🇫🇮 Despite all its previous achievements and innovative potential, the Finnish economy is currently beset by a number of serious structural problems, including:

🔹 a decline in production and a slowdown in economic growth,

🔹 significant consumer and industrial inflation,

🔹 high unemployment, a shortage of skilled labour,

🔹 a chronic budget deficit with a rising public debt,

🔹 a negative trade balance, and a decline in foreign trade, especially with Russia, which had been one of Finland’s most important trade and economic partners for decades.

Globalisation, which once had a significant beneficial impact on the Finnish economy, is now in a transitional stage, and Finland’s position is no exception, as there is growing evidence that the country has begun to lag behind in terms of investment attractiveness, education, competencies and labour resources, Azam Muradov writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/finland-in-pursuit-of-a-welfare-society/

#Multipolarity_and_Connectivity #Finland #economy

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🌏 More international cooperation in Asia is on the horizon.

There is always hope that such cooperation may reap the benefits of globalisation and regionalisation in such a way that globalisation helps facilitate conditions conducive to addressing common issues and challenges, especially when the global economy is fragmented, and regionalisation or regional cooperation promotes understandings and activities that would address domestic issues or challenges at the same time, writes Dr. Pornchai Danvivathana, Secretary General, Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD). 

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/international-cooperation-in-asia/

#WiderEurasia #Asia #globalisation

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⏰ TODAY at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion on the environmental agenda and the results of the COP28 climate conference in Dubai.

❓What will the outcome of COP28 mean in practice?
❓How realistic is the adopted course in the medium term?
❓How will oil-producing countries react?
❓What will Russia’s position be?
❓How will the current geopolitical situation affect the environmental agenda?

Participants in the discussion will try to answer these and other questions.

Links to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online platforms of the Valdai Club: on the website, X (formerly Twitter), VKontakte, Telegram and Dzen.

#GlobalAlternatives #COP28 #climate #ClimateChange

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UPD: The livestream is over. The video of the discussion is available via the same link. Stay tuned!

🎥 LIVE: at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), we are starting an expert discussion on the environmental agenda and the results of the COP28 climate conference in Dubai.

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239159

#GlobalAlternatives #COP28 #climate #ClimateChange

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🗣 On January 24, 2024, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion on the environmental agenda and the results of the COP28 climate conference in Dubai.

📷 Photo gallery

🎥 If you missed the live broadcast of the discussion, watch the video via this link.

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🌱 2023 was a year of climate records around the world. There are risks of extreme weather conditions. By the end of this century, between a third and half of the world’s population — three to six billion people — could be pushed beyond the “livable zones”.

We created an infographic on consequences of climate change in 2023. The full infographic is available on the website.

#valdai_infogaphics #ClimateChange

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🏭 COP28: Towards a Just Energy Transition?

On January 24, 2024, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion on the environmental agenda and the results of the COP28 climate conference in Dubai. The moderator was Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Club.

💬 Igor Makarov, head of the Department of World Economy and Head of the Laboratory for the Economics of Climate Change at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, who participated in COP28, called the issue of abandoning fossil fuels “the main drama of the conference.” The main result, in his opinion, is that it was possible to reach a compromise, called the “UAE consensus”. This compromise consists, firstly, in the fact that the parties agreed on softer language, providing for a “movement away” from fossil fuels instead of a “total rejection”. Second, a clause recognizing the role of “transition fuels” in facilitating the energy transition was added to the text of the final document. What exactly we are talking about is not explained, but traditionally such fuel means gas. Third, the final formulations mentioned a variety of channels for reducing emissions, which fully reflects the principle of technological neutrality promoted by Russia. Fourth, the final document emphasizes that the fight against climate change and the move towards carbon neutrality must be carried out in an equitable and fair manner. This would allow poorer countries to link emissions reduction targets to international aid.

💬 Yakov Kuzyakov, head of the departments of forest soil science and agro-soil science at the University of Göttingen (Germany), noted that although the transition to renewable sources will occur, there are some areas of both industry and transport where it is impossible. A completely fair solution in this area is also impossible — the economic interests of different countries are too different, and a quick and easy replacement of energy sources with alternative ones is hardly feasible. Speaking about the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by artificial and natural ecosystems, Kuzyakov noted the importance in this process of plantations that are intensively used for timber production. Overall, he suggested that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere will continue to rise in the coming decades and, accordingly, temperatures will rise.

💬 Francine Mestrum, president of the NGO Global Social Justice and member of the board of the Belgian CETRI (Centre Tricontinental), dedicated her speech to the political conflict in Western Europe between farmers protesting government climate measures that threaten their usual way of life, and the environmental movement. Far right forces that deny climate change are on the farmers’ side. Against this background, the standard policies of progressive and green parties, accustomed to calling on voters to give up their usual comfort for the sake of a better future, turn out to be ineffective. In today’s Europe, no one is ready to make sacrifices without compensation.

💬 Elena Maslova, senior researcher at the Institute of International Studies at MGIMO University under the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and senior researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, raised the question of how the fight against climate change is managed. Although a kind of “green consensus” was formed in the world, claiming the status of a moral and ethical imperative, and no one doubts that climate change is an ontological threat, countries independently choose their approaches and their own paths to achieve climate neutrality. During the summit in Dubai, an attempt was made to shake this status quo and develop a unified paradigm.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/cop28-towards-a-just-energy-transition/

#GlobalAlternatives #COP28 #climate #ClimateChange

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⏰ TODAY at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3) the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion on the escalation in Yemen and the Red Sea.

❓How will the escalation in Yemen and the Red Sea affect global trade?
❓Does it threaten regional security?
❓What was the role of Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands in preparing the airstrikes?
❓How can forces supporting the Houthis respond to attacks by the United States and Britain?
❓How can Russia influence the resolution of the crisis?

Participants in the discussion will try to answer these and other questions.

Links to the live broadcast of the open sessions will be posted on all online platforms of the Valdai Club: on the website, X (formerly Twitter), VKontakte, Telegram and Dzen. 

#Return_of_Diplomacy #Yemen #RedSea #MiddleEast #Houthi

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UPD: The livestream is over. The video of the discussion is available via the same link. Stay tuned!

🎥 LIVE: at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3) the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion on the escalation in Yemen and the Red Sea.

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239160

#Return_of_Diplomacy #Yemen #RedSea #MiddleEast #Houthi

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🗣 On January 26, 2024, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion on the escalation in Yemen and the Red Sea.

📷 Photo gallery

🎥 If you missed the live broadcast of the discussion, watch the video via this link.

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⚔️🌏 This crisis is a test of the quality of the strategy of all participants: everyone entered this crisis with their initial understanding of what the world looks like, how it works and where history is going.

The United States truly believes that foreign policy is part of its domestic policy.

Moreover, every American foreign policy strategy is one component of the country’s internal struggles; American self-absorption greatly unnerves their near and far allies and creates uncertainty in the development of the situation.

Ukraine is a convenient, rather cheap tool for weakening and containing Russia, as well as forcing the European allies to embrace discipline and obedience, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/ukraine-in-the-hands-of-the-united-states-tool/

#Return_of_Diplomacy #UnitedStates #Ukraine #WorldOrder

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