Latest news with #Helsinki-based
Straits Times
15 hours ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Clean-tech investment could boost China's economy, cut emissions and achieve 2035 development goals, study finds.
Rows of solar panels are seen during installation at a photovoltaic project in Qingdao, in eastern Shandong province. PHOTO: AFP SINGAPORE – China is on the cusp of a clean-energy-led economic revolution that could not only achieve the government's 2035 development goals but also slash air pollution and carbon emissions in a global win for fighting climate change, researchers say. To get there, Beijing needs to enact policies that ramp up investment in renewable energy and green-technology manufacturing and innovation as well as set ambitious emissions reduction targets for the next decade, Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (Crea) said in a report published on June 19. Decisions made over the coming months will be key, the authors said. China's clean energy industries could double in value by 2035, adding US$2.1 trillion (S$2.7 trillion) to the economy, if the country and the world's other large markets follow emissions targets aligned with the United Nations Paris Agreement, the planet's main climate pact. China is already the world's top investor in renewable energy. Sustained green investment will make an important contribution to China's target of becoming a 'moderately prosperous' country in a decade, delivering one- fifth of the targeted gross domestic product growth in 2035, the authors said. Achieving a moderately prosperous economy is a key goal for Beijing , and to achieve this would mean doubling China's GDP from 101.6 trillion yuan (S$18. 15 trillion) in 2020 to more than 200 trillion yuan by 2035. 'The next decade will be critical in deciding whether China can seize the economic and strategic advantages of clean energy sectors and lead the world into a new phase of high-quality, innovation-led development,' said Ms Belinda Schaepe, China policy analyst at Crea and a co-author of the report . The government needs to set out ambitious policy targets in China's 15th Five-Year Plan covering 2026 to 2030, and in its climate action plan out to 2035 that it must submit to the United Nations in 2025, she added . The climate plan, called a nationally determined contribution (NDC), is mandatory for all parties to the Paris Agreement . NDCs are submitted every five years and are meant to be more ambitious than the previous one. 'Weak targets, by contrast, risk slowing China's momentum, creating uncertainty, and missing a historic opportunity to lead the global energy transition,' said Ms Schaepe . China needs to submit its NDC by the UN COP30 climate talks in Brazil in November . Beijing has already said the NDC will cover the entire economy and all greenhouse gases, a first for the country. The potential of the clean-energy sector to transform the economy is already apparent. In 2024, the sector, which includes electric vehicles, EV batteries, wind turbines and solar cells and modules, accounted for 10 per cent of GDP and 25 per cent of GDP growth, overtaking the value of real estate sales for the first time. And China is continuing its record-breaking renewable energy investment, adding 124.9 gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar capacity in the first four months of 2025, according to Sydney-based think-tank Climate Energy Finance, based on data from China's National Energy Administration. By April 2025, China had 1,533 GW of wind and solar capacity, far ahead of any other nation, helping to reduce its dependence on polluting coal. In 2024, China's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions declined year-on-year for the first time despite strong electricity demand growth. 'China's unprecedented clean energy expansion was the primary driver in reducing emissions, offsetting the increase in emissions from other industrial sectors,' the authors noted . 'Beyond economic contributions to China's GDP, clean energy sectors could also cut China's emissions by 30 per cent compared with current levels,' they added . This is key because China is also the world's top CO2 polluter and coal consumer and what it decides on energy and economic policy will affect the global pace of climate change for years to come. China's rapid expansion of clean-energy investment and production overseas will also help reduce global emissions growth, while also boosting the economy at home. 'The clean energy sectors stand poised to both lead China's economic prosperity and drive down the country's CO2 emissions,' said co-author Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at Crea. But if momentum in these sectors were to slow, they could instead become a drag on the economy and also curb emissions reductions, he added. David Fogarty is deputy foreign editor at The Straits Times and senior climate writer. He also covers the environment, in areas ranging from biodiversity to plastic pollution. Find out more about climate change and how it could affect you on the ST microsite here.
