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A30 world news
Diahuebs 19 Mei 2022
4 EU nations to harness North Sea wind for green transition

By JAN M. OLSEN weaning itself off Russian
Associated Press fossil fuels this year. The
COPENHAGEN, Den- goal is to deprive Russia, the
mark (AP) — Four Eu- EU’s main supplier of oil,
ropean Union countries natural gas and coal, of tens
plan to speed up the conti- of billions in revenue and
nent’s green transition and strengthen EU climate poli-
help wean it off Russian cies.
energy imports through a “We are taking our ambi-
large new project to build tion to yet another level to
wind farms in the North make sure that we become
Sea, Danish Prime Minis- independent from Russian
ter Mette Frederiksen said fossil fuels as quickly as pos-
Wednesday. sible,” von der Leyen said in
She said her country, to- Brussels when announcing
gether with Belgium, the the package, dubbed RE-
Netherlands and Germa- PowerEU.
ny, “want to increase our The EU has pledged to re-
total offshore wind capac- duce carbon dioxide emis-
ity fourfold by 2030 and pean Commission President change, both which, she said, 150 GW by 2050.” sions by 55% compared with
tenfold by 2050.” The plan Ursula von der Leyen. “affect the European econ- This, they said, would deliver 1990 levels by 2030, and to
is to provide energy to 230 Scholz said the scale of the omy and the safety of our more than half the capacity get to net zero emissions by
million European house- project “will be of an un- peoples.” needed for the EU to reach 2050.
holds. imaginable order.” Von der Leyen, who earlier climate neutrality. The European Commission
“The North Sea is the place in the day presented an EU- In Brussels, the Euro- has set an overall target of
“(This) means that we are where, with the offshore wide energy package in Brus- pean Commission moved generating 300 gigawatts of
able, the four of us, to deliver wind parks, we can produce sels, said the war in Ukraine Wednesday to jump-start offshore energy by 2050.
more than half of all offshore electricity on a large scale, in “highlights the risks we have plans for the whole 27-nation Along with climate change,
wind needed to reach climate the large quantities we need taken to be too dependent on EU to abandon Russian en- the war in Ukraine has made
neutrality in the European -- and can already do (that) Russian fossil fuels.” ergy amid the Kremlin’s war EU nations eager to reduce
Union,” Frederiksen added. today in a way that it is eco- The four countries pledged in Ukraine. The commission their dependency on Russian
She spoke at an event in Es- nomical,” he said. to set “ambitious combined proposed a nearly 300 billion- natural gas and oil. In 2021,
bjerg, 260 kilometers (162 The new wind farms will be targets for offshore wind of euro ($315 billion) package the EU imported roughly
miles) west of Copenhagen, built along the four coun- at least 65 GW by 2030,” their that includes more efficient 40% of its gas and 25% of its
attended by German Chan- tries’ North Sea coasts. energy and climate ministers use of fuels and a faster roll- oil from Russia.
cellor Olaf Scholz, Dutch Frederiksen said the project said in a statement. It said out of renewable power. At a March 11 summit, EU
Prime Minister Mark Rutte, would help address the chal- they also aim to “more than The investment initiative by leaders agreed in principle to
Belgian Prime Minister Al- lenges posed by Russia’s war double our total 2030-capac- the EU’s executive arm is phase out Russian gas, oil and
exander De Croo, and Euro- against Ukraine and climate ity of offshore wind to at least meant to help the bloc start coal imports by 2027.

U.N. envoy: U.S. sanctions on Iran worsen humanitarian situation

By AMIR VAHDAT and children” as being badly
Associated Press affected by the measures.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Douhan, a Belarusian who
Sweeping U.S. sanctions was appointed in 2020 and
imposed on Iran have reports to the U.N. Human
badly impacted the coun- Rights Council, also said
try’s economy and wors- that the “sanctions have been
ened the humanitarian substantially exacerbating the
situation in the Persian humanitarian situation in
Gulf nation, a United Na- Iran.” She urged countries
tions special envoy said that imposed unilateral sanc-
Wednesday. tions against Iran, especially
the United States, to remove
According to Alena Douhan, them.
the U.N. special rapporteur Former President Donald
on unilateral coercive mea- Trump pulled America out of
sures, the sanctions have af- the nuclear deal between Iran
fected Iran’s main export and world powers, re-im-
groups, banks and also sev- posed sanctions and also in-
eral companies and nationals, troduced new, tougher mea-
including some pharmaceu- sures against Tehran in 2018.
ticals and food production. The nuclear deal had grant- reached completion in March nuclear program has rapidly acknowledging nearly two
This has led to inflation and ed Tehran sanctions relief in before Moscow demanded advanced. dozen arrests.
growing poverty, and deplet- exchange for strict curbs on that its trade with Iran be ex- However, over the past weeks, Bus drivers in Tehran seeking
ed state resources for dealing its nuclear program. Talks in empted from Western sanc- anger over Iran’s worsen- a 10% wage increase walked
with the basic needs of people Vienna to revive that deal — tions over Ukraine, throwing ing economic conditions has off the job on Monday, para-
with low income and other something hat the Biden ad- the process into disarray. Ne- mounted amid price hikes of lyzing parts of the city, and
vulnerable groups, Douhan ministration is trying to do — gotiators have yet to recon- dinner table staples as a result teachers have also gone on
told reporters during a press have stalled over an Iranian vene in the Austrian capital of a new government policy strike over the past months
conference in Tehran. She demand that Washington lift of Vienna, and it’s unclear ex- to amend the food subsidy in cities and towns across
singled out those suffering a terrorist designation on the actly what hurdles lie ahead. system. Scattered protests Iran. They have walked out
from “severe diseases, dis- country’s paramilitary Revo- Despite the deadlock, offi- have erupted over the price of their classes to press for
abled people, Afghan refu- lutionary Guard. cials say the urgency to close changes in several provinces, better pay and working con-
gees, women-led households The negotiations nearly the deal has grown as Iran’s with Iranian state-run media ditions.