Renewables growth is stalling, warns IEA www.rt.com

Renewable energy deployment stalled out last year, raising alarm bells about the pace of the clean energy transition.
In 2018, total deployment of renewable energy stood at about 180 gigawatts (GW), which was the same as the previous year. It was the first time since 2001 that capacity failed to increase year-on-year, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Adding 180 GW of clean energy is a massive total, but still falls short of what is needed to clean up the electricity sector. It equates to roughly 60 percent of what is needed each year in order to meet long-term climate goals, the IEA said. The agency said that the world needs to add about 300 GW of renewable energy each year through 2030 in order to meet the targets laid out in the Paris Climate Agreement.

“The world cannot afford to press “pause” on the expansion of renewables and governments need to act quickly to correct this situation and enable a faster flow of new projects,” Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director, said in a statement.

“Thanks to rapidly declining costs, the competitiveness of renewables is no longer heavily tied to financial incentives. What they mainly need are stable policies supported by a long-term vision but also a focus on integrating renewables into power systems in a cost-effective and optimal way. Stop-and-go policies are particularly harmful to markets and jobs,” Birol added.

For the last four years, growth of wind had slowed, but the gap was made up by faster growth from solar. The difference in 2018 was that solar’s exponential growth flattened out. The reason for that lies in China, where the government pared back incentives on solar in order to cut expenditures and cope with grid integration challenges, the IEA said. Still, China added 44 GW of solar last year, the most by far out of any other country and nearly half of the 97 GW global total. But that was down from 53 GW that China installed in 2017.

Costs continue to fall, making renewable energy the cheapest option in many markets, which should ensure strong growth going forward. In the US, wind and solar are now cheaper than operating existing coal plants in much of the country. In fact, in April, renewable energy surpassed coal in terms of electricity generation for the first time, accounting for 24 percent of the total, compared to coal’s 20 percent market share.

But, despite the momentum, the transition is not fast enough. A new UN report finds that the world is facing a mass die-off of biodiversity, with as many as one million plant and animal species at risk of extinction. Also, the world is on track to blow through its carbon budget within 12 years.

Because of this urgency, a wave of new policies supporting a faster roll out of electric vehicles and renewable energy is inevitable. At the state level, renewable energy mandates are proliferating. In the Democratic primary for president, candidates are trying to outdo each other in terms of ambition on clean energy and climate change. For instance, what was once considered an extreme position, such as banning oil and gas drilling on public lands, has now become a mainstream position in the Democratic Party, at least for the candidates running for president.

Another example of the shifting Overton window came in late April when former Texas Congressman and presidential contender Beto O’Rourke recently called for $5 trillion in spending over the next 10 years in an effort to cut emissions to zero by 2050. It’s ambitious by any measure, but faced some pushback for not going far enough, which says a lot about the growing concern about climate change. In fact, climate change ranked as the top issue for Democratic voters, according to a recent poll.

The oil and gas industry has enjoyed a golden era under the Trump administration, but it may only be temporary.

China vows 'necessary countermeasures' against Trump tariff hike www.cnn.com

Hong Kong (CNN Business)China said Friday that it regrets President Donald Trump's hike in tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese goods, and reiterated its promise to retaliate against the United States.

Mr. Traian Laurentiu Hristea: Mongolia has possibility to export 6200 types of goods to the EU without taxes www.montsame.mn

This year marks 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and the European Union. Moreover, Today- May 9 is Europe Day that recognizes the formation of the European Union with 28 state members.

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Mongolia-the EU diplomatic relations and the Europe Day, H.E. Mr. Traian Laurentiu Hristea, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the European Union to Mongolia, has been interviewed.

-Happy to have you interviewing on the occasion of the Europe Day. Please give us a brief introduction about this day?

-Today – May 9 - is Europe Day. The day when the European Union (EU) celebrates its being one, united. Sixty-nine years ago, in 1950, on this exact day, one of the founding fathers of the European Union, Robert Schuman, put forward a revolutionary idea for those times: that European States could share part of their sovereignty to prevent any future war in Europe.

Two world wars, the most devastating conflicts in human history, started in Europe and spread to the whole planet after thousands of years of European conflicts. After 1945, across a continent ravaged by war and famine, European people looked for a way to rebuild their future. A handful of European leaders decided that the best way to prevent war was to share the things which nations had been fighting for, and to build closer bonds of friendship and trust. The first step was the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951.

What is interesting about the Schuman declaration of 9 May 1950 is that it proposed action be taken immediately on one limited but decisive point: production of coal and steel be placed under a common High Authority, within the framework of an organization open to the participation of the other countries of Europe.

A few years later, in 1957, the signature of the Treaty of Rome created the European Economic Community that later became the European Union, which is based on common policies and a common market. Borders and barriers were removed for goods, people, capitals and services. This allowed cross border trade to flourish making war between neighbours simply unthinkable and generating prosperity and opportunities for millions of Europeans.

Choosing cooperation over confrontation, Europeans built the most successful peace project in history. Our founding fathers and mothers imagined a renewed European continent – a continent that instead of exporting war would promote peace, democracy and human development within its borders and in the world.

-This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between EU and Mongolia. What kinds of activities are being planned?

-The EU has been supporting Mongolia's democracy for almost three decades. We have been a third neighbour for thirty years, and this isan occasion to celebrate but also to reinforce and expand our cooperation.