Euronews
3 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
EU Parliament to criminalise AI-generated child abuse material
Portuguese authorities arrested six people linked to a far-right group and seized explosive material and several firearms, police said on Tuesday. The detainees are believed to belong to the so-called Movimento Armilar Lusitano (MAL), which sought to establish itself as a political movement supported by an armed militia, according to a police statement. They are suspected of crimes related to terrorist groups and activities, discrimination and incitement to hatred and violence and possession of prohibited weapons, police added. Authorities seized several explosives, firearms — some built with 3D printers — and rounds of ammunition and knives in the operation, police said in a statement. "The quality and diversity of what we seized was surprising," Manuela Santos, the director of the National Counter-Terrorism Unit (UNCT) of the Judicial Police, told journalists at a press conference. Among the six detainees is a member of the Polícia de Segurança Pública (PSP), the country's national civil police force, while others reportedly have links to private security groups. "They are people from many backgrounds," Santos said, saying they were united by "discrimination based on gender identity, race and creed." A video distributed by police showed neo-Nazi books, propaganda and 3D printers used to make weapons or modify guns so that they can fire lethal ammunition. The European Parliament voted on Tuesday overwhelmingly in favour of a directive that would criminalise the creation, possession and sharing of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) generated using artificial intelligence. The text also covers offences related to grooming, sextortion, and livestreamed abuse, while addressing legal definitions and age of consent issues across the EU. The vote passed with 599 in favour, just two against, and 62 abstentions - an unusually broad consensus from the entire political spectrum for such a sensitive file. 'It will be treated in exactly the same as if it were real child abuse material,' Jeroen Lenaers (Netherlands/European People's Party), the lawmaker leading the file, told Euronews. 'Because we know that these models, first of all, they need to train on real child sexual abuse material and secondly, we see that using AI child sexual use material is a very small step to actually moving on to real child sexual abuse.' Recent research by Helsinki-based non-profit Protect Children highlights a link between viewing abusive content and committing contact offences against children, even if a direct causal link has not been proven. According to the study, 52% of respondents said they feared viewing such material could lead them to commit abuse. Meanwhile, 44% said it made them consider seeking contact with a minor, and 37% admitted to having acted on those thoughts. Lenaers told Euronews that AI-generated child abuse material has increased by over 1,000% in the past year alone. The Parliament's position was welcomed by both tech industry players and child protection advocates. In a joint statement, Dot Europe, a Brussels based tech lobby group representing among others OpenAI, TikTok, Snapchat and Meta - and Eclag (European Child Sexual Abuse Legislation Advocacy Group) said: 'We are happy to be joining forces for the first time to tackle the danger posed by AI for child sexual abuse at EU level. Hopefully, we can continue to find ways to work together to make online child sexual abuse history.' However, Tuesday's vote is not the final step. Negotiations will now begin between the Parliament, the Council of the EU, which represents national governments, and the European Commission. These 'trilogue' talks will determine the final shape of the law. The Council adopted its own position in December, but stopped short of including the criminalisation of AI-generated child abuse material — prompting strong calls from MEPs, industry and advocacy groups for ministers to align with Parliament. Age of consent also proved divisive during the Council's negotiations. A coalition of seven countries - Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Sweden - issued a joint statement warning that, while children who reach the age of sexual consent may legally agree to sexual acts, they remain especially vulnerable and need strong legal protection. The proposed directive goes beyond AI imagery. It introduces a shared legal framework across the EU to combat online child abuse, with clear definitions of 'grooming' and 'sextortion' as crimes. It also seeks to outlaw the livestreaming of abusive acts, lift time limits for reporting sexual abuse, recognising that many victims come forward only years later, and ban so-called 'paedophile handbooks', which provide instructions on how to manipulate children and evade detection. During the plenary debate, Commissioner for Home Affairs Magnus Brunner called for ambition and unity: 'We cannot be ambitious enough. There is no more important priority than protecting our children.' The European Commission on Tuesday unveiled a series