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Professor Tynkkynen on Helsinki summit

“The Helsinki meeting was a clear victory for the Russian President Vladimir Putin also in the field of energy policy” – Professor Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen estimates, tells the new Yle article “Judoka-Putin heitti Trumpin tatamiin myös energiapolitiikassa – Tutkija: Ehdotus “kaasukartellista” taitava syöttö Venäjän päämieheltä” (Judoist Putin threw Trump on tatami also in energy politics – Researcher: “Gas cartel” formation proposal  was a skillful feed from the leader).

When Trump says that we are (in regards to gas) only competitors, and it is not about energy security, then Russia proposes to conjoin and create a monopoly structure that could jointly manage the market. A clever bet from Russia, of course.

Read the full article here.

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Helsinki summit results

Talouselämä newspaper published an interview with Professor Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen titled “Näin Putin tekee kaasulla täsmäiskuja hajanaiseen Eurooppaan – Professori: Venäjää ei pysty suitsimaan energian avulla” (This is how Putin makes precision strikes in fragmented Europe – Professor: Russia can not be reined with energy). Read the full article on the Magazine’s website.

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China and Great Power Responsibility for Climate Change

Read a new post on Aleksanteri Institute website about Sanna Kopra’s new book China and Great Power Responsibility for Climate Change, published this July.

Based on the premise that great powers have unique responsibilities, this book explores how China’s rise to great power status transforms notions of great power responsibility in general and international climate politics in particular. The author looks empirically at the Chinese party-state’s conceptions of state responsibility, discusses the influence of those notions on China’s role in international climate politics, and considers both how China will act out its climate responsibility in the future and the broader implications of these actions. Alongside the argument that the international norm of climate responsibility is an emerging attribute of great power responsibility, Kopra develops a normative framework of great power responsibility to shed new light on the transformations China’s rise will yield and the kind of great power China will prove to be.

The book presentation will take place on 7th of August at Tiedekulma at the panel discussion ”Suurvaltojen ilmastovastuullisuus”, where Sanna Kopra, Anna Kronlund (John Morton -centre, Turku university) and Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen will participate. The panel will be moderated by Emma Hakala (Finnish Institute of International Affairs). The event has free admission, but please fill in the registration form in advance.

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Russia’s Far North available online

The book “Russia’s Far North. The Contested Energy Frontier” has been made available online.

The Russian Far North is immensely rich in resources, both energy and other resources, and is also one of the least developed regions of Russia. This book presents a comprehensive overview of the region. It examines resource issues and the related environmental problems, considers the Arctic and the problems of sea routes, maritime boundaries and military build-up, assesses economic development, and considers the ethnic peoples of the region and also cultural and artistic subjects. Overall, the book provides a rich appraisal of how the region is likely to develop in future.

Get the electronic version here.

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Winland policy brief

Winland released a new policy brief titled “Riskienhallinta, kestävyys ja vastuullisuus –  Yritysten arvoketjut energia-, ruoka- ja vesiturvallisuuden ytimessä” (Risk management, sustainability and accountability – Firm’s value chains in regard to energy, food and water security) – a set of recommendations for Finnish companies to achieve better sustainability in their entrepreneurial activity.

What do global crises of energy, food and water mean to Finnish companies? Our latest policy brief for companies was released in the morning seminar on June 14th.
Firm’s value chains are the most important structures for energy, food and water production and consumption. Risk management, sustainability and accountability of value chains should be seen as an inseparable part of each other and a prerequisite for continuity management.

Read the brief here (in Finnish).

 

 

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Yhteisluomisen taskuopas on julkaistu

A Co-Creation Pocket-guide (yhteisluomisen taskuopas) for researchers and companies was recently published by the Research Services of the University of Helsinki. Co-creation is a new way of doing research and development work, when companies and researchers share knowledge and perspectives with each other.

The guide names Winland project as one of examples of co-creation. Sakari Höysniemi, researcher from our team involved in Winland project, says that during the cooperation with big companies like Fingrid and Helen, through co-creation they have built an understanding of how to prepare for the trends and risks in the energy sector.

This useful guide can be downloaded from here.

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19th Futures Conference

On 13-14th of June in Tampere the 19th Futures Conference was organized by Finland Futures Research Centre, University of Turku. The conference focused on the futures of sustainable development and energy and was titled ‘ENERGIZING FUTURES – Sustainable Development and Energy in Transition’’.

To understand the challenges of this transition, we need multidisciplinary, multi-level and time-variant analysis of various issues: renewable and non-renewable energy (re)sources, transforming primary energy into energy carriers (fuels, electricity, heat), energy technologies, impacts (environmental, social, economic, institutional, cultural, etc.) of energy use, energy exports and imports, energy markets and energy price, energy end-use patterns and consumer behavior, energy and resource efficiencies, energy policies, and energy governance.

  • What are the main challenges of sustainable energy futures in an era of increasing uncertainty?
  • How to create sustainable energy policies in Europe, and elsewhere in the World?
  • What is the role of futures studies in identifying opportunities for a fair, efficient and resilient energy system?

“Energizing Futures” aims to generate multidisciplinary, stimulating and critical discussions that promote networking between people interested in energy issues from different backgrounds.

Hanna Lempinen was taking part in the session “Renewable energy policies and sustainability in Europe and the World” with a presentation “Sustainability regionalized? Arctic, energy and the elusive Social”. The presentation is available online.

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New book on the Arctic-Barents region with a chapter co-written by Hanna Lempinen

A new volume on the Arctic-Barents region was published in the series Routledge Explorations in the Environmental Studies in the end of May. The book titled  “Society, Environment and Human Security in the Arctic Barents Region” is edited by Kamrul Hossain and Dorothée Cambou. Researcher from our group Hanna Lempinen wrote a chapter “Energy security in the Barents Region: A focus on societal perspectives” for it, together with Dorothée Cambou.

The Arctic-Barents Region is facing numerous pressures from a variety of sources, including the effect of environmental changes and extractive industrial developments. The threats arising out of these pressures result in human security challenges.

This book analyses the formation, and promotion, of societal security within the context of the Arctic-Barents Region. It applies the human security framework, which has increasingly gained currency at the UN level since 1994 (UNDP), as a tool to provide answers to many questions that face the Barents population today. The study explores human security dimensions such as environmental security, economic security, health, food, water, energy, communities, political security and digital security in order to assess the current challenges that the Barents population experiences today or may encounter in the future. In doing so, the book develops a comprehensive analysis of vulnerabilities, challenges and needs in the Barents Region and provides recommendations for new strategies to tackle insecurity and improve the wellbeing of both indigenous and local communities.

This book will be a valuable tool for academics, policy-makers and students interested in environmental and human security, sustainable development, environmental studies and the Arctic and Barents Region in particular.

The book is available for purchase on Routledge website.

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10 questions about the Baltic Connector project

Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen was interviewed by Yle about the Baltic Conector gas pipeline project, the construction of which starts on Friday in Finnish Inkoo.

The article is titled “Miksi Suomen ja Viron välille upotetaan kaasuputki, jos se ei kannata kaupallisesti? 10 kysymystä Suomenlahden jättihankkeesta” (Why there is a gas pipeline being laid between Finland and Estonia, if it is not commercially profitable? 10 questions about the megaproject in the Gulf of Finland)  and provides a thorough description of the project and its meaning.

Read the full article here.