What does the future hold for the European Green Deal?

What is ahead for the European Green Deal, the EU’s roadmap towards a sustainable net-zero economy, as it faces political headwinds in the run-up to the 2024 European elections?

In a bid to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050, the European Commission has rolled out landmark green legislation and aims to mobilise at least €1 trillion in sustainable investments over the next decade.

However, the deal has hit some roadblocks with mounting opposition from conservative lawmakers and some in the construction, agricultural and energy sectors, as the Commission races to meet its interim targets.

 So, what does the future hold for the European Green Deal?

This is what Euronews Correspondent Sasha Vakulina asked Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Prime Minister of Greece; Maroš Šefčovič, the Vice-President of the European Commission; Ester Baiget, the President and CEO of Novozymes, Denmark, and Maksym Timchenko, the CEO of DTEK, Ukraine, at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos last week.

‘European Green Deal, anyone?’

The Greek Prime Minister highlighted his enthusiasm and continued support for the Green Deal, referencing the catastrophic floods that devastated parts of central Greece in September 2023.

“Since then, we’ve had a geopolitical shock, and it has also been incredibly clear that some of the solutions offered by the Green Deal make profound economic sense,” he said.

Greece has made significant progress in reducing its greenhouse emissions and boasts an increasing number of renewable energy technologies but according to the European Commission’s Vice-President Šefčovič, Europe, as a whole, still has a long way to go in preparing for a carbon-neutral future.

“The Prime Minister knows very well that very often we cannot maximise our wind and solar power potential, we have so-called curtailment because our grids are not able to carry the electricity to the final consumers. 

“Because the grids don’t have that capacity or because we lack enough interconnectors in Europe… we really need to make sure that we invest in the grids and build them to be ready, not for the next year, but to be ready for the climate-neutral future for 2050” added Šefčovič.

The Slovakian diplomat also relayed Brussel’s optimism for the future of the Green Deal: “I am bullish… I am in a category which, I understand, is described by the political scientists as a “happy warrior”. Being in this business, you have to be optimistic because you see what kind of distance we have already covered.”

Ester Baiget also shared her opinions with Euronews from a purely business perspective, she was also optimistic, stating the Green Deal “is moving us all in the right direction.”

“There is a strong dependence [on] the fossil base that we cannot simply ignore. Then, investments need to be for the future. Every single investment needs to be for green energy. For solar, for wind, for methane, for Power-to-X, injecting the cash, the investments, these precious dollars, these precious euros, on the solutions of the future. 

“Same for food, for agriculture, investment in regenerative agriculture, investments in plant-based protein… this should be a gradual move and that will generate growth and that will generate jobs”.

What does the Green Deal mean for Europe?

The Green Deal was implemented by the current administration to help Europe transition into a resource-efficient economy and tackle climate change, reduce dependency on fossil fuels, increase food security and ultimately, generate net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. 

It contains goals for the energy, mobility, agricultural and construction sectors with intermediate targets set for 2030. The Fit for 55 legislative package precisely defines the actions required to achieve the 2030 target.

The Commission vowed to mobilise €1 trillion over a ten-year period to help Europe transition and to ensure that no member state is left behind in the process. This money will be taken from the NextGenerationEU Recovery Plan, the EU budget as well as grants from public and private investors. 

But, according to Brussels, the EU will still need to invest €1.5 trillion per year between 2031 and 2050 if the bloc is to reach its ultimate goal. One milestone is for the member states to slash their emissions by 55 per cent of 1990 levels before 2030.

Who is making progress?

Preliminary calculations made by the Agora Energiewende think tank in early January suggest CO2 emissions across Germany have already dropped by 73 million metric tonnes, compared to 2022’s figures – the lowest levels seen since the 1950s. 

In addition, the think tank reported that renewable energy sources accounted for more than half of the country’s energy production in 2022 while electricity production using black coal has also dropped to 8.9% from 12.8%.

Despite these wins in Germany, some industrial sectors and businesses, as well as the farming community, feel that complying with the EU’s environmental regulations is too difficult in the wake of inflation and rising energy prices as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This has in turn fuelled climate-sceptic parties predominately on the right in their calls for a pause in environmental legislation who argue that the net-zero transition away from fossil fuels is too costly. 

In the face of political headwinds, the EU has vowed to charge on towards its goal but, with the European elections on the horizon, it has become evident that public support is key for the future survival of the Green Deal.

“When you want to build public support, start with the obvious win-win solutions” advised Prime Minister Mitsotakis, “and be very careful with agriculture, because agriculture on its own is a very, very complex topic. It’s very difficult to decarbonise. And, we need to be very sensitive when it comes to reactions from our farmers.”

Balancing transition against targets and energy security

Maksym Timchenko, the CEO of DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy investor, also weighed in: “We are in a situation where we have to balance coal mining and coal power generation, playing a crucial role in national security, at the moment.

“We have thousands of coal miners working in Ukraine, at the moment. On the other side, Ukraine is committed to following all standards and regulations coming from Europe. So, for us, it’s extremely important that it’s done in a fair way for the next ten years”

According to Prime Minister Mitsotakis, the future of energy security is clear. “In the short term, we want to be an energy provider for at least the Balkans, by building strong interconnections, pipelines, floating storage and regasification units in northern Greece, leverage our unique, geographic potential, possibly even, if necessary, export gas up to Ukraine because, if you actually look at the map, the distance is not that far,” he said.

“Part of our medium- to long-term plan is to really make a breakthrough when it comes to offshore wind. But, in order to do that, we also need to build the necessary interconnections” he said.

Watch the full interview in the media player above

Source link

#future #hold #European #Green #Deal

India’s digital public infrastructure great model for world to learn from: Gates Foundation president

Lauding the Indian growth story, a top leader of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on January 16 said other countries can use India’s successful digital public infrastructure model to help achieve their healthcare and other development goals.

