Tác giả: Đào Thu Hằng

I'm from Hanoi, Viet Nam. I'm an author of Dot Chuoi Non (dotchuoinon.com/author/hangbelu/), a blog on Positive thinking, founded by Dr. Tran Dinh Hoanh, an attorney in Washington DC. I'm a co-founder of Conversations on Vietnam Development - cvdvn.net, a virtual think tank. I am a co-founder of two companies in Viet Nam working on children education services. I advise companies on STEAM education, English language education for children and students in Vietnam. I'm studying the Buddha's teaching and the teaching of Jesus. I practice mindful living including meditation. I hold a PhD on Sustainable Energy Systems from University of Lisbon and Aalto University. I graduated from Hanoi University of Technology on Environmental Engineering. I obtained a Master degree of the same major from Stanford University and Nanyang Technological University. My English-language blog at: hangbelu.wordpress/. I play table tennis as a hobby.

From Russia, with trepidation: will China sign a new gas deal to feed its energy needs?

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

  • The Ukraine war is complicating the calculus of China’s energy security and the prospect of a new energy deal with Russia
  • Can Beijing afford to be close to a Moscow that is increasingly politically and economically isolated?
Snow covers sections of connected pipework at the Gazprom PJSC Atamanskaya compressor station, part of the Power Of Siberia gas pipeline extending to China, near Svobodny, in the Amur region, Russia, in 2019. Photo: Bloomberg

Snow covers sections of connected pipework at the Gazprom PJSC Atamanskaya compressor station, part of the Power Of Siberia gas pipeline extending to China, near Svobodny, in the Amur region, Russia, in 2019. Photo: Bloomberg

scmp.com

Two recent developments reveal the possibility of a new energy agreement between China and Russia. First, Russian gas giant Gazprom PJSC announced a contract to design the Soyuz Vostok pipeline across Mongolia towards China. Second, Beijing is reported to be discussing with its state-owned companies opportunities to buy stakes in Russian energy companies, and is also looking at a Power of Siberia 2 pipeline to China.

With the exit of international energy companies from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, Germany’s decision to halt the certification process of the Kremlin-backed Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and rounds of sanctions on Russia, there are certainly new opportunities for the Chinese government and companies to strengthen their position in the Russian market.

However, even as domestic, regional and global factors may push China towards a new energy deal with Russia, Beijing could also face a range of challenges.

Firstly, Beijing’s ambition to be carbon-neutral by 2060 and replace much coal with gas is one of the most important domestic factors prompting China to further improve its relations with Russia.

Russian gas exports – whether liquefied natural gas or pipeline gas delivered through the original Power of Siberia, for example – would help China reduce greenhouse gas emissions as the country makes a green transition.

Secondly, the withdrawal of Western energy companies such as BP and Shell from Russia due to the Ukraine war creates opportunities for Chinese energy companies, especially state-owned ones, to invest in Russia and diversify their portfolio.

Thirdly, while China also imports gas from Turkmenistan, Russian gas is one of the cheapest options for Chinese consumers, making a new energy deal with Russia that much more attractive.

However, there could also be obstacles to such a deal. One problem could be the political and economic uncertainties now looming over Russia; the deterioration of the Russian business environment under current sanctions might discourage Chinese companies from investing in Russia.

Particularly, sanctions led by Washington seem to inspire caution in Beijing and Chinese companies. For example, the state-run Sinopec Group recently suspended talks about a major petrochemical investment and a gas marketing venture in Russia, apparently heeding a government call to tread carefully with Russian assets.

