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Italy's political stalemate and the prospect of months of political uncertainty has created alarm across Europe just as the standoff over bank deposits in Cyprus reawakened fears that the euro zone debt crisis could flare up again.Center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, who won a majority in the lower house but not in the Senate, commands the largest bloc in parliament but cannot govern unless he has support from one of the other parties.However there has been no sign that an accord is possible with either former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right alliance, the second biggest force in parliament, or the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement led by ex-comic Beppe Grillo which holds the balance of power.If no agreement can be struck between parties that remain bitterly divided, Italy faces the prospect of a brief period under a caretaker government followed by a return to the polls, possibly as early as June.Napolitano meets minor parties, including Prime Minister Mario Monti's centrist bloc on Wednesday before seeing representatives from the 5-Star Movement, Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party and Bersani's Democratic Party (PD) on Thursday.Bersani, 61, received a small boost at the weekend when his two candidates were elected the speakers of the two houses of parliament, despite the center-left's lack of a majority in the upper house.Both speakers announced late on Tuesday that they would take a 30 percent wage cut and urged other parliamentarians to do the same, a move that followed an example set by 5-Star members elected as local officials in Sicily last year who gave up most of their salaries and used the savings to fund small businesses.LIMITEDBersani is proposing to present a limited package of reforms aimed at fighting corruption and creating jobs that he hopes can be backed by the 5-Star Movement.Given the fractious climate, the prospects of a minority government surviving more than a short time are slim but Bersani has little alternative."The PD is not changing our line, we'll go to the consultations with the proposals which were voted by the party leadership immediately after the election," he told reporters on Tuesday.Italy, the euro zone's third-largest economy, can ill afford a prolonged political crisis after the turmoil which brought down Berlusconi's last government and dragged the single currency to the brink of disaster just 16 months ago.Its economy is deep in recession, and unemployment is at record levels especially among the young. Its 2 trillion-euro ($2.6 trillion) public debt is dangerously vulnerable to bond market volatility and any sharp rise in interest rates.However, far from prompting the parties to cooperate as they did when Monti's technocrat government took over from Berlusconi in 2011, the crisis appears to have deepened hostility.Grillo, who has pledged not to give a vote of confidence to a government led by any other party, warned followers against falling into a "trap" after a handful of rebels voted with the center left in the election of the Senate speaker on Saturday.Berlusconi, fighting a tax fraud conviction and facing trial for paying for sex with a minor, has demanded that the center right be allowed to name the next president when Napolitano's term ends on May 15, offering his support to a Bersani-led government in exchange.That offer was rejected as "indecent" by the PD, prompting Berlusconi to pledge street protests if parliament appointed a center-left head of state.A rally organized by the PDL, called "All for Silvio!" is already planned for Saturday to protest against what his supporters say is a political campaign by magistrates against the 76-year-old billionaire. | 1 |
TEGUCIGALPA,Thu Sep 6,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Rains from Hurricane Felix soaked Honduras on Wednesday, threatening dangerous flooding and mudslides after killing nine people in neighboring Nicaragua. The storm, which was a powerful Category 5 when it struck the Caribbean coast of Central America, revived memories of the killer Hurricane Mitch in 1998 but residents of Tegucigalpa appeared to have got off lightly this time around. Only drizzle fell in the capital, which flooded badly when Mitch killed over 10,000 people in a rampage through Central America, and there were no reports of deaths. Felix killed at least nine people on Tuesday around the Nicaraguan Caribbean coastal town of Puerto Cabezas, where it damaged over 5,000 houses and uprooted trees. At least 11 people were missing. Four of the dead drowned, and another was a woman who was crushed when a tree fell on her house. Felix weakened to a tropical depression and headed southwest toward the border with El Salvador, but Honduran emergency services warned the worst might not be over. "If we have constant precipitation we could have problems of rivers overflowing and ravines flooding," said Jose Ramon Salinas, a senior civil protection official. The hurricane came on the heels of another Category 5 storm, the most powerful type. Last month, Hurricane Dean killed 27 people in the Caribbean and Mexico. It was the first time on record that two Atlantic hurricanes made landfall as Category 5 storms in the same season. Bad memories of Hurricane Mitch nine years ago are fresh in Honduras, a coffee-producing country home to 7 million people. "After Mitch, we were very shocked and didn't have the energy and strength for another hurricane. Thank God nothing happened," said social worker Jose Luis Bordas in the capital. In the Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Henriette was headed through the Gulf of California toward mainland Mexico after lashing the Los Cabos resort on the Baja California peninsula on Tuesday with winds and rain. It was due to hit the state of Sonora and Sinaloa as a Category 1 storm. A foreign tourist walking on the beach in Los Cabos was killed after being struck by big waves on Monday as the storm approached. Coffee producers in both Nicaragua and Honduras said there were no reports of damage to the crop, vital to the two countries' economies. Despite growing consensus that global warming may spawn stronger tropical cyclones, weather experts believe it is too soon to blame climate change for the back-to-back hurricanes. | 0 |
The Bush administration played down the US contribution to world climate change on Friday and called for a "global discussion" after a UN report blamed humans for much of the warming over the past 50 years. "We are a small contributor when you look at the rest of the world," US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said of greenhouse gas emissions. "It's really got to be a global discussion." The United States is responsible for one-quarter of the world's emissions of carbon dioxide and uses one-quarter of the world's crude oil. A unilateral US program to cut emissions might hurt the economy and send business overseas, Bodman said. But Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who chairs the US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said: "This report must serve as a wake-up call to those policymakers who have ignored this issue. We must take action now." Speaking later to reporters at the United Nations, Boxer called on President George W Bush to convene a summit of 12 nations most responsible for polluting the atmosphere and said she was also inviting to Washington soon some of the world's top scientists who contributed to the UN report. "And so this really puts to rest, I think, the debate over the science," she said of the report. Bodman, speaking in measured tones that accepted the reality of global climate change, but stopped short of urging specific limits on the emission of greenhouse gases that contribute to it, hailed the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, released in Paris. "We're very pleased with it. We're embracing it. We agree with it," Bodman told a news conference. "Human activity is contributing to changes in our Earth's climate and that issue is no longer up for debate." He reiterated the administration's opposition to mandatory caps on the emission of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas produced naturally and by coal-fired power plants and petroleum-fueled vehicles, among other sources. White House economist Edward Lazear said the administration was studying the report and would evaluate what policies might be needed. On C-SPAN television, Lazear called climate change a "key issue" that needed to be addressed in a global context. A White House statement released in Paris quoted the head of the U.S. delegation, Sharon Hays, as saying the report "will serve as a valuable source of information for policymakers." Among members of Congress, Rep. Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts and member of a committee that deals with energy, commerce and natural resources, took issue with the energy secretary's remarks by making a connection with Friday's Groundhog Day celebration. "It sounds like the Bush administration, having seen the very real shadow of scientific evidence of global warming, has chosen to go back into its hole of denial by saying that it will not support measures to reduce global warming and its disastrous effects on our economy and environment," Markey said in a statement. Sen. James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican and global warming skeptic who headed the environment committee before Democrats gained the congressional majority last year, assailed the report. "This is a political document, not a scientific report, and it is a shining example of the corruption of science for political gain," Inhofe said in a statement. Bush's stance on global warming has evolved over his presidency, from open skepticism to acceptance that human activities accelerate change. He briefly mentioned the issue in last week's State of the Union address, saying solutions to the problem lie in technological advances and the use of renewable fuels like ethanol. That is at odds with environmentalists who have urged mandatory limits on the carbon emissions. Last month, a panel of top corporate leaders, including those from electric companies, urged that same kind of federal regulation. John Holdren, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said the report's significance lies in the solidity of its science and the unequivocal link it makes between the global warming and its human cause. "It is a much more powerful report than the last version (from 2001). ... There really has been a torrent of new scientific evidence over the last five or six years, evidence that bears on the magnitude and the human origins and the growing impacts of the climate changes that are already under way," Holdren said in a telephone interview. | 0 |
A thaw of the world's glaciers has accelerated to a new record with some of the biggest losses within Europe, in a worrying sign of climate change, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Sunday. "Meltdown in the mountains," UNEP said in a statement, saying that a retreat of glaciers from the Andes to the Arctic should add urgency to U.N. negotiations on working out a new treaty by the end of 2009 to combat global warming. "Data from close to 30 reference glaciers in nine mountain ranges indicate that between the years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 the average rate of melting and thinning more than doubled," it said. Some of the biggest losses were in Europe -- in the Alps, the Pyrenees and the Nordic region -- according to the UNEP-backed World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. "The latest figures are part of what appears to be an accelerating trend with no apparent end in sight," WGMS director Wilfried Haeberli said in a statement. The estimates, based on measuring the thickness of glacier ice, indicated an average loss of about 1.5 metres (5 ft) in 2006, up from just over half a metre in 2005. UNEP said that the thinning was the fastest since monitoring began. Since 1980, glaciers have thinned by about 11.5 metres in a retreat blamed by the U.N. Climate Panel mainly on human use of fossil fuels. The thaw could disrupt everything from farming -- millions of people in Asia depend on seasonal melt water from the Himalayas -- and power generation to winter sports. The thaw could also raise world sea levels.
CANARIES UNEP said glaciers were among the clearest indicators of global warming. "There are many canaries emerging in the climate change coal mine. The glaciers are perhaps among those making the most noise," said Achim Steiner, head of UNEP. Among big losers, Norway's Breidalblikkbrea glacier thinned by almost 3.1 metres during 2006 compared with 0.3 metres in 2005 and France's Ossoue glacier in the Pyrenees thinned by nearly 3 metres versus around 2.7 metres in 2005. In the Alps, Italy's Malavalle glacier thinned by 1.4 metres in 2006 versus 0.9 in 2005. In Austria, the Grosser Goldbergkees glacier thinned by 1.2 metres in 2006 versus 0.3 in 2005. Of almost 30 reference glaciers only one -- the Echaurren Norte in Chile -- thickened in 2006 compared to 2005. The WGMS monitors about 100 glaciers in total. Some glaciers, such as Bolivia's Chacaltaya glacier, Canada's Place glacier, India's Hamtah glacier and the U.S. Daniels and Yawning glaciers shrank less in 2006 than in 2005. Steiner said that governments had agreed to work out by the end of 2009 a new pact to succeed the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol, which binds developed nations except the United States to curb emissions of greenhouse gases. "Otherwise, and like the glaciers, our room for manoeuvre and the opportunity to act may simply melt away," he said. A first set of U.N. negotiations on a new climate treaty will be held in Bangkok from March 31-April 4. | 0 |
Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi was invited by the US government, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency. Yang's visit comes at time when ties between China and the US have been hit by several issues like the South China Sea and Taiwan. However, Trump , who initially challenged Beijing's claim over Taiwan, telephoned his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, assuring that the US would adhere to the 'One China policy.' Yang will exchange views with senior US officials on bilateral ties and issues of common concern, Lu said. Yang is the first senior Chinese official to visit the US since Trump took office on January 20, Xinhua said. Yang will have an extensive range of topics to discuss with the US officials but the foremost would be to reaffirm the tone of bilateral relations set by the two heads of state in their telephonic conversation, said Jia Xiudong of the China Institute of International Studies. Yang's visit will coincide with the 45th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's ice-breaking visit to China in 1972, which paved the way for Beijing and Washington to officially establish diplomatic ties in 1979. Despite twists and turns over the past four decades, China-US relations have progressed ahead as both the Republican and Democratic parties understand the importance of the relationship, Jia said. During Yang's tour, China and US will have exchanges on trade, security and international issues, on which Trump may take policies different from the Obama administration, according to Jia. The Xi-Trump meeting will be on top agenda of Yang and US officials, who are to discuss when and where the two heads of state will meet. The nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, climate change, energy and Syria are also possible to be on the agenda, Jia said. | 0 |
Fighting global warming will be inexpensive but governments have little time left to avert big, damaging temperature rises, a draft United Nations report shows. The draft, due for release in Bangkok on May 4, indicates warming is on track to exceed a 2 Celsius (3.6 F) rise over pre-industrial times, regarded by the European Union as a threshold for "dangerous" change to nature. Two scenarios highlighted in the report, the third in a UN series in 2007 that will guide policymakers, say the costs of limiting emissions of greenhouse gases could mean a loss of 0.2 or 0.6 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2030. Some models show that measures such as greater efficiency in burning fossil fuels such as oil and coal could even mean a small net boost to the world economy, it said. The most stringent scenario assessed, demanding that governments ensure that global greenhouse gas emissions start falling within 15 years, would cost 3 percent of GDP by 2030. The conclusions broadly support those in a report last year by former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern, who estimated that costs of acting now to slow global warming were about one percent of global output, against a far larger 5 to 20 percent if the world delayed action. The UN draft says there is "significant economic potential" for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, "sufficient to offset growth of global emissions or to reduce emissions below current levels". The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) draft, seen by Reuters, says easily achieved curbs include better use of fossil fuels, shifts to energies such as wind, solar or nuclear power and better management of forestry and farming. Economic benefits in addition to energy savings include better health from less pollution, less damage to agriculture from acid rain and greater energy security by cutting imports. The report, "Mitigation of Climate Change" and drawing on the work of 2,500 scientists, says time is running out. "Mitigation efforts over the next two to three decades will determine to a large extent the long-term global mean temperature increase and the corresponding climate change impacts that can be avoided", it said. US President George W. Bush pulled out in 2001 of the Kyoto Protocol, the main UN plan for fighting global warming until 2012, arguing that its caps on emissions would be too costly and wrongly excluded developing nations until 2012. One official US study forecast that Kyoto could, in the worst case, cost up to 4.2 percent of US GDP by 2010. The IPCC report will be considered by the Group of Eight industrial powers at a summit in June. The IPCC scenario of a 0.2 percent loss in GDP in 2030 is based on stabilising greenhouse gases at 650 parts per million (ppm) in the atmosphere by 2030, up from about 430 ppm now. The gases trap the sun's heat in the atmosphere. UN "best estimates" show that might bring a temperature rise of 3.2-4.0 C (5.8-3.2 F) over pre-industrial times. Tighter curbs would cost ever more. The most stringent scenario, costing 3 percent of GDP, would limit greenhouse gases to 445-535 ppm by 2030, inside a range likely to bring a 2-2.4 Celsius (3.6-4.3F) rise. Greenhouse gas emissions have risen by 70 percent between 1970 and 2004 and are expected to rise by a further 25 to 90 percent by 2030 from 2000 without new restraints, driven mainly by growth in developing nations such as China and India. That would mark a switch: in 2000, rich nations accounted for 20 percent of world population and 46 percent of emissions. Another UN report on the regional impact of climate change on April 6 predicted more hunger and water shortages in Africa and Asia, rising seas worldwide, floods and heatwaves. In February, the first UN report concluded there was more than a 90 percent likelihood that humans were to blame for warming. | 0 |
Hogir Fathi was looking forward to home leave in his village in autonomous Kurdistan when the 24-year-old, a fighter in the Iraqi region's peshmerga forces, was killed by a bomb while on the frontline against Islamist militants who last month drove the Iraqi army from most of the north outside the Kurdish zone."I am proud my son was martyred," said his father, Mehdi, himself a peshmerga, who fought the army of Saddam Hussein. "There is no sacrifice too great for an independent Kurdistan."A century after the Kurds lost out in the carve-up of the Ottoman empire after World War One, denied a state of their own and left scattered across four others, that dream is suddenly closer as fighting among Iraq's Arabs - minority Sunnis and the Shias in power - fuels talk of the country being partitioned.The Kurds of Iraq, who have governed themselves since US air power pinned back the Sunni dictator Saddam after the 1991 Gulf War, have already exploited the chaos to expand their territory by as much as 40 percent, including the oilfields and city of Kirkuk, which they claim as their national capital.Their president last week called for a referendum on secession. And there is little doubt it would overwhelmingly back independence, as an unofficial plebiscite did in 2005.But economics and external pressures, from Baghdad but also from rival allies in Turkey, Iran and Washington, may well hold Kurdish leaders back from risking a final break any time soon."All the Kurdish people support it, but the leadership must consider whether the time is appropriate or not," said Kurdistan Vice President Kosrat Rasul Ali, a veteran peshmerga commander."If the political climate is not ripe, perhaps we will have to wait years. Otherwise it will be a misadventure," he added, echoing the caution of several leaders who spoke to Reuters.As it has for a decade, the threat alone of secession may offer greater benefits to the Kurds in the three-way bargaining with Shi'ites and Sunnis that has defined post-Saddam politics.TURKISH, IRANIAN INFLUENCESThe five million Iraqi Kurds, who are mostly Sunni Muslim by religion but define themselves by their language and culture, already enjoy wide autonomy, running their own armed forces and, to the annoyance of Baghdad, starting to export their own oil.Hostility from Turkey, which fought its own Kurdish revolt for decades, may no longer be the obstacle it once was to full independence for Iraqi Kurdistan.Though wary of the impact that might have on its own Kurdish minority and officially committed the unity of Iraq, Ankara has worked with Iraq's Kurds to buffer Turkey against the chaos to the south and become a buyer of their oil. Many Kurdish leaders are quietly confident Ankara would not block their sovereignty.More problematic may be Iran, a sponsor of the Shia parties which now hold power in Baghdad and which view Kurdish secession as a bid to grab an unfair share of Iraq's wealth.Tehran and Ankara have long supported competing factions within Iraqi Kurdistan, factions which fought a bitter civil war almost as soon as they were free of Saddam's control in 1991. Divergent interests between Iran and Turkey make for tensions within Kurdish politics that affect attitudes to independence.The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which leans towards Turkey, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), closer to Iran, each controls separate peshmerga units and different territories within Iraqi Kurdistan."If you don’t take care to balance the relationship between Iran and Turkey, they can spoil everything," said a senior figure in the PUK, whose leaders include Iraq's head of state, President Jalal Talabani, and Kurdistan Vice President Rasul.In a mark of hostility to Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani's KDP, Iraqi-born Iranian official and Shi'ite cleric Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, accused the KDP of being part of a Sunni conspiracy that included Turkey in support of the offensive by the Islamic State.That was part of a plan by the KDP and Ankara to break up Iraq, he said in comments carried by an Iranian news agency.US, ECONOMIC PRESSURESThe United States, to whom Kurds have long looked for aid since US air power forced Saddam's troops to quit the region in 1991, is also pressing them not to break away and has urged them to join a new Baghdad coalition with Shi'ites and Sunnis.Many Kurds resent Washington's "one Iraq" policy and have little appetite to salvage a country they would rather not be part of. But few are willing to alienate powerful allies.By going along with efforts to hold Iraq together, Kurdish leaders are likely to use their leverage in negotiations on a new government to extract new concessions, notably on allowing them to export oil outside the control of national authorities."If we can stay together, it must be on the basis of a new reality," Barzani's chief-of-staff Fuad Hussein said during a visit to Washington last week. "A new reality has to do with the fact that Kurdistan is now independent."Baghdad slashed the Kurds' share of federal budget spending this year in retaliation for them exporting oil unilaterally, creating a financial crisis in Kurdistan that exposed the limits of the region's capacity to run its own economy.Industry experts estimate it could take several years for the Kurds to export enough oil from their own territory to make as much money as they could otherwise reap from a share of the much greater oil revenues reaching Baghdad from southern fields.Taking control of Kirkuk could shift that arithmetic in due course but probably not quickly enough to change the economic argument that the Kurds would do better to delay independence.The likes of Mehdi, father of the fallen peshmerga fighter Hogir Fathi, call the cause of sovereignty one for which "we are all prepared to sacrifice ourselves". But a pragmatic Kurdish leadership may yet bide its time to see how Iraq's other groups and their foreign allies deal with the Islamist offensive."They are in a very good position right now," said one Western diplomat who follows Iraqi politics closely."Going towards independence may bring more pain than gain." | 1 |
Bolsonaro, a former army captain turned lawmaker who openly admires Brazil's 1964-1985 military dictatorship, promised in his first remarks as president to adhere to democratic norms, after his tirades against the media and political opponents had stirred unease. While investors hope Bolsonaro's free-market stance will reinvigorate Brazil's economy - the eight largest in the world - environmentalists and rights groups are worried he will roll back protections for the Amazon rain forest and loosen gun controls in a country that already has the world's highest number of murders. "This is the beginning of Brazil's liberation from socialism, political correctness and a bloated state," Bolsonaro, 63, said in an address to the nation made after he donned the presidential sash. A seven-term congressman who spent decades on the fringes of Brazilian politics, Bolsonaro was swept to power in October by voters' outrage with traditional political parties, making him Brazil's first right-wing president since the dictatorship. Voters punished mainstream parties following more than four years of graft investigations that laid bare the largest political corruption scheme ever discovered. Centrist parties were trounced, reshaping Brazil's political landscape and polarizing Congress.
