Good morning Politicados, and welcome back to Worldwide Wednesday. It’s a pleasure to bring you this latest installment as I continue to fumble my way through global political news as a largely ignorant American.
ASEAN-India High-Level Conference on Renewable Energy
The ASEAN-India High-Level Conference on Renewable Energy, being organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Ministry of External Affairs of Government of India on February 7-8, 2022, commenced on Monday.
India Times [archive]
[India’s Minister of of New and Renewable Energy R. K. Singh] applauded ASEAN efforts to achieve the development of an ASEAN Power Grid and said India foresees opportunities to expand this grid integration beyond ASEAN to the Indian sub-continent in line with the ‘One Sun-One World-One Grid’ initiative.
What is the ‘One Sun One World One Grid’ (OSOWOG) initiative?
“One Sun One World One Grid” will be the first international network of global interconnected solar power grid which will combine large-scale solar power stations, wind farms and grids with rooftop solar and community grids to ensure a reliable, resilient and affordable supply of clean energy for all.
India Times [archive]
The project is being spearheaded by the governments of India and the UK in partnership with the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the World Bank Group and will bring together a global coalition of national governments, international financial and technical organisations, legislators, power system operators and knowledge leaders to accelerate the construction of the new infrastructure needed for a world powered by clean energy.
Last June, REN21 released the Renewables 2021 Global Status Report, and some members made themselves available for an AMA on r/AskScience. There, Chetna Hareesh Kumar shared the following on the subject of OSOWOG:
The solar boom in India has been so significant that several leading states are now facing overcapacity and grid integration challenges. The OSOWOG and Green Energy Corridor investments show that the government is cognizant of the challenges involved in increasing variable renewable shares in the power system and is working to deal with them.
reddit [archive]
Needless to say, PM Modi is good at rallying the public around key messages, and his solar power rhetoric serves well in aligning societal values around the technology. My only concern is that there might be too much focus on just one technology and one sector.
For the energy transition to be meaningful, India will need to source its energy from a variety of renewable sources, not just solar. And this cannot be limited to the power sector. India will also need to make sure its heating and cooling and transport energy needs are being met using renewable sources.
Burkinabe prosecutors seek 30 years for Compaore in murder trial
Military prosecutors in Burkina Faso have requested 30 years in jail for former President Blaise Compaore over the 1987 murder of his predecessor, Thomas Sankara.
Al Jazeera [archive]
A Marxist-Leninist, [Sankara] railed against imperialism and colonialism, often angering Western leaders but gaining followers across the continent and beyond.
Sankara and 12 of his colleagues were gunned down by a hit squad on October 15, 1987, at a meeting of the ruling National Revolutionary Council.
Fourteen people stand accused in the trial, 12 of them appearing in court. Compaore is accused of being the main sponsor behind the killing.
Burkina Faso: Junta announces restoration of Constitution
The Burkinabe junta has announced the restauration of constitutional order, just one week after a coup ousted elected president Kabore.
Africa News [archive]
According to the statement, it guarantees independence of the judiciary and presumption of innocence, as well as basic liberties spelled out in the the June 2, 1991 Constitution such as freedom of movement and freedom of speech as well as it secures power in the hands of the military.
Under the “fundamental act,” the junta — officially named the Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration (MPSR) — “ensures the continuity of the state pending the establishment of transitional bodies.” A transition that was given no timeline so far.
UN Security Council fails to agree on statement on Burkina Faso coup
[…] Council members were briefed by the UN representative in West Africa, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, who recently visited Burkina Faso on a joint mission with an Ecowas representative.
The East African [archive]
Last week, Ecowas decided against toughening sanctions against Burkina Faso and instead demanded a timetable for a swift return to civilian rule.
Severe drought threatens 13 million with hunger in Horn of Africa
An estimated 13 million people are waking up severely hungry every day in the Horn of Africa, as the region grapples with a major drought caused by the driest conditions since 1981, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
UN News [archive]
The drought has impacted pastoral and farmer populations across southern and southeastern Ethiopia, southeastern and northern Kenya, and south-central Somalia, compounding increases in staple food prices and inflation as well as low demand for agricultural labour – all of which is exacerbating families’ inability to buy food.
To avoid a major humanitarian crisis, like that of 2011 in which 250,000 people died of hunger in Somalia, WFP is launching a Regional Drought Response Plan for the Horn of Africa.
It is calling for $327 million to meet the immediate needs of 4.5 million people over the next six months and help communities become more resilient to extreme climate shocks.
I’ll stop there for this week but encourage the sharing of more internationally-focused political news in the comments. It’s impossible to cover global politics comprehensively in any one post, so please share whatever has your attention lately.
I’d like to give special thanks to Agate for the ‘Worldwide Wednesday’ name idea, as well as for suggesting the subject of renewable energy in India. I welcome any subject recommendations for future posts to cover, so feel free to make suggestions in the comments.
Be kind to each other as we summit this week’s hump, else the mods may be forced to leave you frozen at the peak as a warning to the rest of those considering breaking the McSquirrel Rule.