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Russia’s war has chilling effect on climate science as Arctic temperatures soar

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

“And yet, just when the climate scientists and governments across the eight Arctic states should be working together to understand and address the climate crisis, Russia’s war on Ukraine has forced the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental group of Arctic states and Arctic Indigenous Peoples, to suspend their joint activities in protest of Russia’s unprovoked aggression.“

thebulletin.org

By Jessica McKenzie | March 29, 2022

ice melting on a siberian lake Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia (Photo by Daniel Born on Unsplash)

Earlier in March, temperatures around the North Pole approached the melting point, right around the time of year that Arctic sea ice is usually most extensive. In some places, the Arctic was more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than average. It’s part of an alarming trend; over the past 30 years the region has warmed four times faster than the rest of the globe. The shift is transforming the Arctic land- and seascape, causing sea ice to melt, glaciers and ice sheets to retreat, and permafrost to thaw. And while the Arctic is particularly vulnerable to climate change, it also has an outsized potential to contribute to global warming, as melting permafrost releases carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.

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EU leaders seek escape route from Russian fossil fuels, weigh energy investment plan

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

EURACTIV.com with Reuters

 10 Mar 2022

Europe’s energy independence from Russia, including in its financial aspects, will be a key topic of discussion at a two-day summit in Versailles hosted by the French EU presidency. [France Diplomatie – MEAE]

Comments Print     

European Union leaders will tackle ways to wean themselves off Russian fossil fuels on Thursday (10 March) and debate how quickly to ditch their key supplier, with countries split over whether to sanction oil and gas imports as Moscow wages war in Ukraine.

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Ukraine sees risk of radiation leak at Chernobyl, IAEA sees ‘no critical impact’ on safety

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

EURACTIV.com with Reuters 

10 Mar 2022

A still image taken from a handout video made available by the Russian Defence Ministry press service shows a general view of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Pripyat, Ukraine, 7 March 2022. Russian President Putin on 24 February 2022 announced a “special military operation against Ukraine”. Martial law has been introduced in Ukraine, and explosions are heard in many cities including Kyiv. [Handout photo/EPA/EFE]

Comments Print     

Ukraine said on Wednesday (9 March) there was a danger of a radiation leak at the Chernobyl nuclear power station after electricity was cut off to the plant, but the UN nuclear watchdog saw “no critical impact on security”.

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These are the most international universities in the world in 2022

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

weforum.org

Knowledge diplomacy among interconnected international universities can solve many of the world's challenges

Better by degrees … a 2022 survey ranks the world’s most international universitie

  • Times Higher Education’s (THE) survey of over 10,000 academics features internationally oriented universities leading global academic collaboration efforts through knowledge diplomacy.
  • Knowledge diplomacy values scientific exchange and diverse, international student bodies and research teams
  • Universities in politically insular countries are increasingly working with research partners from around the world.

While the diplomatic world faces many challenges on the political front, knowledge diplomacy, led by many top international universities, “may be our last and best tool for rebuilding a broken world”.

This was the stirring message of Safwan Masri, Executive Vice-President for global development at Columbia University at a keynote speech at Times Higher Education’s MENA Universities Summit in 2021.

Masri lamented that much of the world is grappling with misunderstanding, division, polarization and cynicism. He adds that “We are living in profoundly undiplomatic times. The inability to understand and comprehend one another is turning neighbor against neighbor. Everything seems broken.”

Have you read?

For Masri and other delegates at the THE summit, global research universities are a shining light in difficult times, with Masri stating that: “Universities exist to increase our comprehension of the world and to enhance mutual understanding”.

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How international law applies to attacks on nuclear and associated facilities in Ukraine

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

thebulletin.org

By George M. Moore | March 6, 2022

 Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. The two tall smokestacks are at a coal-fired generating station about 3km beyond the nuclear plant. Photo credit: Ralf1969 via Wikimedia Commons.

