The Lutheran World Federation, with 142 member churches in 79 countries, has opted to join the Church of Global Warming. That's why this Swiss based organization has a large delegation at the UN global warming jamboree COP 19 in Warsaw.
Somebody at the LWF came up with the idea, that joining the Philippine lead negotiator Yeb Sano, who is fasting "until a meaningful outcome is in sight", might result in some good publicity.
That's why the Lutheran World Federation's "official delegation" fasted yesterday:
LWF General Secretary, the Rev Martin Junge, and President Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan, along with vice-presidents from Asia, Europe and North America are joining the action on 15 November 2013.
The LWF is inviting member churches to participate in this initiative to fast for one day during the course of the conference in solidarity with the poor and vulnerable adversely affected by extreme weather events, and to call for a meaningful outcome to the climate change negotiations.
The "delegates" from Lutheran World Federation, based in Geneva, Switzerland, are of course used to a certain standard of comfortable living. That's probably why they opted for only a one day "hunger strike".
Today these merry people are again back at the tables laden with the best of Polish Cuisine in Warsaw ...
Saturday, 16 November 2013
Tough times for Hollywood climate change celebrities: The L.A. eco night club has closed
It is tough to be a Hollywood climate change celebrity nowadays. The only real L.A. eco night club, Ecco Ultra Lounge, has gone out of business, in spite of offering "eco-friendly cement, free valet parking for Hybrids, and a solar-paneled roof".
Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, Daryal Hannah and the rest now have take their private jets to London in order save the world by partying in the proper environment:
Club4Climate is setting the bar for these future thinking establishments. Located in London, this club starts its message even before a patron passes through the front door. If you walk, take public transportation or bike to the club (and can prove it) your cover charge (normally 10 GBP) is waived. But don’t think you’re getting in that easy. Before anyone can enter they must sign a pledge to be actively eco conscious in all of their future decisions.
Once a club goer has made it through the front doors the real eco nature of the club can be seen; the dance floor. The nightclub floor is suspended on springs that hover centimeters above a set of piezoelectric crystal blocks. When the dance floor is forced down by the dancers it compresses the crystals creating an electrical charge. This charge is sent to batteries that power over 60 percent of the club.
In spite of the long jet flight, the trip to London has its rewards:
When dancers have worked up a sweat they can head over to the bar and refresh with organic drinks in polycarbon cups and then relieve themselves in bathrooms that use recycled water. With this club located on Pentonville Road, there is no reason not to be eco fabulous.
Probably the "recycled water" from the "bathrooms" is also used for the drinks. Ordinary guests could - if they are lucky - in this way enjoy almost the same cocktail that a green celebrity already once enjoyed ...
Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, Daryal Hannah and the rest now have take their private jets to London in order save the world by partying in the proper environment:
Club4Climate is setting the bar for these future thinking establishments. Located in London, this club starts its message even before a patron passes through the front door. If you walk, take public transportation or bike to the club (and can prove it) your cover charge (normally 10 GBP) is waived. But don’t think you’re getting in that easy. Before anyone can enter they must sign a pledge to be actively eco conscious in all of their future decisions.
Once a club goer has made it through the front doors the real eco nature of the club can be seen; the dance floor. The nightclub floor is suspended on springs that hover centimeters above a set of piezoelectric crystal blocks. When the dance floor is forced down by the dancers it compresses the crystals creating an electrical charge. This charge is sent to batteries that power over 60 percent of the club.
In spite of the long jet flight, the trip to London has its rewards:
When dancers have worked up a sweat they can head over to the bar and refresh with organic drinks in polycarbon cups and then relieve themselves in bathrooms that use recycled water. With this club located on Pentonville Road, there is no reason not to be eco fabulous.
Probably the "recycled water" from the "bathrooms" is also used for the drinks. Ordinary guests could - if they are lucky - in this way enjoy almost the same cocktail that a green celebrity already once enjoyed ...
Friday, 15 November 2013
Japan's decision to drastically scale back its target for reducing CO2 emissions is to be welcomed
Japan is joining Australia in the fight against the UN sponsored global warming madness:
Japan's decision to drastically scale back its target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions could hurt efforts to craft a global deal to fight climate change, delegates at U.N. talks said Friday.
