Radio România Internațional

Tag: carbon dioxide emissions

  • February 7, 2018

    February 7, 2018

    DEBATE — The European Parliament in Strasbourg is today hosting a debate analyzing the rule of law and judicial overhaul in Romania. The decision to hold the debate was taken on January 18 in the European Parliament, in response to the ruling coalition’s modifications to the justice laws, which were harshly criticized by magistrates’ associations, the opposition as well as the European Union. On Tuesday Justice Minister Tudorel Toader met in Strasbourg with European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans as well as members of the Party of European Socialists, discussing the justice laws and their implementation, as well as the Government’s plans to amend the criminal and criminal procedure codes. After meeting with European Socialists, Toader expressed confidence that the EU has been misinformed over the justice reform in Romania.



    CORRUPTION — The problem of corruption in Romania cannot be solved just by arresting suspects, putting public employees on trial and getting sentences, Laura Codruta Kovesi, the head of the National Anticorruption Directorate said earlier today, on the sidelines of a debate titled “Fraud and corruption in the field of public procurement”. Kovesi pointed out that prosecutors’ efforts should be backed by pre-emption and anticorruption education. In turn, Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar said maintaining public trust in the Romanian judiciary should be a priority for those working in the system. Lazar went on to say that any initiative aimed at amending criminal legislation ought to be grounded on impact studies.



    CONSTITUTIONAL COURT — Romania’s Constitutional Court is today discussing a notification filed by President Klaus Iohannis with respect to the modifications brought to the law allowing MPs, ministers, local elected officials, prefects and presidents of county councils to operate as individual traders. The President believes procedure was violated in this case, and that the Senate was supposed to be the decision-making body. In addition, Klaus Iohannis says that the rule-out of this incompatibility clause could diminish integrity standards and hinder the rule of law. The law goes against international integrity standards Romania has pledged to observe and is unconstitutional, the Presidency also says.



    GERMANY — The Conservatives and Social-Democrats in Germany today reached an agreement to form a coalition Government, four months after legislative elections were held in this country. The Christian-Democratic Union, its ally from Bavaria the Christian-Social Union and the Social-Democratic Party managed to compromise over the distributions of ministries in the new cabinet. The parties also overcame divergences linked to the healthcare reform and tightening rules for short-term employment contracts. After a 20-hour round of talks, the German Social-Democrats, who ruled over 2013-2017 alongside the Conservatives, will get to keep the Labour, Social-Affairs, Justice, Finance and Foreign Affairs ministries. The Finance Ministry was previously held by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian-Democratic Union.



    CLIMATE CHANGE — The European Parliament on Tuesday passed a law to limit industry-generated CO2 emission and start implementing the directives of the Paris agreement on climate change. Romania and Bulgaria were subject to derogation for using a new fund under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) aimed at modernizing fossil fuel-based heating systems. Informally approved by ministers from Member States, the new law will accelerate the cancellation of emission certificates on the carbon dioxide market, which cover some 40% of greenhouse gas emissions EU-wide. At the same time, under the new law, two additional funds will be created, with a view to increasing innovation and encouraging a switch to a low-carbon economy. An ETS Modernization Fund will help upgrade the energy systems of low-income EU states, including Romania and Bulgaria.



    LAUNCH — The world’s most powerful space rocket, Falcon Heavy, today launched successfully from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Designed by billionaire Elon Musk, the rocket can carry twice the payload of the closest operational vehicle. Falcon Heavy is also fitted with auxiliary boosters which can be reused, thus saving millions of dollars on launch costs. Prior to the launch, the authorities said this would be a high-risk launch. Falcon Heavy was conceived to carry some 64 tons into orbit, the equivalent of five London double-deckers. Elon Musk confirmed that his 2008 Tesla Roadster is onboard the rocket, which is heading for the orbit of Mars, 225 million kilometers from Earth. Falcon Heavy is the largest and most powerful rocket launched in space after Saturn V, the rocket used for the Apollo space missions, which landed the first NASA astronauts on the Moon.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • Agreement on climate change

    Agreement on climate change


    Signed in 2015 by almost 200 countries with a view to curbing global warming, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change is to come into effect in November. This international agreement, setting the guidelines for a global approach to climate change after 2020, is the third major document in this line, after the UN Convention on Climate Change of 1992 and the Kyoto Protocol of 1997. US president Barack Obama has confirmed the agreement will come into effect in November after having been adopted by some of the worlds major polluters.



    President Obama said ‘the United States and China, the worlds two largest economies and largest emitters formally joined that agreement. And today the world has officially crossed the threshold for the Paris Agreement to take effect. Today, the world meets the moment. And if we follow through on the commitments that this agreement embodies, history may well judge it as a turning point for our planet. The White House leader has described the accord as “the best possible shot to save the one planet weve got. In Bucharest professor PhD Mircea Dutu recalls the context on the conclusion of this accord by presenting the situation of the past years in terms of climate change.



    We have to admit, in spite of some peoples opinions, that what we are actually witnessing now is a slowdown in the climate change process, in reality that process has been maintained. With the emergence of such global phenomena as El Nino or La Nina, the average temperatures oscillated, mainly rising above the known averages. Its common knowledge that since the year 2000 we have been witnessing the warmest period of more than one decade in recorded weather history and that extreme weather phenomena tend to become regular. That makes some people refer to the situation as climate derangement, others as climate change and the most pessimistic even speak of a change in the entire climate system, as we know it since mid-twentieth century, the 1960s. Worth noting is that with carbon dioxide emissions exceeding the critical threshold of 400 parts per million, well have to expect a rise in average temperatures at world level, unless, of course, major factors intervene. Under the circumstances, to prevent an unbalance that would lead to a wave of climate disturbances and radically alter human life as we know it, action has been taken for some time at an international level. The first firm signal and document in this respect was signed in Rio in 1992, namely the Framework Convention on Climate Change. This was followed by the Kyoto Protocol and the question has arisen in recent years as to what we do post-Kyoto.



    Unlike the previous UN agreement on global warming, the Kyoto Protocol of 1997, which needed 8 years to come into force and which only targeted the rich countries, the Paris Agreement will be enforced quickly. One reason for this may be the fact that according to the forecasts made by a number of UN studies, the world average temperature is expected to grow by 3 degrees Celsius or more by 2100 based on current trends. 2016 is expected to be the hottest in record since the 19th century. Academy member Mircea Dutu tells us about the novelties of the Paris Agreement:



    “The Paris Agreement, which was signed by 195 member states, is the first success of a negotiation process held under the UN aegis beginning in 2000. The scope of the treaty is universal and a matter of international law, which means it also applies to domestic law, despite being of a political nature. What is unprecedented is the fact that civil society is engaged and has mobilized itself alongside the worlds states to carry out the goals set, namely limiting the rise in global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, and if possible, to 1.5 degrees. Another objective has to do with making sure that greenhouse gas emissions are neutralized starting 2050. At the same time, the treaty sets voluntary national quotas to be revised every 5 years. Adopted by consensus, the Paris Treaty also has a number of major shortcomings. First of all, it is not mandatory, with national contributions remaining voluntary. Secondly, it does not contain any form of mechanism of verification, being instead based on transparency and the states own willingness to respect the commitment they have made.



    As far as Romania is concerned, Professor Mircea Dutu says this country has wholeheartedly committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, has already exceeded the standards and proposed objectives with regard to the share of renewable energy in total energy consumption and has the ability to fulfill the European objectives in the field.


    (Translated by D. Bilt and C. Mateescu)