Producing energy, whether clean or dirty, requires investment. Whether developing countries go with clean or dirty depends on where the investments go.
Right now, because of redlining, it's three times more expensive to build wind or solar in some developing countries than in rich countries. But loans for oil and gas companies are cheap b/c they are not redlined. Guess who goes in first.
Jared #Kushner Has Big Plans for Delta of Europe’s Last Wild River - https://e360.yale.edu/features/jared-kushner-albania-vjose-vjosa-river-hotel " #Albania’s Vjosë River is known as Europe’s last wild river, and its pristine delta is a haven for migratory birds. As plans for luxury developments there — spearheaded by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — move ahead, conservationists are sounding the alarm." appalling, destructive greed
@glynmoody It stinks very much of corruption in the Albanian government.
At least this lets hope: " #PPNEA and #EuroNatur are among several conservation groups taking the government to court over the issue."
And as Albania wants to become a member of the EU, pressure by EU-states and @EU_Commission could possibly help, too.
[Gifted link. NYTimes]: Kushner Developing Deals Overseas Even as His Father-in-Law Runs for President
Donald Trump’s son-in-law, who was also a senior White House official, said he was close to finalizing real estate projects in Albania and Serbia. By Eric Lipton, Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman
#Trump’s son-in-law said he was close to finalizing real estate projects in the two #Balkan nations, an example of the Trump family’s pursuit of deals abroad as the former president seeks the White House.
More than a decade ago, before running for president, Donald Trump expressed interest in developing the SAME site in Belgrade that his son-in-law now plans to invest $500 million in rebuilding.
News of the #Kushner proposal provoked strong objections…from opposition party ldrs in #Serbia….
Opposition party ldrs said they had not been properly informed of the plan & called it inappropriate that an American company owned by a #Trump family member would… #profit off a site that a #UnitedStates led coalition bombed 25 yrs ago.
I have been going through some links I saved when I used to travel a lot in the Balkans. Sadly many of the links are now dead, but I did find this lovely map of the rail network in Albania in 2011, including departure times:
@jon It wasn't a great network even then, but the Albania leg of your 2024 Balkans trip would have been more interesting (or at least more rail-based) if there were still trains to Shkodra and especially Pogradec.
It turns out that the "still working" links in my collection include a blog post of yours about train travel in Bulgaria in 2015. That must have been the first time I came across something you wrote - much longer ago than I would have guessed.
@alan and I still really like travel by train in Bulgaria. Sure, they lack investment, but unlike most of the rest of the railways in South East Europe, the basics still mostly work there, and some of the routes are majestic.
A sorprendere però sono i costi esorbitanti dell’operazione. Il decreto prevede una spesa che si aggira intorno ai 60 milioni all’anno solo per il 2024, a cui si arriva a circa 90 nei prossimi cinque anni. A questo si dovranno aggiungere alcuni costi che nel disegno di legge non sono stati indicati – come i rimborsi spese per gli avvocati che non possono fare udienze da remoto – tra cui le spese da liquidare all’Albania per l’accordo e quella per le navi per trasportare i migranti. In tutto circa 200 milioni. In valore assoluto, rispetto ai 19 che vengono spesi per i nuovi Cpr da costruire in Italia fino al 2024, la proporzione è di circa 10 volte. Se proporzionato al numero di migranti rinchiusi nei centri invece stiamo parlando del 30% in più, circa un terzo: per ogni migrante nei 10 Cpr italiani (1.100 al massimo) lo Stato spende 16 mila euro contro i 22 mila per i 9 mila che, al massimo, potranno restare in Albania (la stima è di circa 720 al mese).
Russia, expelled from the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2022, seeks to rejoin the Geneva-based body.
Several U.N. diplomats and analysts suggest that Russia aims to leverage its control over wartime grain shipments and arms and energy sales to gain support in a secret vote scheduled for Oct. 10. Alongside Russia, #Albania and #Bulgaria are competing for two seats representing eastern Europe.
🇦🇱 🇷🇸 A new approach to joining the #European Union is needed, according to both the Prime Minister of #Albania and President of #Serbia, who bemoaned the length of time the process is taking for their countries.
On the side of the road, one could also see the defunct single train track from Elbasan to Prremjas ( #Albania) and the (seemingly active) single train track from Ohrid (#NorthMacedonia) north.
Would be nice for the EU to support candidate countries‘ rail where possible, wouldn’t it be @jon?
@jon Not sure where the line actually started, so not sure about any progress. (Now googling I realize I may only have seen the line further north of Ohrid where it’s been actually active for a while).