Latest news with #ShonaMurray
Euronews
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Can the EU and UK turn the tide after years of bad blood?
Radio Schuman spoke with Euronews correspondent Shona Murray ahead of the highly-anticipated EU-UK summit taking place in London today. In anticipation of this gathering, the tone was elated, with high hopes of a defence pact and closer ties. However, in recent days, some hurdles were hit. So, what are the main sticking points? And overall, how significant is this meeting? In this episode, we also take a look at the European Humanitarian Forum taking place in Brussels today, in the wake of the West's sweeping cuts to humanitarian aid. And finally, what are Europe's most crowded tourist destinations? Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Lauren Walker. Audio editing by David Brodheim. Music by Alexandre Jas.
Euronews
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Irish PM says EU must challenge Hungary's ‘outrageous' vetoes
The Irish Taoiseach told Euronews reporter Shona Murray that the European Union should pursue all instruments it has to stop what he says is an "unreasonable exploitation" of the veto mechanism. He argued that, if continued, this will make the EU unworkable. He added that Ukraine must join the EU for geopolitical reasons. However, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said last week that there can be no Ukrainian EU accession without Hungary. Orbán has cited concerns that Ukraine's accession could bankrupt the EU. However, Martin called Budapest's efforts to block this process "outrageous". We also look at strategic talks between Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and defence industry CEOs in Brussels today as the EU is looking to boost weapons production. Finally, after decades of rapid development in digital literacy, the pace in Europe has slowed dramatically. Where is this situation most problematic? This episode of Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Lauren Walker with journalist Maïa de la Baume. Audio editing by Johan Breton. Music by Alexandre Jas. Misinformation is circulating online after a recent announcement that the UK government is going to fund outdoor geoengineering experiments. Geoengineering refers to deliberate, large-scale interventions in the Earth's environment to try to stave off the effects of climate change. It takes two main forms: solar radiation management (SRM), where a small portion of sunlight and heat is reflected back into space to cool the Earth, and carbon dioxide removal. The UK is focusing on the former, with the government allocating some £56.8 million (€67 million) to the project, according to reports. The experiments will work with sun-reflecting particles in the stratosphere and spraying seawater on reflective clouds. The Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria), which is backing the plan, has said that the tests will be small in scale, and that they will also look into how geoengineering could be governed internationally. It's believed that if geoengineering proves to be safe, it could be used to cool the planet and slow global warming, giving more time to tackle the climate crisis. Yet despite assertions that the UK's plans are in the experimental stage, they haven't stopped social media users from claiming that the country has already been engaging in geoengineering for years without public consent as a way to control the population. The claims also feed into the widely debunked "chemtrails" conspiracy theory, whose believers insists that some vapour trails from planes contain harmful chemicals that are sprayed over the public around Europe or that others are being used to dim the sun and block out the light. EuroVerify put these notions to experts, who resoundingly rejected them. "It would be impossible to conduct large-scale weather modification experiments in secret. It just can't be done," said Jim Franke, researcher at the University of Chicago's geophysical sciences department. "The amount of aircraft needed to fly this material to where it needs to go, and the radiative effect, would be easily obtainable by publicly available information," he added. Wolfgang Cramer, professor of global ecology and researcher at CNRS, the French National Centre for Scientific Research, said that while there is plenty of valid criticism of geoengineering, it's disingenuous to accuse governments of looking into it with malicious intent. "I am sure that governments such as the UK and others have an honest purpose, that there's a real wish to solve one problem of humanity," he told EuroVerify. "I think there's a debate about this,* and there are not necessarily bad guys and good guys." They also refuted assertions that the UK's geoengineering experiment announcement is a cover for the fact that it and other countries have already conducted SRM in secret for years. "That's complete nonsense, there's absolutely no evidence for that," Cramer said, noting that people should be careful not to confuse SRM experiments with cloud seeding techniques used in some parts of the world to increase precipitation and produce rain. "That's not what I'm talking about when I talk about solar radiation management, because solar radiation in this definition is the long-term manipulation of the radiation balance of the atmosphere," he added. Franke made a similar point, noting that some isolated, small-scale experiments have been carried out in the past, in addition to geoengineering computer simulations, but ultimately it's unreasonable to think that governments could have been carrying out such wide-ranging procedures for so long. "Papers get published [by reputable universities] about geoengineering, so I'm sure that trickles into the online spheres and is misinterpreted in whatever way people interpret those things," he said. "There's material being generated which can be fed into this kind of conspiracy." The international community's generally sluggish attempts to slash greenhouse gas emissions have sparked widespread frustration and prompted many to turn to geoengineering in search of a weapon against global warming. However, the scientific community is divided on the technology's merits, in part due to the perception that it would divert resources away from tackling the root cause of climate change and reduce motivation to decarbonise, and also partly due to questions about how such schemes would be governed internationally. "Technically and financially, [SRM] would be possible," said Cramer. "It would require a fleet