The Arctic as a resource base
What’s wrong with Russia’s official documents on the Arctic.
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Publish date: April 15, 2014
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Figueres’ calls for an ‘urgent transformation’ during her speech at IPIECA’s 40th Anniversary conference in London on 3 April 2014 come after top scientists’ warnings that climate change would damage food supplies, slow economic growth and aggravate the underlying causes of armed conflicts.
Limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius as recommended by science “means that three quarters of the fossil fuel reserves need to stay in the ground, and the fossil fuels we do use must be utilized sparingly and responsibly”, she said.
Exxon Mobil stated in a report on climate change risks on March 31 that all their energy sources, including fossil fuels, had to be exploited to meet growing world demand. According to William Colton, vice president of corporate strategic planning, “all of Exxon Mobil’s current hydrocarbon reserves will be needed, along with substantial industry investments, to address global energy needs”.
In recent months Figueres has repeatedly criticized the fossil fuel industry and called for cleaning up efforts. In her recent speech in London, she urged companies to take measures such as cutting methane leaks, lobby for an effective price on carbon emissions and invest in CCS. CCS, which includes technologies to strip CO2 from the flue gases of power plants, would allow continued output by eliminating most CO2 emissions.
So far, however, despite calls for investment in CCS, projects are limited in number. Saskatchewan Power in Canada will start its €1 billion Boundary Dam coal-fired CCS project this year, capturing a million tons annually of CO2 in what is the world’s first post-combustion coal-fired CCS project.
What’s wrong with Russia’s official documents on the Arctic.
As uranium supplies from Russia fall under the shadow of potential sanctions, and while Ukraine’s allies look to wean themselves off nuclear fuel produced by Moscow’s Rosatom corporation, owners of left-for-dead mines in the US are looking to revive their deposits.
The European Union doubled its purchases of Russian nuclear fuel in 2023, data from Eurostat and the UN’s international trade service Comtrade show.
The output of Russian nuclear power plants in 2023 decreased by 2.8% compared to 2022. A decrease in output occurred for the first time in 10 years a...