EU climate and energy policy: new challenges for old energy suppliers
Climate policy will transform the EU energy demand mix. This has implications for the main suppliers of fossil fuels to the EU, foremost among which are Algeria, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the USA. Norway has a better starting point for adapting to changing EU energy demand than the other energy suppliers and therefore represents a best-case scenario. Whatever Norway fails to do, the other countries are even less likely to achieve. The question is whether Norway has been quick enough to exploit the opportunities to play a proactive role in the EU’s energy transition. This chapter argues that it has not, dragging its feet on natural gas vehicles, Norwegian wind power, electricity interconnectors, green battery development and mixing of hydrogen into natural gas. Some possible reasons for the tardiness are Norway’s dual resource course of oil and hydropower, carbon lock-in, energy populism, resource nationalism and blind spots in the perception of Norway’s place in international climate and energy policy.
Great Powers and Arctic Politics (GPARC)
GPARC analyser hvordan stormakter (USA, Russland og Kina) forholder seg til maritim politikk i Arktis. ...
Kazakhstan: Civil Society and Natural Resource Policy in Kazakhstan
In Kazakhstan, civil society is held back and has had a limited role in the management of the petroleum sector. As this chapter notes, civil society has had little experience of promoting its own interests vis-à-vis the state, and public discussion of natural resource issues has been mainly government-driven. The fact that Kazakhstan made a notable step forward—from being a collapsing socialist economy in the 1990s to becoming a regional economic player with improved social and economic performance—has helped to legitimize non-transparent natural resource policies. As long as the socio-economic situation continues to improve or remains stable, the non-transparent management of natural resources is likely to be accepted by the population, which, like the Russian population, puts a premium on stability. The relative passivity of civil society has been compensated by Kazakhstan’s exposure to international initiatives and organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and numerous UN agencies. As in Azerbaijan, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has provided a platform for some civil society engagement with industry and government.
Public Brainpower: Civil Society and Natural Resource Management
This book discusses how civil society, public debate and freedom of speech affect the management of natural resources. Drawing on the work of Robert Dahl, Jürgen Habermas and Robert Putnam, the book introduces the concept of public brainpower. Good governance of natural resources requires fertile public debate – to conceive new institutions, to provide checks and balances on existing institutions and to ensure their continuous dynamic evolution as the needs of society change. The book explores the strengths and weaknesses of these ideas through case studies of 18 oil and gas-producing countries: Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Libya, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the UK and Venezuela. The concluding chapter presents 10 tenets on how states can maximize their public brainpower, as well as a ranking of how well 33 resource-rich countries have succeeded in doing so. Four of the chapters – ‘Introduction’, ‘Norway’, ‘Kazakhstan’ and ‘Russia’ – are available under a CC BY 4.0 Open Access license at ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320656629_Introduction_Civil_Society_Public_Debate_and_Natural_Resource_Management (Introduction) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320657120 (Norway) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320657015 (Kazakhstan) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320657842 (Russia)
The Duty of Care for Citizens Abroad: Security and Responsibility in the In Amenas and Fukushima Crises
This article analyses the state’s duty of care (DoC) for citizens who fall victim to unforeseen catastrophic or violent events abroad. The DoC highlights the challenges, dynamics and relations involved in diplomatic practice that is aimed at protecting citizens outside of state borders and where traditional security concepts have little relevance. How has a globalized, more insecure world — with shifting relations and responsibilities among states, their subordinates and other carers — affected the provision of DoC? How do governments and private actors act on the DoC during and after crises? To illustrate, the article draws on the terrorist attack at a gas facility in Algeria in 2013 and the nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011, focusing particularly on the Norwegian framework and approach to protecting citizens abroad. In both crises, implementing the DoC required practical skills and measures beyond traditional diplomacy and institutionalized crisis mechanisms.
Geopolitikk og fornybar energi - hva betyr et grønt skifte for geopolitikken?
(Dagens Næringsliv): Storpolitikk har i lang tid vært knyttet til den strategiske betydningen av olje og gass. Kontroll med ressursene har gitt makt, avhengighet har gitt avmakt. Historien er full av militære kampanjer som har hatt som mål å få kontroll med petroleumsressurser, eller håndtere avhengigheten. Vil et stort innslag av fornybar energi endre storpolitikken? Dersom verden blir grønn, vil konflikter og globale spenninger bli borte, eller vil nye oppstå? Det finnes noe forskning omkring de sikkerhetspolitiske effektene av at vi ikke klarer å stoppe klimaendringene. De peker i retning av konflikt om knappe ressurser, som vann og mat, med nød og migrasjon som konsekvenser. Dersom havnivået stiger i den takt ekspertene tror, vil også verdens mange kystbyer stå overfor enorme utfordringer. Den finansielle risikoen er også formidabel. Vi vet også at å bremse klimaendringen vil stille store krav til internasjonale institusjoner og internasjonalt lederskap. Utfordringen er å fremme radikal endring fort, men samtidig gjøre det riktig og uten for mange negative bieffekter. Det kreves klare mål, regulering, samt en god dose tillit på tvers av landegrensene. Vi vil også måtte mobilisere offentlige og private ressurser for store og langsiktige internasjonale satsinger på infrastruktur, forskning og teknologiutvikling. Selv om Trump har varslet at USA vil gå ut av Parisavtalen, skjer det mye annet positivt på dette feltet. Kanskje lykkes den globale klimakampen. Det er mye mindre forskning på hva den geopolitiske situasjonen vil være dersom vi faktisk lykkes med å få til et raskt og radikalt skifte. Kolleger ved NUPI ser derfor i samarbeid med universitetene Columbia og Harvard nærmere på denne tematikken i en ny rapport. Der drøfter de den litteraturen som foreligger, og ser på noen mulige konsekvenser av en overgang til fornybar energi. La meg trekke frem noen av observasjonene... forts...