Supporters cheer for Brazil's new President Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia, Brazil Jan 1, 2019. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli
Following a knife attack during the presidential campaign that left Bolsonaro hospitalized for weeks, security was tight for his inauguration. Some 10,000 police officers and soldiers were deployed on the streets of Brasilia, the capital, as Bolsonaro and his wife rode in an open-topped Rolls-Royce to Congress. Supporters cheer for Brazil's new President Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia, Brazil Jan 1, 2019. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli His voters are now impatient for Bolsonaro to make good on ambitious promises to tackle graft and violent crime and revive an economy still sputtering after the collapse of a commodities boom led to Brazil's worst recession on record. As thousands of supporters, many with the Brazilian flag draped around their shoulders, chanted "the captain has arrived!," Bolsonaro launched into a fiery speech. "We have the great challenge of taking on the effects of an economic crisis, of facing the distortion of human rights and the breakdown of the family," he said. "We must urgently end ideologies that defend criminals and penalize police." CONSERVATIVE AGENDA Bolsonaro, who was sworn in before a joint session of Congress, called on lawmakers to help him "free the nation definitively from the yoke of corruption, crime, economic irresponsibility and ideological submission." On the economic front, the new leader promised to open foreign markets for Brazil and enact reforms to reduce a yawning budget deficit, putting government accounts on a sustainable path. Bolsonaro plans to realign Brazil internationally, moving away from developing-nation allies and closer to the policies of Western leaders, particularly U.S. President Donald Trump, who sent Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to his inauguration. Trump congratulated Bolsonaro in a Twitter message, writing "The USA is with you".
Outgoing President Michel Temer and his wife Marcela Temer await Brazil's new President Jair Bolsonaro at the Planalto Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil Jan 1, 2019. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
As a clear sign of that diplomatic shift, Bolsonaro plans to move the Brazilian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, breaking with Brazil's traditional support for a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue. Outgoing President Michel Temer and his wife Marcela Temer await Brazil's new President Jair Bolsonaro at the Planalto Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil Jan 1, 2019. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino Backed massively by conservative sectors of Brazil, including Christian evangelical churches, Bolsonaro would block moves to legalize abortion beyond even the current limited exceptions and remove sex education from public schools, opposing what he calls "cultural Marxism" introduced by recent leftist governments. One-third of his Cabinet are former army officers, mostly fellow cadets at the Black Needles academy, Brazil's West Point, all outspoken backers of the former military regime. Bolsonaro has faced charges of inciting rape and for hate crimes because of comments about women, gays and racial minorities. Yet his law-and-order rhetoric and plans to ease gun controls have resonated with many voters, especially in Brazil's booming farm country. TACKLE 'BRAZIL COST' In an interview with Record TV on the eve of his inauguration, Bolsonaro lashed out at Brazil's notorious bureaucracy, which makes doing business difficult and expensive. He vowed to strip away the so-called "Brazil Cost" that hamstrings private enterprise. "The government machine is really heavy," he said. "There are hundreds of bureaucratic governing bodies across Brazil, of regulators as well. ... We have to untangle the mess." Bolsonaro's vow to follow Trump's example and pull Brazil out of the Paris climate change agreement has worried environmentalists. So have his plans to build hydroelectric dams in the Amazon and open up to mining the reservations of indigenous peoples who are seen as the last custodians of the world's biggest forest. Brazilian businesses are eager to see Bolsonaro take office and install a team of orthodox economists led by investment banker Paulo Guedes, who has promised quick action in bringing Brazil's unsustainable budget deficit under control. Guedes plans to sell as many state companies as possible in a privatization drive that he forecasts could eventually bring in up to 1 trillion reais ($257 billion). That would help restore order to government finances. The key measure, however, for reducing the deficit and stopping a dangerous rise of Brazil's public debt will be the overhaul of the costly social security system. Pension reform will be Bolsonaro's biggest challenge since he has yet to build a base in Congress, where he has eschewed the political horse-trading that traditionally helped Brazilian presidents govern the nation of nearly 210 million people. | 0 |
LONDON/NEW YORK, Wed Oct 22,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - The world's worst financial crisis in 80 years hammered emerging markets on Wednesday, prompting emergency central bank moves and calls for international help to curb investor flight. There was more bad news in the United States too, where AT&T Inc and Boeing were among companies reporting weaker-than-expected earnings and drugmaker Merck & Co said it would cut 7,200 jobs. Battered US bank Wachovia Corp, set to be taken over by Wells Fargo & Co, posted a $23.9 billion third-quarter loss, a record for any US lender in the global credit crisis. Emerging market stocks, sovereign debt and currencies all came under intense pressure as investors unwound funding positions amid worries about the deteriorating world economy. Fears of a global recession overshadowed signs that efforts by authorities across the world to bolster the financial system were beginning to bear fruit. Hungary ratcheted up interest rates by three full points to defend its forint currency. Belarus's central bank said it had requested credit from the International Monetary Fund, and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said she expected her country to receive substantial financial aid from the IMF next week. The IMF is also ready to help Pakistan, which needs funds to avoid a balance of payments crisis, and Iceland, driven close to bankruptcy as frozen credit markets caused its banks to fail. "It's not that the fundamentals for emerging markets have changed. Capital is now moving back from the emerging world to the developed world," said Neil Dougall, chief emerging markets economist at Dresdner Kleinwort. OPTIMISM? Those problems masked some otherwise optimistic noises from various officials about the financial crisis, which has prompted billions of dollars in rescue and liquidity packages from governments around the world. U.S. Treasury Undersecretary David McCormick, speaking in Hong Kong, said the U.S. economy was in for a challenging few quarters but could start to recover late next year. "The name of the game is to bring back confidence to the financial market," he said. Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England and a major player in Group of Seven nations' discussions on the crisis, said that the worst may have passed for the financial system. "We are far from the end of the road back to stability," he said late on Tuesday. "But the plan to recapitalize our banking system, both here and abroad, will I believe come to be seen as the moment in the banking crisis of the past year when we turned the corner." His comments were underlined by a further drop in U.S. dollar short-term funding costs in London and Asia, a sign banks are beginning to regain trust in each other. Emerging powerhouse Russia, whose markets have been battered during the crisis, also signaled improvements in bank lending. "The interbank (lending) has started working normally. The rates are high but coming down. Banks have started crediting sectors again. But we still need two or three weeks for the situation to start improving," the Financial Times quoted First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov as saying. RECESSION LOOMS The overarching fear, overshadowing the progress made in fighting financial collapse, was about the deteriorating global economic climate. Minutes from the Bank of England's last meeting, at which it joined a coordinated round of rate cuts, said the UK economy had deteriorated substantially and King, in his Tuesday comments, said it was probably entering its first recession in 16 years. Such worries swept financial markets. Wall Street looked set for a poor start -- Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 259 points, or nearly 3 percent. European shares were down more than 4.4 percent and Japan's Nikkei average ended down 6.8 percent. In emerging markets, MSCI's sector index was at its lowest since June 2005, and sovereign debt spreads widened beyond 700 basis points over Treasury yields for the first time since early 2003. Currencies other than the forint were also battered, with the Turkish lira falling to the lowest in more than two years and South Africa's rand at its lowest in more than 6 years against the dollar. "Now we are going to have to deal with the problems of a business cycle downturn, which in all likelihood will be a fairly intense one," said Sanjay Mathur, economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Singapore. A slew of other US company results on Wednesday gave a snapshot of conditions across an array of industries and sectors in the world's largest economy. Tobacco companies Philip Morris International and Reynolds American Inc posted quarterly profits that beat analysts' estimates, as did fast-food chain McDonald's Corp. But they were bright spots amid the gloom. | 2 |
US President Barack Obama and Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will discuss how the two countries can work together to fight terrorism and global warming on July 30, the White House said on Saturday. Arroyo will be the first Southeast Asian leader to visit the United States since Obama took office in January. She will also meet with members of Congress, private sector partners and business groups, the White House said. The United States has hundreds of troops, including special forces, in the Philippines' southern Mindanao region to counter rebels from the Abu Sayyaf, a radical Islamic group linked to al Qaeda and the regional Jemaah Islamiah. The soldiers are banned from combat, but provide training and logistics support to Philippine troops. Southeast Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change because of the high economic activity along its long coastlines, and its heavy dependence on agriculture, forestry and other natural resources. The region's economies could lose as much as 6.7 percent of combined gross domestic product yearly by 2100, more than twice the global average loss, the Asian Development Bank said in a recent report. Ties between the Philippines, Asia's largest Catholic nation, and its former colonial ruler have see-sawed for decades. The United States is the Philippines' biggest trading partner with bilateral trade at about $17 billion last year. There are about 4 million people of Filipino descent in the United States, the largest Asian ethnic group there after the Chinese. Over 250,000 Filipinos served alongside the US military during World War II. | 0 |
The enormous fires — often set by ranchers and farmers to clear land, but exacerbated by unusually dry conditions in recent weeks — have engulfed more than 10% of the Brazilian wetlands, known as the Pantanal, exacting a toll scientists call “unprecedented.” The fires in the Pantanal, in southwest Brazil, raged across an estimated 7,861 square miles between January and August, according to an analysis conducted by NASA for The New York Times, based on a new system to track fires in real time using satellite data. That’s an area slightly larger than New Jersey. The previous record was in 2005, when approximately 4,608 square miles burned in the biome during the same period. And to the north, the fires in the Brazilian Amazon — many of them also deliberately set for commercial clearing — have been ruinous as well. The amount of Brazilian rainforest lost to fires in 2020 has been similar to the scale of the destruction last year, when the problem drew global condemnation and added to the strains between Brazil and its trading partners, particularly in Europe. The enormous scale of the fires in the Amazon and the Pantanal, several of which were visible to astronauts in space, has drawn less attention in a year overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic, the protests over police brutality and the coming American election. But experts called this year’s blazes in the Pantanal a particularly jarring loss and the latest ecological crisis that has unfolded on the watch of President Jair Bolsonaro, whose policies have prioritised economic development over environmental protections. “The fires in the Pantanal this year are really unprecedented,” said Douglas C. Morton, the chief of the Biospheric Sciences Laboratory at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, who has studied fires and agricultural activity in South America for two decades. “It’s a massive area.” Bolsonaro, who often makes assertions that are false, said some of the fires detected by satellites were likely campfires. Owners of soy fields and cattle ranches — which, along with tourism, are the main economic engines in the Pantanal — set fires on their lands during July and August, when the water level ebbs. This year, several of those fires skipped over traditional barriers like roads and streams, powered by strong winds. “Years back we faced large fires here, but nothing like this,” said Manuel Costa, a park ranger who was part of a team trying to limit the spread of a blaze in a natural reserve in the Pantanal. “These fires are almost impossible to fight.” During the wet season from October to March, most of the Pantanal region floods with water that otherwise might overwhelm populations downstream. As the Pantanal dries from April to September, it provides a much-needed source of water for those same populations. But the Pantanal, like much of Brazil, has been mired in drought this year, with below-normal rainfall and near-record temperatures during the wet season. While the extent of climate change’s influence on the current drought is unclear, researchers say drought in the region can be triggered by warm surface temperatures in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. As these oceans continue to warm in coming decades, the researchers expect more periods of extreme dryness in the Pantanal.
A wildfire burns towards a northern border of the Sesc Pantanal Reserve, the Brazil’s largest private natural reserve, in the Pantanal, the country’s huge wetlands, Aug 29, 2020. The New York Times
Last year’s fires in the Amazon incited a major backlash against Brazil, which continues to face boycott threats and the potential unravelling of a trade deal with the European Union over Bolsonaro’s environmental record. A wildfire burns towards a northern border of the Sesc Pantanal Reserve, the Brazil’s largest private natural reserve, in the Pantanal, the country’s huge wetlands, Aug 29, 2020. The New York Times Seeking to burnish its image, the government in July declared a 120-day prohibition on fires in the Amazon and the Pantanal. It also launched a military operation to prevent commercial deforestation, which is the leading cause of fires in Brazil. But experts said those measures have served mainly to manage a public relations crisis and have done little to strengthen conservation efforts. “There’s a sense that environmental laws can be ignored with impunity,” said Ane Alencar, the science director at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute in Brazil. “That’s largely a result of how the government has been handling these issues.” Bolsonaro campaigned in 2018 on a promise to make it easier for miners, loggers and farmers to gain access to protected rainforest and other biomes. He has called environmental fines an irksome “industry” that got in the way of economic development. On Thursday, during a weekly live broadcast he does on Facebook, the president lashed out at nongovernment organizations that promote conservation, calling them a “cancer” he has not managed to “kill off.” His vice president, Hamilton Mourão, a former army general who has overseen the government’s military operation in the Amazon this year, has struck a more contrite tone, particularly with the foreign news media and investors. In a recent interview, Mourão said that deploying the armed forces to fight deforestation was necessary at a time when fiscal constraints have hobbled the government agencies that enforce environmental laws. “We have to wage a constant battle to prevent illegality from taking root,” Mourão said. Experts say the government’s efforts have fallen short because it has failed to prosecute the leaders of the organizations driving deforestation. The government has also been largely unable to enforce regulations in protected areas and has struggled to collect the environmental fines that are issued. Last year, the fires in the Amazon razed about 28,000 square miles of tree cover, a 10-year high. Government scientists say satellite glitches have prevented them from arriving at a comprehensive estimate for the first six months of this year. A scientist at Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, the government agency that tracks deforestation and fires, told Reuters this week that when data is downloaded from the satellites, the agency experts expect to find that this year’s fire season in the Amazon was as about as destructive as last year’s, if not more. The preliminary analysis shows more than 13,200 square miles of tree cover in the Amazon burned this year. Morton, the NASA scientist, said the 120-day moratorium on fires appears to have been widely ignored. “Most fires we’ve seen in 2020 were started after the moratorium went into effect,” he said. Across the Pantanal, firefighters, local tourism professionals and volunteers have banded together to help firefighters combat the fires, a herculean task that has often felt hopeless as the density of smoke in the air makes it impossible to douse the flames from aircraft. “We received calls from people in tears asking for help to combat fire on their property, but we couldn’t do anything,” Lt Col Jean Oliveira, a firefighter in Mato Grosso state, told firefighters during a daily meeting at the command base. “Fighting forest fires is really like war, and every day is a battle.” Ailton Lara, the owner of one of the lodges in the area that caters to tourists who come to the Pantanal to see wildlife, said he despairs to think of the toll that the fires will take on animals and plants in the area — and to his livelihood. “We need to look at the root of the problem,” he said. “What is happening now is a warning, and the question is what we will have learned from all of this.” c.2020 The New York Times Company | 0 |
WASHINGTON, Fri Dec 4,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - The Obama administration may be putting out a fire in Afghanistan, but the dynamite factory is next door in nuclear-armed Pakistan, commented Democratic lawmaker Gary Ackerman this week. In other words, if President Barack Obama wants to achieve his goal to defeat al Qaeda, the strategic prize is Pakistan and its border area with Afghanistan, a region Obama called the "epicenter" of violent extremism when he announced his new Afghan war policy Tuesday night. "My constituents keep asking? Is it worth risking the lives of those who respond to the fire in a place that may or may not hold a lot of value in and of itself," Ackerman, a US congressman from New York, told Obama's defense and diplomatic chiefs. The hard part, said ex-CIA analyst Bruce Riedel, was to get Islamabad to cooperate in the fight against extremists in what is an increasingly complex political climate in Pakistan. President Asif Ali Zardari's government is teetering and public opinion still staunchly anti-American, albeit less so than under the Bush administration. Too much US pressure makes Zardari's position even more precarious, particularly with the army and police. "It is a very delicate balancing act," said Riedel, now with the Brookings Institution think tank. "You don't change Pakistan's strategic behavior very easily. It is not something that will change in the course of months or years," he added.