of measures it hopes will slash red tape for the defence sector and get it to start significantly boosting production. The so-called Simplification Omnibus includes measures to fast-track permitting for defence companies, facilitate cross-border movement through the supply chain, as well as guidance to improve access to finance and to dangerous chemical substances. It comes three months after the release of the 'Readiness 2030' plan to increase the production and deployment of critical military capabilities the EU needs by 2030 when intelligence agencies believe Russia could be in shape to attack another European country. The proposal planned for up to €800 billion to be poured into the sector over the coming four years through relaxed fiscal rules and loans from the Commission of money raised on the markets. "Money alone, however, is not enough, if traditional 'red tape', which maybe is fit for peacetime, will kill industrial efforts to ramp-up production," Andrius Kubilius, the Commissioner for Defence and Space told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday. "Now we need rules that give industry, armed forces and investors speed, predictability and scale," he added. One of the flagship proposals of the latest package is for member states to create a single point of contact for defence companies to submit permit requests, with authorities urged to respond within a 60-day timeframe. Currently, it can take up to three or four years for defence companies to secure the various permits they need to expand their operations, with the required paperwork, such as environment impact assessments, different from agency to agency. Environmental NGOs, among other citizen groups, may well have a problem with that fast-track approach. "What we also indicate is that whenever there are subsequent litigation or claims - being administrative or judicial - they should also be treated as a priority according to the law," the Commission official said when quizzed on potential legal challenges. Another key plank of the proposal is to amend the Defence Procurement directive - to facilitate joint procurements - and the directive on Intra-EU transfers of defence products. For the latter, the Commission seeks to create a single dedicated licence to allow components necessary for the production of a defence investment project to cross borders as many times as necessary without applying for a new licence each time - a process that can currently delay projects by up to one and a half years. These "quick fixes", the Commission official said, can "save a lot of time". How "quick" they will be will however depend on European lawmakers and member states who will have to negotiate and approve the amendments, as well as the new legislation foreseen in the package. Other elements seek to clarify which environmental and health and safety derogations can be applied to the defence sector and which parts of the sector investors may safely pour money into while respecting the bloc's environmental, social and governance (ESG) rules. Chemicals are a critical part of weapons production, especially ammunition, but the use of many chemicals is restricted in the EU under its REACH legislation to protect human health and the environment from the risks they carry. A proposal to further restrict the use of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) on specific sectors is currently also being examined by the EU. As such, member states have different rules on their use depending on the type of substance, the manufacturing purpose and how much is required with licences often granted on a case-by-case basis. The Commission's upcoming guidelines will therefore aim to highlight that REACH includes a derogation that would allow member states to approve, at the national level, the use of certain chemicals citing the need to boost defence readiness production or activities. This was a core ask from the industry. "If we have to replace these substances immediately, we won't have a way of manufacturing things," Micael Johansson, the CEO of Swedish aerospace and defence company Saab and president of the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) told Euronews last week. "We have to make decisions on what's most important now for manufacturing so maybe we need some sort of exemptions from that in this crisis situation where we have to build things," he added. Another set of guidelines will seek to reassure financial institutions that they will not be penalised for pouring money into the sector by clarifying that "the Union's sustainable finance framework does not impose any limitations on the financing of the defence sector," Valdis Dombrovskis, the Commissioner for Trade, told reporters. The guidance will indicate that defence investments "can contribute to the stability and security and peace in Europe", the official speaking on condition of anonymity said, and that only prohibited weapons are strictly off-limits. The Commission expects 'the cost-saving of the simplification of procedures to be major', the official also said, although an estimate is not expected to be released until later in the summer.