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine began to unfold, Russia’s swift occupation of the Chernobyl reactor complex and the surrounding exclusion zone sparked widespread speculation and concern.[1] The concern was not limited to whether the occupation would cause further radioactive release from Chernobyl;[2] it also included possible Russian military action against other Ukrainian nuclear facilities. These fears were further accelerated when Russian forces shelled and apparently occupied the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power complex near Enerhodar, Ukraine.[3] There have also been reports of attacks on a former Radon disposal site near Kyiv.[4]

World leaders have expressed concerns, and the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the issue. At the meeting, the US ambassador told the emergency session that the assault on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant “represents a dire threat to the world.” [5] The IAEA’s Board of Governors passed a resolution that deplored the Russian invasion and urged Russia to allow Ukraine to continue to control its nuclear facilities. The board’s resolution was similar to a UN General Assembly resolution passed on March 3rd.[6] Despite the high levels of concern the reactors at Zaporizhzhia do not appear to have been damaged and there has been no reported radiation release from the facility.

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Drugs pollute rivers, add to resistance crisis

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này
farmacos rios

The Río de la Plata and the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. A report has warned of the contamination of the world’s rivers by active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), especially in developing countries. Copyright: Dan DeLuca/Flickr, (CC BY 2.0).

sciendev.net

Speed read

  • Pharmaceutical pollution could contribute to antimicrobial resistance and affect human health
  • Rivers study finds highest concentrations in Africa, South Asia and South America
  • Mismanaged pharma waste puts UN goals on water quality at risk

By: Pablo Corso

 

Pharmaceutical pollution in the world’s rivers is threatening environmental and human health and the attainment of UN goals on water quality, with developing countries the worst affected, a global study warns.

Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) could be contributing to antimicrobial resistance in microorganisms, and may have unknown long-term effects on human health, as well as harming aquatic life, according to the report published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

APIs – the chemicals used to make pharmaceutical drugs – can reach the natural environment during their manufacture, use and disposal, according to the study.

“Early results suggest that some of the more polluted mixes are extremely toxic to plants and invertebrates.”

Alistair Boxall, Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, UK

Researchers say they monitored 1,052 sampling sites along 258 rivers in 104 countries, representing the “pharmaceutical fingerprint” of 471 million people linked to these areas.

The highest cumulative concentrations of APIs were seen in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and South America, with the most contaminated sites found in low-to-middle income countries where waste water management infrastructure is often poor, the report says.

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6 Big Findings from the IPCC 2022 Report on Climate Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

February 27, 2022 By Kelly Levin, Sophie Boehm and Rebecca Carter Cover Image by: Roop_Dey/iStock

WRI.org

The newest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) paints a troubling picture: Climate change is already impacting every corner of the world, and much more severe impacts are in store if we fail to halve greenhouse gas emissions this decade and immediately scale up adaptation.     

Following on the first installment of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, Working Group II’s contribution, released on February 28, 2022, draws from 34,000 studies and involved 270 authors from 67 countries. It provides one of the most comprehensive examinations of the intensifying impacts of climate change and future risks, particularly for resource-poor countries and marginalized communities. The 2022 IPCC report also details which climate adaptation approaches are most effective and feasible, as well as which groups of people and ecosystems are most vulnerable.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the report “an atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership. 

Here are six takeaways from the report:

1. Climate impacts are already more widespread and severe than expected.

Climate change is already causing widespread disruption in every region in the world with just 1.1 degrees C (2 degrees F) of warming.

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Russian troops seize Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Ukraine nuclear power plant attack: All you need to know

aljazeera.com

Russian troops seize Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, after attack sparks fire.

Published On 4 Mar 20224 Mar 2022

Russian forces have captured Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, according to regional officials.

Ukrainian authorities said on Friday Russian shelling had caused a fire at a building in the plant complex that was later put out. The blaze raised alarm from leaders worldwide of a potential massive disaster. Russia blamed the attack on Ukrainian saboteurs, calling it a “monstrous provocation”.

Here is what we know so far:

INTERACTIVE - Zaporizhzhia

Where is it located?

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is located in the southern Ukraine steppe on the Dnieper River, some 550 kilometres (342 miles) southeast of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and about 525km (325 miles) south of Chernobyl, the site of the world’s worst nuclear power plant accident in 1986, which has also now been seized by Russian forces.

The plant has a total capacity of about 6,000 megawatts, enough to power about roughly four million homes.

