Day: March 6, 2019

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Ilmastonmuutos muuttaa Euroopan suhdetta ydinvoimaan, ja se kelpaa venäläisjätti Rosatomille

Yle published an article “Ilmastonmuutos muuttaa Euroopan suhdetta ydinvoimaan, ja se kelpaa venäläisjätti Rosatomille” (“Climate change is changing Europe’s attitude towards nuclear power, and it is good for the Russian giant Rosatom”) on 3d of March. The article contents an interview with Rosatom’s First Deputy Director General for Corporate Development and International Business Kirill Komarov and Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen’s comments given to the Ulkopopolitiikka in 2015. Professor Tynkkynen

estimates that Rosatom’s trump card is its status as a state-owned company.

“Rosatom can even sell nuclear power at a loss. Economically, such an actor is, of course, in the best interests of its private-owned competitors”

The new article can be read at Yle website.

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Interview with the authors of the “China in the Arctic; and the Opportunities and Challenges for Chinese-Finnish Arctic Co-operation” report.

The authors of the report “China in the Arctic; and the Opportunities and Challenges for Chinese-Finnish Arctic Co-operation” discussed their work in an interview with Kathrin Stephen From “High North News”. Sanna Kopra, one of the authors, talked, among other things, about what she thinks of the China’s role as a climate leader:

After President Trump announced to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement, the world has hoped for China to step up and fulfill the leadership vacuum in international climate politics left by the US. Although President Xi Jinping has responded positively to these expectations and China has strong domestic incentives to take the findings of the recent IPCC report very seriously, it has not demonstrated any kind of climate leadership role in the Arctic. In my view, taking a stronger leadership role in international efforts to tackle climate change would not be a big sacrifice for China. Conversely, such a leadership role would support China’s national interests and alleviate various China threat theories at the global level. When it comes to the Arctic, China’s stronger commitment to tackle climate change would probably improve the state’s image and generate trust amongst the Arctic states. This would, in turn, help China to legitimize its stronger engagement in Arctic regional affairs.

The full interview can be read at the “High North News” website.

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Book review on “Russia’s far North: the contested energy frontier, 1st edition”

Robert Orttung, Associate Research Professor from the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, USA, wrote a book review on the “Russia’s Far North – The Contested Energy Frontier”. The book is edited by professors Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, Shinichiro Tabata, Daria Gritsenko and Masanori Goto and was published a year ago by Routledge. The book review was published in the Eurasian Geography and Economics journal. Professor Orttung comes to conclusion that “This book provides an excellent overview of the issues that shape Russia’s Arctic today. Given its approachable style and wealth of information, it is useful for both students learning about the area for the first time and experts who already have a base of knowledge”:

The multi-disciplinary, multi-national author collective represents some of the leading Russian scholars in Finland and Japan. These countries bracket Russia on the west
and east and both have long and complex histories with the land of the czars, soviets,
and the personalized, hybrid, and surprisingly dynamic but simultaneously stagnant
contemporary state.
This useful edited volume provides us with a variety of tools to understand where
Russia’s north is headed. The contributions range from straightforward economic
analysis to a discussion of the artist Ivan Bilibin’s folkloric book illustrations.

Read the full book review online here.