Dubai - Netherlands: DEWA visits Netherlands to strengthen ties

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer

A senior delegation, headed by HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority ( DEWA ), is visiting the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The visit is strengthening ties, exchanging expertise, and promoting participation by Dutch companies in the first Dubai Solar Show, which will be held in conjunction with the 18th Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition (WETEX 2016) from 4 to 6 October 2016. WETEX is organised under the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance and President of DEWA .

The delegation includes Hussain Lootah, Executive Vice President of Transmission, Waleed Ali Salman, Executive Vice President of Strategy & Business Development, Dr. Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support & Human Resources, Matar Suhail Salem Al Mehairi, Vice President of Distribution Asset Management, Mohamed Al Shamsi, Vice President of Water & Civil Projects and Water Maintenance, Moza Al Akraf, CIO, Faisal Al Dashti, Senior Manager of Information Security, Ahmed Belarti, Senior Manager of Smart Services, Mohamed Abdulkarim Al Shamsi, Senior Manager of Sustainability & Climate Change, and Ahmed Abdullah, Senior Manager of External Communications.

During the visit, Al Tayer commenced his first meetings with Ahmed Aboutaleb, Mayor of Rotterdam, HE Abdallah Hamdan Al Naqbi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and high-profile representatives of Dutch companies operating in energy, water and environment. Al Tayer praised the efforts of the UAE Embassy in the Netherlands.

In his speech, Al Tayer highlighted opportunities for cooperation between Dubai and the Netherlands, the potential of the energy and environment sectors in the UAE, and cooperation on renewable and clean energy projects, and plans that Dubai has for the future.

"Our nation is blessed with leaders who have a real vision of a brighter future that incorporates sustainability at the heart of our daily lives. HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, have both mandated that Solar Energy and sustainability are essential to the future of our nation," said Al Tayer.

"The UAE's commitment to combatting climate change and developing renewable energy is already well-established. As well as supporting the COP21 accords in Paris, the UAE hosts the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency. Dubai intends to generate 75% of its total power output from clean energy by 2050. This target is part of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum last November," added Al Tayer.

"This strategy has defined our efforts to develop the efforts of our Emirate and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority to bring solar power to our citizens and residents. The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park, which is the largest single-site solar park in the world, will generate 1,000 megawatts by 2020 and 5,000 megawatts by 2030, which will save approximately 6.5 million metric tons per year in carbon dioxide emissions," added Al Tayer.

Read more: DEWA visits Netherlands to strengthen ties - Zawya

Britain: Why Brexit Would Be Bad For Employment Rights

Imagine a country in which there is no statutory right to paid holiday, no legal limit on the number of hours employees can be required to work, no right to a daily rest period, no laws to prevent employers discriminating against workers who are disabled or who have particular religious beliefs, and no right for employees to take time off work to look after a sick child.

This was the UK before the New Labour government was elected in 1997. Since then a substantial number of employment rights have been introduced – most of which have their roots in EU legislation.

Thanks to the EU, employers cannot treat part-time workers less favourably than full-time workers, working parents have a right to take leave to look after their children, and temporary agency workers and workers with fixed-term contracts are entitled to the same basic conditions as comparable workers with permanent contracts.

Employees also have rights to paid holiday and rest periods, as well as the right to be informed and consulted about matters that directly concern them at work. Employers, meanwhile, are forbidden from discriminating against their employees on grounds of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.

There’s strong reason to believe that many of these rights would be lost should Britain leave the EU.

Read more:n Britain: Why Brexit Would Be Bad For Employment Rights

EU-Turkey Refugees Crises: Turkey wants additional 3 billion euros to deal with refugee crisis

Ankara has called on the EU to show greater "solidarity" with Turkey in order to tackle a wave of migration to the bloc. Under a new Turkish proposal, Brussels will evacuate all refugees on Greek islands, and pay for the costs.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz said on Monday that Ankara wants to add an additional 3 billion euros (3.29 billion) to the 3 billion Brussels has already pledged to stem the tide of refugees entering the EU from the Anatolian country.

Schultz said a "further request on the Turkish side for additional money - 3 billion euros - are in the debate, are in the discussion."

The additional 3 billion euros would be paid out through to 2018 to assist Ankara with sheltering Syrian refugees.