Speaking to PTI in Davos on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting, the Foundation’s president of Global Development, Christopher J. Elias also said AI can help accelerate achieve global development targets but it must be used responsibly and with careful attention to ethics and regulations.

“In India, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has worked in a wide range of sectors and areas including health, agriculture, water and sanitation, digital public infrastructure and inclusive financial services. We will continue to work in these areas,” he added. Mr. Elias said the Foundation’s oldest field office is in India and that is more than 20 years old.

“We work very closely with the Central government and many State governments there on some of the very important issues. We work particularly closely in States of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar on maternal health and new-born child health issues, we work in Odisha on issues related to water sanitation, agriculture development and improving lifecycles related,” he added.

Mr. Elias said it is very exciting to see such a huge presence from India. He also recalled that as G20 Chair last year, India brought together the global community to understand how best to accelerate progress with sustainable development goals of the United Nations.

“That I think is going to be talked about a lot here at Davos,” he said adding, “One area of particular accomplishment in India that I think can be a good model for the world to follow is digital public infrastructure that has helped achieve a lot of progress in financial services, health etc,” Mr. Elias said.

He said things such as universal ID, universal payment interface etc have really served India very well in the last decade to accelerate progress and development.

Mr. Elias said the leaders attending the WEF meeting can discuss how that success model of India can be shared with other nations especially in Africa and Asia and if they can help them achieve their development targets as well.

Talking about opportunities and threats from artificial intelligence, Mr. Elias said AI presents a huge opportunity to accelerate global development but it needs to be done responsibly.

“It needs to be done with careful attention to ethics and regulations so that we can harness this tool of cutting edge science and technology for the best use of mankind,” he said.

Mr. Elias said AI might be of great use to help frontline healthcare workers get the most accurate information to help address community needs. “There is tremendous potential for AI but we need to use it in a responsible manner.”

‘World yet not fully prepared for future pandemics’

Praising India and other countries for contributing to a global pandemic fund, a top official of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on January 16 said the world is yet not fully prepared to deal with any future pandemic and a lot more work needs to be done.

Speaking to PTI on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, where ‘Disease X’ is one of the key areas of discussions, Dr. Christopher J. Elias said we have learnt our lessons after COVID-19 but further efforts and discussions are needed, including on financing requirements.

“A really important discussion had started nearly eight years ago after the Ebola outbreak and that discussion cake into very clear focus after COVID-19 that the world needs to be better prepared,” he said.

“The world needs to be ready for infections and diseases that we know such as influenza but also diseases that we don’t know and may be new such as Disease X. But I don’t think we are fully prepared yet,” he added.

Mr. Elias noted that there have been a lot of talks on what needs to be done for the world to be fully prepared.

The WHO is in the process of negotiating an accord, trying to bring countries together on what needs to be done and how it is going to be financed, he said.

“We had a wake-up call from COVID-19 and we are relatively better prepared than we were four years ago but we are not fully prepared. There is a lot more work to be done and there is a lot more financing that needs to be arranged and those would be a lot more discussions over the course of next one year,” he said.

Talking about financing requirements Mr. Elias said that after the COVID-19, an IMF report suggested that we might need $10 billion a year to make sure that the entire world is adequately prepared for future pandemics.

“At Indonesian G20 two years ago, a pandemic fund was created and many nations of the world including India contributed to that fund. So, that’s a start and it has raised about $2 billion so far but obviously it’s not everything that is needed,” he said.

On the new annual budget of the Foundation, Mr. Elias said they are very excited that the board of trustees of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has approved our largest budget ever of $8.6 billion for 2024.

“We think it’s really important that we are leading in helping to improve global health and development at a time when there is so much pressure on the resources around the world.

“This budget is about $1 billion higher than what was our budget in 2021. So we are increasing our budget significantly and we hope that many others also do so.

“Because this is the time when we have seen many successes in global health and a lot of opportunities are there for continued successes,” he added.

Asked about areas where these funding will go, Mr. Elias said there are many that the budget covers including finishing the job on polio eradication.

“India eradicated polio more than ten years ago but there are a few other places in the world where we have to finish the job and we are optimistic that in a year or two we will be able to eradicate polio from the world,” he said.

The foundation will also continue to work towards improving immunization and to reach those areas where people need the help the most are among our key priorities, he added.

Source link

#Indias #digital #public #infrastructure #great #model #world #learn #Gates #Foundation #president

Smriti Irani, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hardeep Puri to represent India in WEF Davos meeting

Grappling for answers to crises ranging from climate to conflicts to fake news, more than 2,800 leaders from around the world, including India, have begun gathering in this Alpine resort town for an annual five-day talkathon.

Those present for the 54th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting beginning on January 15 would include over 60 heads of state and governments, while Indian presence would be marked by three Union ministers, three chief ministers along with their ministerial colleagues and over a hundred CEOs.


Also Read | World Economic Forum 2024: Leaders gather in Davos to discuss climate, conflicts to economic crisis

A day before the ceremonial start to the WEF meeting, Davos is hosting for the first time national security advisors from 90 countries to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine, which would also be a key point of discussion at the WEF sessions, alongside the Israel-Gaza conflict, threats from AI-generated deep fakes in a bumper election year, climate change, economic slowdown, and a lot many problems before the world.

The World Economic Forum, which describes itself as an international organisation for public-private cooperation committed to improving the state of the world, has been hosting this meeting in Davos for over five decades, and many times, there have been positive outcomes for key concerns before the world leaders.

Complicated and challenging geopolitical scenario

In an online pre-meeting press conference, WEF President Borge Brende said the meeting will take place in a very complicated and the most challenging geopolitical and geo-economic scenario.

The annual meeting, which will be held under the theme of ‘Rebuilding Trust’ from January 15-19, will also be attended by nearly 100 political and business leaders from India.