Euronews
3 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Portugal arrests six people linked to far-right group
Portuguese authorities arrested six people linked to a far-right group and seized explosive material and several firearms, police said on Tuesday. The detainees are believed to belong to the so-called Movimento Armilar Lusitano (MAL), which sought to establish itself as a political movement supported by an armed militia, according to a police statement. They are suspected of crimes related to terrorist groups and activities, discrimination and incitement to hatred and violence and possession of prohibited weapons, police added. Authorities seized several explosives, firearms — some built with 3D printers — and rounds of ammunition and knives in the operation, police said in a statement. "The quality and diversity of what we seized was surprising," Manuela Santos, the director of the National Counter-Terrorism Unit (UNCT) of the Judicial Police, told journalists at a press conference. Among the six detainees is a member of the Polícia de Segurança Pública (PSP), the country's national civil police force, while others reportedly have links to private security groups. "They are people from many backgrounds," Santos said, saying they were united by "discrimination based on gender identity, race and creed." A video distributed by police showed neo-Nazi books, propaganda and 3D printers used to make weapons or modify guns so that they can fire lethal ammunition. The European Parliament voted on Tuesday overwhelmingly in favour of a directive that would criminalise the creation, possession and sharing of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) generated using artificial intelligence. The text also covers offences related to grooming, sextortion, and livestreamed abuse, while addressing legal definitions and age of consent issues across the EU. The vote passed with 599 in favour, just two against, and 62 abstentions - an unusually broad consensus from the entire political spectrum for such a sensitive file. 'It will be treated in exactly the same as if it were real child abuse material,' Jeroen Lenaers (Netherlands/European People's Party), the lawmaker leading the file, told Euronews. 'Because we know that these models, first of all, they need to train on real child sexual abuse material and secondly, we see that using AI child sexual use material is a very small step to actually moving on to real child sexual abuse.' Recent research by Helsinki-based non-profit Protect Children highlights a link between viewing abusive content and committing contact offences against children, even if a direct causal link has not been proven. According to the study, 52% of respondents said they feared viewing such material could lead them to commit abuse. Meanwhile, 44% said it made them consider seeking contact with a minor, and 37% admitted to having acted on those thoughts. Lenaers told Euronews that AI-generated child abuse material has increased by over 1,000% in the past year alone. The Parliament's position was welcomed by both tech industry players and child protection advocates. In a joint statement, DotEurope, a Brussels based tech lobby group representing among others OpenAI, TikTok, Snapchat and Meta - and Eclag (European Child Sexual Abuse Legislation Advocacy Group) said: 'We are happy to be joining forces for the first time to tackle the danger posed by AI for child sexual abuse at EU level. Hopefully, we can continue to find ways to work together to make online child sexual abuse history.' However, Tuesday's vote is not the final step. Negotiations will now begin between the Parliament, the Council of the EU, which represents national governments, and the European Commission. These 'trilogue' talks will determine the final shape of the law. The Council adopted its own position in December, but stopped short of including the criminalisation of AI-generated child abuse material — prompting strong calls from MEPs, industry and advocacy groups for ministers to align with Parliament. Age of consent also proved divisive during the Council's negotiations. A coalition of seven countries - Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Sweden - issued a joint statement warning that, while children who reach the age of sexual consent may legally agree to sexual acts, they remain especially vulnerable and need strong legal protection. The proposed directive goes beyond AI imagery. It introduces a shared legal framework across the EU to combat online child abuse, with clear definitions of 'grooming' and 'sextortion' as crimes. It also seeks to outlaw the livestreaming of abusive acts, lift time limits for reporting sexual abuse, recognising that many victims come forward only years later, and ban so-called 'paedophile handbooks', which provide instructions on how to manipulate children and evade detection. During the plenary debate, Commissioner for Home Affairs Magnus Brunner called for ambition and unity: 'We cannot be ambitious enough. There is no more important priority than protecting our children.'