of aircraft positioned around the planet in critical places that would basically fly day and night and inject the particles into the atmosphere." "You could, based on model calculations, reduce global mean temperature a little bit by doing so," he said. However, he added that his main concerns about SRM geoengineering are how long it would all take to come into effect, how much different parts of the world would benefit from it, and how it would be overseen. "It will probably take a decade or so before you can even see the effects," he said. "And some areas would see more warming, others would see a lot less, maybe even to the point where they wouldn't even be happy about it." "You will clearly have winners and losers ... The atmosphere is a highly dynamic structure, and if you want to control the amount of radiation that goes through it at every point in time and every point of space, due to the chaotic nature of the atmosphere, this cannot be done." Experts say that a global SRM scheme would require an international body to govern its implementation, leaving it vulnerable to the political whims of the day. Any given country could in theory decide to withdraw at any point, thus harming the initiative and undoing any progress made. The body would also potentially have to last for decades or even centuries until global temperatures had been sufficiently reduced and SRM slowly phased out, requiring significant financial and technical resources. On the unwanted environmental effects, meanwhile, Franke said that SRM geoengineering could provoke a slowdown of the hydrological cycle. "If you reduce incoming solar radiation a little bit, you will reduce evaporation and the atmospheric transport of water vapour and then the corresponding precipitation," he said. "So this general slowdown of the hydrological cycle could have regional impacts as far as reduced rainfall in some regions." He added that pending further research, the extent and magnitude of this is still highly uncertain, and so whether or not solar geoengineering is beneficial in terms of water availability to people and plants across the globe is an open question.* Other side effects, such as harming photosynthesis in plants due to a reduction in sunlight, have also been raised as a potential issue, but they are not well understood and are precisely why further research and experiments are needed. Nevertheless, computer modelling so far does show that a moderate amount of SRM "would reduce almost all key climate hazards", Franke said. "Pick whichever climate hazard is most relevant to your area: extreme wet-bulb temperatures in the summertime; some sort of coastal erosion driven by sea level rise; snowpack; ice sheet melting," he said. "Whichever it is, for pretty much all of them, solar geoengineering moderates that climate hazard." "I am pro-researching geoengineering, I'm not pro-implementing geoengineering," Franke added. "The decision to do this has to be made by some international coalition of governing bodies, and using hopefully the best available research to do so."
Euronews
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Can Europe build a peacekeeping force in Ukraine without the US?
ADVERTISEMENT The European Union needs the US "on board" in a post-deal mission scenario in Ukraine, according to the Dutch Defence minister Ruben Brekelmans, who spoke to Euronews' Shona Murray. Last Thursday, ministers from more than 30 countries convened at a meeting led by France and the UK to discuss the formation of a reassurance force for Ukraine, intended to oversee the implementation of any future peace deal. Key details—such as the number of troops involved and the deployment timeline—remain uncertain. Questions also persist about Europe's capacity to establish a credible peacekeeping force without US support, given many European countries' limited military resources and fiscal constraints. Radio Schuman also flags the first high level EU-Palestine meeting as well as assessing the locations of hospitals in Europe. Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with journalist and production assistant Eleonora Vasques, audio editing by David Brodheim. Music by Alexandre Jas.
Euronews
02-04-2025
- Business
- Euronews
EU tech chief to Elon Musk: 'We're protecting freedom of speech!'
ADVERTISEMENT The Digital Services Act (DSA) is not intended to regulate content but to protect freedom of speech, EU Commissioner for tech Henna Virkkunen tells Euronews' Shona Murray in an interview featured on Radio Schuman today. Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump have criticised the EU's regulatory efforts, arguing that they undermine democracy and free speech. In response to this criticism, Virkkunen downplayed concerns from the United States, reaffirmed the Commission's commitment to enforcing the Digital Services Act, and emphasised that online platforms were currently cooperating with the investigation. We also discuss the new US tariffs coming into effect today, as well as European legislation on flight reimbursements. Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with journalist and production assistant Eleonora Vasques, audio editing by David Brodheim. Music by Alexandre Jas.
Euronews
10-02-2025
- Business
- Euronews
The first weeks of Trump in power, seen from Brussels
Will the US start a trade war with the EU? What does Trump's crackdown on the federal government mean? And how should we interpret the funding freeze and dismantling of USAID—a key agency supporting life-saving programs with partners across Europe? Euronews' Shona Murray spoke with David Salvo and Rachael Dean Wilson of the German Marshall Fund to unpack the global ramifications of Trump's first weeks back in power. For months, Brussels and the EU have been bracing for the impact of Donald Trump's tariff threats. Now, in just a matter of days, officials have watched with astonishment as Trump—alongside his special government employee, Elon Musk—pushes forward an aggressive campaign to dismantle US agencies and slash the size of the federal government. His plans to cut foreign aid and scale back USAID's global operations have left European NGOs reeling. Many organisations that relied on US funding, including the Norwegian Rescue Council, are scrambling to understand the implications of the funding freeze and what it means for the vulnerable communities they support worldwide. Radio Schuman also brings you to Strasbourg, the Western Balkans and Paris for three appointments not to miss, as well as to organic fishing farming in Europe.