Also Read | After GIM 2024, Industries Minister heads to World Economic Forum

The Indian delegation would include three Union ministers — Smriti Irani, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Hardeep Singh Puri — as well as three chief ministers — Maharashtra’s Eknath Shinde, Telangana’s Revanth Reddy and Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah.

Describing India as a key country with over 8% GDP growth, Brende said several ministers from the country will attend the meeting despite being in the middle of an election season.

Besides, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das and Ministers from Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana will be also there, alongside several CEOs, including Gautam Adani, Sanjiv Bajaj, Kumar Mangalam Birla, N Chandrasekaran, Nadir Godrej, Sajjan Jindal, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Nandan Nilekani, Rishad Premji and Sumant Sinha.

The meeting will be attended by over 40 Finance Ministers and 16 central bank governors, as well as by 30 trade ministers from across the world, along with the World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Macron, Li Qiang, Zelenskyy, Blinken to attend

Among global leaders, French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will take part.

Key Foreign Ministers from the Middle East will be also there.

The WEF said the meeting will drive dialogue, cooperation and partnerships on global imperatives, including economic growth, climate and nature action, energy security, technology governance and human development.

“We face a fractured world and growing societal divides, leading to pervasive uncertainty and pessimism. We have to rebuild trust in our future by moving beyond crisis management, looking at the root causes of the present problems, and building together a more promising future,” WEF founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab said.

The meeting will also be attended by South Korean President Han Duck-soo, Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Swiss President Viola Amherd, Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Iraq President Mohammed Shyaa Al Sudani, Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Qatar Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe, and Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Heads of international organisations taking part include UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank President Ajay S Banga, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Misinformation and societal polarisation, key topic of discussion

An estimated 1,600 business leaders, including 800-plus of the world’s top CEOs and chairpersons, will also participate, while there will also be more than 150 global innovators, tech pioneers and unicorns, as also over 35 cultural leaders.

With a large number of countries, including India and the US, headed to elections this year and the next one, misinformation and societal polarisation have emerged among the biggest immediate risks before the world, and that would be a key topic of discussion at the WEF meeting.

In the case of India alone, ‘misinformation and disinformation’ pose the top-most threat in the next two years, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said in its annual ‘Global Risks Report’.

It is followed by infectious diseases, illicit economic activity, income inequality and labour shortage, among the five biggest short-term risks.

On a longer-term horizon of ten years, the biggest global risk would be from extreme weather events.

The report, released ahead of the WEF’s five-day annual meeting in Davos beginning January 15, argued that cooperation on urgent global issues could be in increasingly short supply, requiring new approaches to addressing risks.

“Two-thirds of global experts anticipate a multipolar or fragmented order to take shape over the next decade, in which middle and great powers contest and set ‘but also enforce’ new rules and norms,” it said.

On a short-term horizon of two years, the report identified ‘misinformation and disinformation’ as the biggest risk, followed by extreme weather events, societal polarisation, cyber insecurity and inter-state armed conflict in the top five.

Emerging as the most severe global risk anticipated over the next two years, foreign and domestic actors alike will leverage misinformation and disinformation to further widen societal and political divides, the report said.

Source link

#Smriti #Irani #Ashwini #Vaishnaw #Hardeep #Puri #represent #India #WEF #Davos #meeting

Open the doors to NATO and the EU, says Poland’s President Duda

The European Union and NATO should open their doors to all countries who want to join, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda says.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Polish president said countries such as Moldova and Georgia should enjoy the same welcome as his country did.

“Poles are in favour of an open door policy to both the European Union and NATO,” he told Euronews’ Sasha Vakulina. “Why? Among other things, because we ourselves once experienced this policy. If we are supporters of democracy, in the best sense of the word, then it is the nations that have the right to decide whether they belong.”

Watch the interview in the video player above

Interview Transcript

Sasha Vakulina, Euronews: We’re getting close to the 24th of February, the date that would mark one year since Russia’s full-scale invasion into Ukraine. Poland has been at the forefront in so many aspects during this year. I want to ask you, how has Poland changed during this year?

Andrzej Duda, President of Poland: Poland has changed a lot. Poles spontaneously drove to the border, opened their homes, came in their cars, took refugees, those who were fleeing the war, those who had taken refuge in Poland. As many times as I am in Ukraine, as many times as I meet defenders of Ukraine, soldiers, commanders, as many times I say: listen, fight calmly, defend the state, fight against Russian aggression. Your wives, your children, your mothers, your sisters who have come to us, to Poland, are safe. Today, the Ukrainian language can be heard everywhere in Poland, in every public institution, in every shop, on the tram, on the bus, on the street, everywhere. This is our reality today. We live together, we feel good together. We are, one could say, two friendly or even brotherly nations. And for us, in terms of military security, it is a great demonstration, not only to us as a society, but also to the whole world, that independence, freedom, is not given once and for all, that independence can be lost as a result of aggression. A free, sovereign, independent country has been brutally attacked; the brutal Russian invader destroys houses, fires missiles at civilian settlements, kills people. This is a huge shock to the world. For us, all the more mobilisation to strengthen our security.

Sasha Vakulina: Do you think these calls for stronger security and more security concerns will be reinforced after you speak at Davos and after this message being so loud here at the World Economic Forum?

