Ngày đăng: Tháng Hai 11, 2024

Oil firms forced to consider full climate effects of new drilling, following landmark Norwegian court ruling

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

theconversation.com Published: January 31, 2024 12.02pm GMT

Norway’s district court in Oslo recently made a decision on fossil fuels that deserves the attention of every person concerned about climate change.

This ruling, which compels energy firms to account for the industry’s entire carbon footprint, could change the way oil and gas licenses are awarded in Norway – and inspire similar legal challenges to fossil fuel production in other countries.

The court ruled that three petroleum production licenses, held by energy companies including Equinor and Aker BP, were invalid largely due to the lack of consideration that had been given to so-called “downstream emissions”. That is, emissions from burning the petroleum that these firms would extract from the North Sea (also called scope 3 emissions).

This case is a big win for environmental campaigners who have tried to make oil and gas companies account for the emissions that come from burning their products. Similar efforts have been defeated in legal challenges elsewhere over the last few years.

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Getting Them On Board: Partners and Avenues for European Engagement in Indo-Pacific Maritime Security

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies

January 30, 2024 Download PDF

How should Europe strengthen its engagement with the Indo-Pacific? While the continent is highly dependent on trade from the region, it has limited capabilities to protect its interests in the face of growing Sino-American competition. This new HCSS report by Paul van Hooft, Benedetta Girardi and Alisa Hoenig examines how European states can engage in the Indo-Pacific by deepening cooperation with regional powers.

The Indo-Pacific comprises many actors, which are positioned along key chokepoints and share geopolitical and geoeconomic interests in protecting crucial sea lines of communication with Europe. This report does two things to establish pathways for deeper European engagement with Indo-Pacific states:

  • Based on relevance for maritime security and political affinity with European countries, it assesses the suitability of regional states as partners. Besides the usual suspects Australia, Japan and South Korea, it identifies an “inbetweener” group of countries, with whom cooperation can be fruitful but is not guaranteed, and states with whom engagement is unlikely to yield beneficial results.
  • It then zooms in on the “inbetweeners” to determine pathways for deepening ties. By comparing bilateral relations between different European and Indo-Pacific states along security, trade and investment, and capacity-building and infrastructure, the authors identify relative strengths and weaknesses of European states. Finally, they also contrast Europe’s involvement with that of China and the United States.

Based on the analysis, the report recommends to strengthen European collaboration with more ambivalent Indo-Pacific states, with a focus on trade and investment and capacity-building in the short- to medium-term.

This report is published by the HCSS Europe and the Indo-Pacific Hub (EIPH), and part of the series Guarding the Maritime Commons.

Authors: Benedetta Girardi, Paul van Hooft and Alisa Hoenig. Contributors: Giovanni Cisco.

The research for and production of this report has been conducted within the PROGRESS research framework agreement. Responsibility for the contents and for the opinions expressed, rests solely with the authors and does not constitute, nor should be construed as, an endorsement by the Netherlands Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence.

Japanese trading giant Itochu to cut ties with Israeli defense firm over Gaza war

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

By Juliana Liu and Chie Kobayashi, CNN

Published 2:57 AM EST, Tue February 6, 2024

Itochu is one of Japan's biggest trading houses and is based in Tokyo.

Itochu is one of Japan’s biggest trading houses and is based in Tokyo. Toru Hanai/ReutersHong Kong/TokyoCNN — 

One of Japan’s biggest trading firms, Itochu, has decided to end its partnership with a major Israeli defense company due to the war in Gaza.

The sprawling conglomerate, best known outside Japan for its Family Mart chain of convenience stores, said its aviation unit will cut ties with Elbit Systems, which bills itself as Israel’s largest defense contractor, by the end of February.

The decision was made following a January ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) — the top court of the United Nations — and guidance given by Japan’s Foreign Ministry to observe the court’s findings in “good faith,” a spokesperson for Itochu told CNN on Tuesday.

Last month, the ICJ ordered Israel to prevent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, but stopped short of calling for Israel to suspend its military campaign in the war-torn enclave, as South Africa, which had filed the case to the court, had requested.

The court said Israel must “take all measures” to limit the death and destruction caused by its military campaign, prevent and punish incitement to genocide and ensure access to humanitarian aid

Itochu’s announcement was first made Monday by Tsuyoshi Hachimura, the company’s chief financial officer, during an earnings presentation.

Itochu Aviation, Elbit Systems and Nippon Aircraft Supply signed a cooperation agreement in March 2023, months before war broke out between Israel and Gaza.

Itochu, which reported revenues of $104 billion in 2023, has faced small-scale, student-led protests in Tokyo against its partnership with Elbit since January. Its Family Mart chain has also been the target of calls for boycotts in Muslim-majority Malaysia over the agreement.

Hachimura sought to explain the deal on Monday, telling investors: “The partnership was based on a request from the Japan’s Defense Ministry for the purpose of importing defense equipment for the Self-Defense Force necessary for Japan’s security.”

During a November earnings call, Elbit CEO Bezhalel Machlis said the company had “ramped up production” to support the Israel Defense Forces, which uses its services “extensively.”

— CNN’s Hanako Montgomery and Heather Chen contributed reporting.

Hành trình 5.500 dặm vượt Thái Bình Dương bằng bè luồng

~ Trần Đình Hoành ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Chủ nhật, 11/2/2024, 00:00 (GMT+7) VNEXPRESS

THANH HÓA Trên chiếc bè như thời cổ đại, ông Lương Viết Lợi và đoàn thám hiểm vượt 5.500 dặm, đối diện nhiều cạm bẫy, hiểm nguy giữa đại dương mênh mông.

Mùa hè năm 1993, ông Lợi được nhà thám hiểm Tim Severin (1940-2020, người Ireland) lựa chọn để thực hiện hải trình dự kiến dài khoảng 6.400 dặm, tương đương 10.000 km vượt Thái Bình Dương từ Hong Kong đến Mỹ. Mục đích của chuyến đi là muốn kiểm nghiệm lý thuyết cách đây khoảng 2.000 năm những người châu Á đã tới châu Mỹ trên chiếc bè mảng đơn sơ.

Chiếc mảng Từ Phúc trên biển Thái Bình Dương. Ảnh: Tư liệu
Chiếc mảng Từ Phúc trên biển Thái Bình Dương. Ảnh: Tư liệu

Ngày 17/5/1993, sau ba tuần chuẩn bị và chạy thử ở ven biển Hong Kong, đoàn thám hiểm xuất phát từ cảng Aberdeen, gần đảo Po Ti (hay Bồ Đài) ở phía nam Hong Kong. “Trừ Lợi, tất cả chúng tôi đều cảm thấy như dân tập sự khi nhổ neo, giương buồm và bắt đầu ra khơi…”, Tim kể trong cuốn The China Voyage (Chuyến du hành Trung Hoa).

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