The new target approved by the Japanese Cabinet calls for reducing emissions by 3.8 percent from their 2005 level by 2020.
The revision was necessary because the earlier goal of a 25 percent reduction from the 1990 level was unrealistic, the chief government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, told reporters in Tokyo.
The new target represents a 3 percent increase over 1990 emissions.
Given Japan's status as the world's third largest economy and fifth largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, the decision to back away from the more ambitious target could be a significant setback for efforts to reach a new global climate agreement in 2015.
The European Union's delegates at the climate talks in Warsaw "expressed disappointment," while U.N. climate chief Christian Figueres summed up the mood by saying there's "regret" over Japan's decision.
It is more and more looking like the European Union is the only "empire" that intends to keep its greenhouse gas reduction targets. Good luck!
Japan's decision to drastically scale back its target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions could hurt efforts to craft a global deal to fight climate change, delegates at U.N. talks said Friday.
The new target approved by the Japanese Cabinet calls for reducing emissions by 3.8 percent from their 2005 level by 2020.
The revision was necessary because the earlier goal of a 25 percent reduction from the 1990 level was unrealistic, the chief government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, told reporters in Tokyo.
The new target represents a 3 percent increase over 1990 emissions.
Given Japan's status as the world's third largest economy and fifth largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, the decision to back away from the more ambitious target could be a significant setback for efforts to reach a new global climate agreement in 2015.
The European Union's delegates at the climate talks in Warsaw "expressed disappointment," while U.N. climate chief Christian Figueres summed up the mood by saying there's "regret" over Japan's decision.
It is more and more looking like the European Union is the only "empire" that intends to keep its greenhouse gas reduction targets. Good luck!
COP 19 - Another record breaking season for the UN Global Warming Circus
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| (image Wikipedia) |
The travelling UN global warming circus COP (19), now performing at the Warsaw National Stadium, is set for another record breaking season. The circus management has proudly announced that that precisely 10,106 are registered to attend as performers, which is 1002 more than showed up last year in Doha.
Over 10% annual growth during this time of economic austerity! Not many businesses are able to produce that kind of growth figures. Congratulations UNFCCC!
PS
Unfortunately the COP is a somewhat one dimensional act - for years now, only clowns have been invited to perform.
Britain bracing for ferocious "Polar plunge" next week - This winter "could be the worst for decades"
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| Snow in Sheffield on December 1, 2010. (image Wikipedia) |
Britain is braced for a ferocious 'Polar plunge' as cold winter freeze takes hold. The worst worst weather is expected to hit during the middle of next week, when overnight temperatures are expected to dive to -10C with windchill in the North while the South will shiver in lows of -5C.
But this is only the beginning of what forecasters expect to be "the worst winter big freeze for decades":
“An exceptionally prolonged period of widespread cold is highly likely to develop throughout this winter and last into next spring.
“It will be accompanied by snow drifts of several feet and long-lasting snow accumulations on a widespread scale.
“This period of snow and cold is likely to result in an incomparable scenario to anything we have experienced in modern times.
James Madden, forecaster for Exacta Weather
“The focal point at this stage seems to be January, when we could see widespread heavy snow and below-average temperatures.
“This could stretch out for weeks, meaning we could be looking at the worst winter big freeze for decades.”
Jonathan Powell, forecaster for Vantage Weather Services
PS
In case the coming winter actually turns out to be the worst in decades, the AGW high priests will of course again explain this as a result of global warming.
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Geert Wilders and Marine Le Pen join forces in order to free Europe from "the monster of Brussels"
“this empire will soon break down like the former USSR”
Marine Le Pen
The alliance forged today in the Hague brings the end of the present European Union one step closer:
The Eurosceptic Dutch politician
Geert Wilders and French National Front (FN) leader Marine Le Pen have launched
what they call an "historic" alliance for next year's European elections.
Mr Wilders said they had agreed on the need to repatriate from Brussels the power to control their countries' borders and economies.
They held strategy talks in The Hague.
Both leaders say Europe's political elite has been too tolerant of Islam and both want to curb immigration.
