Didong Zhao
August 11th, 2022

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A prospective environmental disaster of immense scale looms off the coast of Yemen (photo: Laurens van Gelderen)

The ship FSO Safer has long been left stranded some eight kilometres off the coast of Yemen and threatens to become one of the world’s biggest environmental disasters and further exacerbate the dire humanitarian situation in the country. 

The UN is carrying out an operation to empty the abandoned ship and Denmark is supporting the operation with 7 million kroner. 

Urgent need for a solution
The UN estimates that the FSO Safer is currently at risk of an oil spill at any time, which could lead to a spill four times as bad as the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989.

In the unfortunate event of the sinking of the FSO Safer, a full clean-up would cost 20 billion dollars, so it is imperative that this is done as soon as possible.

Initial estimates are that the UN rescue mission will cost a total of 80 million dollars.

Zelensky to address conference in Denmark
At the upcoming fundraiser for Ukraine in Copenhagen today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will deliver an opening speech via video link. The donor conference is being held in Christiansborg, hosted jointly by Denmark, the UK and Ukraine, and will be attended by representatives from 26 countries. The defence ministers of countries including Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Poland, the Netherlands and Slovakia are in attendance.

Denmark would consider restricting Russian tourists
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call for the West to close its borders to Russians was echoed by some countries, including Finland, in an earlier interview with the Washington Post. Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod told TV2 he would also consider any and all proposals that could prompt Russia and Putin to stop the war, including restricting the entry of Russian tourists to Denmark.

Development minister in India jaunt
Development minister, Flemming Møller Mortensen, has announced that he will travel to India for a three-day visit to discuss how Denmark can help India with its green transition. As a green strategic partner country of Denmark, India is the third largest emitter of CO2 in the world. In addition, it is facing major challenges in terms of sewage discharge and purification. It is estimated that Denmark’s green strategy will be of immense assistance to India.

The US delegation visits
A delegation from the US Congressional Committee on Agriculture will visit Denmark between 9-11 August with the aim of learning from Danish experience in climate-friendly agriculture, food production and ecology. The visit is set to guide the US ahead of the upcoming negotiations on a new agricultural policy.

Scandinavian countries step up co-operation
Citing Russia’s aggressive and unacceptable actions in the Baltic Sea, Denmark, Sweden and Norway have moved to expand their co-operation, including sharing radar information. The defence ministers of the three countries signed the agreement in front of a patrol ship in the port city of Malmö, as Swedish and Danish fighter jets cut through the summer sky in joint formation.

Chinese ambassador won’t rule out conflict over Taiwan
In an interview with the DR, the Chinese ambassador to Denmark, Feng Tie, said that Taiwan will always be reunified with the mainland and that it is part of China. China does not rule out armed conflict with the US on this internal matter. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Denmark in 1950, Denmark has adhered to the one-China principle and the self-proclaimed country of Taiwan is not recognised by Denmark.

FLSmidth pulls plug on contentious Mozambique mine
Despite having made at least 500 million kroner from a contentious coal mine in Mozambique, FLSmidth has announced that it is ceasing to provide services to the mine after it emerged that it is both damaging the climate and the health of the local population. The revelations pertained to the mine’s contamination of drinking water and damage to the lungs of residents in the surrounding area, and FLSmidth has admitted that it is responsible for many of the mine’s problems.