RATTLED BY STRATEGY The Pakistanis are rattled by what the United States is doing in Afghanistan, with contradictory positions of not wanting a "surge" of 30,000 more U.S. forces across the border while also fearing Washington will withdraw too quickly and destabilize the region further. "So they don't want us to surge or leave, but they also don't want to do more to make America and NATO policy in Afghanistan more likely of any sort of success," said Robert M. Hathaway, director of the Asia program at the Wilson Center, another Washington-based think tank. Congress has been pushing the Obama administration to put more pressure on Pakistan and Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts made this point during a hearing in Washington on Thursday. "Today it is the presence of al Qaeda in Pakistan, its direct ties to and support from the Taliban in Afghanistan and the perils of an unstable, nuclear-armed Pakistan that drive our mission," he said. Senior US officials traveled to Pakistan in recent weeks to discuss the new Afghan strategy, including national security adviser James Jones, who personally delivered a letter to Zardari from Obama, urging Islamabad to do more. Obama has offered Zardari a range of incentives, including enhanced intelligence sharing and military cooperation, and experts expect there to be more CIA-operated pilotless drone attacks on suspected al Qaeda and Taliban targets as part of the new strategy. Nearly 50 drone air strikes in northwestern border regions this year have killed about 415 people, including many foreign militants, according to Pakistani officials and residents, but these attacks raise hackles locally. Since 2001, the United States has given more than $10 billion in U.S. military aid to Pakistan, and the Pentagon has started rushing hundreds of millions of dollars more to its military in recent months. Much of that assistance is under the radar because of political sensitivities and fears of annoying India, Pakistan's arch rival but an increasingly important ally for Washington in the region. The Pakistani government has been asking for additional F-16 fighter jets, and Riedel said they were also pushing for jets that could operate at night as their current capacity was limited mostly to the day. During the strategic review, Vice President Joe Biden was pushing for more focus on Pakistan, with discussions over whether to have more "unilateral operations" inside the country, seen by most experts as very risky. "I can imagine the very, very exceptional case where some limited operations might be called upon, but as an ongoing military tactic it has bad news written all over it," Hathaway said. Any radical, unilateral action, such as sending in special forces, would further alienate pro-Western elements in Pakistan, said Nick Schmidle, a fellow at the New America Foundation who recently wrote a book on Pakistan. No amount of goodwill could remove the decades-old trust deficit between the United States and Pakistan, he said. For example a proposed $7.5 billion non-military US aid package has been met with bountiful suspicion, particularly from the army, which says it comes with too many conditions. "They don't seem to want a strategic relationship. They want the money, they want the equipment, but at the end of the day they don't want a relationship that costs them too much," said Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey. | 1 |
The links between the blazes and climate change caused by carbon emissions are complex and as the driest inhabited landmass on earth, deadly wildfires have been a perennial problem for Australia.But a series of record-busting hot, dry conditions across the continent and an early start to the Southern Hemisphere summer has rekindled arguments on mankind's impact on climate and what can be done to mitigate it.Abbott was elected in September on the back of plans to repeal Australia's scheme to price the carbon emissions responsible for global warming. He has promised to dissolve both the lower house and the Senate if his plan to scrap the scheme is blocked.But as the fires spread, the pressure is mounting on Abbott, who once described the science around climate change as "absolute crap"."Reducing emissions is not a free lunch, but neither is climate change," said John Conner, the Chief Executive of independent research organisation The Climate Institute. "If we're serious about reducing the risks of climate change and climate impacts like these bushfires, then we need to have a serious climate policy which is credible."More than 200 homes have been destroyed since last Thursday as scores of fires burned through thousands of hectares of bush, farms and rural communities outside Sydney. A state of emergency has been declared in New South Wales (NSW) state, Australia's most populous.Forecasts for a return of hot, windy weather later this week has raised fears that three of the most dangerous blazes in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney could join up to form a massive "mega-fire", according to the New South Wales Rural Fire Service.CARBON PRICING BATTLEThe previous Labor government's carbon pricing plan was aimed at reducing emissions by taxing major polluters with the world's highest carbon price of A$23 ($22.23) a tonne before moving to a market cap and trade system by mid-2014.Abbott, a volunteer NSW firefighter himself, now faces a tough test to convince opposition politicians to repeal it when parliament resumes next month, with the Greens and Labor vowing to fight changes.Abbott has a clear majority in the lower house, but if he fails to get the legislation through a hostile Senate, he has promised to call a double dissolution to break the deadlock. Such a move, last called in 1987, would mean elections to both the lower house and the upper house.After earlier rubbishing climate change, Abbott has subsequently acknowledged that it is happening and has proposed a "direct action policy" that would fund some projects that reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions and punish businesses which exceed their "business as usual" emission baselines.But just days after taking over as prime minister on Sept 18, Abbott dismantled the Climate Commission and the Climate Change Authority, the two main government bodies for reporting the science of climate change and providing advice on carbon pricing and emissions reduction targets.Before being disbanded, the Climate Commission had reported that climate change had increased the incidence of bushfires in many regions, with heat waves more frequent and severe and the number of hot days in Australia doubling since the 1960s.Last month, leading global climate scientists said they were more certain that human activity was the main cause of global warming, which would bring more heatwaves and droughts, as well as more floods and rising sea-levels.Scientists and most politicians are loath to link single weather or fire events to climate change, and Australian Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt was heavily criticized by some government ministers and media for "political point-scoring" when he did that after last week's blazes.But the fires and persistent hot weather would increase public pressure on Abbott to come up with a strong alternative to carbon pricing, said Tristan Edis, a former research fellow at the Grattan Institute and now editor of Climate Spectator."It's not just about axing something. He's got to replace it with something that credible and in that respect, (the fires) help people that are concerned about climate change and want to see government action on it, it helps their cause to keep this top of mind." ($1 = 1.0348 Australian dollars) | 0 |
US President George W Bush urged a rebellious Congress on Tuesday to give his new Iraq war plan a chance and insisted in his State of the Union speech it is not too late to shape the outcome. Facing skeptical lawmakers and some of the weakest approval ratings of his six years in office, Bush said the best chance for success is to send 21,500 more US troops to Iraq. "On this day, at this hour, it is still within our power to shape the outcome of the battle. Let us find our resolve, and turn events toward victory," Bush said. He did not back down even as Democrats and his own Republicans work on nonbinding congressional resolutions expressing opposition to the plan he announced two weeks ago. "Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq -- and I ask you to give it a chance to work," Bush told the joint session of the US Congress, the first time since he took office that he has faced a House of Representatives and Senate both controlled by Democrats. With a Washington-Post/ABC News poll giving Bush a 33 percent approval rating, he faces a tough road ahead focusing America's attention on domestic issues with Iraq dominating the debate. He sought to push an agenda at home against a heavy tide of criticism over Iraq, calling climate change a "serious challenge" that he would address by reducing US gasoline consumption by 20 percent over 10 years and increasing use of alternative fuels.
He also called for expanding health care for Americans, and creating a guest-worker program for illegal immigrants that could represent the best chance for a bipartisan agreement. "Like many before us, we can work through our differences, and achieve big things for the American people," Bush said. In the audience of lawmakers, Cabinet officials, diplomats and Supreme Court justices were as many as 10 potential successors of both political parties jockeying for position to replace him. A silence fell over the crowd as Bush reviewed the 2006 setbacks in Iraq. Some of the Iraq lines in his speech netted ovations only from Republicans. Watching over his shoulder with a tight set to her jaw was the first woman speaker of the House, California Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who refused to stand and applaud during some sections of Bush's Iraq remarks. "Unfortunately, tonight the president demonstrated he has not listened to Americans' single greatest concern: the war in Iraq," she said in a joint statement with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat. Massachusetts Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy said two of the best words he heard in Bush's speech were "Madame Speaker." Bush rejected Democratic arguments for pulling American troops out of Baghdad. He said Iraq would be victim of an epic battle between Shi'ite and Sunni extremists and Iraq's government would be overrun if US forces step back before Baghdad is secure. "This is not the fight we entered in Iraq, but it is the fight we are in," he said. In the Democratic response, Virginia Senator Jim Webb, a recently elected Vietnam veteran, said "we need a new direction in Iraq," a policy "that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq's cities and a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq." The energy proposals by Bush, who has frequently been accused by critics of ignoring global warming, fell short of seeking mandatory caps on carbon emissions sought by some Democrats as well as Europeans. He would achieve his goal through improved vehicle fuel standards and an increase in production and use of alternative fuels like ethanol. Bush was not pushing for a specific increase in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which many experts see as critical to reduce oil usage but which the White House fears would prompt manufacturers to build smaller, less-safe cars. Instead, he asked Congress for authority to reform CAFE standards for cars with the goal of reducing projected annual gasoline use by up to 8.5 billion gallons. Bush believes the projected growth in carbon emissions from cars, light trucks and suburban utility vehicles could be stopped in 10 years under his plan. New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer dismissed Bush's proposal, saying "the quickest, most efficient way to reduce gas imports and bring down prices is to increase fuel economy standards." Bush's health care plan -- making health insurance taxable income and deductible up to $15,000 a year for families starting in 2009 -- could raise taxes for as many as 30 million Americans but he says it would lower costs for many millions more. | 0 |
In first three weeks of the month, nearly 8,904 mm of rain has been recorded against the April average of 4,053 mm. “Some 10,000 mm of rainfall was recorded in April in 1981,” an official in weather office said. “We have recorded nearly 9,000 mm of rain in first three weeks of the month.” “This year the rain started even before the Boishakh. We experience nor’wester in this season but not much rain. This kind of rain we usually see in monsoon,” said the meteorologist. The weather experts are calling it ‘climate variability’. Trough of low lying over West Bengal and adjoining area, which extends to North Bay, and an existing steep pressure gradient over North Bay are responsible for the current rainfall. “Even if there is heavy rain, it is around 47 to 76 percent higher than the average, but this year it is 119.7 percent higher than the average April rainfall,” the weatherman said. The highest April rainfall recorded in different parts of Bangladesh are as follows: on April 2- 71mm in Sylhet, on April 3 - 81mm in Sylhet, April 4 - 58mm in Chittagong, April 5- 122mm in Srimangal, April 7- 62mm in Sylhet, April 8 - 21mm in Netrokona, April 15 - 36mm in Dinajpur, April 18 - 33mm in Tetulia, April 19 - 114mm in Madaripu, April 20 - 194mm in Srimangal, April 21 - 97mm in Dinajpur, April 22- 98mm in Maijdee and April 23 - 118mm in Rangamati. “The rainfall so far this month is 119.7 percent higher than the average of the month,” meteorologist Ruhul Kuddus told bdnews24.com. “This is unusual, I must say,” he added. In 1981, the rainfall was 168 percent higher than the average, he added. Former director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department Samarendra Karmaker told bdnews24.com that this kind of change in weather pattern could be experienced in every 20 to 30 years. Mohan Kumar Das, a fellow at the Institute of Water and Flood Management, said their record showed some Haor areas were flooded in the year 2000, 2002, 2004, 2010 and 2016. Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud quoting 20 years of statistics has said flooding in the Haor areas is unprecedented. | 0 |
As part of its pledge under the 2015 Paris climate agreement India, the world's third-biggest carbon emitter after China and the United States, is supposed to reduce its carbon footprint by 33-35% from 2005 levels by 2030. Also, India aims to produce 40% of its power from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. "We will achieve these goals before 2030, or in other words, by 2030, these goals will be overachieved," Rameshwar Prasad Gupta, the most senior civil servant at the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, told Reuters in an interview. "From 2005 levels, India's carbon emissions fell 24% by 2016 - in the space of 11 years. Between 2016 and 2030 - in a span of 14 years - we've to reduce emissions by just 9-11%, but it will be definitely much more than that," he said. In all probability, by 2025, non-fossil fuel sources would account for 40% of India's power generation, Gupta said. But any further commitment to cutting greenhouse gas emissions would depend on the fulfilment of the pledge that rich countries provide $100 billion a year in funding to help developing nations tackle climate change. "Our position is tied with something concrete - something very concrete - on climate finance. Climate finance from developed countries to developing countries is an integral part of the whole framework," Gupta said. He said developed economies, unlike India, have used "the carbon space disproportionately", and that was why they needed to be carbon neutral, but as a developing nation India could not bind itself to a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goal. Ahead of a global climate conference in Scotland in November, Britain's COP26 President Alok Sharma held meetings with government officials and ministers in New Delhi earlier this week. | 0 |
UK safety regulators criticized BP Plc's safety training procedures in the North Sea just months before a blown-out BP well in the Gulf of Mexico caused America's worst ever oil spill. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the UK government body monitoring compliance with companies' approved emergency plans, also cited BP for failing to adequately conduct oil spill exercises. The UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said in a letter to BP that there was "evidence of a culture among your contractors, Seawell (up to senior levels of management), of working outside of procedures, permit or permit conditions." The publication of the criticism comes as BP's outgoing chief executive, Tony Hayward, prepares to appear before a UK parliamentary committee later on Wednesday to discuss North Sea safety. BP's shares traded down 1.6 percent at 408.5 pence at 1013 GMT, lagging a 0.8 percent drop in the STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index. BP's culture toward safety has been criticized heavily by politicians in the United States following the Macondo well disaster. The company said it had addressed DECC's concerns and was now fully compliant with the relevant regulations. With respect to the HSE criticism of its culture toward correct permitting of work on the Clair platform, BP said: "The letter from the HSE last year relates to comments made by a contractor which the safety representatives on the platform strongly felt did not reflect the reality of the platform's safety culture and practices." "Following further engagement with the HSE the matter was closed," BP added. Stavanger-based Seawell's chairman Joergen Rasmussen said he was surprised by the HSE comments. "We have not heard about it before. We worked for BP so if they had received a letter like this that mentioned us we would have heard. This only seems strange, I cannot understand it," he said. In one letter to BP, part of a batch released following a Freedom of Information Act request by two UK newspapers, the HSE also criticized BP's procedures for investigating safety incidents, and from learning from investigations. BP last week published its own probe into the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico and accused its drilling contractor, Transocean, of inadequate adherence to procedures. BP and other oil companies have previously admitted they were not prepared to deal with a blow out in deep water. When Transocean's North Sea chief appeared before the parliamentary committee last week, he was also grilled about leaked criticism from the UK's safety regulator. | 0 |
Global warming could wipe out large areas of glaciers in the Himalayas and surrounding highlands, threatening livelihoods across much of Asia, climate scientists said in Beijing on Monday. Rising temperatures fuelled by greenhouse gases from industry and agriculture have already shrunk glaciers on the mountains dividing China and South Asia, experts say. But one author of a benchmark UN report on climate change said more rapid melting could severely disrupt river flows and rainfall patterns across Asia. "If the rate of temperature rises does not change, glaciers on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau will rapidly shrink, perhaps from 500,000 square kilometres in 1995 to 100,000 square kilometres in 2030," Wu Shaohong of the Chinese Academy of Sciences told a news conference. Glaciers across the Himalayas and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are a major source for key rivers, such as the Yangtze in China, the Mekong in Indochina and the Ganges in India. Uncertainty surrounds how fast global warming might shrink glaciers, Wu told reporters after the briefing to explain forecasts issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) earlier this month. Another senior Chinese climate scientist, Qin Dahe, gave a lower estimate, saying that about one-quarter of glaciers in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau could melt away by mid-century. But even using conservative forecasts, the experts said disappearance of glaciers could imperil rain patterns, river flows and farming across Asia. Glacier-fed rivers could swell as the ice melts but then dry out as the ice disappears. "Glaciers are vital to the national economy and peoples' livelihoods," Qin said, explaining that they were a crucial source of water and had a profound impact on weather across Asia. A top Indian climate expert said South Asia would also be threatened if glacier-fed rivers dried up. "That is the region that is really the granary of South Asia," said Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the IPCC, referring to the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, which relies on waters from the mountains. Pachauri said underground water supplies would also be at risk from melting glaciers. "We will have to adapt. We will have to use water far more efficiently than we have in the past," he said, adding that the only hope of slowing global warming was if wealthy countries led the way in dramatically cutting greenhouse gas emissions. In recent days, China has publicly released its own national assessment of climate change, which forecasts that coverage of glaciers across the country's west could shrink by about 27 percent by mid-century. As a result, China's assessment warns, "many lakes will swell then shrink, wetlands will retreat, desertification will expand and grasslands will retreat". | 0 |
In China, companies building coal-fired power plants amid more frequent periods of drought are shifting to a more expensive technology that cools the plants’ equipment with less water. In Bangladesh, rice farmers facing rising seawater are changing what they grow, some to more salt-tolerant varieties of the crop and others away from rice altogether, to shrimp. All these shifts, experts familiar with them say, are in response to climate change. Not long ago, climate change was seen as a threat for the future. Increasingly, it’s a reality of the present, a new normal spurring billions of dollars in annual spending as governments, companies and citizens scramble to adapt. Intensifying storms, like Hurricane Florence, which walloped the Carolinas this month; worsening drought, which fuelled the fires that have swept through California this year; and rising seas that have put coastal cities on edge around the globe are all linked at least in part, scientists say, to a human-induced rise in global temperatures, and they are prompting all manner of defensive measures. The United Nations estimates that adapting to climate change could cost $500 billion yearly by 2050 — a price tag that would be borne by everyone, including governments, the private sector and citizens. But whether even that sum would succeed in shoring up people and infrastructure is anyone’s guess. The shift in focus from trying just to prevent climate change to trying to live with it is forcing some sobering trade-offs, and they are likely, experts say, to get more painful. For decades, a philosophical debate has raged about how to respond to climate change. One side — essentially the climate purists — has argued for a strategy known as mitigation: remaking energy, agriculture and other sectors to curb carbon emissions and prevent temperatures from rising. The other side — the climate pragmatists — has called for adaptation: accepting that climate change is happening and taking steps to adjust. Initially, many environmental activists rejected adaptation as a sellout, a “kind of laziness, an arrogant faith in our ability to react in time to save our skins,” as Al Gore, then Bill Clinton’s running mate, put it in his 1992 book, “Earth in the Balance,” a call to slash emissions. But emissions have continued to rise. In 2017, energy-related carbon output hit an all-time high, the International Energy Agency says. So climate hawks have come to view adaptation as crucial. “You have to do adaptation,” Youssef Nassef, director of adaptation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which oversees the global response to global warming, said in a telephone interview this month from a round of international climate negotiations in Bangkok. “And the sooner you start working on it, the better.” The work is going slowly. In 2009, developed countries agreed to mobilise $100 billion annually by 2020 to help developing countries both mitigate and adapt to climate change. No comprehensive accounting exists of how much is being spent on adaptation, UN officials say. What’s clear is that the sums, distributed across a variety of pools, are relatively small. One example is the Green Climate Fund, through which rich countries have agreed to fund climate mitigation and adaptation in developing countries; through the end of July, it had received, by the United Nations’ calculations, only $10.3 billion in pledges and only $3.5 billion in actual commitments, of which $1.4 billion was for adaptation projects. Another example is financing by six large multilateral development banks for adaptation efforts in emerging and developing countries, which totalled $7.4 billion in 2017, according to the World Bank. The Bangkok talks failed to achieve agreement on more adaptation money; diplomats are expected take up the issue again in December, at a climate conference in Katowice, Poland. Lack of money isn’t the only problem in adapting to climate change. So are the unintended consequences. Some moves to adapt to climate change actually are worsening carbon emissions. One example is the use of air-conditioning which, particularly in developing countries, is soaring, both because of rising heat and humidity linked to climate change and because of economic growth, said Caroline Lee, an analyst at the International Energy Agency who focuses on adaptation. By 2050, the IEA has projected, global energy use from air-conditioners will triple, requiring as much electricity as all of China and India use now. It is “a very concrete example of the tension” between adapting to climate change and intensifying it, she said.
Swimmers try to cool off at Coney Island in Brooklyn amid an excessive-heat warning on July 1, 2018. Intensifying urban heat is just one of New York City's climate-related ills. (Dave Sanders/The New York Times)
Here is a look at how three places are experiencing climate change and trying to adapt. Swimmers try to cool off at Coney Island in Brooklyn amid an excessive-heat warning on July 1, 2018. Intensifying urban heat is just one of New York City's climate-related ills. (Dave Sanders/The New York Times) — New York City Since 2009, New York officials have been consulting with a panel of climate scientists about how global warming will affect the city and how the city should respond. Hurricane Sandy, which caused widespread flooding and power failures when it hit the city in October 2012, upped the ante. Although scientists stress that it’s not possible to link any one storm to climate change, New York announced in 2013 that it would spend about $20 billion in federal and city money over the coming decade on projects designed to recover from the hurricane and to adapt more broadly to a changing climate. Topping the city’s list of climate-related ills: intensifying urban heat. About 115 people in New York die from causes related to extreme heat every year, making it “the deadliest extreme-weather event that New York City faces,” said Jainey Bavishi, who leads the city’s climate-adaptation efforts as director of its Office of Recovery and Resiliency. According to a “heat-vulnerability index” that the city has created, the danger is most acute in parts of east Brooklyn, the South Bronx, north Manhattan, and southeast Queens that have little vegetation, lots of pavement and heavy concentrations of poorer and older residents. Particularly in those neighbourhoods, the city is encouraging painting roofs white to reflect heat from the sun, and planting more trees. New York also expects sea levels to rise — an additional 11 to 21 inches by the 2050s — and storm-surge flooding to worsen. That’s why the city is designing a $203 million flip-up wall to go under Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive, the elevated highway that runs along the Manhattan side of the East River. The wall, in a neighborhood known as Two Bridges that includes the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, will be flipped up only when needed and will be paid for by $176 million in federal money and $27 million in city funds, Bavishi said.
