Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev to take part in Alaska summit, source says
Dmitriev, who heads up Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund, has previously held talks with Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, and has spoken of possible business cooperation between Moscow and Washington.
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Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
Climate security is energy security
For all the uncertainties generated by Donald Trump's administration over the past six months, one thing is clear: 'climate' technologies are out and 'energy' technologies are in. But while going along with this rhetorical shift may appease some, it should be recognized for what it is: a change in wording. The fundamental economic and technological forces that are pushing the world away from oil, coal and gas and toward low-carbon, high-efficiency technologies have not abated. Over the past two decades, climate change has been a leading item on the global agenda, driving efforts to deploy technologies that will reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Those efforts are now facing headwinds, and not just in the US. Geopolitical developments elsewhere, like Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, have called attention to the importance of energy affordability and security over other considerations. Policymakers in the US, Europe and elsewhere initially responded to the war by doubling down on the shift from fossil fuels, and for good reason. Oil, coal and gas are commodities whose prices will always be linked to geopolitical vagaries (that goes for not only global oil markets but also regional gas markets, which are increasingly linked by trade in liquefied natural gas). As a case in point, the summer of 2022 brought massive inflation, largely driven by fossil fuel price spikes. Europe's gas prices peaked at 10 times their long-term average and US gas prices at around triple their long-term average. While the US Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is widely considered a misnomer, history will judge the name kindly: The only permanent way to address such bouts with 'fossilflation' is to stop using fossil fuels. Though the blowback against climate policies has been particularly strong at the federal level in the US, Europe, too, has undergone a retrenchment. This is somewhat understandable, even if it is shortsighted. Germany, Europe's largest economy, has been in a recession for more than two years, with high energy prices a chief culprit. Climate technologies that are already commercially viable could help, of course. But taking full advantage of the lower prices of solar, wind and (increasingly) batteries requires a willingness to reform power markets and pass these savings to households and industrial consumers. It also calls for more upfront public investment, an area where climate priorities compete with other priorities like national security that are often perceived to be more immediate. In grappling with these trade-offs, the EU delivered the kinds of efficiency measures that Trump's 'Department of Government Efficiency' had promised but failed to achieve. For example, Europe dialed back its carbon border adjustment mechanism by requiring 90 percent fewer companies to comply. On the surface, this seems like a decisive blow to the goal of establishing a carbon tariff for imports, commensurate with Trump's DOGE hatchet. But unlike Trump and Elon Musk, the EU ensured that the remaining 10 percent of importers still accounted for more than 90 percent of emissions. This outcome is far from ideal when viewed solely through a climate lens. But viewed from a broader climate-economic perspective, it is exactly the kind of surgical intervention that DOGE promised but never delivered. Still, fiddling at the climate policy margins ignores the bigger picture. While Europe and America are taking steps back, China is leaping forward. It alone accounted for more than 40 percent of the record $2.1 trillion of global investment in the energy transition last year — more than the EU, the UK and the US combined. China's dominance is the result of a concerted green industrial policy, in which innovation plays a key role Gernot Wagner The balance is even more lopsided for specific clean-energy technologies. China produces about 75 percent of the world's solar panels and 80 percent of its lithium-ion batteries. That dominance is the result of a concerted green industrial policy, in which innovation plays a key role. The claim that China only manufactures and assembles is woefully outdated. China's electric vehicles, for example, are second to none. BYD, the country's leading carmaker, recently unveiled a groundbreaking charging system capable of adding 470 km of range in just five minutes, putting the company in a league of its own globally. China's dominance extends to technologies that are not yet competitive without price support. LONGi, one of the world's top solar manufacturers, formed LONGi Hydrogen in 2021 to pursue green hydrogen production. It now leads the world in electrolyzer manufacturing capacity. These are not isolated examples. China's ambitious industrial policy has helped lift five other Chinese hydrogen companies into the global top 10. Have Europe and the US already lost this race for the future? While the US now seems hellbent on turning itself into a petrostate, the EU has a chance to revive its clean energy fortunes. It is even starting with a significant policy advantage: a carbon dioxide price hovering at about $100 per tonne means that most low-carbon technologies — from clean electrons and electrification to clean molecules like biofuels — are already economically viable. Others, like green hydrogen, will need further support to help climb the learning curve and slide down the cost curve. According to Bernd Heid, a senior partner at McKinsey & Company who leads its Platform for Climate Technologies, about 90 percent of climate technologies will be in the money by 2030 with a $100 carbon price. While China dominates with six top-10 global players, three of the others are European. The Swedish startup Stegra is building the world's first low-carbon steel plant using electrolyzers made by ThyssenKrupp Nucera, in which the German steelmaker has a majority stake. Despite recent political developments, the US, too, has shown that rapid change is possible. Although breaking China's solar manufacturing dominance will be difficult, the US has made significant inroads over the past three years. Earlier this year, it exceeded 50 gigawatts of panel manufacturing capacity, a fivefold increase since 2022. These 50 GW in panel supply roughly matched US demand. True, onshoring the solar supply chain comes with costs that can be justified only by priorities other than the climate, such as national security or promoting domestic manufacturing. But that is the point. If political conditions require stronger emphasis on technologies like geothermal and nuclear, and if technologies formerly known as 'climate tech' must be relabeled as the more neutral-sounding 'energy tech,' then so be it. The larger forces propelling us toward decarbonization remain the same. • Gernot Wagner is a climate economist at Columbia Business School. Copyright: Project Syndicate
