Helsingin Sanomat published an excellent longread “Kiina hiipii tunturiin” (China sneaks into fell) with loads of infographics, that delves into China’s Arctic policy and its activity in Lapland and Finland in general.
Professor Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen was interviewed for the article:
“China’s strategy is that it pursues increasing political influence internationally through economic influence. After all, it is clear that China, which invests heavily in Finland and brings tourists there, also has an economical leverage on Finland. This may, for example, affect how Finland may speak internationally about China. “
Largest Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter published an article about the Katowice Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 24) on Saturday, 15 of December. The article is titled “Kina redo att gå i täten för miljön – men inte utan en stark partner” (China ready to be environmental leader – but not without a strong partner).
Karoliina Hurri, PhD student from our team, was interviewed for the article. Karoliina attended the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Poland last week and she specialises in the China’s role in the global climate governance. Her interview in Swedish can be read online here.
Yle published a new article “Kremlin sisäpiiriläisiä vai onnekkaita yrittäjiä? Näin tuntematon suomalaiskaksikko hoitaa rikkaiden venäläisten bisneksiä” (Kremlin insiders or lucky entrepreneurs? This is how unknown Finnish duo manages rich Russian businesses), which has Professor Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen’s interview in it.
The article is investigating who are the Finnish citizens Svetlana Kotiranta and Juri Tikhomirov, whom the Russian state trusts in their businesses.
– The fact that this duo of Russian Finns has been involved in the energy trade – and even the one with the Russian state-owned company Gazprom – tells that they are not just straw men Only the carefully selected insiders are allowed to benefit from the energy trade flows, says a Russian energy sector specialist Tynkkynen.
A new article “Venäjällä monet tutkijatkin uskovat, että maailman lämpenemisen sijaan edessä on jääkausi” (Many researchers in Russia believe that there is an ice age lying ahead of the global warming) was published yesterday, 18th of November, in Helsingin Sanomat. The article discusses how climate change is covered in Russian media and what is the discussion around the issue in the country in general.
The author of the piece asked Dmitry Yagodin to comment on how the recent IPCC report was met in Russia. Dmitry said, that out of 50 newspapers, according to his calculations, only 5 have written about the report, and it was largely ignored in the TV-news. According to Yagodin, the situation is hampered by the fact that there are only 5 journalists in the whole country that are well familiar with the climate change issue. Another important reason for the indifference of media is a twofold nature of the attitude towards the issue in the country – while Russia signed the Paris Agreement and has not withdrawn from it like the USA, it still has not ratified it.
Russian Media Lab, Aleksanteri Institute’s multisciplinary research project examining Russian media and freedom of expression, conducted an interview with our new Postdoc Dmitry Yagodin. In the interview “Shouts from shadows: peculiar play in the Russian blogosphere” Dmitry talks about the topic of his still relevant PhD thesis “The Blogization of Journalism (2014)”, that dealt with how blogs politicize media and social space in Russia.
In the early 2000’s the Russian blogosphere appeared as an alternative and less constrained space for people to express themselves. This sparked Yagodin’s interest to study the topic.
Read the full interview on Russian Media Lab’s blog.
Finnish newspaper Keskipohjanmaa published an article “Kasvojaan hiilestä pesevä Kiina mielii ilmastojohtajaksi – ilmansaasteet vauhdittavat muutosta” (Washing its hands of coal China wants to be a climate leader – air pollution speeds up the change) with Sanna Kopra’s interview in it.
By reducing its own air pollution China could significantly reduce climate change in the Arctic, Kopra says.
In Chinese big cities such as Beijing, air quality is sometimes extremely bad.
Kopra estimates that China could combine through black carbon two interests: cutting black carbon emissions can not only improve the air quality domestically, but also affect the Arctic. In recent years, China has been increasingly interested in the region.
Over 60% of the black carbon emissions worldwide over half, about 60%, originate from Asia, especially from China and India. Even though soot is generated far from the polar ice, it can stay in the atmosphere from a few days to weeks and end up thousands of miles away.
This and other thought-provoking insights can be read in Finnish here. Additionally, the interview was also published in Turun Sanomat and Lapin Kansa.
Kauppalehti published today an interview with Professor Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen titled “Kallistuva öljy tasapainottaa Venäjän valtiontaloutta ”Kansallista identiteettiä on rakennettu energiavaurauden varaan”” (Rising oil prices balance Russian state economy “National identity has been built on energy resources”)
Picture: Svetlana Aleksejeva
According to the Finnish researcher, Russia’s national identity is built on energy and the army. “Energy is thus a geopolitical tool.”
The price of crude oil has doubled since the bottom-ups of a couple of years ago. It is still lagging behind the peak level of 2011-2014, but the $ 80 barrel price is beginning to be historically at a reasonable level.
In terms of Russian national economy, the rise in oil is a happy thing. Exports from the sale of energy resources are in dollars, and as a result of the heavily devaluated ruble, the oil price per barrel is now the highest ever.
The Russian government, which has been struggling with deficit budgets over the last few years, can respite at least for a while: further debt can now be avoided. The stock prices of oil companies, such as Rosneft and private Lukoil, have also risen.
Associate Professor in Russian Environmental Studies Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen from the Aleksanteri Institute at the University of Helsinki says that the rise in crude oil prices is good news for Russia – at least in the short term.
“A couple of years ago, Russia agreed with the OPEC countries to reduce oil production. The purpose of the measure was to steer up the price trend and to this end, the countries have succeeded,” Tynkkynen estimates.
“The Russian dilemma is that energy exports are the driving force of the economy and on the other hand, the government’s goal is to get rid of energy dependence.”
The full article is available in Finnish online here.
And another news piece was published at Kauppalehti today titled “Suoraa puhetta Aleksanteri-instituutista” (Direct speech from the Aleksanteri Institute). In this article, Martti Kiuru writes:
The real power is concentrated in Russia in the hands of a small elite.
Associate Professor Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen sarcastically descibes Russia as a “great power of hydrocarbon culture”.
Ydin magazine published an article “Kuka kantaa vastuun ilmastosta?” (Who bears the responsibility for the climate?) about the book launch and panel discussion that took place on 7th of August at Tiedekulma.
China has begun to regard itself as a great power and perhaps as a leader in relation to climate change – as long as the economy does not suffer. At the same time, the old great powers Russia and the US seem to map out emission reductions. Experts discussed in Helsinki what does the great power responsibility for climate change mean in practice.
The article provides a good summary of the discussion and can be read in Finnish here.
Academy of Finland website published a new article about Winland titled “Energia, ruoka ja vesi Suomen turvallisuuden perustekijöitä” (Energy, food and water – basic elements of Finnish security). The article describes the activities of Winland researchers and mentions Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen’s part of the research project:
The role of Russia is also highlighted, particularly in the part of the research project led by Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen. The research seeks for an answer to the question of what kind of causal relations energy creates in between Finland and Russia and reminds how critical the energy sector is for both security and sustainability. Traditionally, Russia sells oil, natural gas and uranium, but now Russians also construct a nuclear power plant.
The full version of the article is available on the Academy website. Similar article was also published in Tekniikka&Talous on 22 of August.
Estonian version of news agency “Sputnik” published a new article “Эстония строит заведомо убыточный газопровод” (Estonia is constructing a knowingly unprofitable gas pipeline), where Professor Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen is cited. While discussing the Baltic Conector project, Professor Tynkkynen could turn beneficial for Finland when debating the prices with Gazprom in the future.
University of Helsinki