Homes along West Cliff Drive, where erosion is intensifying, in Santa Cruz, Calif., on Sept. 15, 2018. The city is considering whether to fortify the cliff below the road, which accounts for about three miles of the beachfront in Santa Cruz. (Peter Prato/The New York Times)
— Santa Cruz, California Homes along West Cliff Drive, where erosion is intensifying, in Santa Cruz, Calif., on Sept. 15, 2018. The city is considering whether to fortify the cliff below the road, which accounts for about three miles of the beachfront in Santa Cruz. (Peter Prato/The New York Times) With famous surfing beaches and a 111-year-old oceanfront boardwalk, Santa Cruz, California, owes its identity to the sea. Now, amid climate change, it’s scrambling to protect itself from that water. The city of 64,000 residents has, for about a decade, been studying its vulnerability to climate change and planning how to adapt. It uses wildfire maps, and models that project sea-level rise through 2030, 2050 and 2100, to map areas by their vulnerability to climate change. Then the city overlays demographic data onto those maps, including residents’ age and income, which allows it to identify particularly vulnerable neighbourhoods. One concern is West Cliff Drive, an upscale oceanfront street with handsome houses and postcard-perfect views. Erosion is intensifying along the road, which accounts for about 3 miles of the city’s 4.5 miles of beachfront. That’s raising an uncomfortable question: Should the city pay to fortify the cliff below the road, protecting it and those houses but potentially intensifying erosion of nearby beaches? Or should it, in planning parlance, “recede” — essentially abandoning the cliff to Mother Nature? If the city chooses to keep shoring it up the cliff, it will face yet another quandary, noted Tiffany Wise-West, the city’s sustainability and climate action manager: “'Who pays?’ is a big question. Do we all pay as taxpayers? Do we require private residents to pay?”
In an undated photo provided by Syed Tasfiq Mahmood, a Bangladeshi farmer holds stalks of rice. Over the past decade, the country has spent about $500 million in government money on planning and projects to adapt to climate change. (Syed Tasfiq Mahmood via The New York Times)
— Bangladesh In an undated photo provided by Syed Tasfiq Mahmood, a Bangladeshi farmer holds stalks of rice. Over the past decade, the country has spent about $500 million in government money on planning and projects to adapt to climate change. (Syed Tasfiq Mahmood via The New York Times) Bangladesh, a low-lying country of about 167 million people on India’s eastern flank, borders the Bay of Bengal and is crisscrossed by rivers including the storied Ganges and the Brahmaputra. The bay and rivers long have defined Bangladesh’s economy; now, so is a changing climate. Over the past decade, Bangladesh has spent about $500 million in government money on planning and projects to adapt to climate change, said Saleemul Huq, director of the country’s International Centre for Climate Change and Development and one of the authors of Bangladesh’s response plan. Along the coast, rice farmers are shifting to new varieties of the crop bred with the help of government money to grow in saltier water. But that is only a temporary fix, because eventually the salinity of the water will exceed the tolerance of the specially engineered rice. “We’re always playing catch-up,” Huq said. “When we can’t grow rice anymore, we switch to raising shrimp.” Yet even shrimp isn’t a panacea. It’s lucrative for those who farm it, but, unlike rice, it’s not a dietary staple. Huq compares climate adaptation in Bangladesh to an effort to fend off an invasion by space aliens. “It’s as if the initial scout ships of the alien invasion have landed on earth, and one of them has landed in Bangladesh,” he said. “The mother ship’s on its way. When it comes, it’s going to land in New York, London, Paris” and other major global cities. “You guys are not ready for it yet. But you’re going to have to learn from us how to deal with it. Because we are learning.” © 2018 New York Times News Service | 0 |
Vejonis urged participants at the UN summit in Paris from Nov. 30-Dec. 11 to avoid repeating the failure of the 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen, which he attended as environment minister. "I hope that in Paris all countries' leaders will agree on this legally binding document," he told Reuters. Asked about opposition from some countries including the United States to a legally binding treaty, he said: "The final decision will take until probably Dec. 11-12 but it seems that all countries understand, including the US, that there are goals that they want to reach during the next years and all countries are reducing emissions. "It means we are quite close to such an accord and a new Kyoto agreement, which would be a Paris agreement, hopefully will be reached," he told Reuters, referring to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that set mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions for industrialized countries. France said on Saturday almost all governments had outlined plans for fighting global warming beyond 2020 in a step towards resolving obstacles to an agreement at the summit. | 0 |
Climate change was seen as the number one
danger by respondents in the WEF's annual risks report on Tuesday, while
erosion of social cohesion, livelihood crises and mental health deterioration
were identified as risks which had increased the most since the start of the
COVID-19 pandemic. "Global leaders must come together and
adopt a coordinated multi-stakeholder approach to tackle unrelenting global
challenges and build resilience ahead of the next crisis," Saadia Zahidi,
WEF managing director, said. Extreme weather was considered the world's
biggest risk in the short term and a failure of climate action in the medium
and long term - two to 10 years, the survey showed. Agreement at the UN COP26 climate conference
in November last year was widely applauded for keeping alive prospects of
capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, but many of the nearly 200
nations had wanted to leave the conference in Glasgow with more. Climate change is already seen contributing to
more extreme weather patterns. "Failure to act on climate change could
shrink global GDP by one-sixth and the commitments taken at COP26 are still not
enough to achieve the 1.5 (degrees Celsius) goal," Peter Giger, group
chief risk officer at Zurich Insurance, which helped to compile the report,
said. The WEF's report also highlights four areas of
emerging risk - cybersecurity, a disorderly climate transition, migration
pressures and competition in space. The prospect of 70,000 satellite launches in
coming decades, in addition to space tourism, raises risks of collisions and
increasing debris in space, amid a lack of regulation. "Who governs space?" said Carolina
Klint, risk management leader for continental Europe at insurance broker Marsh
which also helped produce the report. The report is published each year ahead of the
annual WEF meeting in Davos. However, the Geneva-based WEF last month postponed
the January event until mid-2022 due to the spread of the Omicron coronavirus
variant. The report was produced together with Zurich,
Marsh McLennan and South Korea's SK Group, the universities of Oxford and
Pennsylvania and the National University of Singapore. | 0 |
European nations are not doing enough to fight climate change and should show more leadership before they criticise the United States and Asia, the head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Saturday. Achim Steiner said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag newspaper that climate change has been caused primarily by carbon dioxide emissions from Western industrialised nations and it was thus their responsibility to lead the fight against it. He said the United States and Asia were now moving faster in the fight against climate change than Europe, which he said has grown complacent. "The Americans and Asians are catching up quickly and are becoming strong business competitors (with green technologies)," Steiner said, in excerpts of the interview released ahead of Sunday's publication. "But in Europe we've cherished the illusion in recent years that 'we've done enough'," he added. He said Germany, which holds the European Union presidency, for "showing initiative" but added that was not enough. "It's important that Germany move forward," he said, referring to Europe's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. The European Union's environment commissioner earlier this month said Germany lack of progress in cutting greenhouse gas emissions was holding back international efforts to combat global warming. Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to make fighting climate change a centrepiece of Germany's twin EU and G8 presidencies. But Germany's recent track record on cutting carbon dioxide emissions is poor. It vowed to cut these by 21 percent from 1990 to 2012 under the Kyoto Protocol but has slipped away from the target.
DON'T BLAME CHINA Carbon dioxide (CO2), produced by burning fossil fuels, traps heat in the atmosphere. Scientists say if emissions are not curbed sea levels will rise, while drought and floods will have more dire consequences. The European Commission last month presented a new more ambitious target of cutting CO2 in the 27-nation bloc by at least 20 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels with the possibility of going to 30 percent if other developed countries joined in. Steiner also said it was a myth for Europeans to think China had no interest in the environment. "We have a historic responsibility," Steiner, a German national who was born and raised in Brazil, said when asked why Europeans should cut CO2 emissions when "hundreds of millions of Chinese were switching from bicycles for cars." "The climate problem of today was not caused by China but above all by Western nations. So the first step has to come from us. Moreover, it's wrong to assume that China is not interested in climate protection." Steiner pointed out that the Chinese government last year launched a $180 billion renewable energy programme. "We've only been looking at China through brown smog coloured glasses," he said. "But there are already cities being planned (in China) that will have zero CO2 emissions." | 0 |
In the mind of Christopher Caputo, a pilot, each moment signals a paradigm shift in aviation. “You’re looking at history,” Caputo said recently, speaking from the cockpit of a plane trailing the Alia at close distance. It had an exotic, almost whimsical shape, like an Alexander Calder sculpture, and it banked and climbed in near silence. It is, essentially, a flying battery. And it represented a long-held aviation goal: an aircraft with no need for jet fuel and therefore no carbon emissions, a plane that could take off and land without a runway and quietly hop from recharging station to recharging station, like a large drone. The Alia was made by Beta Technologies, where Caputo is a flight instructor. A 5-year-old startup that is unusual in many respects, the company is the brainchild of Martine Rothblatt, founder of Sirius XM and pharmaceutical company United Therapeutics, and Kyle Clark, a Harvard-trained engineer and former professional hockey player. It has a unique mission, focused on cargo rather than passengers. And despite raising a formidable treasure chest in capital, it is based in Burlington, Vermont, population 45,000, roughly 2,500 miles from Silicon Valley. A battery-powered aircraft with no internal combustion has been a goal of engineers ever since the Wright brothers. Google co-founder Larry Page has been funding electric plane startups for over a decade. Electric motors have the virtue of being smaller, allowing more of them to be fitted on a plane and making it easier to design systems with vertical lift. However, batteries are heavy, planes need to be light, and for most of the past century, the e-plane was thought to be beyond reach. That changed with the extraordinary gains in aviation technology realised since the 1990s. Late last year, curious about the potential of so-called green aviation, I flew in a Pipistrel Alpha Electro, a sleek new Slovenian two-seater designed for flight training. The Electro looks and flies like an ordinary light aircraft. But absent the roar of internal combustion, its single propeller makes a sound like beating wings. “Whoa!” I exclaimed when its high-torque engine caused it to practically leap off the runway. However, the Electro’s power supply lasts only about an hour. After ours nearly ran out, I wondered how many people would enjoy flying in an electric plane. That takeoff is fun. But then you do start to worry about the landing. Despite the excitement about e-planes, the Federal Aviation Administration has never certified electric propulsion as safe for commercial use. Companies expect that to change in the coming years, but only gradually, as safety concerns are worked out. As that process occurs, new forms of aviation are likely to appear, planes never seen before outside of testing grounds. Those planes will have limitations as to how far and fast they can fly, but they will do things other planes can’t, such as hover and take off from “runways in the sky.” They will also — perhaps most important for an industry dependent on fossil fuels — cut down on commercial aviation’s enormous contribution to climate change, currently calculated as 3% to 4% of greenhouse gases globally. “It’s gross,” Clark said. “If we don’t, the consequences are that we’ll destroy the planet.” In 2013, Rothblatt became interested in battery-powered aircraft. United Therapeutics makes human organs, including a kidney grown inside a pig that was attached to a person last fall, the first time such a procedure has been done. Rothblatt wanted an electric heli-plane “to deliver the organs we are manufacturing in a green way,” she said, and fly them a considerable distance — say, between two mid-Atlantic cities. At the time, though, batteries were still too heavy. The longest an electric helicopter had flown was 15 minutes. One group of engineers told her it would take three years of design and development — too long, in her mind, to wait. “Every single person told me it was impossible,” Rothblatt said. A grand vision Clark flew alone for the first time in 1997 on a plane from Burlington to Erie, Pennsylvania. Clark, then 16, had just been selected by the USA Hockey national team. “I was the worst player on the ice,” he said, “so I decided to fight all the opposing players.” As a result, “the team named me captain.” At 6-foot-7, a self-described physical “freak,” Clark would go on to a brief professional hockey career as an extremely low-scoring right wing and enforcer. (His LinkedIn page shows him brawling, helmetless, as a member of the Washington Capitals organisation.) After a stint in Finland’s professional hockey league, he left the sport and received an undergraduate degree in materials science at Harvard, where he wrote a thesis on a plane piloted like a motorcycle and fueled by alternative energy. It was named the engineering department’s paper of the year. He then found himself considering a career on Wall Street, doing something he didn’t want to do away from where he wanted to be: back in Vermont. “There’s a brain drain” among engineers from his home state, he said. “People go away to college and come back when they’re 40, because they realise San Francisco or Boston isn’t the cat’s meow.” Returning to Burlington in his mid-20s, Clark became director of engineering at a company that designed power converters for Tesla. In 2017, he attended a conference where Rothblatt made her pitch for an e-helicopter. “There were like 30 people in the room, none of whom excited me,” Rothblatt recalled. “Then Kyle stood up and said, ‘I’m an electronics and power systems person, and I’m confident we can achieve your specification with a demonstration flight within one to two years.’ Other people were shaking their head. He was probably the youngest guy in the room. So I came up to him during break and said, ‘Where’s your company located?’ And he said, ‘I live in Vermont.’” A few weeks later, after a second meeting, Clark drew a watercolour of his design and sent it to Rothblatt. Within hours, $1.5 million in seed capital for Beta Technologies had been wired to his bank account. “He drew a nice design,” Rothblatt said. A prototype with four tilting propellers was assembled in eight months, with Clark piloting the vehicle himself. Built in Burlington, the plane had to be flown over Lake Champlain, away from population centres. “It was so fun to fly it that we found an excuse to every chance we could,” Clark told an audience at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2019. Ultimately, though, it turned out to have too complex a design and Clark threw it out. He created a streamlined prototype modelled after the Arctic tern, a small, slow bird capable of flying uncanny distances without landing. Since then, Beta’s workforce has grown to more than 350 from 30. The company’s headquarters have expanded to several buildings wrapping around the runway at Burlington International Airport, with plans for an additional 40-acre campus. The board is stocked with players in finance and tech, including Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, and John Abele, founder of Boston Scientific. It has $400 million of funding from the government and institutions, including Amazon. But it is not alone in trying to bring something like this — what’s known as a vehicle with “electric vertical takeoff and landing,” or eVTOL — to market. Propelled by advances in batteries, control systems and high-performance motors, more than a dozen well-financed competitors have their own prototypes, nearly all focused on what the industry calls “urban air mobility,” or flying taxis or privately owned flying vehicles. That no major breakthrough has reached consumers in significant numbers yet gives sceptics ammunition but does not tamp down the optimism within the industry, especially not at Beta. Beta is alone in focusing on cargo and is hoping to win FAA approval in 2024. If it succeeds, it believes it will do more than make aviation history. In the company’s grand vision, electric cargo planes replace fleets of exhaust-spewing short-haul box trucks currently congesting America’s roads. With a limit of 250 nautical miles per battery charge, the vehicles would land atop solar-powered charging stations made out of shipping containers, some equipped with showers, bunks and kitchenettes. (The cabinetry is Vermont maple.) Beta also makes a stand-alone charger that “our group is placing at airports all over the country,” Clark said. A plane such as Beta’s could be a catalyst for “decentralising” the hub and spoke system, the company hopes, taking dependence on shipping centres such as Louisville, Kentucky, and Memphis, Tennessee, out of the equation and rebuilding the supply chain. “If you think about a path between two cities where there’s no direct air service,” said Blain Newton, Beta’s chief operations officer, “the only way is by taking one connection, two connections.” Alia can change that — especially by increasing access to less-populated parts of the country, such as northern Vermont. The ambitions are lofty. Bolstering Newton’s claims, however, UPS has already bought 10 Alias to be delivered in 2024 and signalled its intent to buy 140 more, which it plans to use as “microfeeders” for time-sensitive deliveries such as medicine. Amazon has invested heavily in Beta through its Climate Pledge Fund. The Air Force and the Army have signed contracts with the company worth a combined $43 million. And Blade, a commuter helicopter service, perhaps sensing that urban air mobility is not so far off, has reserved the right to buy five Alias, at a price of $4 million to $5 million apiece. ‘The DNA of Vermont’ Beta’s headquarters at the Burlington Airport — close enough to be seen from the Terminal B waiting area — still has the youthful informality of a startup. On a December morning in the hangar, Naughty by Nature’s “Feel Me Flow” somehow penetrated the din of whirring propellers and industrial tools. The heavily tattooed Clark, whose idea of formal wear seems to be rotating his baseball cap forward, pinballed around the hangar, grabbing stray machinery and vaulting up staircases with the agility of a professional athlete. Before he joined Beta, Newton worked in health care. At his job interview, Clark took him for a helicopter ride. “He gave me the controls and said, ‘Your aircraft. Figure it out,’” Newton recalled, chuckling. “I’d never flown before. I ended up taking a 65% pay cut to work for him.” On their way back, with Clark back at the controls, the helicopter flew over Burlington, a city built largely around the University of Vermont and companies known for their progressive bona fides, including Seventh Generation and Ben & Jerry’s. The city is famously left-leaning: Sen. Bernie Sanders served four terms as its mayor. It also hosts a number of renewable energy startups. “Clean energy is built into the DNA of Vermont,” said Russ Scully, a Burlington entrepreneur who raised capital for Beta. The state’s electricity supply is carbon free (thanks, in part, to higher use of nuclear power than any other state), and Burlington is closer to becoming net zero than almost any municipality in the country. In the Beta parking lot, many cars have charging cables inserted. Another local resource: One hundred miles north, near Montreal, is one of the largest aerospace clusters outside Toulouse, France, and Seattle, led by Bombardier, the Canadian business jet-maker, and CAE, the world’s premier manufacturer of flight simulators. For Blake Opsahl, a network planner, who left Amazon to join Beta, doing so was a no-brainer. “My husband grew up here, and we’ve always wanted to come back,” said Opsahl, who described an affinity between Beta engineers and Vermonters as “passionate tinkerers.” Newton said: “I don’t want to throw any of our competitors under the bus, but some folks out West are paying huge salaries to attract people, and we’re capturing a lot of high-end aerospace talent for the lifestyle. They said, ‘No, I want to be part of this thing here.’” Clark said he was offered opportunities to move the company elsewhere but declined. It has now become one of Burlington’s marquee employers, contributing to a population swelling with high-earning remote workers who left larger cities and brought with them a worsening housing crisis. Burlington may be the kind of small city that Beta aims to serve, but as its success has shown, it is also the kind of city where sudden growth can bring challenges to livability. In high school, Clark began building planes with spare parts from the machine shop his father ran at the University of Vermont. His mother, an artist, burned one in the backyard to prevent him from flying it. Like Newton, many recruits were treated to hair-raising aeroplane rides. The company has a fleet of aircraft that the communications director, Jake Goldman, calls an “amusement park for aviation fanatics,” including a World War II biplane and the experimental Pipistrel. (“I did not puke,” Goldman said of his inaugural ride in an aerobatic plane, “but it was touch and go for a while.”) The company offers free flying lessons to all 350 employees and has more than 20 flight instructors on staff, including Nick Warren, formerly a Marine One pilot for President Barack Obama. The idea is that to promote “critical thinking in aviation,” it helps to be airborne. “It’s very Vermont — instead of just analysing things on a computer, you actually try them out,” said Lan Vu, a Beta electrical engineer who attended public high school with Clark. Like many of her colleagues, Vu had worked previously for Clark, who recruited her. (“You know how good of a talker he is,” she said.) She had no prior interest in flying, she said, but “that was one of the things Kyle made sure to talk about when he was pitching me.” “And I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t have that kind of time. I have three kids,’” she said. After changing her mind and getting her pilot’s licence through the employee program, however, Vu began competing in aerial acrobatic competitions. As an engineer, she said, flying helps her address safety concerns. “If I’m building this, would I fly it?” said Vu, who said she considered herself a conservative pilot, although, she admits, “I was kind of surprised how much I enjoyed flying upside down.” The futurist and the test pilot Is the world ready for wingless hovercraft levitating over cities and hot-rodding through congested air corridors? The consensus within the industry is that the FAA, which regulates half the world’s aviation activity, is several years from certifying urban air mobility. “It’s a big burden of proof to bring new technology to the FAA — appropriately so,” Clark said. Currently, the certification process for a new plane or helicopter takes two to three years on average. For an entirely new type of vehicle, it could be considerably longer. (One conventionally powered aircraft that can take off and land without a runway had its first flight in 2003. It remains uncertified.) Rothblatt has built a career out of the long view. She is a celebrated futurist who has argued passionately for transhumanism, or the belief that human beings will eventually merge with machines and upload consciousness to a digital realm. And she has taken positions on issues such as xenotransplantation — the interchange of organs between species, including humans — considered audacious not long ago, though no longer. Yet, in certain ways, she and Clark make for unlikely partners. Clark has a familiar demeanour for a test pilot: exuberant, risk-taking, hyperconfident. Rothblatt, on the other hand, calls herself an exceedingly cautious person, both as a pilot and in general. “I’m an adventurous thinker, but I’m cautious in everything,” she said. She brought up her life experience as an example. Aside from her accomplishments in medicine and aerospace, Rothblatt is known as a transgender pioneer; when she started Sirius XM and rose to prominence, she hadn’t yet transitioned. . “When I changed my sex, it was only after watching presentations by a dozen top surgeons, and I was absolutely confident that it would be safe,” she said. The dichotomy between the futurist and the test pilot gets to a real issue facing any plane with a battery: Who will fly them? According to Dan Patt, a technology analyst, vehicles such as the one Beta is building are “very unlikely to make money unless they go unmanned.” Aviation, in general, faces a pilot shortage, and labour comprises up to one-third of operating costs at legacy airlines. The question for Beta as a business, said Patt, who led the development of drones for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is: “What does it take for their model to be competitive with ground transportation?” Beta says its vehicles are designed to be “optionally manned” in the future. Yet, analysts such as Patt see unpiloted commercial aviation as even further from winning FAA approval than the electric plane itself, raising a quandary: “What’s more important, going unmanned first, or do you build the vehicle first? Beta is clearly in the latter camp.” Nathan Diller, an Air Force colonel, is not a futurist, but his job is to find and support companies doing forward-thinking, futuristic things. The military applications of a vehicle such as the Alia — especially logistics — have gotten attention at the highest levels of the Air Force, which has backed Beta and some peers through the accelerator Agility Prime. Last month, for the first time, uniformed Air Force pilots flew an Alia, soaring above Lake Champlain in a plane powered only by a battery. Diller sees this kind of transport as a national security issue, in part because of its potential to reduce fuel consumption, but what seems to intrigue him most is “the democratisation of air travel.” He grew up flying experimental planes on an organic farm in West Texas, aware of the limits on where a plane can land and who can fly. Looking at a floating sculpture twirling above a lake, he sees a different future for aviation: “Everyone a pilot, everywhere a runway.” ©2022 The New York Times Company | 0 |
In early September, a seawall at Japan's Kansai International Airport built on a reclaimed island near Osaka, was breached during Typhoon Jebi. The runway was flooded and it took 17 days to fully restore airport operations, at a high cost to the region's economy as well as the dozens of airlines that cancelled flights. Major airports in Hong Kong, mainland China and North Carolina were also closed due to tropical storms last month. Such incidents highlight the disaster risks to investors and insurers exposed to a sector with an estimated $262 billion of projects under construction globally, according to Fitch Solutions. "There is a kind of one-way direction with regards to the frequency and severity of climate change-related events," said Fitch Solutions Head of Infrastructure Richard Marshall. "If people aren't taking that seriously, that is a risk." Fifteen of the 50 most heavily trafficked airports globally are at an elevation of less than 30 feet above sea level, making them particularly vulnerable to a changing climate, including rising sea levels and associated higher storm surges. "You see it at individual airports that are already seeing sea rise and are already dealing with water on their runway," Airports Council International (ACI) Director General Angela Gittens said, citing examples in island nations including Vanuatu and the Maldives. "But even in some of these mature economies they are having more storms, they are having to do more pumping. My old airport in Miami is in that scenario." A draft copy of an ACI policy paper reviewed by Reuters and due to be released this week warns of the rising risks to facilities from climate change. It encourages member airports to conduct risk assessments, develop mitigation measures and take it into account in future master plans. The paper cites examples of forward-thinking airports that have taken climate change into account in planning, such as the $12 billion Istanbul Grand Airport on the Black Sea, set to become one of the world's largest airports when it opens next month.