Andrzej Duda: The truth is that this economic forum, which has always had this kind of mostly economic profile, today is hugely dominated by security issues. Of course, this security is also observed not only through a military, purely military prism. We do, of course, talk about the fact that Ukraine needs to be supported, and that it is essential to send arms aid to Ukraine all the time if it is to defend itself and fend off Russian aggression. This is why we spoke so much yesterday about the Polish initiative to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, so that, as part of allied aid from various countries, we could gather together these Leopard tanks and create at least an armoured brigade for Ukraine. We are also talking about energy security, we are talking about Europe’s energy independence, and we are talking about the fact that the Russian policy, as we now all see, was brutally designed and aimed at domination over Europe, hence Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. This is also the reason for our Polish protests against Nord Streams, as we saw in it a path to Russian hegemony in the European energy market, in terms of gas. We have been diversifying gas supplies to Poland for years, because we saw the danger. Unfortunately, our warnings were ignored. That’s why today we are talking in Davos about building energy security with our heads held high, because we have been doing it for a long time.

Sasha Vakulina: There are lots of warnings that have been voiced by Poland in the past when it comes to energy security, when it comes to economic dependence, when it comes to the whole security situation. How do you think the war in Ukraine has changed Europe’s geopolitical security dynamics for Poland and Eastern European countries?

Andrzej Duda: Firstly, something that certainly surprised Putin and the Russian aggressors. Unity, the unity of the European Union, the unity of NATO. Something that has not been so clearly present until now, because the Russians did not encounter such unity either in 2008, when they attacked Georgia, or in 2014, when they actually attacked Ukraine for the first time. Now they have collided with a wall of unity from the European side and from the North Atlantic Alliance. Secondly, this war has also shown that there is no security today really without close Euro-Atlantic, or transatlantic, ties, that the United States plays a huge role when it comes to building this, this European security. Today, the biggest aid to Ukraine is from the United States. I am very proud as president of Poland, because we are in an absolutely leading position as far as this military aid to Ukraine is concerned. For this military aid we’ve already spent over $2.3 billion. So, for us it is a huge expense and a huge sacrifice, but we know that we are doing this to build the security of our part of Europe, and we are doing it and will continue to do it.

Sasha Vakulina: We have seen the EU not expanding much over the past years. Is this also something to rethink, including Ukraine, including Moldova and other countries that could be there in Europe joining the bloc.

Andrzej Duda: We, Poles are in favour of an open door policy to both the European Union and NATO. Why? Among other things, because we ourselves once experienced this policy. If we are supporters of democracy, in the best sense of the word, then it is the nations that have the right to decide whether they belong. It is nations that have the right to decide in which direction they want their states to go, in which direction they want their regimes to go. If the Ukrainians, our neighbours, want to belong to the European Union, if they want to belong to NATO, if the same is true of the people of Moldova, if the same is true of the people of Georgia, they have the right to do so. This war shows that that is what Putin does not accept. This is what Putin, with his authoritarian character, with his will to enslave other nations and his own society is trying to take away from the Ukrainians, to take away this opportunity, to take away their freedom, to take away their opportunity to belong to the communities of the West, to NATO, to the European Union. We can never agree to this. Today, Volodymyr Zelenskyy expects concrete steps from NATO.

Sasha Vakulina: After almost eighty years of peace in Europe, the war is back in the continent. In the bigger picture, how can the current generations avoid the repeat of past tragedies? From the point of view of Poland.

Andrzej Duda: First of all, Russia must be stopped. That is why today we, as the free world, should support Ukraine with all our strength, including supporting it militarily. But, on the other hand, the war crimes must be punished. The whole world must see that we do not let go of the crimes committed by the Russians in Ukraine. That the perpetrators of the crimes are held criminally responsible. It was Russia that invaded Ukraine without any reason. And the punishment it should suffer for this should be absolutely severe.

Source link

#Open #doors #NATO #Polands #President #Duda

Evaluating the state of the pandemic: Euronews asks health leaders

This year’s annual World Economic Forum in Davos marks the biggest gathering of world leaders since the Covid-19 pandemic. 

It was three years ago when in January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency of international concern. 

Despite efforts to learn lessons from it – and some world leaders declaring the end of it – the pandemic still represents a major health risk and remains far from over.  

To evaluate the state of the pandemic, the increase in cases globally, and discuss the consequences on the healthcare system worldwide, Euronews’ Sasha Vakulina spoke to Maria Leptin, President of the European Research Council, Seth Berkley Chief Executive Officer at GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, Stéphane Bancel Chief Executive Officer at Moderna and Michelle Williams, the Dean of the Faculty at Harvard Chan School of Public Health.

The current state of the pandemic

Michelle Williams: “Advances in therapeutics and vaccines have really allowed us to reopen our society,” said Michelle Williams. “And I think part of the enthusiasm comes from the fact that we are able to have gatherings like this again after a long period of disruption.” 

“So, setting the context, we still in the United States have 526 deaths…per day, from Covid. And that’s up since November, October, where we were in the four hundreds. Now, what’s really disappointing is nine out of ten of those deaths could be averted if we took our vaccines and boosters and practiced the other behavioural aspects, ventilation, mask-wearing when appropriate, distance and so on. And so for me, as a public health person, knowing that we could avert nine out of ten of those deaths reminds me of the fact that we have to avoid prematurely talking about this pandemic being over,” she added. 

“I also think that… when we talk about context, we must also discuss the more chronic implications of this pandemic. We must discuss the fact that there, in the US alone, over 174,000 Covid infants will have a life course that’s impacted by this pandemic. We also have to consider the fact that long Covid is a reality, and it’s not only going to be impacting individuals and families, but the economic impact of long Covid as quantified by Larry Summers and David Cutler, both of Harvard, is that it’s going to cost us $3.7 trillion (€3.4 trillion). Our healthcare system is still in distress. And what I hope people will understand is the vaccine not only protects individuals from transmission and severity, but it protects our health systems. We’re able to have a functional, or almost functional, health system because we don’t have the kinds of severe disease that we were facing in 2020. And we need to also recognise that our health systems have to recover as well. We have burnout from our healthcare workers and we have case mixes of chronic diseases that are worse now and require more intensive medical intervention than before.”