On Wednesday, residents carrying Ukrainian flags had blocked the road to the plant, in an apparent standoff with Russian forces.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=tX8UGH5q74o%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26fs%3D1%26hl%3Den-US%26autohide%3D2%26wmode%3Dtransparent

What happened?

But on Friday Russian troops were accused of attacking the plant, in an assault Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy branded “nuclear terror” and said could endanger the continent.

A video feed from the plant showed shelling and smoke rising near a building at the plant compound.

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UN votes to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and calls for withdrawal

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

In an emergency session, 141 of the 193 member states voted for the resolution, 35 abstained and five voted against

theguardian.com

  • It is the first time in 40 years the security council has referred a crisis to the assembly and only the 11th time an emergency session of the UN general assembly has been called since 1950.
  • Russia-Ukraine war – latest updates

Julian Borger in WashingtonWed 2 Mar 2022 18.10 GMT

The United Nations has voted overwhelmingly for a resolution deploring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and called for the immediate withdrawal of its forces, in a global expression of outrage that highlighted Russia’s increasing isolation.

In an emergency session of the UN’s general assembly, 141 of the 193 member states voted for the resolution, 35 abstained, and five voted against. The only countries to vote no in support of Moscow were Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria. Longstanding allies Cuba and Nicaragua joined China in abstaining.

ICC begins collecting evidence of war crimes; more talks to begin – as it happenedRead more

The resolution said the UN “deplores in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine”. It demanded that “the Russian Federation immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine” and “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces”.

The resolution is not legally binding, but is an expression of the views of the UN membership, aimed at increasing pressure on Moscow and its ally, Belarus.

“It isn’t going to stop Russian forces in their stride, but it’s a pretty enormous diplomatic win for the Ukrainians and the US, and everyone who has got behind them,” Richard Gowan, UN director at the International Crisis Group, said.

Speaking before the vote, the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, compared the Russian invasion to the Nazi conquest of Europe.

“A few of the eldest Ukrainians and Russians might recall a moment like this, a moment when one aggressive European nation invaded another without provocation to claim the territory of its neighbour, a moment when a European dictator declared he would return his empire to its former glory and invasion that caused a war so horrific, that it spurred this organization into existence,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

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Former street kid became co-CEO of children’s rescue foundation

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

Update: March, 01/2022 – 08:38

|vietnamnews.vn

https://link.gov.vn/2o6WZa

https://youtube.com/watch?v=hq5HXtZ_Xcs%3Frel%3D0

Nhật Hồng & Bảo Hoa

HÀ NỘI — At 15 years old, Đỗ Duy Vị left his hometown to make a living on the streets of Hà Nội. Two decades later, he is now one of the Chief Executives of the foundation that rescued him. 

Vị might be one of many street kids that return to work at Blue Dragon, and one of the few that have spent more than ten years with the organisation, but his story has special significance as he has witnessed the growth of Blue Dragon even before it was established.

Đỗ Duy Vị with some of the children at the shelter. — Photo courtesy of Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation

Born to a family of farmers in Nam Định Province, Vị and his three other siblings stayed with their mother while their father often travelled to other provinces for work. 

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Bộ Công thương muốn bán đấu giá hơn 101,9 triệu lít xăng RON92

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

tuoitre.vn

Bộ Công thương muốn bán đấu giá hơn 101,9 triệu lít xăng RON92 - Ảnh 1.

Kho xăng Nhà Bè là một trong những điểm lưu trữ xăng dầu theo dự trữ quốc gia – Ảnh: Petrolimex

Theo dự thảo về quyết định phê duyệt kế hoạch bán đấu giá xăng RON92 dự trữ quốc gia, lô hàng được bán đấu giá là hơn 101,9 triệu lít xăng RON92 đang được bảo quản tại 12 điểm kho dự trữ quốc gia gửi ở 3 doanh nghiệp là Tập đoàn Xăng dầu Việt Nam, Tổng công ty Dầu Việt Nam, Công ty cổ phần thương mại Dầu khí Đồng Tháp.