Ms Le Pen, a Euro MP, visited the Dutch parliament with Mr Wilders. His party lost almost half of its seats in the September 2012 Dutch election, but it is doing well now in opinion polls.
Eurosceptics are widely expected to make significant gains in the European elections in May, as debt-laden EU countries struggle to revive their anaemic economies.
"The time of patriotic movements being divided is over," said Ms Le Pen, calling it "an historic day".
"Today is the start of the liberation of Europe from the monster of Brussels," said Mr Wilders, who heads the Freedom Party (PVV).
EU youth unemployment "summit" in Paris: "No new ideas"
Another failed European Union "summit"
Yesterday 24 European heads of state and government wined and dined at the Palais de l'Élysée. The formal reason for the gathering was to tackle youth unemployment across the EU, which now stands at 23.5%.
Reuters summarizes the "summit":
European leaders pledged on Tuesday to make fighting youth unemployment in the bloc a priority but came up with no new ideas to tackle a problem that risks fuelling social unrest and distrust of mainstream parties. --
"We must show that Europe is part of the solution, not the problem," Barroso said. "It's not Europe that created the problem - it is divergence in policies that created the problem."
PS
A look at the main headline of the European Commission's home page shows what Barroso's Commission is focusing on during this scandalous youth unemployment crisis:
Ambitious EU plan could slash use of plastic bags by 80%
The EU could radically reduce its use of disposable plastic carrier bags over the next 4 years, under plans put forward this week by the Commission.
Perhaps Barroso's secret plan is to offer Europe's unemployed youth jobs as official EU plastic bag inspectors?
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
The international Red Cross (IFRC) has sent a "30-strong delegation" to the UN global warming jamboree in Warsaw
This is one reason why I have stopped supporting the Red Cross financially:
The IFRC ( International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies) has sent a 30-strong delegation to COP 19 in Warsaw, with members drawn from 15 National Societies with an interest in climate change, and technical specialists from the secretariat and the Climate Centre, headed by Evgeni Parfenov, the IFRC Europe zone’s Head of Operations. The IFRC has been actively engaged in the COP process for at least a decade in an effort to highlight the effects of climate change on vulnerable communities around the world.
It would be interesting to know what the total cost of this huge delegation (and their assistants) adds up to. During the COP19 the even normally high Warsaw hotel prices have gone up considerably, and the Red Cross people are used to staying in rather good hotels.
Instead of sending tens of bureaucrats on useless and costly trips to the Warsaw global warming jamboree, the IFRC should be putting all available resources on relief operations, in the Philippines and elsewhere.
PS
Another good reason for not donating any money to the Red Cross is this:
The American Red Cross is one of the nation's most venerable and largest charitable organizations, founded in 1881, with revenues of $3.5 billion in 2010. That year, Red Cross CEO Gail J. McGovern took home total compensation of $1.04 million.
(Just for comparison: US President Barack Obama's salary is $400,000 annually)
And this:
Sir Nick Young, the chief executive of the British Red Cross, saw his pay jump by 12 per cent to £184,000 since 2010, despite a one per cent fall in the charity’s donations and a three per cent fall in revenues.
(UK Prime Minister David Cameron earns £142,500 a year)
The IFRC ( International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies) has sent a 30-strong delegation to COP 19 in Warsaw, with members drawn from 15 National Societies with an interest in climate change, and technical specialists from the secretariat and the Climate Centre, headed by Evgeni Parfenov, the IFRC Europe zone’s Head of Operations. The IFRC has been actively engaged in the COP process for at least a decade in an effort to highlight the effects of climate change on vulnerable communities around the world.
It would be interesting to know what the total cost of this huge delegation (and their assistants) adds up to. During the COP19 the even normally high Warsaw hotel prices have gone up considerably, and the Red Cross people are used to staying in rather good hotels.
Instead of sending tens of bureaucrats on useless and costly trips to the Warsaw global warming jamboree, the IFRC should be putting all available resources on relief operations, in the Philippines and elsewhere.
PS
Another good reason for not donating any money to the Red Cross is this:
The American Red Cross is one of the nation's most venerable and largest charitable organizations, founded in 1881, with revenues of $3.5 billion in 2010. That year, Red Cross CEO Gail J. McGovern took home total compensation of $1.04 million.