The Covid-19 vaccine delivery partnership and vaccine delivery in low- and middle-income countries

Seth Berkley: “Three years ago, we sat here in Davos and we didn’t know where this was going to go. There were some political leaders saying, you know, it’s going nowhere. But Stéphane was part of the conversation and Richard Hatchett and I sat down and said, [during] the last pandemic with flu, the developing world got no vaccines. They were all bought up by wealthy countries. So, we knew that was what was going to happen if this turned into a global pandemic. And so, we started this concept of COVAX, which we brought lots of other people into, and the idea was to try to solve that problem.” 

“First of all, the science was amazing. 327 days! If you had asked us, we had thought maybe we could get there in 18 months, two years. So [it’s] extraordinary, you know, advancements in the science. But on the policy side as well. We did our first dose in the developing world 39 days after the first dose was done in a wealthy country. Of course, it should be [on] the same day. But that’s… a record. And what we were able to do then was to bring doses to the developing world.” 

“Now, it wasn’t smooth. It didn’t go well. But, in the first year, we had put a goal together of 950 million doses, because that’s what we thought we could get for low- and lower-middle-income countries. And we ended up with about 930 million doses. So, we came close to that and we intensified a programme both providing finance and technical assistance. And today there are seven countries with less than 10% coverage. And, as you can imagine, six of those are quite fragile countries with fragile health systems. The problem we have right now is since the beginning of 2022, we’ve had enough vaccines to provide whatever countries want.” 

“The challenge has been getting the demand. Part of it is the world says, you know, we’re done with Covid. Of course, the virus is not done with us, as Michelle said. And, what we really need to do is make sure that policymakers understand that we’re continuing to see new variants…So, the best thing we can do is use the prevention methods, but also make sure we vaccinate our high-risk populations so they’re protected against severe disease and death.”

Vaccine development and adoption in regard to different variants and sub-variants

Stéphane Bancel: “We have plants in the US and in Switzerland. We’ve shown this summer that we are able to adapt to variants very quickly. If you think about it…in the US, Peter Marks told us on 28 June [that] we want for the US to have a BA.5 Omicron booster. And by early September, on Labour Day weekend, it was in US pharmacies. 60 days! Which…in the old world of vaccines would usually be unthinkable. So, we keep on working on technologies to improve that.” 

“The other piece that we are working on also – because Seth and I had many, many discussions over the last few years – is how do we build manufacturing capacity around the world? We had a lot of export restrictions during the pandemic, which was really painful for obvious reasons, even from countries who say they will not limit exports. Trust me, they were. And so we’re very excited now that we are building a factory in Canada. We already broke ground in the fall. We’re building a factory in Australia. We are going to start a factory this quarter in the UK and we’re also going to start building a factory in Kenya. We’re talking to a couple more countries because I would really like every continent to have MRNA capacity because the amazing thing about MRNA is you can use the same facility, the same plant, the same machines, to make any vaccine you want.”

The issue of science denial

Maria Leptin: “Perhaps interestingly, two of the countries which were most successful in getting good coverage of vaccination based this not at all on getting their citizens to try and understand the science. One is Bhutan, where they were very successful in preparing a campaign and (they were) involved. They were sensitive to the country’s needs, to the citizens’ needs, involved in informing the religious establishment and in fact, [in] using them in finding the right time and date. And they got fantastic coverage. No science was explained. The other example I know of is Portugal, where the campaign was handed to a retired army general. And the army general just treated the country as his troops and he rallied the troops. He declared it as a war that the country in patriotic passion was going to fight together. And they [were] up there! I think they were leading in Europe, if not the world.”

“The trouble is that many citizens don’t understand uncertainty as part of the scientific method. And if I say today, ‘this is my best belief’ with that uncertainty and somebody else says tomorrow, ‘you didn’t do that experiment right’…That’s the way we are! So we’ve got to go so profoundly into educating citizens about the scientific method if we want better trust in science. And the bad news is, who’s it going to be? It’s not going to be us because we’re the ones who are mistrusted.”

Michelle Williams: “What you have to do if you’re really interested in communicating information that will motivate people to change their behaviour, you have to take the approach of meeting them where they are, explaining it and presenting the information in a way where they will adopt the desirable behaviour and feel good about it. And maybe that was the secret sauce to what happened in Portugal and in Bhutan. Health communicators and scientists worked to communicate the risks and what we understand today… All of us have to begin to realise that we have to stop our professional scientific speak, or engage others who can translate for us and meet people where they are. If we do that, it will be the stepping stone of building trust.”

Seth Berkley: “What you didn’t mention was the intentionality, the politicisation of the process. There were also attacks that were done. There were bots in social media that were putting out misinformation on both sides. And lastly, and this is what’s completely different, is today a rumour spreads literally at the speed of light.”

Health governance: How can it be improved?

Michelle Williams: “There has to be mindset shifting in what it means to engage in multilateral agreements around global health issues. And there have to be real improvements in the infrastructure and the finances and the workforce. And that’s going to take leadership and it’s going to take a commitment to true multilateral engagement. We have to have people who are committed to the exercise of global health diplomacy. And it’s a science and an art, but it also has to be a commitment for all humanity, because we know and we knew this since 2014 with Ebola, that it only takes 8 hours for a threat from over there to be a threat here.” 

“And so, we have to realise not just in rhetoric but in practice, the science is really important – I am a molecular biologist and an epidemiologist – but governance has to realise that they have been underfunding science in understanding human behaviour and they have underinvested in the implementation of the scientific knowledge and the tools that we have. So, we have to get to a level where governance is appreciating funding communities, funding regional health officers, equipping them with tools and engaging in creating a safety net that goes from knowledge creation and creation of vaccines and therapeutics to explaining and motivating and cultivating that environment of trust for adopting behaviours that promote health for individuals, communities, families in the world.”