FILE PHOTO: Planes are surrounded by flood waters caused by Tropical Storm Harvey at the West Houston Airport in Texas, US, August 30, 2017. Reuters
INVESTOR INTEREST FILE PHOTO: Planes are surrounded by flood waters caused by Tropical Storm Harvey at the West Houston Airport in Texas, US, August 30, 2017. Reuters Debt investors in particular have high exposure to airports, most of which are owned by governments or pension funds. Ratings agency Moody's alone has $174 billion of airport bonds under coverage. Earl Heffintrayer, the lead analyst covering US airports at Moody's, said the risk of climate change became apparent to investors after Superstorm Sandy closed major New York airports for days in 2012. Sandy led to the cancellation of nearly 17,000 flights, costing airlines $500 million in revenues and disrupting operations around the world, according to a 2017 presentation by Eurocontrol on climate change risk. Investors are increasingly asking about mitigation plans at low-lying airports like San Francisco and Boston as they look to invest in bonds with terms of up to 30 years, Heffintrayer said. San Francisco International Airport, built on reclaimed land that is slowly sinking, has completed a feasibility study on a $383 million project to make the airport more resilient to sea level rises on its 8 miles (12.9 km) of bay front shoreline by 2025. "We are seeing a lot more thought going into protection against flood damage, catastrophe, making sure that the storm drains around the airport are fit for purpose," said Gary Moran, head of Asia aviation at insurance broker Aon. "There definitely is a lot more thought going into potential further worsening in weather conditions further down the line."
FILE PHOTO: An MH-65T Dolphin helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City looks over LaGuardia Airport while it conducts an over flight assessment of New York Boroughs impacted by Hurricane Sandy, October 30, 2012. US Coast Guard handout via Reuters
TAKING ACTION FILE PHOTO: An MH-65T Dolphin helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City looks over LaGuardia Airport while it conducts an over flight assessment of New York Boroughs impacted by Hurricane Sandy, October 30, 2012. US Coast Guard handout via Reuters Singapore's Changi Airport, which has analysed scenarios out to 2100, has resurfaced its runways to provide for better drainage and is building a new terminal at a higher 18 feet (5.5 metres) above sea level to protect against rising seas. Moran said such steps were prudent and would provide comfort to insurers. "If you were to look at Singapore, if something was to happen at Changi in terms of weather-related risk, Singapore would have a problem," he said. "There isn't really too much of an alternative." Singapore expects sea levels to rise by 2.5 feet (0.76 metre) by 2100. Changi Airport declined to comment on the cost of the extra protection. ACI, Fitch, Moody's and Standard & Poor's were unable to provide Reuters with an estimate of the global cost of climate change protection at airports. The protective action is often folded into larger refurbishment and expansion projects, ratings agency analysts said. In Australia, Brisbane Airport and located on reclaimed land on the coast at just 13 feet (4 metres) above sea level, is constructing a new runway 3.3 feet (1 metre) higher than it otherwise would have done, with a higher seawall and better drainage systems as sea levels rise. Paul Coughlan, the director of Brisbane Airport's new runway project, said the incremental cost of such moves was relatively low - for example the seawall cost around A$5 million ($3.6 million) more than without taking into account sea level rises - but the potential benefits were big. "At the end of the day, whether you are a believer in climate change or a disbeliever, doing a design that accounts for elevated sea levels, more intense rainfall, flooding considerations, that is just prudent," Coughlan said. "If you build it into your design philosophy from day one, you don't pay that much of a premium and you have bought a lot of safeguards." ($1 = 1.3841 Australian dollars) | 0 |
Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters during a daily briefing that the international community disagreed with what he described as the selfish behaviour of the United States. “The US has become addicted to quitting groups and scrapping treaties,” said Zhao. President Donald Trump announced on Friday the United States would cut ties with the WHO, accusing the UN agency of becoming a puppet of China. The WHO has denied Trump’s assertions that it promoted Chinese “disinformation” about the virus. Trump’s decision came after a pledge by Chinese President Xi Jinping to give $2 billion to the WHO over the next two years to help combat the novel coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year. The EU on Saturday urged the United States to reconsider its decision. China calls on the international community to provide more political support and funding for the WHO, said Zhao. The US decision to quit the Geneva-based agency comes amid growing tension between the United States and China over the coronavirus outbreak. Since taking office, Trump has questioned the value of the United Nations and scorned the importance of multilateralism as he focuses on an “America First” agenda. He has quit the UN Human Rights Council, the UN cultural agency UNESCO, a global accord to tackle climate change, the Iran nuclear deal and opposed a UN migration pact. | 0 |
Industrialized nations have stepped up plans to help countries swept up in the Arab Spring rebuild their economies through more access to international credit markets, investment and trade, a senior State Department official said on Monday. Undersecretary of State Robert Hormats said while headlines from a G8 leaders' summit at the weekend focused on the economic crisis in the euro zone, the meeting also underscored efforts needed to stabilize the transition economies of Egypt, Libya, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. The G8 launched the so-called Deauville Partnership last year, including global lenders such as the IMF and World Bank, after uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya ended decades-long dictatorships and protests prompted political reforms in countries such as Morocco and Jordan. Hormats said there had been political and economic advances in the countries since the Arab Spring events, but financial conditions were still challenging and countries needed to export more and attract foreign investment. "This meeting ... was designed to give political support to the countries and also recognize we need to continue to build," he told Reuters. "Things are changing but they still have big financial challenges and need resources. The fact that there is economic weaknesses in their biggest Mediterranean markets is not helpful to them," he added, referring to the euro zone economic crisis. BOOSTING INVESTMENTS The G8 agreed to create a capital markets access initiative to help the five countries tap international capital markets "under reasonable financing terms" to meet their financing needs and allow government enterprises to invest in projects that create jobs, according State Department and U.S. Treasury statements on Monday. G8 donors also agreed to create a new transition fund to strengthen government institutions vital for economic development, they added. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was also trying to change its charter to create a special fund worth $4 billion to invest in the region over the next three years, Hormats said. "We'd like to get it done within the next month or so but certainly by September," he said of the plans. Hormats said further meetings around the Deauville Partnership would take place at a G20 leaders' summit in Mexico next month, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September, and at October meetings of the World Bank and IMF in Tokyo. He said he would travel to Paris and Tunis over the next few days to encourage more investment and trade opportunities. While budget constraints prevented the United States from committing new aid to the countries, Hormats said Washington could support through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and the Overseas Private Investment Corp. Hormats said G8 efforts were also focused on improving transparency and accountability in the countries, which will help improve the business climate. It would also facilitate the return under the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative, or StAR, run by the World Bank and United Nations, of stolen loot stashed outside countries by former senior government officials. Political turmoil across the Middle East and North Africa has translated into slower economic growth and forced some governments to spend billions of dollars to create jobs and counter rising costs to stave off further protests. In addition, countries have been hard hit by the debt crisis in the euro zone, which has triggered global economic uncertainty and a slowdown in demand. Tourism, a major source of revenue for both Tunisia and Egypt, has been hammered, while worker remittances have fallen sharply. Egypt is currently in talks with the IMF to finalize a $3.2 billion loan although analysts have put the country's financing needs at about $15 billion. The Fund has said it could provide $35 billion to help emerging Arab democracies. | 1 |
Insurers warned on Wednesday they might not be able to provide cover in flood-prone areas unless the government puts more money into defences. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said the government had let down millions of homeowners and businesses after failing to commit sufficient money to flood defences in its comprehensive spending review this week. Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said on Tuesday that spending on flood management would increase to a minimum of 650 million pounds in 2008/9 and a minimum of 700 million pounds a year later, rising to 800 million pounds by 2010/11. But Stephen Haddrill, the ABI's director general, told BBC radio: "We really want to carry on being able to provide this service. It's almost unique in the world and we think it is a very important contribution to the protection of our customers. "But obviously we can't keep providing it at significant loss. "So what we are going to be looking for from the government is a recognition of what happened this summer and an increase on the level they've announced today to reflect the lessons learnt and to reflect the results of their own reviews which they are now conducting." He said the amount of government spending for the next three years was less than the ABI had been asking for, even before the floods. "It does not begin to address the major issues, including drainage, which were highlighted this summer," he said in a statement. He said that before the floods, the ABI had called for 2.25 billion pounds to be spent over three years but that the government had announced just 2.15 billion. This summer saw parts of the country suffer their worst flooding in 60 years, with more than 130,000 homes in Gloucestershire forced to rely on bottled water and emergency water tanks after floods forced the closure of treatment plants. Insurers put the estimated damage at 3 billion pounds. Head of the Environment Agency Baroness Young told BBC radio on Wednesday that the government needed to take a long-term view of the challenges of climate change and surface water drainage. "We need to anticipate for 10 to 20 years," she said. | 0 |
Costa Rica, a leader in eco-tourism and home to some of the world's rarest species, planted its 5 millionth tree of 2007 on Wednesday as it tries to put a brake on global warming. President Oscar Arias shoveled dirt onto the roots of an oak tree planted in the grounds of his offices, reaching the milestone in the Central American nation's efforts to ward off what some experts say are the first signs of climate change. By the end of the year, Costa Rica will have planted nearly 6.5 million trees, which should absorb 111,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, Environment Minister Roberto Dobles said. The country aims to plant 7 million trees in 2008 as part of the newly launched program. Along with other green-minded nations like Norway and New Zealand, Costa Rica is aiming to reduce its net carbon emissions to zero, and has set a target date of 2021. "I don't know if we will end up being carbon neutral in 2021 as we have proposed, but the important thing is the audacity of the goal and the work we have to do," Arias said. Costa Rica is a magnet for ecology-minded tourists who come to visit the lush national parks and reserves that cover more than a quarter of the country and are home to almost 5 percent of the world's plant and animal species including exotic birds and frogs. Over the last 20 years forest cover in Costa Rica has grown from 26 percent of the national territory to 51 percent, though environmentalists complain that loggers continue to cut down old trees and that the national park system is underfunded. Costa Rican authorities have blamed the loss of more than a dozen amphibian species, including the shiny yellow "golden toad", on higher temperatures caused by global warming. Experts also say climate change is behind a spike in mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever at high elevations where they were once rare. The number of dengue fever cases so far this year in Costa Rica's high-altitude central valley stands at 3,487 -- 86 percent higher than in the whole of 2006. | 0 |
Here are 10 celebrities who took a stand during the year to make a positive impact: 1. Ellen Page - Hollywood actress and "Juno" Oscar nominee directed her first film in 2019 spotlighting "environmental racism" and the plight of indigenous communities in her native Canada. The movie featured communities battling to stop the construction of a new dump and pushing for the cleanup of a contaminated waterway. 2. Helen Mirren - Oscar-winning British actress hit out against the "exponential rise in homelessness" across the globe as she took part in a charity appeal to sleep outdoors for a night in winter. Known for playing "The Queen", Mirren said the global scourge of homelessness was "becoming much too big" and encouraged people to do more to support rough sleepers. 3. Kim Kardashian - The reality star and influential trend-setter used a trip to her native Armenia this year to support the global climate youth movement headed by activist Greta Thunberg. The "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star also made waves in 2019 for supporting reform of the US criminal justice system and winning clemency for incarcerated women. 4. Sting - The British rocker was awarded an international prize for his work to protect the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous inhabitants, where the battle over land became more deadly this year. The musician, along with his wife, were recognised for their charitable foundation, the Rainforest Fund, which supports indigenous people. 5. Elif Shafak - The Turkish-British author called for more to be done to prevent the destruction of cultural property during war, from museums to libraries, in order to preserve communities. The novelist said "turbulent" political times called for extra protection of physical property and cultural heritage during conflicts. 6. Jaden Smith - US rapper and actor Jaden Smith urged young people rallying to fight climate change to engage their parents. The 21-year-old son of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith joined mass youth-led protests that took place in cities around the world imploring world leaders to confront the climate crisis. 7. Ken Loach - The British film director made headlines in 2019 when he released his film: "Sorry We Missed You", which warned of the "extreme exploitation" of workers by big tech firms. The 83-year-old said such business models could be called slavery and urged companies to look at the human impact of the gig-economy. 8. Cyndi Lauper - The US singer was awarded a United Nations' social justice prize for her work to end LGBT+ youth homelessness. Best known for her '80s-era pop hits, Lauper said LGBT+ rights were human rights. 9. Zoe Saldana - Hollywood actress, who starred in blockbuster movies "Avatar" and "Star Trek", spoke out in May in support of women's equal rights. The US actress urged Hollywood to dismantle old-fashioned stereotypes to inspire global audiences. 10. Gareth Thomas - The former rugby international sports star's decision to come out as HIV-positive this year made him a role model for millions of people living with the virus. The former Wales captain said he hoped his decision to post a video on Twitter would lead to greater public understanding of the issue. | 0 |
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) met last week in Incheon, South Korea to finalise the report, prepared at the request of governments in 2015 when a global pact to tackle climate change was agreed. The report is seen as the main scientific guide for government policymakers on how to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement. The Paris pact aims to limit global average temperature rise to "well below" 2C above pre-industrial levels, while seeking to tighten the goal to 1.5C. There has already been a rise of 1C since the mid-1800s as industrialisation lifted emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas blamed for climate change.
File Photo: People make their way through heavy smog on an extremely polluted day with red alert issued, in Shengfang, Hebei province, China Dec 19, 2016. Reuters
A rise of 1.5C would still carry climate-related risks for nature and mankind but the risks would be lower than a rise of 2C, the report summary said. File Photo: People make their way through heavy smog on an extremely polluted day with red alert issued, in Shengfang, Hebei province, China Dec 19, 2016. Reuters Meeting the 1.5C limit required "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented" change in land and energy use, industry, buildings, transport and cities, it said, adding temperatures would be 1.5C higher between 2030 and 2052 at the current pace. The targets agreed in Paris on cutting emissions would not be enough even if there were larger and more ambitious cuts after 2030, it said. To contain warming at 1.5C, manmade global net carbon dioxide emissions would need to fall by about 45 percent by 2030 from 2010 levels and reach "net zero" by mid-century. Any additional emissions would require removing CO2 from the air. "Limiting warming to 1.5C is possible within the laws of chemistry and physics but doing so would require unprecedented changes," said Jim Skea, co-chair of the IPCC working group which assesses climate change mitigation. UNPRECEDENTED CHANGE The summary said renewable energy would need to supply 70 to 85 percent of electricity by 2050 to stay within a 1.5C limit, compared with about 25 percent now.