Euronews
3 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
EU Parliament to criminalising AI-generated child abuse material
The European Parliament voted on Tuesday overwhelmingly in favour of a directive that would criminalise the creation, possession and sharing of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) generated using artificial intelligence. The text also covers offences related to grooming, sextortion, and livestreamed abuse, while addressing legal definitions and age of consent issues across the EU. The vote passed with 599 in favour, just two against, and 62 abstentions - an unusually broad consensus from the entire political spectrum for such a sensitive file. 'It will be treated in exactly the same as if it were real child abuse material,' Jeroen Lenaers (Netherlands/European People's Party), the lawmaker leading the file, told Euronews. 'Because we know that these models, first of all, they need to train on real child sexual abuse material and secondly, we see that using AI child sexual use material is a very small step to actually moving on to real child sexual abuse.' Recent research by Helsinki-based non-profit Protect Children highlights a link between viewing abusive content and committing contact offences against children, even if a direct causal link has not been proven. According to the study, 52% of respondents said they feared viewing such material could lead them to commit abuse. Meanwhile, 44% said it made them consider seeking contact with a minor, and 37% admitted to having acted on those thoughts. Lenaers told Euronews that AI-generated child abuse material has increased by over 1,000% in the past year alone. The Parliament's position was welcomed by both tech industry players and child protection advocates. In a joint statement, DotEurope, a Brussels based tech lobby group representing among others OpenAI, TikTok, Snapchat and Meta - and Eclag (European Child Sexual Abuse Legislation Advocacy Group) said: 'We are happy to be joining forces for the first time to tackle the danger posed by AI for child sexual abuse at EU level. Hopefully, we can continue to find ways to work together to make online child sexual abuse history.' However, Tuesday's vote is not the final step. Negotiations will now begin between the Parliament, the Council of the EU, which represents national governments, and the European Commission. These 'trilogue' talks will determine the final shape of the law. The Council adopted its own position in December, but stopped short of including the criminalisation of AI-generated child abuse material — prompting strong calls from MEPs, industry and advocacy groups for ministers to align with Parliament. Age of consent also proved divisive during the Council's negotiations. A coalition of seven countries - Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Sweden - issued a joint statement warning that, while children who reach the age of sexual consent may legally agree to sexual acts, they remain especially vulnerable and need strong legal protection. The proposed directive goes beyond AI imagery. It introduces a shared legal framework across the EU to combat online child abuse, with clear definitions of 'grooming' and 'sextortion' as crimes. It also seeks to outlaw the livestreaming of abusive acts, lift time limits for reporting sexual abuse, recognising that many victims come forward only years later, and ban so-called 'paedophile handbooks', which provide instructions on how to manipulate children and evade detection. During the plenary debate, Commissioner for Home Affairs Magnus Brunner called for ambition and unity: 'We cannot be ambitious enough. There is no more important priority than protecting our children.'