Seth Berkley: “One of the things we learned is there were countries who were supporting us, giving us money, cheering us on, and then going to the countries that were producing the vaccines and buying them for themselves and using them. A national government is supposed to protect its population. That’s its job. And when we said you’re only safe if we’re all safe, what we were talking about is, yes, protect your high-risk populations, but then protect other high-risk populations. And instead, many countries said, well, you know, forget about others, we’re just going to do our own. And then we saw these waves of disease and people realised it is really a global commons.”

Stéphane Bancel: I still believe we can do much better, with a lot of things we’ve learned about also how we scale the companies. And so, one of the things, for example, we are doing… is trying to get into the clinic all the 15 vaccines against the 15 high-priority viruses defined by WHO and CEPI to be able to get clinical data on those. Because if we had known the dose of a vaccine against the coronavirus in January 2020, we might have saved another three months. So, think about the number of lives that could have been saved with a vaccine launched, you know, in August versus, you know, in December.”

“What I worry about now is a lot of countries are forgetting the pandemic is still ongoing. Still, a lot of people are dying every day, but a lot of governments have moved to other things. And that’s a problem because we need investments in public health infrastructure, in healthcare workers, in genomic surveillance. There are so many pieces that need to happen.”

How can we be better prepared for future pandemics?

Maria Leptin: My plea is: keep investing in the basic science. Let’s not forget that. The next pandemic may be different. We don’t even know. Nature can come up with anything. We’re prepared in many ways. I want to say: don’t restrict funding to the fundamental sciences in their full breadth. You never know what we’ll need for the next outbreak.

Source link

#Evaluating #state #pandemic #Euronews #asks #health #leaders

How is Europe preparing for the next phase of the war in Ukraine?

“War in Europe: Year Two” was the topic of one of the most thought-provoking sessions at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos.

Hosted by Euronews’s Sasha Vakulina, the panel was made up of Sanna Marin, Prime Minister of Finland, Gregory Meeks, Congressman for New York and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Maia Sandu, President of the Republic of Moldova and Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, Chairman of the Board at Engie Group.

What emerged was a picture of a resilient Western alliance, ready to support Ukraine for as long as is needed in its fight against Russian invasion. Watch the session in the video player above.

What they said

Sasha Vakulina, Euronews: The first question is going to be to Sanna Marin. To what extent has the war resulted in broad shifts when it comes to all these aspects: economic, political and also military links and connections across Europe? And in what ways can we expect these links and connections to continue to evolve this year as we’re going into year two of the war in Europe.

Sanna Marin, Prime Minister of Finland: Well, thank you for having us in this panel. I fully agree with the Commission’s President, Ursula von der Leyen, that the war is not only affecting Ukraine, it affects the whole of Europe, the whole world actually. We are seeing this geopolitical change in the world and there is a war of values going on in the world. The rules-based order is being challenged and this affects everyone: not only Ukraine, but everyone in the world. And the war affects Europe in very concrete ways as well. We are also not only in the war in Ukraine, but also in an energy war in Europe. Russia is using energy as a tool, as a weapon against Europe, and it tries to diminish our support to Ukraine. Putin tries to make us afraid of Russia, about what might happen. He wants us and our citizens to think, what are the prices of the war? And we are already seeing people frustrated with the high energy prices everywhere in Europe. But the answer is not to weaken our support towards Ukraine. The answer needs to be actually the opposite. We need to send more support to Ukraine, more weapons, more humanitarian aid, more financial aid to make sure that the war will end as soon as possible and for a Ukrainian win. And this is crucial. So our aspect of Putin’s screwdriver that he is using now with the energy against Europe should be that we are sending more support for Ukraine

Sasha Vakulina: President Sandu, alongside socio-economic disruptions, what are the other key points of vulnerability with the effects of the war exposed in Europe and what is being done to mitigate those vulnerabilities? Because your country has a very specific position when it comes to this war in Europe and Russia’s aggression on Ukraine.

Maia Sandu, President of the Republic of Moldova: Of course, Moldova was more vulnerable because it depended 100% on gas purchases before the war started. Now we get only 40% of our gas needs from Gazprom, and we managed to quickly to diversify and to find other sources to supply energy to the country. The propaganda – which is a very big issue, disinformation, is of course a big issue for my country. But I think this is a big issue for many countries and we need to learn how to be more efficient to tackle this issue: it’s cyber security.

I totally agree with the issue that Russia counted on blackmailing us with the energy crisis and Europe managed to find a solution. And this was not easy. And yes, we have to pay a price and we feel bad that our people have to pay a high price. But, we believe in democracy. We value democracy. We want to be part of the free world. And the only solution is to stay together. And yes, it is difficult, but we have to help Ukraine win this war because, otherwise, all of us will be in danger.

Sasha Vakulina: Mr. Clamadieu, which underlying factors of the current economic downturn and potential recession facing Europe do you think are most exacerbated by the war? And to what degree will Europe’s economic recovery hinge on the outcomes of this war?

Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, Chairman of the Board at Engie Group: We are in a situation today where I’m pretty confident to say that there won’t be disruption in the supply of energy, neither gas nor electricity in Europe during the last few months of winter. Prices are starting to go down. We are not back where we were two years ago, but we are back at a level which is a bit more sustainable. And I don’t want to downplay the impact of this conflict. Obviously, this creates big competitiveness issues for industries in Europe versus the US. I think it will probably take another couple of years before the flow of LNG, is again offering visibility for European consumers. But, frankly speaking, thanks to the alignment of political decision-makers and industries, we’ve been able to go through this year of 2022 probably much better than we expected when this conflict started.

Sasha Vakulina: Obviously, the 24th of February in just about a month is going to mark one year. Everybody wants to know… it’s a $1 billion (or even more) question… How long we’re in this and how it’s going to go? What do you think of that?