In celebration of the 30th anniversary the Delegation of the EU in collaboration with its Members states, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Governor's office of Ulaanbaatar city, for the first time we will organize a Europe Square– European Open day event on Sunday 26 May from 10.00-18.00 at the Sukhbaatar square. We welcome everybody to attend this event. The citizens of Mongolia are invited to taste various European country specific food and drinks at once, get to know about the European Union funded projects, European companies and cultural institutions, and thus to have a better understanding why the European Union is spending the European Union tax payers’ money on projects in Mongolia. We hope this event will bring closer European and Mongolian peoples and cultures.

-What kind of projects and programmes are you implementing in Mongolia?

-Our actions are meant to help our partner, Mongolia, to increase its resilience in this geopolitical environment and to diversify its rules based market economy beyond the mining sector. That is why we cover four main priorities:

We promote better employment opportunities, focusing on diversifying Mongolia's economy and trade patterns by helping small and medium size enterprises. The EU has a very comprehensive strategy that goes from vocational training, to improve value chains, provide better access international markets and providing access to finance to SMEs.

We are supporting the effective implementation of human and labour rights in Mongolia, including the rights of persons with disabilities, as well as the development of civil society organisations in various fields (agriculture, environment, corruption and press freedom).

The EU is finally supporting Mongolia in reducing pollution by moving to renewable energies and switching to more sustainable consumption and production.

We also support the implementation of an ambitious public finance management reform agenda through technical assistance.

-Mongolian side has been continuously expressing the need for strengthening trade and economic related cooperation. Are there any particular activities are taken over in regard of this issue?

-The EU and Mongolia share many common values: respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law are the foundation of our relationship. However, from an economic and trade perspective, our elations leave a lot of room for improvement.

The EU is looking into possibilities to enhance trade relations, and is assisting Mongolia's businesses to better use the EU's Generalised Scheme of Preferences – an EU policy allowing developing countries to pay fewer or no duties on exports to the EU, giving them vital access to the EU market and contributing to their growth. Many products of Mongolia that could find a market in the EU.

The EU is supporting Mongolia with Trade Related Assistance for Mongolia (EU-TRAM) project that has already identified four types of products that have potential to be exported to the EU. These are organic cosmetics, yak and baby camel wool, seabuckthorn oil and leather. For each of these four types of products EU-TRAM project established clusters where all value chain problems are identified and tackled. There is however a need to improve standards, rules of origin, certifications and market intelligence to facilitate access of Mongolian products into the EU market.

This will help Mongolia in making better use of the GSP+ scheme, which allows around 6200 products to enter the EU market without taxes, if market access and quality standards are met.

-You are the first resident EU Ambassador to Mongolia, and a person who has been studying in Mongolia in 1990s. How does it feel like coming back after 23 years?

-I really appreciate the investment that Mongolia did into a young Romanian student. I studied at the National University of Mongolia between 1990 and 1995.

It is a great privilege to come back as Ambassador of the European Union. I have seen many changes, but what has remained intact it is the hospitality friendship and the openness of the Mongolian people.

Mongolia is still a country in transition: economic, social and political. I will do my best to facilitate the fostering of our political dialogue and sectoral cooperation. My goal is to strengthen the EU-Mongolia partnership for the benefit of Mongolian society and its citizens and to bring the Delegation's contribution to developing bilateral relations beyond the 30th anniversary in full compliance with the vision and content of the EU-Mongolia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement.

BY.M.Unurzul

"CEO of Turquoise Hill is in Mongolia actively working on this matter" www.mining-journal.com

The Mongolian parliamentary working group had last month reportedly recommended one of the agreements underpinning the giant copper mine should be scrapped and another changed, adding to the giant project's political problems.

Chinggis city-Berkh road construction commences www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. A construction work of a 70km road between Chinggis City and Berkh, a part of planned 265km road of Chinggis city-Berkh-Dadal route, commenced yesterday during the rural working trip of Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh to Khentii aimag.

Top US biopharmaceutical company meets Mongolian President www.news.mn

Liver-disease is an extremely serious problem in Mongolia; it was for this reason President Kh.Battulga met representatives of US-based Eiger BioPharmaceuticals Inc. which has been providing effective solutions in the country. Among the group meeting the head-of-state were David A. Cory, President and CEO, Ingrid Choong, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Development, and John Ferraro, Vice President of Clinical Operations.

Tortured to Confess Scandal: Former spy-chief to stay in detention www.news.mn

The Chingeltei District Court decided today (8 May) to extend the detention of B.Khurts, the controversial former director of Mongolian’s General Intelligence Agency (GIA) for a further 15 days at the request of the prosecutors. He has been detained by the Criminal Police Department over the ‘torture to confess’ case. B.Khurts was taken to the 461st Detention Centre on 23 April.

Insurance competency framework to be introduced in Mongolia www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ A business meeting themed Introducing insurance competency framework in Mongolia’s financial and insurance sector took place today.

Wildfires burn 239,200 hectares of land in Mongolia so far this year www.xinhuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, May 8 (Xinhua) -- A total of 48 forest and steppe fires have been recorded across Mongolia so far this year, the country's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said Wednesday, noting that the wildfires have burned 239,200 hectares of land.

Govt last push for refinery in Mongolia www.tribuneindia.com

Much to the chagrin of China and Russia, India is attempting a beachhead in Mongolia with a refinery. The refinery will come up barely 200 km from the border with China and is expected to replace almost 1.5 million tonnes of petroleum products imported by Mongolia from Russia.