Russia’s Ostrich Approach to Climate Change and the Paris Agreement. CEPS Policy Insights No 2017/40, November 2017

Despite the latest information from Russia’s leading climate scientists, the country’s political leadership does not acknowledge the importance of anthropogenic factors in climate change. This is in stark contrast to most other governments, which recognise that there is no longer any doubt about the human origins of climate change. Russia’s leadership has nevertheless acknowledged the negative nature of changes in the climate and noted the growing risks to Russian territory. It also emphasises the need for adaptation, in contrast to its previous tendency to dismiss such risks. In the view of Russia’s leadership, the global economic trend recognised by the Paris Agreement will generate risks for the national economy, but only in the distant future. This interpretation leads to a delay in adopting robust measures for low-carbon development, and explains the focus on short-term energy efficiency measures. Russia’s GHG emissions target mainly reflects a business-as-usual approach to the development of energy efficiency. The leadership relies on Russian prognoses that the global fossil-fuel era will continue for the foreseeable future, and ignores recent signals that would advocate phasing out coal and oil. Carbon regulation is already included as a policy tool to introduce new technologies, but is to be launched on an economy-wide scale only in the late 2020-30s. Russia’s main trading partners (China, Germany, Japan, Korea, India, and the Nordic countries) should communicate to Moscow, for example in bilateral meetings, BRICS, SCO and others, that climate change policies and regulations are being adopted by most countries, not least out of benign self-interest. In lagging behind now, Russia risks being unprepared for the post-fossil fuels era

Magnetic properties and magnetostructural phase transitions in Ni2+xMn1-xGa shape memory alloys

A systematic study of magnetic properties of Ni2+xMn1-xGa (0 \le x \le 0.19) Heusler alloys undergoing structural martensite-austenite transformations while in ferromagnetic state has been performed. From measurements of spontaneous magnetization, Ms(T), jumps \Delta M at structural phase transitions were determined. Virtual Curie temperatures of the martensite were estimated from the comparison of magnetization in martensitic and austenitic phases. Both saturation magnetic moments in ferromagnetic state and effective magnetic moments in paramagnetic state of Mn and Ni atoms were estimated and the influence of delocalization effects on magnetism in these alloys was discussed. The experimental results obtained show that the shift of martensitic transition temperature depends weakly on composition. The values of this shift are in good correspondence with Clapeyron-Clausius formalism taking into account the experimental data on latent heat at martensite-austenite transformations.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

Force Majeure and Unforeseen Change of Circumstances. The Case of Embargoes and Currency Fluctuations (Russian, German and French Approaches)

Economic and political instability has become a characteristic of many societies around the globe. Recent examples revealing the volatility of the current state of affairs include the trade restrictions imposed by the Russian Federation in August 2014, and currency fluctuations experienced by many countries, including Russia and potentially Greece. In this situation, one may wonder whether contract law has a solution to offer to the parties affected. Traditionally dominated by the pacta sunt servanda principle, jurisdictions made their own choices. This paper analyses approaches adopted by Russian, German and French law in response to situations of force majeure (trade embargoes)and unforeseen change of circumstances (currency fluctuations). In search for an explanation of each given approach, we reviewed historical arguments, as history played a crucial role in the formation of German and French responses, though in a completely different way. Whereas Germany, heavily affected by the cataclysms of the World Wars, was eager to adopt a lenient view on the possibility of the judicial revision of contracts, France never gave up its suspicion of court interventions. As legal preferences are often connected with cultural factors, we looked at distinct cultural traits of the societies at issue, by using the Hofstede index. We realized that there could be compelling cultural reasons why France and Germany are situated at opposite poles, while Russia is somewhere in the middle. Lastly, we took into account considerations derived from law and economics, arguing that narrowly construed court intervention might be economically justified in cases of impossibility and impracticability, as ultimately decreasing transaction and risk-appraisal costs

The future of harmonisation of directors' duties in the European Union: The Preventive Restructuring Directive and group insolvencies

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Insolvency of significant non-financial enterprises: lessons from bank failures and bank resolution

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Intra-group financing and enterprise group insolvency: problems, principles and solutions

What do Lehman Brothers, Nortel Networks and Oi Brazil have in common, apart from the fact that they were or remain large multinational enterprise groups that at some point became insolvent? They are characterized by the integrated nature of their business, facilitated through elaborate networks of intercompany financial arrangements. Some of these arrangements “perforate” limited liability (eg cross-guarantees), while others closely tie the fates of separate group entities (eg intra-group loans, centralized cash management). As a result, the idea of entity separateness, underpinning modern insolvency law, hardly reflects present-day economic and legal realities. This thesis examines typical intra-group financial transactions and explores their influence on and treatment in insolvency and restructuring of corporate groups. It explains the problems, discusses underlying legal principles, and offers targeted solutions, based on a thorough analysis of modern commercial practices and legal tools from three leading restructuring forums – the UK, the USA and the Netherlands.Coherent privaatrech

The rise of ‘group solution’ in insolvency law and bank resolution

Coherent privaatrech