As Sudanese elections near, UN voices concern over reports of harassment

The United Nations expressed concern today about reports that some opposition party members and supporters in Sudan are being harassed, intimidated, arrested or detained ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections slated for next month.

UN official arrives in Chad for talks on future of peacekeeping force

A senior United Nations official arrived today in the Chadian capital to lead talks with that country’s Government on the future of the UN peacekeeping force in the African country and the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR).

UN-AU mission and Arab League to coordinate more projects in Darfur

The joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) in Darfur and the League of Arab States have agreed to continue coordinating their projects to provide services to inhabitants of the region to promote peace and stability and facilitate the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their villages.

Gender inequality the focus of Migiro’s visit to Denmark and Spain

Women’s empowerment in the workplace and the wider economy is at the top of the agenda as the Deputy Secretary-General heads to Denmark for the first leg of a two-nation European visit.

Not playing along

Following its succesful campaign to pressure Ireland into signing the Lisbon Treaty, the EU elite now seems set on an even bigger task: forcingGermany to accept a bailout plan for Greece. A range of selcted EU leaders hope that Germany will give in at the EU summit later this week.

So far, Chancellor Angela Merkel has (at least in public) resisted EU pressure to open her purse. She has even been forced to instruct her Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble to calm down a bit, as Herr Schäuble has proven a bit too enthusiastic about signing up to a Greek rescue plan.

Interestingly, Handelsblatt today reveals that Schäuble’s proposal for a European Monetary Fund - which would serve as a long-term solution to the eurozone’s woes - was not checked with Merkel beforehand, which apparently now has created a rift between the two. Go figure.

Apart from the split within the government itself, the country’s central bankers also seem to have a bit of a beef with the politicans in charge. Througout modern German history, the Bundesbank and the Federal Ministry of Finance have often clashed, and the Bundensbank is certainly not making life easier for German politicans at the moment.

In its monthly report, the Bundesbank pointed out that it is not within the IMF’s mandate to help countries to finance their excessive budget deficits. “The IMF’s mandate stipulates that it may only use its foreign-currency reserves to bridge short-term balance of payments deficits”, the bank claimed.

Given the stakes (a Greek default), publicly resisting an IMF solution (which would be the least painful option for all concerned in our view) seems a bit risky. The Bundesbank must be very confident that Greece will manage to cut its budget deficit, despite not being able to devalue because of its euro membership, and despite not being able to recieve affordable loans (since that’s not within the mandate of the IMF, according to the Bundesbank’s logic).

Is it implicitly advocating the solution which involves voluntary bilateral loans from eurozone member states? Or maybe it has a different solution in mind? Interestingly, the Bundesbank also pointed out yesterday that it saw the expulsion of a eurozone member as fully possible, since the Lisbon Treaty neither mentions such an option nor excludes it…

Axel Weber, who is now head of the Bundesbank, deserves credit for his boldness (but we’re not sure his high profile will help his bid to become the next ECB President).

With an internally split Government, a more assertive Bundesbank and with the meticulous judges at the Karlsruhe court waiting in the wings, this plot is certainly thickening.

Does anyone still believe that Germany is a unitary actor in EU affairs?

Today on New Scientist: 23 March 2010

All today’s stories on newscientist.com at a glance, including: how to take out bugs using their genes, the downside of energy-efficient homes, and where to get your geek groove on

Lebanon: UN calls for continued dialogue ahead of municipal elections

Municipal elections planned for Lebanon later this year must be free and fair, a senior United Nations official said today as he urged the country’s political leaders to continue to pursue dialogue to ensure that tensions are eased ahead of the polls.

Wind farms produce ‘fifth of expected electricity’

Wind farms are producing less than a fifth of the electricity predicted, a study has found.

By Rebecca SmithPublished: 7:25AM GMT 22 Mar 2010

Some wind farms operating at just ten per cent of their maximum capacity, it is found. Photo: PA
The first detailed study of onshore wind farms has found that 20 of the sites produce less than 20 per cent of their maximum output with some producing less than 10 per cent.
Blyth Harbour in Northumberland is thought to be the least efficient wind farm producing just 7.9 per cent of its maximum capacity while Chelker reservoir in North Yorkshire operates at 8.7 per cent of its capacity.

The figures were compiled by lobby group Clowd using data collected by energy regulators Ofgem.
The best wind farms operate at about 50 per cent of their predicted maximum capacity while the majority produce around 25 per cent to 30 per cent.
Experts warned that subsidies for green energy are encouraging wind farms to be built in unsuitable areas.
Prof Michael Jefferson, of the London Metropolitan Business School, said developers ‘grossly exaggerate’ the energy producing potential of their sites.
He said: “The subsidies make it viable for developers to put turbines on sites they would not touch if the money was available.”
Nick Medic, of Renewable UK, said Britain needed every bit of green energy it could generate.
Dustin Benton, senior policy officer at the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, said although the organisation is in favour of renewable energy development such as wind power, it is vital that such schemes get ‘maximum wind gain for our landscape buck’.
He added: “We should be putting wind farms in windy places but those are often the most beautiful landscapes and while we need to maximise the energy generated from wind farms we need to be realistic that there are limits.
“Renewable energy is important but carbon is not the only thing going on.”
Mr Benton said the subsidy system for renewable energy projects was ‘blind to the impact on the landcape and the importance of beauty and tranquility’.
The Government has announced plans to increase the number of wind turbines onshore and offshore over the next ten years.
The Conservatives have said they create tax exemptions for wind and nuclear power and launch a ‘green bank’ to invest in renewable energy.