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
America mulls sanctions on Russia – here's how they could do it
What would it mean for Russia, if the United States really did launch 'harder' sanctions 'than we've ever seen before' against its economy? That was the threat issued by Lt Gen Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy to Ukraine, in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday. Lt Gen Kellogg said Vladimir Putin had been warned that drastic new US sanctions were ready to go, should he come to be seen as the main obstacle to peace. European leaders would act in tandem with the president, he said, having had a 'good phone call' on the subject last week. It remains the overwhelming likelihood that, come the talks in Istanbul on Thursday, Putin fails to engage in anything but prevarication. He is not expected to attend in person. Volodymyr Zelensky therefore has the chance to further convince Washington that Russia – not Ukraine – is to blame for the continuation of the war. The point will be easy to convey if he meets an empty chair instead of Putin, the only person he has agreed to talk to on the Russian side. It begs the question: what is left in the US sanctions arsenal, and will Donald Trump pull the trigger? Russia's war effort is funded by fossil fuel exports. Since the war began, Moscow has earned £760 billion from oil, gas and coal sales, according to the Centre for Energy and Clean Air (Crea), a Helsinki-based think tank. That is more than double the £300 billion given and promised to Ukraine so far across Europe and the United States. It is seven times what Russia spent on its military last year. Western efforts to cut off this source of funding have had an impact at the fringes, though Russia has adapted with comparative ease. Moscow has foregone £106 billion in oil revenue thanks to existing sanctions, according to data up to January 2025 from the KSE Institute, a branch of the Kyiv School of Economics. European nations including Hungary and Slovakia will not voluntarily slash the £18.5 billion they spent on Russian energy in 2024, with few leaders willing to take the economic hit and political instability that would follow. But with US leadership, Russia's fuel export business could effectively be crippled. 'The idea that we're maxed out… is silly,' says Daniel Fried, the former US State Department sanctions co-ordinator and Atlantic Council fellow. Joe Biden was long unwilling to crack down against Russian energy exports, fearful of the impact on pump prices and his chance of re-election. In 2022, the US oversaw the creation of a price cap on purchases of Russian oil, set at $60 a barrel. That was meant to impose a haircut on Moscow's export earnings, rising and falling in line with the benchmark crude price (which slumped from a height of $124 to $66 over the course of Mr Biden's term). Mostly, however, it prompted Russia to create a so-called 'shadow-fleet' of tankers to carry its oil to India, China and other nations, obscuring the origin of the fuel via foreign-flagged vessels. After the Democrats lost in November, Mr Biden ratcheted up the pressure. The US imposed sanctions on two major Russian oil producers, LNG production and 155 'shadow-fleet' tankers, around half the total force. A blow of sorts was dealt. In March, there was a 36 per cent month-on-month rise in Russian oil transported on vessels subject to the price cap. LNG revenues decreased by 22 per cent. But Russia's monthly fossil fuel export revenues remained steady, in fact increasing by 1 per cent, according to Crea. The US is now exploring what would effectively be the 'nuclear' option. Lindsay Graham, the US senator, has widespread support in Congress for the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025. This would impose a 500 per cent US tariff on goods from nations that buy Russian energy. China, India, Turkey and Brazil would be forced to find alternative sources to retain access to the US market. The extension of sanctions on the central bank could further complicate trade. In effect, the move would mimic the 'maximum pressure' sanctions imposed on Iran's oil industry – and torpedo Moscow's prime revenue source. 'This bill is a tool in President Trump's toolbox,' Mr Graham, a close Trump ally, said earlier this month. When he believes that 'we've reached an impasse, then watch for action'. There is a team working on 'hammer' sanctions in the US State Department that gained prominence recently over that figuring out 'carrots' to offer to Moscow, says Tom Keatinge of the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank. In his Fox interview, Lt Gen Kellogg explicitly referenced Mr Graham's bill as the source of the 'very serious' sanctions pointing at Moscow. The question is, will Mr Trump ever pull the trigger? The president has retreated when faced with the economic blow-back from his tariff policy. Having just reduced tariffs on China, it seems unlikely he would choose to reimpose them – at the highest rate yet – over a war his top negotiators suggested the US was willing to walk away from helping to end just weeks ago. Emmanuel Macron, Sir Keir Starmer and other members of the 'coalition of the willing' will no doubt do their best to convince Mr Trump. Tymofiy Myolvanov, president of the KSE, said on Wednesday the 'rumour' going around was that the president would back Mr Graham's bill. One senior European diplomat told The Telegraph not to discount Mr Trump's appetite for tougher measures, should he be persuaded of the idea. It is to Mr Trump's advantage that Russian officials appear to find him 'hard to read,' Mr Fried says. 'There are those who argue [Mr Trump] will never pull the trigger because he is ultimately on Putin's side. I'm not sure I buy that.' Whether the uncertainty alone is enough to force Russia to take peace negotiations seriously is about to become clear. The gun is on the table. Putin and his inner circle will be assessing if they are right to keep betting the West does not really want to fire it. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