Sanna Marin: The key elements are that we have to say very frankly and out loud that we will support Ukraine as long as needed. There isn’t that kind of scenario or possibility that the support from Europe or the Western world or democracies will diminish. That’s not a possibility. We will support as long as needed: five years, ten years, fifteen years… whatever it takes. We will support Ukraine and this will not stop. And it’s for Ukrainians to decide when they are ready to negotiate, when they are ready to make some peace agreement that they could agree on. And we will support. Our job is to support them. And another way that we could influence the situation: we are already sending arms, we are sending weapons, and we need to send more and more advanced weapons. We need to continue sending financial support and humanitarian support, taking refugees from Ukraine, putting heavier sanctions against Russia. But one thing that I really think that might affect the situation is the frozen assets. There are a lot of frozen assets from the Russian Central Bank, a lot of frozen assets from oligarchs. And we need to find solutions how to use these assets. I know it’s legally – and from a legal point of view – it’s a very difficult matter and very difficult issue. But I think we need to find solutions. How to use these funds to support Ukraine, to rebuild Ukraine? I think this could affect the war more than we think, because there are many interests behind these assets and this money. So, I think that might really affect the situation. It doesn’t solve everything, but I think that’s the one thing that we haven’t yet used. And I think we need to find the legal framework to do this, to use those assets to support Ukraine.

Sasha Vakulina: And this process of rebuilding and reconstruction, it’s not being postponed. It’s not like when the war is over that’s going to happen. No, you have all known when you visited the country, you know exactly that it has already started step-by-step. It’s from the regions, it’s from the suburbs. The places that have been liberated, they’re already being reconstructed. So this is, of course, something that is already on and is going to be in focus this year as well. Gregory Meeks, what’s your assessment of the possible trajectories of what the war in Ukraine might take going into 2023 and what possible trajectories could NATO take as well?

Gregory Meeks, Congressman for New York and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee: I think that you will continue to see Ukraine winning this war and fighting when we give them the ammunition and what they need to fight. Because that determination, that’s not going to change. That’s unshakeable. And as the prime minister just indicated, what is absolutely devastating to Putin is our solid unity. He’s hoping and looking for ways to shake it. So, we’ve got to make sure that… And I think that the Russian propaganda is going to be defeated moving forward. Some individuals, you know, when I moved around before and I talked to some people, even some in the United States at one point, listening to the propaganda, thinking that, you know, as Russia was talking about, that it was Ukraine that was being the aggressors. Obviously not true. So, I see us coming closer together and bringing in other allies from other areas of the world also. Because, as this intensifies and they see the humanitarian crises that is taking place, when they see that people are forced, that are being utilised, civilians are being utilised, killed, freezing to death in cold weather… When they see the human dangers that have been taking place and how it is a humanitarian criminal act that Putin’s committing, that will bring us even closer together. So, as I look at where we’re going down, people have talked about certain things because of the Congress has changed in the United States of America that now in the House, for example, it’s a split… Overwhelmingly the American people, overwhelmingly the people, for example, Democrats and Republicans, are focussed in standing strongly behind Ukraine. And that’s only going to intensify as we move forward, which makes me believe that that will lead to success in the long run as we get through the winter and into the summertime.

Sasha Vakulina: The other aspect I want to go to now is the war in Ukraine. As a consequence, we all have a greater appreciation of alliances as well and working together. And of course, NATO being one of them. So I’m going to ask you about that. You know, when Finland and Sweden obviously announced NATO aspiration, there was this tweet that said, I can’t remember the author and I apologise if you were the author, that what Putin tried to do, he wanted the Finland-isation of Ukraine, but instead what he did was the Ukraine-isation of Finland and Sweden. So, you are now on the way there. So how is the process going? Because Sweden and Finland’s NATO aspiration happened in response to the war in Ukraine. And how is it going? How is the cooperation happening and the solidarity as well? Because you are doing it not just yourself, but – you said it – you’re going to be doing it only hand-in-hand with Sweden. Because that’s another alliance, that’s another appreciation of alliances.

Sanna Marin: Well, the Finnish atmosphere and the mindset of people changed at the same time when Russia attacked Ukraine. Before that moment, if you asked Finnish people, do they think that Finland should join NATO, the majority would have said no. We have the possibility to apply. That’s very important that we have that possibility. But we didn’t have that kind of discussion, active discussion, before. And if you asked the majority of Finnish people or the parliament, they would have said: “No, we don’t see that we should right now apply to NATO membership.” But, when Russia attacked Ukraine, everything changed. The world changed. Our neighbour was no longer the same neighbour. It was an aggressive, an aggressive neighbour that went across that border. And Finnish people asked themselves what is the border that Russia wouldn’t cross? And that’s the NATO border. And that’s why Finnish people wanted us to go to NATO. 188 parliamentarians out of 200 voted in favour of NATO membership. So, we are not… We don’t have 100%, but we are very close in our Parliament as well. And we have this unity in Finland. We have this cohesion and consensus about the NATO application. And I’m also very happy that we made this decision at the same time that our Swedish neighbours did, because we are also sharing of course the same geopolitical atmosphere, the same geopolitical security environment.

So, I think from NATO’s perspective also it’s very important that Finland and Sweden is applying and entering NATO together. Of course, there are still two countries that haven’t ratified: Hungary and Turkey. And I have talked, for example, with Prime Minister Orban every time that we meet in the European Council. And he has said that they will ratify as soon as the parliament will start its term this spring, hopefully very soon. Turkey, we don’t have that timetable, yet. Of course, we hope that that will happen sooner than later. We are fulfilling all the criteria, we are ticking all the boxes that is needed to become a NATO member. And actually, for example, Finland is already using over 2% of our GDP on defence and we have done this for quite some time. And we are seeing a lot of support from the Ukrainian people to fight for their country. They are fighting for their freedom, for their independence and their country. And, if you ask Finnish people how willing they are to defend Finland, I think we are ranked number one. Ukraine is number two. So, we have been in war with Russia and we know what that’s like. And we don’t want ever again, ever again there to be a war on Finnish soil. And that’s why we are applying to NATO, so that there wouldn’t be a war in Finland ever again. That’s the border that Russia wouldn’t cross. And that’s why we’re applying to NATO.