Mức giá khởi điểm bán đấu giá được quy định cho 1 lít xăng RON92 do Bộ Công thương đưa ra là 14.058 đồng/lít. Các chi phí liên quan đến việc bơm, rót lên phương tiện vận chuyển của bên mua, chi phí xuất hàng, chi phí vận chuyển và các khoản thuế, phí phải nộp của Nhà nước theo quy định là do bên mua hàng chi trả.

Bộ Công thương cũng cho rằng, mức giá khởi điểm tạm tính để xác định tiền đặt trước, còn giá khởi điểm bán đấu giá chính thức sẽ do Bộ Công thương quy định nhưng không thấp hơn giá khởi điểm tạm tính, được thông báo tới các đơn vị có đủ điều kiện, khả năng tài chính tham gia đấu giá trước khi tổ chức đấu giá.

Để tham gia đấu giá, đơn vị phải nộp trước 10% tổng giá trị tài sản và rút lại tiền đặt trước trong thời hạn trước 1 ngày kể từ ngày đấu giá. Việc đấu giá dự kiến sẽ diễn ra cuối tháng 2-2022.

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Electricity market revamp on cards

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

vir.com

January 25, 2022 | 17:00

A retail electricity market would mark a step towards market liberalisation efforts that enable consumers to choose who they wish to buy electricity from. To realise such a market, Vietnam’s Law on Electricity, as well as related documents will require certain adjustments to accommodate purchase agreements and other tools.

Electricity market revamp on cards
Electricity market revamp on cards

The Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam (ERAV) is finalising its report to the prime minister about planned direct power purchase agreements (DPPA) – a mechanism to allow renewable energy producers to sell electricity directly to end-users, as Nguyen Anh Tuan, director of the authority said on January 18.

The DPPA mechanism, if implemented, will be the first step in the development of the electricity retail market, allowing renewable energy generators with a capacity greater than 30MW to sell to customers for industrial production purposes. Parties can negotiate and agree on purchase and sale prices through long-term contracts if the scale of their deal is not exceeding 1,000MW.

Since 2012, the electricity market has contributed to increasing transparency in mobilising power plants, creating a competitive environment, enhancing the initiative of market participants, and gradually abolishing the monopoly in the industry.

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Climate Finance in Southeast Asia: Trends and Opportunities

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

fulcrum.sg

PUBLISHED 11 FEB 2022

Qiu Jiahui

MELINDA MARTINUS|QIU JIAHUI

The Covid-19 crisis has stalled the delivery of much-needed climate finance to developing countries. For Southeast Asia, a region frequently cited as being one of the most vulnerable regions threatened by climate change, the broken promise of climate finance is highly disappointing.

INTRODUCTION

Climate finance has been one of the most contentious issues in global climate politics. At the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15), developed countries committed to mobilising by 2020 US$100 billion climate finance annually to assist vulnerable countries. The pledge has been key to building trust between states to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, as specified in the Paris Agreement.

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Unwanted tigers face uncertain future after years of captivity

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

vnexpress.net

By Le Hoang   February 17, 2022 | 02:02 pm GMT+7

Financial problems and complicated procedures have created a situation in which 11 tigers raised in captivity for 15 years remain unwanted in north-central Vietnam.

In 2007, Nguyen Mau Chien, a local in Thanh Hoa Province, bought 10 tiger cubs weighing around seven kilos each from an unidentified seller and brought them from Laos to Vietnam to raise near his home in Xuan Tin Commune of Tho Xuan District.

While his intent in making the purchase was not stated, demand for tiger parts for medicinal purposes has been high in Vietnam and China for a long time.

Chien was fined VND30 million ($1,300) for animal trafficking and tasked with raising the cubs.

In 2008, Chien bought another five tiger cubs from Laos and was fined the same amount. Once again, he was asked to raise the cubs with support from local authorities and the ranger force.

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