(Just for comparison: US President Barack Obama's salary is $400,000 annually)
And this:
Sir Nick Young, the chief executive of the British Red Cross, saw his pay jump by 12 per cent to £184,000 since 2010, despite a one per cent fall in the charity’s donations and a three per cent fall in revenues.
(UK Prime Minister David Cameron earns £142,500 a year)
Robert Amsterdam on Putin's Russia: Chaotic lawlessness as a guiding principle
Lawyer Robert Amsterdam (former counsel to the imprisoned Mikhail Khodorkovsky) has published an excellent piece on the lawlessness in Vladimir Putin's mafia state. Amsterdam's point of departure is the continued imprisonment of the female punk rock band Pussy Riot, with one of its members, Nadia Tolonnikova, probably now sent to some of the worst imaginable conditions in the gulag archipelago:
It is difficult to say whether or not the continued arbitrary punishment of this young 23-year-old mother comes down from the top, or rather is the whim of a cowardly prison administrator, but what is certain is that Russia is a very dangerous place for whistleblowers — a system in which the rights of the individual are totally unprotected from the discretionary power of the state.
Whatever hopes may have remained that Putin would release political prisoners before the Sochi Winter Olympic Games are rapidly fading. Even while the world’s eyes are on Russia, it is evidently not a season of forgiveness judging by the Kremlin’s determination to punish the Greenpeace “Arctic 30” with charges of piracy and now, additionally, hooliganism.
Political trials in Putin’s Russia are driven by diverse motives, but united by the same broken system — which Mikhail Khodorkovsky once described as “the conveyor belt of Russian justice.” (Disclosure: I formerly served as counsel to Mr. Khodorkovsky.)
There are economic motives, from the massive theft of Yukos by Rosneft, down to more petty corruption by low level bureaucrats, such as the fraudulent tax rebate that eventually led to the murder of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. There are geostrategic motives, highlighted by the spectacle being made out of the Greenpeace activists, seen as Russia’s unsubtle message about their expansionist ambitions in the Arctic. And of course, there are political motives, exemplified by the persecution of people like Khodorkovsky, opposition figure Alexei Navalny and the large group of Bolotnaya Square protesters, one of whom has already been subjected to punitive psychiatry for challenging the regime.
When state officials face no consequences for breaking rules, and when there is no predictable process or protections provided within the system, the only organizing principle that remains in the power structure is mutual incrimination. Corruption becomes the grammar of influence, and logic becomes the servant of power instead of reason.
It does not take a great deal of imagination to see how this system works. It is not just one individual who benefits, but a privileged community at the expense of the majority. If Vladimir Putin were to walk away from the presidency before the next election, Russian society would still face tremendous challenges from an entrenched group of clans with overlapping interests who are heavily invested in the country’s lawlessness.
This is perhaps the most important aspect for foreigners to understand about the persecution of the Pussy Riot girls — it does not make sense and the Russian government is even worried about it making sense. The ruling class reaps significant political benefits (at least domestically) by jailing these women and portraying Putin as a guardian of conservative, religious and nationalist values held by a large part of the rural population. It is a calculated and carefully measured sort of chaos that ultimately supports the regime’s aims to maintain the status quo.
It is difficult to say whether or not the continued arbitrary punishment of this young 23-year-old mother comes down from the top, or rather is the whim of a cowardly prison administrator, but what is certain is that Russia is a very dangerous place for whistleblowers — a system in which the rights of the individual are totally unprotected from the discretionary power of the state.
Whatever hopes may have remained that Putin would release political prisoners before the Sochi Winter Olympic Games are rapidly fading. Even while the world’s eyes are on Russia, it is evidently not a season of forgiveness judging by the Kremlin’s determination to punish the Greenpeace “Arctic 30” with charges of piracy and now, additionally, hooliganism.
Political trials in Putin’s Russia are driven by diverse motives, but united by the same broken system — which Mikhail Khodorkovsky once described as “the conveyor belt of Russian justice.” (Disclosure: I formerly served as counsel to Mr. Khodorkovsky.)