Sasha Vakulina: President Sandu, Moldova is applying for the European Union. That’s another alliance, of course, and appreciation of it. How important is that? How also has the view on it changed? Because Moldova has also experienced some opinion polls that were not necessarily always supporting the idea. And, also, just to follow up on what Gregory Meeks said there, the propaganda issue, of course, is something that happened a lot in Moldova over years.

Maia Sandu: I actually believe that Moldova’s chance to survive as a democracy is only within the EU and just being realistic about what’s going to happen in our region in the next, I don’t know, ten, 15 years. Of course, we all hope for a victory, for a speedy victory of Ukraine, and this is going to happen. But, we cannot see Russia becoming a democratic country very soon. And this means that the challenges for the region are still going to be there. Moldova survived, I mean, managed to deal with the challenges that you asked me at the beginning to a big extent thanks to the support we received from the EU and from the development partners. And we are very grateful. And it is important to have a stable Moldova. It’s important for us, it’s important for Ukraine, it’s important for the EU. For the EU, it is important to have a peaceful and stable Ukraine. It is important to have a peaceful and stable Moldova and that’s why the EU enlargement is important. I think Ukraine has proved it’s paying the highest price for democracy and for EU values. Moldovans have been doing their best. And yes, the propaganda is still strong and we are fighting the propaganda. But we have more than 70% of people over the years, despite the propaganda, despite the poverty and the many problems we’ve been facing. We have this constant support for the EU integration. And I think the recent gesture by the generosity shown by the Moldovan people when they managed to help 600,000 to 700,000 Ukrainian refugees shows that we value EU values. And we value peace and we value freedom. So, the EU enlargement will make the EU stronger because the EU needs a peaceful and stable Ukraine, Moldova and the rest of the countries which are aspiring for EU accession.

Sasha Vakulina: President Sandu, do you think – as a long shot for the longer future – do you think that NATO aspirations are something that Moldova could go into after?

Maia Sandu: We do feel how vulnerable we are. Ukraine is defending us literally and we are taking steps to improve our defence sector. But we are very realistic about what we can do. We are a democratic country and we have to have the discussion. There should be popular support. But we are having this serious discussion now on whether we can, by ourselves, defend ourselves in a new world where we see that war is a real danger.

Sasha Vakulina: John-Pierre Clamadieu, how have the impacts of the war in Ukraine reshaped the global energy landscape and what are your expectations when it comes to speeding up this transition away from fossil fuel dependency as well, and Russian, but also the transition in general? [00:18:54][14.3]

Jean-Pierre Clamadieu: I think the challenge for Europe is really to make sure that we can strengthen our energy system and this is completely aligned with the need to speed up the energy transition. We don’t have any fossil resources in Europe, a bit of coal, but it’s not something we want to build on. So, the challenge now is to make sure that we can speed up the development of renewables. The EU has an agenda, the Fit for 55 agenda. We need to make sure that the current situation, the mitigation of a crisis, does not slow down this agenda. On the contrary. And what we see today is a number of decisions which indeed should create the conditions for us to speed up the development of renewables, to speed up the development of storage, speed up the development of hydrogen… With this objective of speeding up energy transition, this will help us achieve strategic independence. And this is something that we absolutely need.

Source link

#Europe #preparing #phase #war #Ukraine

Michael Shellenberger’s thread on WEF, Davos, and Schwab DAMNING enough to give Elon Musk ‘the willies’

Ok you guys, this World Economic Forum (WEF) stuff is freakin’ scary.

Honestly, looking at Michael Shellenberger’s thread about the WEF, Schwab, and Davos it’s like a dystopian novel that is coming to fruition. But of course, if you believe any of this you’re a total nutball conspiracy theorist, white supremacist Nazi or something so DON’T BELIEVE YOU’RE LYING EYES.

Our lying eyes are open … especially after reading this:

Even his name sounds like a villain.

Klaus Schwab.

Keep going.

… culled from the Internet by an anonymous anti-semitic account on 4chan.

Right.

What do you know?

They were lying.

WE’RE SHOCKED.

The elitist of the elite.

Again, all of this reads like some really bad sci-fi movie.

Blackrock.

Yeah, that’s not good.

How convenient.

Sure it does.

And if you dare question them you’re an anti-Semite.

AL GORE.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Man, this just get worse and worse.

He makes our skin crawl.

Whatever they’re up to, it doesn’t sound like it’s good.

It even gave Elon Musk ‘the willies’.

Yeah, totally fine.

Wow.

But there’s no way they’re trying to cull the herd and stuff. Nope.

*cough cough*

Sure, nothing to see there.

Meep.

***

Related:

Sheila Jackson Lee wants to make criticizing non-white people ILLEGAL in new ‘white supremacy’ bill

Chuck Todd comes unglued defending Hunter Biden while interviewing Ron Johnson and YIKES (watch)

Matt Taibbi DROPS Lefties accusing him of pushing ‘right-wing’ trope by exposing #RussiaGate LIE

BUSTED! Andy Ngô BLASTS Adam Schiff for trying to exploit Keenan Anderson video to rile up anti-police rhetoric

***

Help us keep owning the libs! Join Twitchy VIP and use promo code AMERICAFIRST to receive a 25% discount off your membership!



Source link

#Michael #Shellenbergers #thread #WEF #Davos #Schwab #DAMNING #give #Elon #Musk #willies