Yes, it would make no sense to ditch Russian oil and gasl only to get then independent from U.S. or other countries’ oil and gas or Chinese renewable energy tech. This is also done, however, although there may be some reason to speed up the development, and Europe definitely must revive its own RE industry.

EU finalizes the phasing-out of Russian gas imports by 2027

• Pipeline gas imports from Russia in to the EU under long-term deals must halt by Sept. 30, 2027, with a possibility of an extension to Nov. 1, 2027, depending on fulfillment of gas storage targets set by the EU. That compares with an end-2027 ban on those contracts originally put forward by the commission.
• Short-term contracts for LNG concluded before June 17, 2025 will be prohibited as of April 25, 2026. Pipeline gas brought into the EU under short-term deals will be banned as of June 17, 2026.
• To phase-out Russian energy, the deal obliges member states to prepare plans to diversify their supplies. The commission also plans to put forward a legislative proposal on phasing out Russian oil imports no later than the end of 2027.

The high cost is related to the fact that non-Chinese drones are nearly twice as expensive, the RCMP said.

Yeah, but non-Chinese drones are also not made under slave-like conditions.

Just read a [BBC article]https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8e5j20g27o():

… Several residents have revealed in interviews that the fire alarm did not sound when the fire broke out. Authorities said on Friday that they had checked the fire alarms in all eight blocks and found that they were not working properly …

Me too.

This is not about ‘leverage’ but a stance on human rights. But, more importantly, it’s a reason why China is not a reliable partner for Canada.

It’s also important that the UAE is also allegedly supporting crimes against humanity and genocide in China’s Xinjiang region. There is ample evidence for Beijing’s atrocities against Uyghurs as you may know (you’ll find a lot of very reliable sources across the web, some of them even here as I have read).

So Canada must not look only at Sudan but also China.

It is also important in this context that Chinese military was reportedly hosted at base in the UAE. The UAE and China have close military ties and held a joint air force drill in China’s Xinjiang region.

Wow, what a strongly worded comment.

This is not bullying but legitimate critique. The state that is often bulling its neighbors is elsewhere.

Yeah, the world should rather hail the reasonable people of the governments who are refusing to exit from fossil fuels. These Europeans and their allies get it all wrong (s/, just to be safe).

… late in the second week Colombia upstaged their hosts when it announced the creation of an initiative whereby a group of countries would meet to plan the phase out of fossil fuels. The 24-country bloc will meet next April in Santa Marta for a conference co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands. Other participating countries include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Fiji, Finland, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Nepal, Panama, Spain, Slovenia, Vanuatu and Tuvalu.

So basically it is Latin America, Europe, and Island Nations that take serious action to phase out fossil fuels.

The world’s two largest polluters - China and the U.S. - as well as Russia and some oil-producing countries in the Middle East are doing business as usual.

I mean all those who have said that China is leading in the fight against climate change shall now be silent. If you read the reports on the COP it is obvious that Beijing is interested in money and in money only.

The BBC wrote on Beijing;s pavillon at the COP 30 in Brazil that China ramps up charm offensive with extra pandas:

Was it the many copies of Xi Jinping’s speeches on sale? Or the ubiquitous cuddly pandas?

Perhaps it was the much-needed fans here for the heat and humidity outside. Whatever the reason, China’s pavilion here proved a huge draw, with long queues forming of people keen to get their hands on Chinese tat.

The pandas definitely seem to be part of the charm offensive from the world’s biggest emitter of planet-warming carbon.

Many expected China to take a bigger leadership role – but the world’s dominant producer of renewable technology has a different view.

China was content to sit quietly and support others who want to slow down the transition away from fossil fuels like India and Saudi Arabia. It is the world’s biggest coal producer after all.

Despite their current power and size, it seems to still suit China to play the role of the developing country that it was when the UN climate body was formed back in 1992. With extra pandas!

Oh, yeah, the Sanchez government’s stark light on the corruption elsewhere … perfect background (s/)

As an addition:

European partners criticize Spain’s relationship with China as the Kings dine with Xi Jinping

Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands have shown their concerns towards the Asian country, an attitude and positioning that sharply contrasts with Spain’s approach

… “The Italian Minister of Economy, Giorgetti, already called on the European Union to adopt a united stance against China to curb the threat to our industry. A similar sentiment exists in Germany, where the government coalition is taking the lead in reviewing the trade policy between China and Germany. The Netherlands has made a decision regarding Nexperia, and France is considering measures against Shein,” these same sources elaborate …

Regarding the case of Shein, French authorities ordered the inspection of up to 200,000 packages from the company last week to check for possible violations of regulations, a measure intertwined with the Paris Prosecutor’s decision to initiate an investigation for “dissemination of images or representations of minors of a pornographic nature” affecting this same company, as well as the Chinese platforms AliExpress and Temu …

The European Commission prefers not to comment at this time. In the past, they were very critical of Pedro Sánchez’s government, especially when the Prime Minister visited China and requested not to impose tariffs on Chinese electric cars during EU-China negotiations …

Carbon Brief made its analysis based on emission data by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, just read the report. This data is skewed and highly biased.