There are economic motives, from the massive theft of Yukos by Rosneft, down to more petty corruption by low level bureaucrats, such as the fraudulent tax rebate that eventually led to the murder of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. There are geostrategic motives, highlighted by the spectacle being made out of the Greenpeace activists, seen as Russia’s unsubtle message about their expansionist ambitions in the Arctic. And of course, there are political motives, exemplified by the persecution of people like Khodorkovsky, opposition figure Alexei Navalny and the large group of Bolotnaya Square protesters, one of whom has already been subjected to punitive psychiatry for challenging the regime.
When state officials face no consequences for breaking rules, and when there is no predictable process or protections provided within the system, the only organizing principle that remains in the power structure is mutual incrimination. Corruption becomes the grammar of influence, and logic becomes the servant of power instead of reason.
It does not take a great deal of imagination to see how this system works. It is not just one individual who benefits, but a privileged community at the expense of the majority. If Vladimir Putin were to walk away from the presidency before the next election, Russian society would still face tremendous challenges from an entrenched group of clans with overlapping interests who are heavily invested in the country’s lawlessness.
This is perhaps the most important aspect for foreigners to understand about the persecution of the Pussy Riot girls — it does not make sense and the Russian government is even worried about it making sense. The ruling class reaps significant political benefits (at least domestically) by jailing these women and portraying Putin as a guardian of conservative, religious and nationalist values held by a large part of the rural population. It is a calculated and carefully measured sort of chaos that ultimately supports the regime’s aims to maintain the status quo.
Monday, 11 November 2013
Wind turbines are killing hundreds of thousands of bats every year
Not only birds are slaughtered by the inefficient and landscape destroying wind turbines - hundreds of thousands of bats are also killed worldwide by these taxpayer subsidised monsters. Alone in the US at least 600,000 bats were killed by wind turbines in 2012, and according to scientists the real number is probably much bigger:
In the process of creating sustainable energy, wind turbines across the United States are also taking a toll on a species that is vital to our ecosystem: bats.
More than 600,000 bats fell victim to the turbines in 2012, according to a new study. The turbines spin at up to 179 miles per hour, rising hundreds of feet into the air.
While many Americans consider bats to be pesky or scary, they serve a vital ecological role. They eat a tremendous number of flying insects and they help pollinate crops, such as peaches and avocados.
Published in the journal BioScience, this University of Colorado study analyzes records of dead bats found near the wind generators.
"Dead bats are being found underneath wind turbines across North America," wrote biologist Mark Hayes. "This estimate of bat fatalities is probably conservative."
Read the entire article here
In the process of creating sustainable energy, wind turbines across the United States are also taking a toll on a species that is vital to our ecosystem: bats.
More than 600,000 bats fell victim to the turbines in 2012, according to a new study. The turbines spin at up to 179 miles per hour, rising hundreds of feet into the air.
While many Americans consider bats to be pesky or scary, they serve a vital ecological role. They eat a tremendous number of flying insects and they help pollinate crops, such as peaches and avocados.
Published in the journal BioScience, this University of Colorado study analyzes records of dead bats found near the wind generators.
"Dead bats are being found underneath wind turbines across North America," wrote biologist Mark Hayes. "This estimate of bat fatalities is probably conservative."
Read the entire article here
Philippines lead negotiator at the COP 19 in Warsaw puts the blame for super typhoon on global warming
COP 19, the annual UN global warming mega jamboree has opened in Warsaw. The lead negotiator for the Philippines, Yeb Sano, was one of the first speakers:
1145 - There is now a three minutes silence for the tragedy in the Philippines. Delegates are on their feet. Some are joining Sano in shedding tears for the loss of lives that occurred during the typhoon.
1141 - Yeb Sano announces he will not eat during the conference, until a meaningful agreement has been achieved.
1125 - Yeb Sano, the delegate from the Philippines, is up now. This is a more emotional speech than most – the Philippines are currently suffering in the aftermath of an enormous typhoon that has left the Filipino delegation reeling in shock. All of the other countries have expressed their sympathy to the Philippines, with many wearing flowers to express their sympathy. He cracks up as he references the fact that he is speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves, having perished in Typhoon Haiyan.
