Når alt er krig: Konfliktdynamikk og russisk utenrikspolitikk etter krisen i Ukraina (WARU)
Hva er drivkreftene bak stadig dårligere relasjoner i verdenspolitikken? Kan vi forklare dem enkelt med henvisning til en aktørs ‘aggresjon’, slik politisk tale ofte gjør? Dette forskningsprosjektet a...
Sovereign Wealth Funds and Public Financing for Climate Action
The 2018 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on limiting global warming to 1.5 °C highlights the importance of access to capital for reaching this target. As directly or indirectly government-owned and -controlled investment vehicles with a an intrinsically long-term perspective, sovereign wealth funds have an self-interest in preventing climate change and its long-term impacts on the world economy and their broader portfolios. Other investors may choose to look upon climate change as an externality as long as they are not forced to take it into account. By contrast, sovereign wealth funds are perhaps the investor class for whom it makes most sense to internalize the consequences of climate change, as their long-term investment horizon makes them directly vulnerable to its consequences. Nonetheless, the number of sovereign wealth funds that engage in such investments and the proportion of their capital that is directed towards green financing remains small. This chapter discusses the operational aspects that make sovereign wealth funds good candidates of public green financing and the limitations that they face in this process. The discussion concludes with useful policy and governance considerations.
The new oil? The geopolitics and international governance of hydrogen
While most hydrogen research focuses on the technical and cost hurdles to a full-scale hydrogen economy, little consideration has been given to the geopolitical drivers and consequences of hydrogen developments. The technologies and infrastructures underpinning a hydrogen economy can take markedly different forms, and the choice over which pathway to take is the object of competition between different stakeholders and countries. Over time, cross-border maritime trade in hydrogen has the potential to fundamentally redraw the geography of global energy trade, create a new class of energy exporters, and reshape geopolitical relations and alliances between countries. International governance and investments to scale up hydrogen value chains could reduce the risk of market fragmentation, carbon lock-in, and intensified geo-economic rivalry.
Russian Renewable Energy: Regulations and outcomes
This chapter reviews the development of the legal framework for renewable energy in Russia and discusses the current state of renewable energy in the country. The Russian support scheme for renewable energy is elaborated in detail for both the wholesale and retail energy markets, and the outcomes of the policy are assessed based on the current state of renewable energy in Russia.
Gender and Labour Market Adjustment to Trade: The Case of India
Indiske kvinneres yrkesdeltakelse var på bare 24 prosent i 2018 - halvparten av det globale gjennomsnittet. Samtidig har India blant de største lønnsforskjellene mellom kvinner og menn i verden. Kvinner har også sjeldnere en formell jobb sammenlignet med menn. Denne studien ser på hvilken effekt internasjonal handel har på lønnsforskjeller og forskjeller i formell sysselsetting mellom menn og kvinner. Vi studerer tre mekanismer. Den første går gjennom spesialisering etter komparative fortrinn. India har komparative fortrinn for arbeidsintensive sektorer som for eksempel tekstiler og datatjenester. Begge sektorenen har større kvinneandel enn gjennomsnittet i India. Handelsliberalisering fører til økt sysselsetning og lønn i disse sektorene, noe som reduserer lønnsforskjellene mellom kvinner og menn totalt sett. For det andre vil økt handel føre til at de store og mest produktive bedriftene eskpanderer, mens små og mindre produktive bedrifter reduserer arbeidsstokken eller legger ned. Vi finner imidlertid ikke systematiske forskjeller mellom kvinner og menn når det gjelder sysselsetning etter bedriftsstrørrelse. For det tredje kan økt handel gi mer konkurranse og bedrifter har ikke lenger råd til å diskriminere. Denne effekten kan ikke måles direkte, men ved hjelp av Oaxaca-Blinder-metoden kan vi identifisere lønnsforskjeller som ikke er forklart med forskjeller i kompetanse og erfaring. Vi finner at kvinner tjener 24 prosent mindre enn sine mannlige kolleger i tjenestesektorer med komparative fortrinn, mens kvinner i industrien tjener i gjennomsnitt 40 prosent mindre enn mannlige arbeidere. Studien konkluderer med at internasjonal handel går hånd i hånd med mindre lønnsforskjeller mellom menn og kvinner i tjenestesektorene, og at det er lettere for kvinner å få uttelling for utdannelse og kompetanse i tjenestesektorene enn i industrien.
The geopolitics of renewables: New board, new game
This policy perspective sums up the main input of four members of the Research Panel for IRENA's Global Commission on the Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation. The geographic and technical characteristics of renewable energy systems are fundamentally different from those of coal, oil, and natural gas. This has implications for interstate energy relations and will require early attention if states are to exploit opportunities and address challenges. We point to six clusters of renewables' geopolitical implications that will manifest themselves over different time horizons. Overall, a generally positive disruption is foreseen, but also one that raises new energy security challenges. Moreover, while renewables will eventually render energy relations more horizontal and polycentric, achieving a smooth transition will not be easy. Renewables alter arenas of energy interaction, transforming markets and shifting trade partners, and reshape patterns of cooperation and conflict among countries. One possible outcome is a world of continental-sized grid communities made up of prosumer countries that continuously strategize between secure domestic production and cheap imports. Political action is required to manage, inter alia, industrial competition, stranded assets, availability of electricity and storage capacity, critical materials, and rivalry over ownership of key infrastructure assets.
The missallocation of climate research funding
The window of opportunity for mitigating climate change is narrow. Limiting global warming to 1.5 °C will require rapid and deep alteration of attitudes, norms, incentives, and politics. Some of the key climate-change and energy transition puzzles are therefore in the realm of the social sciences. However, these are precisely the fields that receive least funding for climate-related research. This article analyzes a new dataset of research grants from 333 donors around the world spanning 4.3 million awards with a cumulative value of USD 1.3 trillion from 1950 to 2021. Between 1990 and 2018, the natural and technical sciences received 770% more funding than the social sciences for research on issues related to climate change. Only 0.12% of all research funding was spent on the social science of climate mitigation.
Beirut: De knuste drømmers by
Libanon trenger ikke bare hjelp til å håndtere ødeleggelsene etter eksplosjonen, men også til å presse gjennom økonomiske og politiske reformer for å sikre landets overlevelse.
Korleis vernar vi e-demokratiet vårt?
Korleis kombinerer vi behovet for auka verdiskaping med vern av e-demokratiet vårt?
China and South Asia Crisis Management in the Era of Great Power Competition
I dette Research Paperet ser Kina-forsker Yun Sun fra Stimson-senteret i USA på hvilken rolle Kina vil spille hvis det oppstår en sikkerhetspolitisk krise mellom India og Pakistan. Yun hevder den skiftende maktbalansen mellom India og Pakistan og den stadig sterkere rivaliseringen mellom Kina og USA vil gjøre det vanskeligere for Kina å holde en tilbaketrukket rolle som megler. I framtiden kan faren for at Kina blir involvert i en konflikt øke.