File Photo: People take part in protests ahead of the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany Jul 2, 2017. Placard reads "Global Warming is NOT a Myth". Reuters
Using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, the share of gas-fired power would need to be cut to 8 percent and coal to between 0 and 2 percent. There was no mention of oil in this context in the summary. File Photo: People take part in protests ahead of the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany Jul 2, 2017. Placard reads "Global Warming is NOT a Myth". Reuters If the average global temperature temporarily exceeded 1.5C, additional carbon removal techniques would be required to return warming to below 1.5C by 2100. But the report said the efficacy of measures, such as planting forests, bioenergy use or capturing and storing CO2, were unproven at a large scale and carried some risks. Steps like reflecting incoming solar radiation back into space were not assessed because of the uncertainties about using such technology, the report said. It said keeping the rise in temperature to 1.5C would mean sea levels by 2100 would be 10 cm lower than if the warming was 2C, the likelihood of an Arctic Ocean free of sea ice in summer would be once per century not at least once a decade, and coral reefs would decline by 70-90 percent instead of being virtually wiped out. "The report shows that we only have the slimmest of opportunities remaining to avoid unthinkable damage to the climate system that supports life as we know it," said Amjad Abdulla, the IPCC board member and chief negotiator for the alliance of small island states. | 0 |
The parliamentary standing committee on the environment ministry formed a watchdog body on Wednesday to supervise expenses of the governmental allocation of Tk 400 crore to confront the consequences of the climate changes. The five-member sub-committee is headed by Md Ekabbar Hossain MP while the other members are Sohrab Ali Sana, Manaranjan Sheel Gopal, Md Golam Sabur and Giasuddin Ahmed. "The government has launched a Tk 400 crore programme to tackle the effects of climate change of which Tk 300 crore will be spent by different ministries," standing committee chairman Abdul Momin Talukder told reporters at parliament's media centre. "The rest will be spent thought different non-governmental organisations of the country." More than 5000 NGOs have applied for climate funds under the programme, he said. "The sub-committee was not formed to oversee the amount that will be expended under ministerial projects. Rather the committee will supervise the NGOs, especially which areas the money is being spent," Talukder said. "The sub-committee will submit its first report within the next two months," he said. Talukder also said that the standing committee had requested the home ministry to execute a joint operation consisting of RAB and police to control piracy in the country's forest areas. | 1 |
A first draft of the COP26 accord released on Wednesday implicitly acknowledged that current pledges were insufficient to avert climate catastrophe, and got a mixed response from climate activists and experts. However, a surprise agreement later in the day between China and the United States, the world's two biggest greenhouse gas emitters, boosted hopes that the almost 200 national delegations can toughen up their collective commitments by Friday. With a new draft expected in the coming hours, "climate finance", or help for poor nations most vulnerable to the floods, droughts and rising seas triggered by global warming, is central to the negotiations. Britain's conference president, Alok Sharma, said the latest draft conclusions he had seen showed "significant" progress, but "we are not there yet". "I'd like to address the critical need to step up efforts today to get to where we need to be to realise substantive outcomes on finance," he said. Developing nations want tougher rules from 2025 onwards, after rich countries failed to meet a 12-year-old pledge to provide $100 billion a year by 2020 to help them curb emissions and tackle the effects of rising temperatures. Wednesday's draft merely "urged" developed countries to "urgently scale up" aid to help poorer ones adapt to climate change, and called for more funding through grants rather than loans, which add to debt burdens. The missed $100 billion goal is expected to be reached three years late, undermining the trust of developing nations and making some of them reluctant to make their emissions reduction targets more ambitious. The sum, which many campaigners say is anyway woefully inadequate, is divided into a part for "mitigation", to help poor countries with their ecological transition, and a part for "adaptation", to help them manage extreme climate events. A more contentious aspect, known as "loss and damage" would compensate them for the ravages they have already suffered from global warming, though this is outside the $100 billion and some rich countries do not acknowledge the claim. Poor countries say a tax on carbon markets would provide critical support but rich nations, including European Union states, are concerned about the costs. "DEEDS AND ACCOUNTABILITY" The conference host, Britain, says the overarching goal of COP26 is to "keep alive" hopes of capping global temperatures at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, still far from reach under current national pledges to cut emissions. Scientific evidence has grown that crossing that threshold would unleash significantly worse heatwaves, storms and wildfires than those already occurring, with irreversible consequences. The jury is out on whether the Glasgow talks are making meaningful progress towards the 1.5C goal. Some thinktanks are encouraged by deals struck on issues such as deforestation, curbing the potent greenhouse gas methane, and that Wednesday's draft addressed the issue of reining in fossil fuels. Others point to insufficiently clear commitments and timelines, especially from major polluters such as China, India and Russia. "What we need to know are the deeds, the specifics on the deeds and the accountability to deliver," said Lindsey Fielder Cook, climate change representative from the Quaker United Nations office. On Thursday, a fledgling international alliance to halt new oil and gas drilling added six members, but did not get the support of any major fossil fuel producers read more . Wednesday's US-China accord saw a joint recognition of the need to step up efforts over the next decade to curb rising temperatures and new commitments from Beijing on reducing emissions and protecting forests. Aside from the concrete pledges, which were scant on numbers, most observers agreed the significance of the deal was that two global powers often at loggerheads, were cooperating. "The real good news of that agreement is that they spoke, because if you look into the content it's a series of general commitments to agree a road map for climate," said Italy's Ecological Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani. The Climate Action Tracker research group said this week all national pledges so far to cut greenhouse gases by 2030 would, if fulfilled, allow the Earth's temperature to rise 2.4C by 2100. On the day before the Glasgow conference COP26 closes Pope Francis, an ardent climate advocate, sounded a warning in a letter to Scotland's Catholics, saying: "Time is running out". | 0 |
Trudeau, in power since 2015, decided to gamble on an early vote and capitalise on his government's handling of the pandemic, which included massive spending to support individuals and businesses and high vaccination rates. But with just a week to go until the Sept. 20 election, Trudeau's Liberals are nowhere near the 38% in public support needed for a majority and could even lose to the Conservatives, led by the relatively unknown Erin O'Toole. Insiders blame what they call an initially low-energy campaign and the inevitable political baggage that Trudeau, 49, has accumulated since he took office six years ago promising "sunny ways." "I wish he hadn't called it," a Liberal insider said of Trudeau's decision to seek an election two years before the end of his term. Trudeau says he needs a new mandate to ensure Canadians approve of his plan for getting the country past the coronavirus pandemic. The Liberals, whose fiscal policy supports for the pandemic exceed 23% of GDP, plan billions in new spending to support economic recovery if re-elected. 'BLOOM DEFINITELY OFF THE ROSE' In mid-August, when the election was called, the Liberals were well ahead of the Conservatives in opinion polls and seemed headed for an easy victory. That quickly changed and the Liberals spent weeks trailing the Conservatives in the polls before edging back ahead in recent days. O'Toole, 48, and other party leaders repeatedly condemned the vote call as a cynical power grab during a fourth wave of the pandemic, and those words appeared to have resonated with Canadians, drained by successive lockdowns. The Liberal campaign stumbled from the start, failing to provide a convincing reason for calling an early election and dogged by missteps like being flagged for manipulating a video of O'Toole talking about private healthcare on Twitter. Liberal candidates knocking on doors reported increasing fatigue with Trudeau, who gave daily televised briefings for months about what Ottawa was doing to tackle COVID-19. His domination of the airwaves, once an advantage, has instead led to a sense that the Trudeau brand has grown tired, according to four people directly familiar with the campaign. "The bloom is definitely off the rose," said one senior Liberal campaigning in Ontario, the most populous of the 10 provinces. The Liberals hold 75 of the 121 seats there and need another good performance to stay in power. "There is a fatigue. ... People are saying: 'Just go away, don't bother me, I want to live my life,'" said the Liberal, who like others being quoted requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. During the campaign, every new Liberal promise - including billions of dollars for healthcare or a new plan to help people trying to buy their first home – has been met with questions about why the Liberal government did not do it during six years in power. Trudeau took office in 2015 thanks in part to support from progressives, who liked his promises of action to combat climate change, boost women's rights and help the marginalized indigenous population. But since then, Canada's emissions of greenhouse gases have climbed ever higher and the government bought an oil pipeline to ensure crude could keep flowing. "Progressives have fallen out of love with us," another senior Liberal said. The re-emergence of ethics scandals has added to the campaign's woes. On Saturday, excerpts of a new book by his former justice minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, were published, saying Trudeau had wanted her to lie to the public in 2019. Trudeau denied the accusation. read more "As you work hard for Canadians, over the years, you end up carrying a number of things," Trudeau told reporters. In 2019, he was censured for violating ethics rules by pressuring Wilson-Raybould in a corporate legal case before the previous election. read more 'CELEBRITY AND BRAND NAME' The Liberal leader, however, is a veteran on the hustings. As the eldest son of longtime Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, he has spent his life in the public eye. During the 2019 campaign, which threatened to blow up after old pictures of him in blackface emerged, Trudeau fought back and secured a minority government. Trudeau aides had long expressed confidence he would pull ahead toward the end of the campaign after two nationally televised debates last week. "Momentum is building," said a senior campaign official, who is privy to internal polling. Over the weekend, polls started to show the Liberals moving slightly ahead of the Conservatives for the first time in at least three weeks. A Nanos Research poll for CTV on Monday put the Liberals at 33.2% support, with the Conservatives at 30.2%. As Trudeau campaigned on Saturday in a Quebec constituency held by the separatist Bloc Quebecois, people thronged to him for selfies and elbow bumps as he worked the crowd. Trudeau has inherent political instinct and a "combination of celebrity and brand name," said Alex Marland, a professor and expert on political communications and branding at Memorial University of Newfoundland. "Hardly any leaders have the Trudeau magic. ... It's almost not fair." | 0 |
BEIJING Oct 22, (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - A top Chinese official and senior US politicians warned on Thursday that the world must deal with climate change urgently, but said if the two top emitting nations work more closely together they could spur rapid improvements. Vice Premier Li Keqiang, widely touted as the country's prime minister in-waiting, said China was keen to smooth the path to a new global deal on warming and willing to step up consultation ahead of a major summit to be held in Copenhagen in December. "We should be aware of the severity and urgency of coping with climate change, and we should also seize this precious development opportunity," Li told a summit of academics, businessmen and officials from the two countries. Mutual distrust has sometimes hobbled discussions between the two nations about curbing emissions, although there has been plenty of investment and trade in green technology. Beijing says it is still a developing nation and should not be asked to make promises that will hinder its efforts to lift it out of poverty, while many in Washington are wary of making commitments they fear could give China an economic edge. But Li said that the US and China were well positioned to work together on climate change, reinforcing a message President Hu Jintao's gave his US counterpart Barack Obama on Wednesday. "China and the US have different national situations and we are at different development stages, but we face similar challenges in terms of responding to climate change," he added. Hu said closer cooperation on fighting climate change could help improve overall ties between the two, and added that he was optimistic Copenhagen would be successful, even though the latest round of negotiations has run into trouble. Officials have touted climate change as an area where both sides have much to gain from working together, and much to lose if they cannot reach a deal to limit greenhouse gas production. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Beijing meeting that the countries, which often face friction over issues including trade and human rights issues, should take advantage of their combined economic might to push for change. "As the world's two largest emitters of carbon, the United States and China have a responsibility to lead the world in developing and adopting clean technologies, and as two of the world's largest economies our nations have the power to build a thriving global marketplace for these technologies. "As always, we are more likely to succeed when we work together," she said in a video address. White House Science Adviser John Holdren said that though Obama was facing bruising battles over other major policy issues like health care reform, climate change was still a top priority. "The President's focus and his administration's efforts on completing energy climate legislation as rapidly as possible have not faded in the slightest," Holdren said in a video address. China on Wednesday also signed a deal with India, which it said would improve ties between two developing nations and boost the chances of success in Copenhagen. "The agreement will certainly benefit international efforts to fight climate change, and will help ensure we reach a positive result in the Copenhagen negotiations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told a regular news briefing. | 0 |
Like oil in the 20th century, water could well be the essential commodity on which the 21st century will turn. Human beings have depended on access to water since the earliest days of civilization, but with 7 billion people on the planet as of October 31, exponentially expanding urbanization and development are driving demand like never before. Water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century, said Kirsty Jenkinson of the World Resources Institute, a Washington think tank. Water use is predicted to increase by 50 percent between 2007 and 2025 in developing countries and 18 percent in developed ones, with much of the increased use in the poorest countries with more and more people moving from rural areas to cities, Jenkinson said in a telephone interview. Factor in the expected impacts of climate change this century -- more severe floods, droughts and shifts from past precipitation patterns -- that are likely to hit the poorest people first and worst "and we have a significant challenge on our hands," Jenkinson said. Will there be enough water for everyone, especially if population continues to rise, as predicted, to 9 billion by mid-century? "There's a lot of water on Earth, so we probably won't run out," said Rob Renner, executive director of the Colorado-based Water Research Foundation. "The problem is that 97.5 percent of it is salty and ... of the 2.5 percent that's fresh, two-thirds of that is frozen. So there's not a lot of fresh water to deal with in the world." WATER RISK HOT SPOTS Over a billion people lack access to clean drinking water, and over 2 billion live without adequate sanitation, leading to the deaths of 5 million people, mostly children, each year from preventable waterborne disease, Renner said. Only 8 percent of the planet's fresh water supply goes to domestic use and about 70 percent is used for irrigation and 22 percent in industry, Jenkinson said. Droughts and insufficient rainfall contribute to what's known as water risk, along with floods and contamination. Hot spots of water risk, as reported in the World Resources Institute's Aqueduct online atlas here , include: -- Australia's Murray-Darling basin; -- the Colorado River basin in the US Southwest; -- the Orange-Senqu basin, covering parts of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia and all of Lesotho; -- and the Yangtze and Yellow river basins in China. What is required, Jenkinson said, is integrated water resource management that takes into account who needs what kind of water, as well as where and how to use it most efficiently. "Water is going to quickly become a limiting factor in our lifetimes," said Ralph Eberts, executive vice president of Black & Veatch, a $2.3 billion engineering business that designs water systems and operates in more than 100 countries. He said he sees a "reprioritization" of resources to address the water challenges posed by changing climate and growing urbanization. Eberts' company is not alone. Water scarcity and water stress -- which occurs when demand for water exceeds supply or when poor quality restricts use -- has already hit water-intensive companies and supply chains in Russia, China and across the southern United States. INVESTORS TAKE NOTE At the same time, extreme floods have had severe economic impacts in Australia, Pakistan and the US Midwest, according to Ceres, a coalition of large investors and environmental groups that targeted water risk as an issue that 21st century businesses will need to address. "The centrality of fresh water to our needs for food, for fuel, for fiber is taking center stage in what has become a crowded, environmentally stressed world," said Ceres President Mindy Lubber. A Ceres database lets institutional investors know which companies are tackling water risk. Nestle and Rio Tinto were seen as leading the way. Water risk is already affecting business at apparel maker The Gap, which cut its profit forecast by 22 percent after drought cut into the cotton crop in Texas. Similarly, independent gas producer Toreador Resources saw its stock price drop 20 percent after France banned shale-gas fracturing, primarily over concerns about water quality. Food giants Kraft Foods Inc Sara Lee Corp and Nestle all announced planned price rises to offset higher commodity prices caused by droughts, flooding and other factors. Water risk is more than a corporate concern. For international aid groups, it poses a risk of disaster for those in the path of increasing drought or rising uncertainty about water supplies. In East Africa, for example, a changing climate could bring changes in temperature and precipitation that would shorten the growing season and cut yields of staple crops like maize and beans, hitting small farmers and herders hardest, according to an Oxfam report. A scientific analysis of 30 countries called the Challenge Program on Water and Food offered hope. It found that major river basins in Africa, Asia and Latin America could double food production in the next few decades if those upstream work with those downstream to efficiently use the water they have. | 0 |
The European Union is unlikely to raise its commitment to cut carbon emissions by 30 percent from 20 percent until other countries show greater willingness to follow suit, ministers said on Saturday. The EU has set a target of cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) by 20 percent from 1990 levels over the next decade. It promised ahead of climate talks in Copenhagen in December that it would deepen those cuts to 30 percent if other countries did likewise. The United Nations has fixed a Jan. 31 deadline for countries to commit to emissions cuts and the EU sees no sign that major economies will set comparable targets that soon. "The final evaluation is that it probably cannot be done," Spanish Secretary of State for Climate Change Teresa Ribera told journalists after a meeting of EU environment ministers in Seville, Spain. The decision had been widely expected. The EU, which accounts for about 14 percent of the world's CO2 emissions, is keen to lead climate talks despite its marginalisation at last year's meeting in Copenhagen. Environmentalists had pushed it to adopt a more aggressive target in order to show the way. It has not ruled out adopting a 30-percent cut at a later stage if it can gain concessions from other countries. The nominee for European climate commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, told a European Parliament hearing on Friday that she hoped the EU's conditions for moving to 30 percent would be met before a meeting set for Mexico later this year. Prior to the Copenhagen talks, the United Nations had called for wealthy countries to cut emissions by 25-40 percent by 2020 in order to keep the average rise in global temperatures to within 2 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial levels. | 0 |
Dhaka, Sept 9 (bdnews24.com)--New German ambassador Holger Michael met with president Zillur Rahman on Wednesday, the German embassy said in a statement. The ambassador conveyed the friendly greetings of the German president to the people of Bangladesh. "Germany and Bangladesh are united in a long and uninterrupted tradition of friendship and cooperation," the German president, Horst Kohler, said in the letter of credence. Michael, the envoy, lauded Bangladesh's achievement in the fight against poverty. "The German government acknowledges the significant challenges facing Bangladesh including climate change. Germany continues to be one of the major development partners of Bangladesh," he said. He was hopeful of increased trade and investment between the two countries. "We see still scope for increased trade and investment in both directions and are therefore committed to further expand our vibrant trade links." The envoy said his country is determined to support all efforts to strengthen democracy and human rights in Bangladesh. He praised the constructive role of Bangladesh in international politics. "Germany supports Bangladesh's efforts in the promotion of regional cooperation and stability in South Asia, Bangladesh's engagement in UN peace keeping operations and her role as speaker for the group of Least Developed Countries," Michael said. Prior to his assignment in Dhaka, Michael was head of Trade Promotion at the Federal Foreign Office. He served as deputy head of mission in Bangkok and Hong Kong, the statement said. He was also assigned to countries Korea, Nicaragua and Turkey, it added | 1 |