Here is an excerpt from Sano's speech:
What my country is going through as a result of this extreme climate event is madness. The climate crisis is madness.
We can stop this madness. Right here in Warsaw.
It is the 19th COP, but we might as well stop counting, because my country refuses to accept that a COP30 or a COP40 will be needed to solve climate change. And because it seems that despite the significant gains we have had since the UNFCCC was born, 20 years hence we continue to fail in fulfilling the ultimate objective of the Convention. Now, we find ourselves in a situation where we have to ask ourselves – can we ever attain the objective set out in Article 2 – which is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system? By failing to meet the objective the Convention, we may have ratified the doom of vulnerable countries.--
I speak for my delegation. But more than that, I speak for the countless people who will no longer be able to speak for themselves after perishing from the storm. I also speak for those who have been orphaned by this tragedy. I also speak for the people now racing against time to save survivors and alleviate the suffering of the people affected by the disaster. We can take drastic action now to ensure that we prevent a future where super typhoons are a way of life. Because we refuse, as a nation, to accept a future where super typhoons like Haiyan become a fact of life. We refuse to accept that running away from storms, evacuating our families, suffering the devastation and misery, having to count our dead, become a way of life. We simply refuse to. We must stop calling events like these as natural disasters. It is not natural when people continue to struggle to eradicate poverty and pursue development and gets battered by the onslaught of a monster storm now considered as the strongest storm ever to hit land. It is not natural when science already tells us that global warming will induce more intense storms. It is not natural when the human species has already profoundly changed the climate.
Of course we all express our sympathy to the Philippines. The typhoon that hit the island state was a terrible disaster, and the international community should be ready to offer all possible assistance to the people in need.
However, the Philippines lead negotiator who spoke in Warsaw, does not deserve our sympathy. To blame the tragic natural disaster on human caused global warming/climate change - as the Yeb Sano did in Warsaw - is preposterous and totally unfounded. There is not a shred of evidence for his claim. Instead of grandstanding in Warsaw, Mr. Sano should start eating and take the first flight home in order to join the rescue and support efforts.
1145 - There is now a three minutes silence for the tragedy in the Philippines. Delegates are on their feet. Some are joining Sano in shedding tears for the loss of lives that occurred during the typhoon.
1141 - Yeb Sano announces he will not eat during the conference, until a meaningful agreement has been achieved.
1125 - Yeb Sano, the delegate from the Philippines, is up now. This is a more emotional speech than most – the Philippines are currently suffering in the aftermath of an enormous typhoon that has left the Filipino delegation reeling in shock. All of the other countries have expressed their sympathy to the Philippines, with many wearing flowers to express their sympathy. He cracks up as he references the fact that he is speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves, having perished in Typhoon Haiyan.
Here is an excerpt from Sano's speech:
What my country is going through as a result of this extreme climate event is madness. The climate crisis is madness.
We can stop this madness. Right here in Warsaw.
It is the 19th COP, but we might as well stop counting, because my country refuses to accept that a COP30 or a COP40 will be needed to solve climate change. And because it seems that despite the significant gains we have had since the UNFCCC was born, 20 years hence we continue to fail in fulfilling the ultimate objective of the Convention. Now, we find ourselves in a situation where we have to ask ourselves – can we ever attain the objective set out in Article 2 – which is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system? By failing to meet the objective the Convention, we may have ratified the doom of vulnerable countries.--
I speak for my delegation. But more than that, I speak for the countless people who will no longer be able to speak for themselves after perishing from the storm. I also speak for those who have been orphaned by this tragedy. I also speak for the people now racing against time to save survivors and alleviate the suffering of the people affected by the disaster. We can take drastic action now to ensure that we prevent a future where super typhoons are a way of life. Because we refuse, as a nation, to accept a future where super typhoons like Haiyan become a fact of life. We refuse to accept that running away from storms, evacuating our families, suffering the devastation and misery, having to count our dead, become a way of life. We simply refuse to. We must stop calling events like these as natural disasters. It is not natural when people continue to struggle to eradicate poverty and pursue development and gets battered by the onslaught of a monster storm now considered as the strongest storm ever to hit land. It is not natural when science already tells us that global warming will induce more intense storms. It is not natural when the human species has already profoundly changed the climate.