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
EU, Norway, rights groups rap West Bank settlement plan
MAALE ADUMIM: Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced work would start on a long-delayed settlement that would divide the West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, a move his office said would 'bury' the idea of a Palestinian state. The Palestinian government, allies, and campaign groups condemned the scheme, calling it illegal and saying the fragmentation of territory would rip up peace plans for the region. Standing at the site of the planned settlement in Maale Adumim on Thursday, Smotrich, a settler himself, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump had agreed to the revival of the E1 development. However, there was no immediate confirmation from either. 'Whoever in the world is trying to recognize a Palestinian state today will receive our answer on the ground, not with documents nor with decisions or statements, but with facts. Facts of houses, facts of neighborhoods,' Smotrich said. Israel froze construction plans at Maale Adumim in 2012, and again after a revival in 2020, because of objections from the US, European allies, and other powers who considered the project a threat to any future peace deal with the Palestinians. Restarting the project could further isolate Israel, which has watched some of its Western allies condemn its military offensive in Gaza and announce they may recognize a Palestinian state. Palestinians fear the settlement building in the West Bank — which has sharply intensified since the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that led to the Gaza war — will rob them of any chance to build a state of their own in the area. In a statement headlined 'Burying the idea of a Palestinian state,' Smotrich's spokesperson said the minister had approved the plan to build 3,401 houses for Israeli settlers between an existing settlement in the West Bank and Jerusalem. In Maale Adumim, Smotrich said the plan would go into effect on Wednesday. Breaking the Silence, an Israeli rights group established by former Israeli soldiers, said what it called a land grab 'will not only further fragment the Palestinian territory, but will further entrench apartheid.' Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the Palestinian president's spokesperson, called on the US to pressure Israel to stop settlement building. 'The EU rejects any territorial change that is not part of a political agreement between the involved parties. So annexation of territory is illegal under international law,' European Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper said. Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said the move by Smotrich, an ultra-nationalist in the ruling right-wing coalition who has long advocated for Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, showed that Israel 'seeks to appropriate land owned by Palestinians in order to prevent a two-state solution.' Peace Now, which tracks settlement activity in the West Bank, said there were still steps needed before construction. However, if all goes through, infrastructure work could begin within a few months, and house building could start about a year later. 'The E1 plan is deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution. We are standing at the edge of an abyss, and the government is driving us forward at full speed,' Peace Now said in a statement. Consecutive Israeli governments have initiated, approved, planned, and funded settlements, according to Israeli rights group Yesh Din. Some settlers moved to the West Bank for religious or ideological reasons, while lower housing costs and government incentives drew others. They include American and European dual citizens. Palestinians were already demoralized by the Israeli military campaign, which has killed more than 61,000 people in Gaza, according to local health authorities, and fear Israel will ultimately push them out of that territory. About 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in a move not recognized by most countries, but has not formally extended sovereignty over the West Bank. The UN and most world powers say settlement expansion has eroded the viability of a two-state solution by fragmenting Palestinian territory. The two-state plan envisages a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, existing side by side with Israel. Most of the global community considers all settlements illegal under international law. Israel rejects this interpretation, saying the West Bank is 'disputed' rather than 'occupied' territory. Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand imposed sanctions in June on Smotrich and another far-right minister who advocates for settlement expansion, accusing both of them of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Al Arabiya
4 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Putin-Trump summit and interviews with Syrian and Iraqi ministers
In this episode of Global News Today, presented by Tom Burges Watson, we assess the prospects for peace in Ukraine as all eyes turn to Alaska, where a high-stakes summit is set to begin between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. What are the chances of a diplomatic breakthrough? We break it down. We also speak exclusively with Dr. Musaab Nazzal al-Ali, Syria's health minister, as the country confronts mounting challenges in rebuilding its healthcare system amidst ongoing recovery efforts. Plus, Evan Faeq Yakoob, Iraq's minister of displacement and migration, joins us to discuss one of the region's most urgent humanitarian and security concerns: the future of individuals still detained in Syria's al-Hol camp.
