

Why Is Climate Change Not on the Agenda in Russia? - The Moscow Times
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/10/20/why-is-climate-change-not-on-the-agenda-in-russia-a82834

Germany is a case study — perhaps the case study — of a Western middle power which made a strategic bet on a full embrace of interdependence and globalization in the late 20th century: it outsourced its security to the U.S., its export-led growth to China, and its energy needs to Russia. It is now finding itself excruciatingly vulnerable in an early 21st century characterized by great power competition and an increasing weaponization of interdependence by allies and adversaries alike. The war in Ukraine, which touches on almost every one of Germany’s bilateral, regional, and global interests, only accentuates its exposure. That this horrific conflict is taking place in the region that was part of the “Bloodlands” (the term coined by Yale historian Timothy Snyder), where Hitler and (to a lesser degree) Stalin murdered tens of millions of people is lost on few of my fellow citizens.

For much of the three decades after German reunification in 1990, Berlin saw Moscow (as well as Beijing) as a reliable strategic partner in a two-way bargain: Germany would import cheap energy, and export good governance in much the way that Eastern Europe had been transformed through entry into NATO and the EU. Ultimately, German policymakers hoped, this would transform not only these countries’ economies but also their political systems. And they believed — in an attempt to reconfigure West Germany’s Cold War Ostpolitik for a united Germany in the middle of Europe — that NATO and the European Union could and should be encompassed in a pan-European security architecture that included Russia.

The Kremlin, for its part, saw Germany as a friend, a partner, and as a strategic bridgehead into Europe — not least because it was importing roughly a third of its oil and gas from Russia. What the Germans called their “modernization partnership” with Moscow made for excellent business for a while; but in every other way, it proved to be a failure. Economic integration turned out to be strictly downstream, while many German businesses got burned by corruption and organized crime; political reform remained elusive.

Putin’s war and European energy security: A German perspective on decoupling from Russian fossil fuels | Brookings
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/putins-war-and-european-energy-security-a-german-perspective-on-decoupling-from-russian-fossil-fuels/