Turkey also asked for Brussels to speed up visa liberalization and improve conditions for EU accession talks in exchange for a Ankara's support in stemming irregular migration to the bloc.

A proposal being discussed at the summit would have Turkey repatriate one migrant for each Syrian refugee the EU takes in from its camps.

"For every Syrian readmitted by Turkey from Greek islands, another Syrian will be resettled from Turkey to the EU member states," said the proposal, which aims to also expedite Turkey's EU accession talks.

It also adds that the EU will "evacuate completely refugees from the Greek islands and readmit only those who crossed into the islands after a date to be determined," adding that Brussels will incur all costs related to resettlement, according to Reuters news agency.

More than one million migrants entered the EU in 2015, creating a political crisis in the 28-nation bloc with regards to managing the wave of migration.

Note EU-Digest : Hopefully the EU will not capitulate for this "highway robbery" by giving money to a goverent which does not  respect Democracy, freedom of the press, and is not really known to be reliable when it comes to delivering on its promises. 

Maybe the US, which is the major culprit in creating this Middle East mess during the Bush Presidencies, should get more involved in providing not only financial assistance but also by taking in some Syrian refugees.

Read more: Turkey wants additional 3 billion euros to deal with refugee crisis | News | DW.COM | 07.03.2016

European Opinion: The changing face of the USA - by Gero Schließ

History is being written right now in America. That is always exciting. But in this case it is also dramatic. An entire country is changing before our eyes. Though he may not have started it, Donald Trump is the man who is now speeding up and steering this process in a very dangerous direction. Like a bulldozer on a rampage, he is destroying the foundations of this freedom-loving and once so self-assured nation.

And the country is letting him do it. Trump insults women - then gets more votes from them than his Republican rivals. He endorses liberal abortion policies, advertises for sex clubs in his casinos and stomps on Christian values - yet he has the support of ultra-conservative Evangelical Christians. Indeed, the list of those Trump has insulted goes on and on.

The country seems rotten, like a once mighty tree that is leaning precariously. It remains to be seen if it can weather the gathering storm or will come crashing down.

In the eyes of a growing number of voters, the country's elite, which only thinks of itself, is also rotten. It is an elite that, despite the country's economic well-being, has starved the middle-class and robbed them of the fruits of their labor. The fact that more and more Americans are growing angry is understandable. But the conclusions that they are reaching are not.

Read more: Opinion: The changing face of the USA | Opinion | DW.COM | 05.03.2016

Turkey: EU Must Cancel March 7 Meeting With Turkey - and grasp the fact that Erdogan is an egomaniac dictator

Dealing with the Erdogan Government

The European Union is facing increasing pressure to speak out against the erosion of Democracy and media freedom in Turkey following the takeover of the country's largest-circulation newspaper, but few expect it to take a bold stance toward Ankara while trying to assure its help in dealing with the migration crisis.

The Istanbul court's appointment of trustees to manage Zaman and its sister outlets further reduced the number of opposition media organizations in Turkey, which is dominated by pro-government news outlets. It raised alarm bells over the deterioration of rights conditions in the NATO member nation, which also aspires for EU membership, just days before a March 7 meeting, in which EU leaders will try to convince Turkey to do more to curtail the flow of migrants traveling to Europe.

"The EU countries are preoccupied with their migration crisis, they are no longer concerned by rights violations in Turkey," said Semih Idiz, columnist for the opposition Cumhuriyet and independent Daily Hurriyet newspapers. "They'll say a few things as a matter of form, but they know they are dependent on Turkey."

As an undisclosed member of the Turkish opposition noted: ' the illegal takeover of the Zaman newspaper by the Turkish Government is a disgrace and a disregard  by the Turkish Government of all basic Democratic Rights.

The EU must put their money where their mouth is, specifically when it comes to Democracy, Freedom of the Press, and Human Rights, which have all been flagrantly violated by the Turkish government,  and postpone the upcoming March 7 meeting with Turkey.

The EU also will need to close all its Southern borders with Turkey and repatriate refugees back to Turkey which have recently entere,  or those that are still making the crossing from Turkey into the EU, until Turkey comes forward with, or agrees to a verifiable agreemen as to solving the refugee crises.  