Rail link sell-off will raise £2bn for green energy projects

Chancellor insists budget measures will be ’sensible and workmanlike’ rather than pre-election giveaway

Larry Elliott and Patrick Wintour
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 21 March 2010 20.28 GMT
Alistair Darling will use the proceeds from the state sell-off of the Channel Tunnel rail link to pay for a £2bn green infrastructure fund, in a budget designed to help business and tackle Britain’s emerging energy crisis, Treasury sources said tonight.
The chancellor, who insisted today that Wednesday’s package of measures would be “sensible and workmanlike” rather than a pre-election giveaway, plans to earmark the first tranche of cash from the privatisation of High Speed 1 for seedcorn capital for low-carbon energy projects.
The projects likely to benefit from the fund will include low-carbon cars, wind energy, green waste projects and a new generation of nuclear power stations. Darling will claim that the fund will create 400,000 low-carbon jobs by 2015.
Without the investment, Britain would struggle to meet its targets for the next decade of cutting CO2 emissions by 34% and producing 15% of its energy from renewable sources.
Darling will also announce that Britain’s banks will contribute £250m to a £500m growth capital fund, designed to ease the financial pressures on the small and medium-sized companies most affected by the credit crunch.
“A little bit of government help can unlock a lot of private sector investment, and that is going to be the focus this week,” Darling said in a BBC interview.
He picked out the creative industries and the pharmaceutical sector as two industries warranting extra government help.
The overall aim of the budget is to set out a pathway for growth, and to give fresh details on the deficit reduction plans outlined in December.
The chancellor ruled out rises in VAT and indicated he would dedicate any windfall from lower than expected borrowing figures and unemployment to investments in the future, rather than extra departmental spending.
“If a politician offered Christmas trees the voters would roll their eyes and say, ‘Oh well, you know you’ve clearly lost touch’,” he argued.
Darling is expected to provide fresh detail on how government departments are meeting efficiency targets, deemed to be essential to plans to halve the deficit by 2013-14.
He also insisted there would not be an emergency budget after the election, and said he hoped the 50p income tax rate on those earning £150,000 or more would be a temporary feature of the tax landscape.
The government is expected to announce fresh measures to reduce youth unemployment, as well as some extra cash for defence.
Overall, the budget will represent a shift to a more European interventionist industrial policy. Darling and Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, believe the case for a more hands-on approach has been made by the success of limited state support for Nissan in Sunderland, which last week announced plans for a new electric car, and for Sheffield Forgemasters, one of only two plants in the world capable of making reactor vessels for the nuclear industry.
The High Speed 1 rail link was taken into public ownership last year, and Darling intends to use £1bn from the sell-off to attract a further £1bn from the private sector for a fund to be set up in 2011.
Other state assets earmarked for sale include the Dartford crossing and the Tote.
Treasury sources said Britain needed to spend £165bn over the next 15 years to replace 40% of its energy infrastructure, and public money had to be found – even in tough financial times – to attract private finance for new and unproven technologies. Mandelson’s business department are also looking at using more active industrial policies – such as government procurement policies and small-scale loans – to help business recover from the deepest and longest recession since the second world war.
The budget is likely to set a target for the percentage of government business that should go to SMEs and propose an updated form of 3i, set up after the war to provide venture capital for start-up companies. “The fund is needed to deal with the problem of barriers to entry for private sector investment in technologies perceived to be high risk”, a Treasury source said.

Carbon traders try to reply to fears

By Fiona Harvey and Chris Flood
Published: March 22 2010 19:47 Carbon traders tried to calm market fears on Monday after the latest blow to the credibility of the European Union’s emissions trading scheme.
The International Emissions Trading Association, an industry body for traders, called for a halt to resale of certain carbon credits, after concerns that “used” credits were being “recycled”.

Credits that were submitted by companies to cover their obligations under the EU’s trading scheme were then re-sold back into the market by Hungary’s government, in a decision that – although legal – was said by carbon experts to raise questions about the correct working of the system.
Henry Derwent, president of IETA, said: “The reaction from market participants and observers across the world should convince governments that recycling is strongly disliked by the market. It also impacts the reputation of the EU ETS.”
The European Commission is to close the loophole.
Under the EU ETS, companies in certain energy-intensive industries are issued with rights to emit carbon dioxide, some free and some bought at auction. The companies must surrender to their governments enough permits to cover their emissions each year.
Companies are able increase their quota of permits by buying carbon credits from overseas, issued by the UN under the Kyoto protocol.

FT interactive graphic: Explore the technologies adopted and various developing nations’ level of participation
These are cheaper than the permits issued by the EU. It was about 1.7m of these UN credits – worth nearly €20m ($27m) – that were then re-sold by the Hungarian government, in a move that is allowed under the rules but that caused market participants to question the value of the recycled credits.
The UN credits were trading at €11.46 a tonne on Monday while EU permits were at €13.12 a tonne.
The Bluenext and Nordpool exchanges halted trading in carbon credits last Wednesday to investigate whether recycled credits were being circulated, but reopened on Monday.
The Hungarian government named Deutsche Bank as one of the bidders for the recycled credits, but the bank said it pulled out for ethical reasons.
Microdyne, a small London-based company, said it took the credits, which were then sold on to a Hong Kong company.
There was widespread anger in the market. “Hungary is playing with fire,” said one trader.
Mitchell Feierstein, chief executive of Glacier Environmental Funds, called the re-sale of used credits “idiotic” and said traders must conduct due diligence on their counter-parties.