Of course we all express our sympathy to the Philippines. The typhoon that hit the island state was a terrible disaster, and the international community should be ready to offer all possible assistance to the people in need.
However, the Philippines lead negotiator who spoke in Warsaw, does not deserve our sympathy. To blame the tragic natural disaster on human caused global warming/climate change - as the Yeb Sano did in Warsaw - is preposterous and totally unfounded. There is not a shred of evidence for his claim. Instead of grandstanding in Warsaw, Mr. Sano should start eating and take the first flight home in order to join the rescue and support efforts.
Sunday, 10 November 2013
The house that Putin built: Decades of low growth in store for Russia
Even Vladimir Putin's own government now admits that the future for the Russian economy is anything but rosy:
Russia's failure to significantly change its energy-dependent economic model under President Vladimir Putin is consigning the country to potentially decades of low growth and eroding its status as a top emerging economy.
The Russian economy ministry on Thursday dramatically confirmed what was obvious to many, by downgrading its estimate of Russia's average growth to 2030 to a paltry 2.5 percent, a far cry from over seven percent rates in the early Putin years.
"The pace of Russia's economic growth will fall behind the global average in the forecast period," admitted Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev.
This year even Russia's official forecast puts 2013 growth at just 1.8 percent. But most worrying for the Kremlin is that the weakness cannot just be blamed on external factors but stems from domestic shortcomings.
The Russian economy faces a daunting list of troubles –- a declining population, the re-emergence of the United States as a rival energy superpower due to shale gas, and the government's colossal spending on defence that stretches the budget.
These factors are compounded by Russia's failure to stimulate private enterprise, reform the judicial system, improve labour productivity and turn the Russian economy into more than a lumbering energy producer.
Russia's weakness this year alone can be linked to this failure, which has damaged the investment climate, economists say.
The revisions by the economy ministry were the "clearest signal yet that Moscow believes that economic weakness over the past year has been structural rather than cyclical in nature," said Neil Shearing, Chief Emerging Markets Economist at Capital Economics.
"Without a major shift in policy we suspect that Russia will go from being one of the world's fastest growing economies to one of its biggest underperformers."
The forecasts by his own ministry made Putin's aim of Russia becoming one of the world's top five economies by 2020 look almost laughable and also undermined its credibility as a member of the BRICS groups of supposedly fast-growing emerging markets.
Read the entire article here
Russia's failure to significantly change its energy-dependent economic model under President Vladimir Putin is consigning the country to potentially decades of low growth and eroding its status as a top emerging economy.
The Russian economy ministry on Thursday dramatically confirmed what was obvious to many, by downgrading its estimate of Russia's average growth to 2030 to a paltry 2.5 percent, a far cry from over seven percent rates in the early Putin years.
"The pace of Russia's economic growth will fall behind the global average in the forecast period," admitted Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev.
This year even Russia's official forecast puts 2013 growth at just 1.8 percent. But most worrying for the Kremlin is that the weakness cannot just be blamed on external factors but stems from domestic shortcomings.
The Russian economy faces a daunting list of troubles –- a declining population, the re-emergence of the United States as a rival energy superpower due to shale gas, and the government's colossal spending on defence that stretches the budget.
These factors are compounded by Russia's failure to stimulate private enterprise, reform the judicial system, improve labour productivity and turn the Russian economy into more than a lumbering energy producer.
Russia's weakness this year alone can be linked to this failure, which has damaged the investment climate, economists say.
The revisions by the economy ministry were the "clearest signal yet that Moscow believes that economic weakness over the past year has been structural rather than cyclical in nature," said Neil Shearing, Chief Emerging Markets Economist at Capital Economics.
"Without a major shift in policy we suspect that Russia will go from being one of the world's fastest growing economies to one of its biggest underperformers."
The forecasts by his own ministry made Putin's aim of Russia becoming one of the world's top five economies by 2020 look almost laughable and also undermined its credibility as a member of the BRICS groups of supposedly fast-growing emerging markets.
Read the entire article here