Last but not least, if the Erdogan Government continues to resort to intimidation tactics in its discussions with the EU, by making unreasonable demands,  the EU should as a last resort, consider suspending diplomatic relations with Turkey.

The question, however, that is also foremost on everyone's mind  is "when will the EU finally come to grasp with the fact that Erdogan is really an egomaniac dictator, who is dragging not only his country but also the Middle East into further chaos ?

In dealing with the Erdogan government the EU must not only carry a carrot, but also a stick.

EU-Digest

Pollution: Meat Is Murder — On the Climate, Anyway - Americans eat 60 percent more than Europeans

One of the leading sources of methane

Beware the cows !

Sure, it looks like we've got them where we want them, penned up in farms, easily led to the meat-packing plants. But in an ongoing display of passive resistance, they may be trying to take us with them.

 Beyond the fat and cholesterol, they're also one of the leading sources of methane — a planet-warming greenhouse gas with 25 times the punch of carbon dioxide on a 100-year time scale. And those emissions are expected to go up planet-wide as developing countries urbanize and get richer, putting a Western-style diet within the reach of billions more people.

In the United States alone, what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) euphemistically calls "enteric fermentation" — the belches and farts of livestock, mostly cattle — is the second-biggest source of US methane emissions. Those emissions added up to the equivalent of 648 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2014. Their manure added another 60 million, according to an EPA report released last week.

 And when you total up the effect of all the feed, fertilizer, and fuel involved in modern farming, that quarter-pound cheeseburger ends up having the same carbon footprint as a nearly seven-mile (11-kilometer) drive, said Dawn Undurraga, a nutritionist with the nonprofit Environmental Working Group.

 "Americans eat a huge amount of meat," Undurraga said. "We eat 60 percent more than Europeans and somewhere between 150 or 200 percent of our needs."

Note Almere Digest: Pollution, not only by industry, but also as a result of agriculture, livestock, meat production industry, etc.etc, will eventually kill us all, if we don't act now. 

 If you are a parent and not discussing these issues with your children, to make sure they become aware of this disaster, you are basically just as criminal as the polluters. Watch programs on TV like "Meat is murder - on the climate anyway" (see story above),  do it together as a family, and talk about it afterwards. 

Might not be as much fun as sport activities, music concerts. or reality shows, but certainly will better prepare your kids for the future and hopefully also make them realize that being an "activist" is not a stigma or a dirty word. 

Read more: Meat Is Murder — On the Climate, Anyway | VICE News

The Netherlands: Refugee Crises - Plan to fly in refugees from Turkey shows divisions in Dutch cabinet - Janene Pieters

European countries, including the Netherlands, must start taking in asylum seekers from Turkey through legal channels. And this must happen immediately, according to PvdA leader Diederik Samsom. His party wants Prime Minister Mark Rutte to advocate for an “air bridge” to bring hundreds of asylum seekers from Turkey to Europe per day, effective almost immediately at the European summit on the issue on Monday. Coalition party VVD is against this plan.

Samsom suggests that Europe takes “at least 400 asylum seekers a day” from Turkey for a trial period of a month. “As a sign of good will”, he said to the Volkskrant. “If the EU shows Turkey that we are serious about resolving the refugee crisis, Ankara will start acting against the human traffickers. Now mistrust reigns and nothing happens, except that humanitarian dramas grow by the hour.”

The PvdA leader believes that his proposal will jump-start the agreements made between the EU and Turkey in November. Turkey promised to slow the flow of asylum seekers to Greece. And in return the EU will give 3 billion euros in subsidies for asylum camps in Turkey, lift the visa requirements for Turks wanting to come to Europe and provide legal routes for recognized refugees to enter the EU. Samsom believes that the reason nothing has come of these plans as of yet, is that both parties are waiting for the other to take the first step.

Coalition partner VVD is 100 percent opposed to the plan. In reaction VVD leader Halbe Zijlstra told the Volkskrant that Turkey must first reduce the asylum flow to “zero” before an air bridge can be arranged. “Otherwise there will be two asylum flows and we will be doubly screwed”, he said to the newspaper. “If Europe does what Samsom proposes, we reward the inaction of the Turks and they will never come into action.”



Read more: Plan to fly in refugees from Turkey shows divisions in Dutch cabinet - NL Times