TOKYO, Oct 8, (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Japan's new prime minister will seek to keep periodically fraught ties with China and South Korea on track at weekend summits, avoiding rows that could hurt economic links and pitching his idea of an East Asia regional grouping. A meeting of leaders from China, Japan and South Korea in Beijing on Saturday is also likely to discuss what could come next for the regional partners after North Korea signaled this week it could return to nuclear disarmament talks. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is expected to be conciliatory with China despite rivalry and worries about Beijing's military build-up, but analysts say it will take time to build trust given China's bitter memories of Japan's wartime occupation. "Given growing economic ties, there is no worry about a drastic worsening of the Japan-China relationship," Hu Wei, professor and dean of School of International and Public Affairs at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, told reporters in Tokyo. "But there is still a gap between their values and public sentiment, so you cannot be fully optimistic." Japan's ties with China chilled markedly during then-prime minister Junichiro Koizumi's 2001-2006 tenure. His visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine for war dead outraged Beijing, which sees the Shinto shrine as a symbol of Japan's past militarism. But the need to thaw Sino-Japanese relations, given deepening economic ties, prompted all three of Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party successors to refrain from paying respects at the shrine. Hatoyama, whose Democratic Party ousted the long-dominant LDP in an August 30 poll, has also said he will not visit Yasukuni. Getting along is essential for both Tokyo and Beijing. China is now Japan's biggest trading partner and the second largest export destination after the United States. But Tokyo faces the tough challenge of responding to Beijing's rising global clout. Some analysts expect China to surpass Japan as the world's No.2 economy late this year or next. "Leaders in both Japan and China know it would not be wise to quarrel," University of Tokyo professor Akio Takahara said. "Healthy competition is good, but they know it should not be a zero-sum game." REGIONAL COOPERATION Hatoyama says he wants deeper ties with Asia and to steer a diplomatic course more independent of the United States. Climate change and the fate of North Korea will be high on the agenda at the summit. But Japanese officials say Hatoyama will focus on building personal ties with his counterparts rather than getting down to the nitty-gritty of policy challenges. Hatoyama, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will issue two joint statements after the summit -- one on balancing economic growth and preserving the environment and the other on deepening "win-win" political and economic ties among the three countries, they added. Hatoyama and Lee, who will hold a separate bilateral summit on Friday in Seoul, are likely to be keen to hear directly from Wen on Beijing's take on North Korea's nuclear arms ambitions after his rare visit to Pyongyang this week. Japan also wants to firm up the idea of forming an East Asian Community inspired by the European Union. The idea has been floated since the 1990s, when it ran into US opposition, and is now the focus of annual regional summits. Tokyo has acknowledged that it would take decades to boost political integration and create a common currency in a politically and culturally diverse region. "This would be a worthy objective, but realizing it would be a very distant goal," said Liu Jiangyong, professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing. | 0 |
A team of researchers from four American universities report that "eating beans instead of beef would sharply reduce greenhouse gasses (GHG)" responsible for climate change. The team, headed by Helen Harwatt of California's Loma Linda University (LLU) concluded that "if Americans would eat beans instead of beef, the US would immediately realise approximately 50 to 75 percent of its GHG reduction targets for the year 2020" without imposing any new standards on automobiles or manufacturing. Shifting dietary patterns to achieve the required GHG reductions has long been advocated by researchers. But so far food consumption has not been anchored in climate change policy to the same extent as energy production and transportation. In a 10-page paper published in the journal Climatic Change, the researchers said they performed a relatively simple analysis to calculate the difference in GHGs resulting from the replacement of beef with beans in terms of both calories and protein. "Our results demonstrate that substituting beans for beef could achieve approximately 46 to 74 per cent of the reductions needed to meet the 2020 GHG target for the US. In turn, this shift would free up 42 per cent of US cropland," the report said. It said that while not currently recognised as a climate policy option, "the beans for beef scenario offers significant climate change mitigation and other environmental benefits, illustrating the high potential of animal to plant food shift". The researchers explained that beef cattle are the most GHG-intensive food to produce and that the production of legumes (beans, peas et al) results in 1/40th the amount of GHGs as beef. The researchers note that more than a third of American consumers are currently purchasing meat analogs -- plant-based products that resemble animal foods in taste and texture, a trend suggesting that animal-sourced meat is no longer a necessity. "Our findings demonstrate that substituting plant-sourced foods for animal-sourced foods can play an important role in climate change mitigation," the researchers conclude. "While substituting beans for beef does not entirely satisfy the US GHG reduction targets, it could be combined with mitigation efforts for other major emitters such as power generation or transportation," the researchers said. | 0 |
WASHINGTON, Jan 4, (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Tiny diamonds sprinkled across North America suggest a 'swarm' of comets hit the Earth around 13,000 years ago, kicking up enough disruption to send the planet into a cold spell and drive mammoths and other creatures into extinction, scientists reported on Friday. They suggest an event that would transcend anything Biblical -- a series of blinding explosions in the atmosphere equivalent to thousands of atomic bombs, the researchers said. The so-called nanodiamonds are made under high-temperature, high-pressure conditions created by cosmic impacts, similar to an explosion over Tunguska in Siberia that flattened trees for miles in 1908. Doug Kennett of the University of Oregon and colleagues found the little diamonds at sites from Arizona to South Carolina and into Alberta and Manitoba in Canada. They are buried at a level that corresponds to the beginning 12,900 years ago of the Younger Dryas, a 1,300-year-long cold spell during which North American mammoths, saber-toothed cats, camels and giant sloths became extinct. The Clovis culture of American Indians also appears to have fallen apart during this time. Bones of these animals, and Clovis artifacts, are abundant before this time. Excavations show a dark "mat" of carbon-rich material separates the bones and artifacts from emptier and younger layers. Writing in the journal Science, Kennett and colleagues report they have evidence of the nanodiamonds from six sites across North America, fitting in with the hypothesis that a giant explosion, or multiple explosions, above the Earth's surface cause widespread fire and pressure. There is evidence these minerals can be found in other sediments, too, they said, and help explain the "black mat". "These data support the hypothesis that a swarm of comets or carbonaceous chondrites (a type of meteorite) produced multiple air shocks and possible surface impacts at 12,900 (years ago)" they wrote. The heat and pressure could have melted part of the Greenland ice sheet, causing currents to change and affecting climate. Any impacts would have kicked up dust that would have shrouded the sun and lowered temperatures, endangering plants and animals. "The nanodiamonds that we found at all six locations exist only in sediments associated with the Younger Dryas Boundary layers, not above it or below it," Kennett, an archeologist, said in a statement. "These discoveries provide strong evidence for a cosmic impact event at approximately 12,900 years ago that would have had enormous environmental consequences for plants, animals and humans across North America." | 0 |
Climate change poses as much danger to the world as war, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday as he urged the United States to take the lead in the fight against global warming. In his first address on the subject, Ban said he would make climate crisis the focus of talks with leaders at a meeting of the Group of Eight industrialized nations -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, the United States and Russia. "The majority of the United Nations work still focuses on preventing and ending conflict," Ban said. "But the danger posed by war to all of humanity and to our planet is at least matched by the climate crisis and global warming." "In coming decades, changes in our environment and the resulting upheavals from droughts to inundated coastal areas to loss of arable land are likely to become a major driver of war and conflict," Ban told an international UN school conference on global warming, meeting in the UN General Assembly hall. Last month a UN-organized panel of 2,500 top climate scientists from more than 130 nations blamed human activities for global warming and predicted more droughts, heat waves and a slow rise in sea levels that could continue for more than 1,000 years even if greenhouse gas emissions were capped. The panel predicts a "best estimate" that temperatures would rise by between 1.8 and 4.0 degrees Celsius (3.2 and 7.8 Fahrenheit) in the 21st century. Ban said the world needed a more coherent system of international environmental governance and that he hoped the United States would take the lead in looking towards the climate change fight beyond Kyoto's end in 2012. "I hope that United States, while they have taken their role in innovative technologies as well as promoting cleaner energies, will also take the lead in this very important and urgent issue," Ban said. Ban, who became UN chief on January 1, has pledged to make climate change a top priority and was considering a summit, but his staff said this would not happen. Instead, Ban said, a UN framework conference on climate change will be held in Bali, Indonesia, in December. "I am encouraged to know that in the industrialized countries from which leadership is most needed, awareness is growing," he said adding that the cost of inaction or delayed action exceeded the short-term investment needed. The United States is the world's top greenhouse gas emitter and accounts for about a quarter of the global total, ahead of China, Russia and India. Thirty-five industrialized countries bound by the Kyoto Protocol, which obliges average cuts in emissions of 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12, account for just 30 percent of world emissions. US President George W Bush pulled out of Kyoto in 2001, saying that it would damage the US economy and unfairly set no targets for developing nations. But in January he acknowledged climate change as a "serious challenge." Ban said the success of the Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," inspired by former US Vice President Al Gore's environmental campaign, showed the issue "is no longer an inconvenient issue, it is an inescapable reality." "Unfortunately my generation has been somewhat careless in looking after our one and only planet but I am hopeful that is finally changing," Ban said. | 0 |
His polished leather shoes crunched on dust the miners had spilled from nylon bags stuffed with cobalt-laden rocks. The man, Albert Yuma Mulimbi, is a longtime power broker in Congo and chair of a government agency that works with international mining companies to tap the nation’s copper and cobalt reserves, used in the fight against global warming. Yuma’s professed goal is to turn Congo into a reliable supplier of cobalt, a critical metal in electric vehicles, and shed its anything-goes reputation for tolerating an underworld where children are put to work and unskilled and ill-equipped diggers of all ages get injured or killed. “We have to reorganize the country and take control of the mining sector,” said Yuma, who had pulled up to the Kasulo site in a fleet of SUVs carrying a high-level delegation to observe the challenges there. But to many in Congo and the United States, Yuma himself is a problem. As chair of Gécamines, Congo’s state-owned mining enterprise, he has been accused of helping to divert billions of dollars in revenues, according to confidential State Department legal filings reviewed by The New York Times and interviews with a dozen current and former officials in both countries. Top State Department officials have tried to force him out of the mining agency and pushed for him to be put on a sanctions list, arguing he has for years abused his position to enrich friends, family members and political allies. Yuma denies any wrongdoing and is waging an elaborate lobbying and legal campaign to clear his name in Washington and Congo’s capital of Kinshasa, all while pushing ahead with his plans to overhaul cobalt mining. Effectively operating his own foreign policy apparatus, Yuma has hired a roster of well-connected lobbyists, wired an undisclosed $1.5 million to a former White House official, offered the United States purported intelligence about Russia and critical minerals and made a visit to Trump Tower in New York, according to interviews and confidential documents. Yuma met with Donald Trump Jr there in 2018, a session the mining executive described as a quick meet-and-greet. Despite such high-level access during the Trump administration, he was barred just two months later from entering the United States. His grip on the mining industry has complicated Congo’s effort to attract new Western investors and secure its place in the clean energy revolution, which it is already helping to fuel with its vast wealth of minerals and metals like cobalt. Batteries containing cobalt reduce overheating in electric cars and extend their range, but the metal has become known as “the blood diamond of batteries” because of its high price and the perilous conditions in Congo, the largest producer of cobalt in the world. As a result, carmakers concerned about consumer blowback are rapidly moving to find alternatives to the element in electric vehicles, and they are increasingly looking to other nations with smaller reserves as possible suppliers. There is a chance that Congo’s role in the emerging economy could be diminished if it fails to confront human-rights issues in its mines. And even if Yuma works to resolve those problems, as he has pledged to do, it still may not be enough for new American investors who want to be assured the country has taken steps to curb a history of mining-industry corruption. Congo’s president, Felix Tshisekedi, has tried to sideline Yuma by stacking Gécamines with his own appointees, but he has been unwilling to cross him further. During an interview at his hillside palace in Kinshasa, Tshisekedi said he had his own strategy for fixing the country’s dangerous mining conditions. “It is not going to be up to Mr. Yuma,” he said. “It will be the government that will decide.” The standoff between Yuma and the president echoes power struggles that have torn apart African countries rich with natural resources in the past. How this one plays out has implications that reach far beyond the continent, as the global battle against climate change calls for a stepped-up transition from gasoline-burning vehicles to battery-powered ones. For Congo, the question boils down to this: Will Yuma help the country ride the global green wave into an era of new prosperity, or will he help condemn it to more strife and turmoil? ‘TIRED OF DIGGING’ Statues greet motorists at the main roundabout in a mining hub in Congo’s Copperbelt. One depicts an industrial miner in hard hat, headlamp and boots; another a shoeless, shirtless man in ragged shorts holding a pickax. They tell the story of the country’s dual mining economies: industrial and artisanal. High-tech, industrial mines run by global corporations like China Molybdenum employ thousands of people in Congo’s cobalt sector, and while they have their own problems, they are largely not responsible for the country’s tarnished reputation abroad. It’s a different story for the artisanal sector, where Yuma plans to focus the bulk of his stated reforms. Consisting of ordinary adults with no formal training, and sometimes even children, artisanal mining is mostly unregulated and often involves trespassers scavenging on land owned by the industrial mines. Along the main highway bisecting many of the mines, steady streams of diggers on motorbikes loaded down with bags of looted cobalt — each worth about $175 — dodge checkpoints by popping out of sunflower thickets. Unable to find other jobs, thousands of parents send their children in search of cobalt. On a recent morning, a group of young boys were hunched over a road running through two industrial mines, collecting rocks that had dropped off large trucks. The work for other children is more dangerous — in makeshift mines where some have died after climbing dozens of feet into the earth through narrow tunnels that are prone to collapse. Kasulo, where Yuma is showcasing his plans, illustrates the gold-rush-like fervor that can trigger the dangerous mining practices. The mine, authorized by Gécamines, is nothing more than a series of crude gashes the size of city blocks that have been carved into the earth. Once a thriving rural village, Kasulo became a mining strip after a resident uncovered chunks of cobalt underneath a home. The discovery set off a frenzy, with hundreds of people digging up their yards. Today, a mango tree and a few purple bougainvillea bushes, leftovers of residents’ gardens, are the only remnants of village life. Orange tarps tied down with frayed ropes block rainwater from flooding the hand-dug shafts where workers lower themselves and chip at the rock to extract chunks of cobalt. Georges Punga is a regular at the mine. Now 41, Punga said he started working in diamond mines when he was 11. Ever since, he has travelled the country searching Congo’s unrivalled storehouse for treasures underfoot: first gold, then copper, and, for the past three years, cobalt. Punga paused from his digging one afternoon and tugged his dusty blue trousers away from his sneakers. Scars crisscrossed his shins from years of injuries on the job. He earns less than $10 a day — just enough, he said, to support his family and keep his children in school instead of sending them to the mines. “If I could find another job, I’d do it,” he said. “I’m tired of digging.” Officials in Congo have begun taking corrective steps, including creating a subsidiary of Gécamines to try to curtail the haphazard methods used by the miners, improve safety and stop child labour, which is already illegal. Under the plan, miners at sites like Kasulo will soon be issued hard hats and boots, tunnelling will be forbidden and pit depths will be regulated to prevent collapses. Workers will also be paid more uniformly and electronically, rather than in cash, to prevent fraud. As chair of the board of directors, Yuma is at the centre of these reforms. That leaves Western investors and mining companies that are already in Congo little choice but to work with him as the growing demand for cobalt makes the small-scale mines — which account for as much as 30% of the country’s output — all the more essential. Once the cobalt is mined, a new agency will buy it from the miners and standardize pricing for diggers, ensuring the government can tax the sales. Yuma envisions a new fund to offer workers financial help if cobalt prices decline. Right now, diggers often sell the cobalt at a mile-long stretch of tin shacks where the sound of sledgehammers smashing rocks drowns out all other noise. There, international traders crudely assess the metal’s purity before buying it, and miners complain of being cheated. Yuma led journalists from the Times on a tour of Kasulo and a nearby newly constructed warehouse and laboratory complex intended to replace the buying shacks. “We are going through an economic transition, and cobalt is the key product,” said Yuma, who marched around the pristine but yet-to-be-occupied complex, showing it off like a proud father. Seeking solutions for the artisanal mining problem is a better approach than simply turning away from Congo, argues the International Energy Agency, because that would create even more hardships for impoverished miners and their families. But activists point out that Yuma’s plans, beyond spending money on new buildings, have yet to really get underway, or to substantially improve conditions for miners. And many senior government officials in both Congo and the United States question if Yuma is the right leader for the task — openly wondering if his efforts are mainly designed to enhance his reputation and further monetize the cobalt trade while doing little to curb the child labour and work hazards. MILLIONS GONE MISSING Bottles of Dom Pérignon were chilling on ice beside Yuma as he sat in his Gécamines office, where chunks of precious metals and minerals found in Congo’s soil were encased in glass. He downed an espresso before his interview with the Times, surrounded by contemporary Congolese art from his private collection. His lifestyle, on open display, was clear evidence, he said, that he need not scheme or steal to get ahead. “I was 20 years old when I drove my first BMW in Belgium, so what are we talking about?” he said of allegations that he had pilfered money from the Congolese government. Yuma is one of Congo’s richest businessmen. He secured a prime swath of riverside real estate in Kinshasa where his family set up a textile business that holds a contract to make the nation’s military uniforms. A perpetual flashy presence, he is known for his extravagance. People still talk about his daughter’s 2019 wedding, which had the aura of a Las Vegas show, with dancers wearing light-up costumes and large white giraffe statues as table centerpieces. He has served on the board of Congo’s central bank and was reelected this year as president of the country’s powerful trade association, the equivalent of the US Chamber of Commerce. The huge mining agency where he is chair was nationalized and renamed under President Mobutu Sese Seko after Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960. Gécamines once had a monopoly on copper and cobalt mining and, by the 1980s, was among the top copper producers in the world. Jobs there offered a good salary, health care and schooling for employees’ families. But Mobutu, who ruled for 32 years, raided its funds to support himself and his cronies, a pattern followed by his successors, according to anti-corruption groups. By the 1990s, production from Gécamines had declined dramatically. Money wasn’t reinvested into operations, and the agency amassed debt of more than $1 billion. Eventually, half of its workforce was laid off. To survive, Gécamines was restructured, turning to joint ventures with private, mostly foreign, investors in which the agency had a minority stake. Yuma took over in 2010, promising to return Gécamines to its former glory. But instead, according to anti-corruption groups, mining revenues soon disappeared. The Carter Centre, a nonprofit, estimated that between 2011 and 2014 alone some $750 million vanished from Gécamines’ coffers, placing the blame in part on Yuma. The winners of Gécamines’ partnership deals under Yuma included Dan Gertler, a billionaire diamond dealer from Israel. Gertler was later put under US sanctions for “hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of opaque and corrupt mining and oil deals,” according to the Treasury Department. A confidential investigative report that was submitted to the State Department and Treasury and obtained by the Times accuses Yuma of nepotism, holding stakes in textile and food-importing businesses that got funding from a government agency he helped oversee, and steering work to a mining contractor in which he was alleged to have shares. US authorities also believed that Yuma was using some of the mining-sector money to help prop up supporters of Joseph Kabila, the kleptocratic president of Congo for 18 years who had first put him in charge of Gécamines. “Suspicious financial transactions appeared to coincide with the country’s electoral cycles,” said the State Department’s 2018 annual report on human rights in Congo, crediting the Carter Centre for the research. By his own tally, Yuma has been accused of cheating Congo out of some $8.8 billion, an amount he thinks is absurd, saying he has brought in billions of dollars in revenue to the country. Yuma has launched a bombastic counterattack on watchdog groups and his critics, calling them “new colonialists.” He has claimed that they somehow conspired with mining companies to stymie his efforts to revamp the industry, which, in his assessment, has left “the Congolese population in a form of modern slavery.” Yuma also sent the Times a 33-page document outlining his defence, noting the many “veritable smear campaigns that seek to sully his reputation and blur his major role in favour of the country through the reform of its mining policy.” WASHINGTON APPEAL The room was packed. Top White House and State Department officials, mining executives, Senate staffers and other Washington elites sat rapt one day in 2018 at the DC headquarters of a foreign policy group as the microphone was handed to the guest of honour: Yuma. “We understand President Donald Trump’s desire to diversify and secure the US supply chain,” he said, speaking to the Atlantic Council. “It would be of our best interests to consider partnerships with American companies to develop projects for the supply of these minerals.” Accused at home of pillaging the country’s revenues, Yuma had taken his image-cleansing campaign abroad, seeking redemption by convincing Washington that he was a critical link to Congo’s minerals and metals. Yuma’s team of lobbyists and lawyers included Joseph Szlavik, who had served in the White House under President George Bush, and Erich Ferrari, a prominent sanctions lawyer. Lodging at the Four Seasons, he held meetings on two trips that spring with officials from the World Bank and the departments of Defence, Energy and the Interior. He also travelled to New York, where he met with Donald Trump Jr There, he was accompanied by Gentry Beach, a Texas hedge fund manager who was a major campaign fundraiser for the former president as well as a close friend and erstwhile business partner of the younger Trump. Beach has been trying to secure a mining deal in Congo, and was previously invested with Trump in a mining project there. He did not respond to requests for comment. “Someone wanted to introduce me to say hello,” Yuma said, playing down the exchange with the president’s son. Trump said he did not recall the meeting. Through all the encounters, Yuma said, he recited the same message: America needed him, and he was ready to help. In Washington, he even offered what he considered crucial intelligence about Russia’s efforts to acquire Congolese niobium, a shiny white metal that resists corrosion and can handle super-high temperatures like those found in fighter jet engines. Yuma said he had helped thwart the sale to benefit the United States, according to two US officials involved in the meeting. Signs of trouble emerged during one of the trips. A member of his lobbying team was pulled aside by a State Department official and given a stark warning. Yuma was now a target of a corruption investigation by the United States, and he was about to be punished. A few weeks later, in June 2018, the State Department formally prohibited him from returning to the United States. “Today’s actions send a strong signal that the US government is committed to fighting corruption,” the State Department said in a statement at the time that did not name Yuma, and instead said the actions involved “several senior” officials from Congo, which the Times confirmed included Yuma. A ‘FORMIDABLE PERSON’ For Yuma, the action signalled that he needed even more muscle. He would hire Herman Cohen, a former assistant secretary of state for African affairs under Bush, and George Denison, who had worked for President Gerald Ford. A former Congolese airline and telephone executive named Joseph Gatt, who lives in Virginia and is close to Yuma, also took up his cause. Gatt stationed a personal aide at the Fairmont, a luxury hotel about a mile from the White House, who organised meetings with the lobbyists to push for permission for Yuma to visit the United States. “He’s a very formidable person,” Gatt said of Yuma in an interview, insisting that the allegations against him were false and that he was “quite clean.” At the same time, Yuma worked on elevating his standing in Congo. He hatched a plan with the exiting president, Kabila: Yuma would act as his proxy by becoming prime minister, State Department officials told the Times. But a top US diplomat was sent to meet with Yuma at his home in Kinshasa to make clear that the United States strongly objected to the plan, according to an interview with the diplomat, J Peter Pham. After pulling out a bottle of Cristal Champagne, Yuma talked with Pham about political events in Congo, but things soon turned sour. Pham, then a special envoy to the region, told Yuma that the Americans were prepared to deport two of his daughters, who were completing graduate degrees in the United States, if he pursued Kabila’s scheme. “If we revoked your visa, we could revoke theirs,” Pham recalled telling Yuma. Yuma was undeterred, and his team recruited an aide to Rep Hank Johnson, to deliver an invitation for Yuma to visit the United States and discuss his work in Congo. The invitation was even shared with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, though the State Department shut it down. “We saw it for what it was: an attempt to get around the visa ban,” Pham said. Still determined to get his way, Yuma bolstered his collection of influencers. Denison briefly joined the Washington lobbying team with instructions to ensure that Yuma could travel to the United States and that he “not face legal sanctions,” a June 2020 email shows. The United States was considering putting Yuma on a sanctions list, according to State Department officials, a move that could freeze money he had in international banks. But a $3 million contract between the men did not mention that assignment, instead saying that Denison was to “promote the attractiveness of the business climate” in Congo, according to a copy of the document. Shortly after he started the work, Denison received $1.5 million, emails show, with instructions to transfer most of it to an account belonging to an associate of Yuma’s. The transaction drew scrutiny from the bank — and alarm bells went off for Denison, who said he was concerned that he might be unknowingly participating in a money-laundering scheme. Denison hired a lawyer, quit the job and ultimately returned all the funds. “He’s a huge crook,” Denison said. Yuma did not respond to a question on the matter. DUELING PRESIDENTS Tshisekedi and Yuma walked near a large terraced canyon at one of Glencore’s cobalt mines in the Copperbelt, a region so defined by mining that roadside markets sell steel-toed boots and hard hats alongside fresh eggs and spears of okra. The outing in May was awkward for these two political rivals. Tshisekedi, a longtime opposition member who took office in early 2019 in a disputed election, has been fully embraced by the Biden administration, which sees him as an ally in battling global warming. He is chair of the African Union and has repeatedly appeared with President Joe Biden at international events, including a meeting in Rome last month and then again a few days later in Glasgow, Scotland, at the global climate conference. Back home, Tshisekedi has announced that he intends to make Congo “the world capital for strategic minerals.” But some Congolese and US officials think that in order for that to happen, Yuma needs to be ousted. “We have continuously tried to apply pressure” to have Yuma removed, said one State Department official. Yet Yuma “retains considerable influence,” the official said, baffling the State Department. Meanwhile, Yuma is carrying on as usual, trailed by an entourage of aides who address him as President Yuma, as he is known throughout much of Congo for his business leadership. It is also a nod to his power base and ambitions. He talks of installing seven new floors and a helipad at his office building in downtown Kinshasa. He even had one of his lobbyists track down Tshisekedi in September in New York, during the United Nations General Assembly meeting, to press him to stand by Yuma. In Congo, Yuma also embarked on a nationwide tour this year that looked a lot like a campaign for public office. He set out to visit every province, strategically making his first stop in Tshisekedi’s hometown, where he met with a group of struggling pineapple juice sellers. Before leaving, he handed the group $5,000 in cash to jump-start their business. “Just to show them that I’m supportive,” he explained in an interview. Like the president, Yuma is hoping to get credit for attracting more US investors, convinced that his reform efforts will turn the tide. “I’m a friend of America,” he said in the interview. “I always work in goodwill to protect and to help the US invest in DRC [Congo]. And I told you, I love America. My children were at university there. One of these days, people will understand I’m a real good friend of America and I will continue to help.” If his success depends on transforming the mining sector, the task will be formidable. All day long on a main highway that runs through dozens of industrial mines, trucks groan with loads of copper and tubs of chemicals used to extract metals from ore. But snaking between them is motorcycle after motorcycle, with one man driving and one sitting backward, acting as a lookout, atop huge bags of stolen cobalt. ©2021 The New York Times Company | 1 |
Michael Strizki heats and cools his house year-round and runs a full range of appliances including such power-guzzlers as a hot tub and a wide-screen TV without paying a penny in utility bills. His conventional-looking family home in the pinewoods of western New Jersey is the first in the United States to show that a combination of solar and hydrogen power can generate all the electricity needed for a home. The Hopewell Project, named for a nearby town, comes at a time of increasing concern over US energy security and worries over the effects of burning fossil fuels on the climate. "People understand that climate change is a big concern but they don't know what they can do about it," said Gian-Paolo Caminiti of Renewable Energy International, the commercial arm of the project. "There's a psychological dividend in doing the right thing," he said. Strizki runs the 3,000-square-foot house with electricity generated by a 1,000-square-foot roof full of photovoltaic cells on a nearby building, an electrolyzer that uses the solar power to generate hydrogen from water, and a number of hydrogen tanks that store the gas until it is needed by the fuel cell. In the summer, the solar panels generate 60 percent more electricity than the super-insulated house needs. The excess is stored in the form of hydrogen which is used in the winter -- when the solar panels can't meet all the domestic demand -- to make electricity in the fuel cell. Strizki also uses the hydrogen to power his fuel-cell driven car, which, like the domestic power plant, is pollution-free. Solar power currently contributes only 0.1 percent of US energy needs but the number of photovoltaic installations grew by 20 percent in 2006, and the cost of making solar panels is dropping by about 7 percent annually, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. As costs decline and the search accelerates for clean alternatives to expensive and dirty fossil fuels, some analysts predict solar is poised for a significant expansion in the next five to 10 years. The New Jersey project, which opened in October 2006 after four years of planning and building, cost around $500,000, some $225,000 of which was provided by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. The state, a leading supporter of renewable energy, aims to have 20 percent of its energy coming from renewables by 2020, and currently has the largest number of solar-power installations of any US state except California. New Jersey's utility regulator supported the project because it helps achieve the state's renewable-energy goals, said Doyal Siddell a spokesman for the agency. "The solar-hydrogen residence project provides a tremendous opportunity to reduce greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming," he said. The project also got equipment and expertise from a number of commercial sponsors including Exide, which donated some $50,000 worth of batteries, and Swageloc, an Ohio company that provided stainless steel piping costing around $28,000. Strizki kicked in about $100,000 of his own money. While the cost may deter all but wealthy environmentalists from converting their homes, Strizki and his associates stress the project is designed to be replicated and that the price tag on the prototype is a lot higher than imitators would pay. Now that first-time costs of research and design have been met, the price would be about $100,000, Strizki said. But that's still too high for the project to be widely replicated, said Marchant Wentworth of the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental group in Washington. To be commonly adopted, such installations would have to be able to sell excess power to the grid, generating a revenue stream that could be used to attract capital, he said. "You need to make the financing within reach of real people," Wentworth said. Caminiti argues that the cost of the hydrogen/solar setup works out at about $4,000 a year when its $100,000 cost is spread over the anticipated 25-year lifespan of the equipment. That's still a lot higher than the $1,500 a year the average US homeowner spends on energy, according to the federal government. Even if gasoline costs averaging about $1,000 per car annually are included in the energy mix, the renewables option is still more expensive than the grid/gasoline combination. But for Strizki and his colleagues, the house is about a lot more than the bottom line. It's about energy security at a time when the federal government is seeking to reduce dependence on fossil fuels from the Middle East, and it's about sustaining a lifestyle without emitting greenhouse gases. For the 51-year-old Strizki, the project is his life's work. "I have dedicated my life to making the planet a better place," he said. | 2 |
US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that disappointment over the outcome of the Copenhagen climate change summit was justified, hardening a widespread verdict that the conference had been a failure. "I think that people are justified in being disappointed about the outcome in Copenhagen," he said in an interview with PBS Newshour. "What I said was essentially that rather than see a complete collapse in Copenhagen, in which nothing at all got done and would have been a huge backward step, at least we kind of held ground and there wasn't too much backsliding from where we were." Sweden has labeled the accord Obama helped broker a disaster for the environment, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the summit was "at best flawed and at worst chaotic," and climate change advocates have been even more scathing in their criticism. The talks secured bare-minimum agreements that fell well short of original goals to reduce carbon emissions and stem global warming, after lengthy negotiations failed to paper over differences between rich nations and developing economies. Some singled out China for special blame. British Environment Minister Ed Miliband wrote in the Guardian newspaper on Monday China had "hijacked" efforts to agree to significant reductions in global emissions. Beijing denied the claim and said London was scheming to divide developing countries on the climate change issue. Obama did not point any fingers, but did say the Chinese delegation was "skipping negotiations" before his personal intervention. "At a point where there was about to be complete breakdown, and the prime minister of India was heading to the airport and the Chinese representatives were essentially skipping negotiations, and everybody's screaming, what did happen was, cooler heads prevailed," Obama said. Obama forged an accord with China, India, Brazil and South Africa in the conference's final hours after personally securing a bilateral meeting with the four nations' leaders. "We were able to at least agree on non-legally binding targets for all countries -- not just the United States, not just Europe, but also for China and India, which, projecting forward, are going to be the world's largest emitters," he said. | 1 |
The Financial Times said Friday that the Hong Kong government gave no reason for the decision not to renew a work visa for Victor Mallet, the newspaper’s Asia news editor. “This is the first time we have encountered this situation in Hong Kong, and we have not been given a reason for the rejection,” the newspaper said in a statement. The Hong Kong government said it would not comment on an individual case. “In handling each application, the Immigration Department acts in accordance with the laws and prevailing policies, and decides whether to approve or refuse the application after careful consideration of individual circumstances of each case,” the Immigration Department said in a statement. Mallet, a British national, is first vice president of the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club, and was the organisation’s main spokesman in August, when it hosted a talk by a Hong Kong independence advocate that was harshly criticised by the local government and mainland Chinese officials. Mainland China regularly punishes foreign journalists and media organisations by denying resident work visas to reporters and editors. But Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to Chinese control in 1997, has far greater protections for civil liberties. The plans to eject Mallet have further blurred the line between Hong Kong and mainland China, human rights advocates said. “This is unprecedented,” said Maya Wang, a senior China researcher for Human Rights Watch. “We expect foreign journalists to have this kind of visa rejection happen in China, but it has never happened in Hong Kong because Hong Kong has a tradition until recent years of respect for free speech.” The move “will have an immediate chilling effect on freedom of expression in the city,” Jason Y Ng, president of PEN Hong Kong, a literature and free speech organisation, said in a statement. “As Beijing constantly moves the red lines on what topics are ‘sensitive’ and out of bounds, the pressure for institutions and individuals to engage in self-censorship increases significantly,” Ng said. “The threats to free expression and a free flow of ideas directly harm Hong Kong’s image as an open, ‘world’ city that abides by the rule of law.” The expulsion “appears to be naked retaliation by the authorities to punish” the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, he added. In August, the Foreign Correspondent’s Club hosted a talk by Andy Chan, head of a political party that called for Hong Kong’s independence from China. The Hong Kong government had said beforehand that it planned to ban Chan’s tiny political party, the Hong Kong National Party, under a colonial-era law that allows the prohibition of groups for reasons of national security, public safety or public order. Officials from Hong Kong and the Chinese central government criticised the event. Leung Chun-ying, who was the city’s top official from 2012 to 2017, went further. He likened the talk to hosting supporters of “racism, anti-Semitism or Nazism” and said the Hong Kong government should review the lease of the FCC’s clubhouse in a historic, publicly owned building in central Hong Kong. Mallet, a veteran Financial Times editor who was previously the newspaper’s bureau chief in New Delhi, said during Chan’s talk that the club considered it a “normal event” involving an important news story in Hong Kong. “The fact that this lunch seems to have become far from normal and has generated such exceptional interest in Hong Kong and around the world I think tells us more about the political climate in Hong Kong and in Beijing than it does about the FCC,” he said. Last month Hong Kong banned Chan’s party. Under the law a person who claims to be an officeholder of the party could be imprisoned for up to three years, and anyone who provides a place for the group to meet could be imprisoned for up to a year for a first offence. Hong Kong, which maintains its own immigration policy and an internal border with the rest of China, has previously denied visas to academics and political activists. Last year two scholars from Taiwan were barred entry, and in 2014 several leaders of Taiwan’s 2014 protests against a trade bill with China were also not allowed to enter Hong Kong. The move against a foreign journalist signals an expansion of such restrictions. A journalist working for The Financial Times has never before had a visa renewal denied in Hong Kong, and human rights and free speech groups could not immediately recall any other foreign journalist being expelled. In 2011, Hong Kong authorities did not approve a work visa for Chang Ping, a prominent journalist from mainland China who had been given a job at a Hong Kong newspaper. Such treatment of foreign journalists is far more common in mainland China. Megha Rajagopalan, who was BussFeed News’ China bureau chief and had written stories about the widespread detention of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in western China, was not issued a new journalist visa this year. A visa renewal was denied in 2015 for Ursula Gauthier, a reporter in Beijing for the French newsweekly L’Obs and who questioned China’s treatment of Uighurs. The New York Times and Bloomberg have also had applications for new journalist visas blocked in China after reports in 2012 on the wealth accumulated by Chinese leaders’ families. In a confrontational speech about China on Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence described the country’s restrictions on foreign journalists as part of Communist Party efforts to spread censorship. © 2018 New York Times News Service | 2 |
Australia, the driest inhabited continent in the world, will get even hotter and drier due to climate change triggered mainly by greenhouse gases, authorities said on Tuesday in new projections. Temperatures had already increased, sea levels had risen and the oceans surrounding the country had warmed, said Scott Power, principal research scientist at the Bureau of Meteorology. "Further warming and further sea level rise seems inevitable," he said, releasing the "Climate Change in Australia" report produced by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and the Bureau of Meteorology. Temperatures were expected to rise by about 1 degree Celsius by 2030 and could rise more, said Penny Whetton, head of climate impact and risk at the government-backed CSIRO. Rainfall is forecast to decrease by up to 20 percent by 2070 in southern Australia if greenhouse gas emissions are low and by up to 30 percent if gas emissions are high. Temperatures in Australia have already risen by 0.9 degrees Celsius since 1950, producing the hottest year on record in 2005. The present year could eclipse that in key areas. Southern Australia, and the Murray-Darling Basin food bowl in particular, had its hottest year on record between January and September this year, new data shows. "It's bitterly disappointing ... that the rainfall during the last month in the Murray-Darling Basin, just when we were all hoping for well above average rainfall, turns out to be the lowest on record," Power said. "We're more confident than ever before that these changes can be largely attributed to human intervention in the climate." HIT HARDER Australia was likely to be hit harder by climate change than other sub-tropical parts of the world, including South Africa, the Mediterranean and parts of South America, because it was already very dry, Whetton said. Frequently recurring Australian droughts will be more severe because of higher temperatures, while periods of high fire danger are increasing, as is coastal flooding from storms. Inland parts of Australia, home to vast agricultural enterprises producing wheat and cattle which supply export markets in Asia and the Middle East, would warm faster than coastal areas and receive less rainfall, Whetton said. Dryland crops such as wheat could possibly increase because of more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, if rainfall decline was not too large, Whetton said. But Australia's wheat crop has already been hit hard by drought in 2002, 2006 and 2007. And there will be less water for irrigated crops, which include grapes, cotton and rice. Higher temperatures increased coral bleaching and could pose a severe risk to the Great Barrier Reef, she said. City water supplies could decrease significantly. Melbourne and parts of southern Victoria state have already had 10 years of below-average rainfall. At low emissions of greenhouse gases, warming of between 1 degree Celsius and 2.5 degrees was expected by 2070, with a best estimate of 1.8 degrees, Whetton said. At high emissions, the best estimate was warming of 3.4 degrees, in a range of 2.2 degrees to 5 degrees. The report predicts fewer frosts and substantially more days over 35 degrees. | 0 |
In many cities, officials worry that people will avoid public transit for fear of catching the virus, and decide to drive instead, which will push vehicle traffic higher than ever. Staving off a surge of cars on city streets is important not only to avoid congestion delays, accidents and higher air pollution, which kills an estimated 4 million people worldwide each year. It’s impossible to stop global warming unless cities sharply reduce pollution from cars, trucks and motorcycles. “Cities have a window of opportunity to make changes and keep the cleaner air they saw during the lockdowns,” said Corinne Le Quéré, a climate scientist at the University of East Anglia who has tracked global carbon dioxide emissions during the pandemic. “But if they don’t pay attention to this issue, emissions could rebound back to where they were before or even go higher.” Transportation accounts for a quarter of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, and emissions from road vehicles in particular have grown sharply in the last 50 years. There are already warning signs: More than 30 large cities coming out of lockdown, including Hong Kong; Shenzhen, China; Oslo, Norway; and Geneva, recorded more congestion on their roads in mid-June compared with the same period last year, according to data from TomTom, a navigation company. Other early evidence suggests that driving is increasing faster than public transit use as people step out of confinement and move around again. Many city leaders are trying to fix that, in some cases leveraging lessons learned from earlier pandemics in Asia. Here’s a look at some of what they’re trying. RECLAIM THE STREETS FOR WALKERS AND CYCLISTS The pandemic has given leverage to city officials to do things that had been politically contentious in the past, like taking space from cars. San Francisco, where bus ridership declined by around 80% between early March and late May, has opened up 24 miles of car-free corridors for walkers and bicyclists to get around; another 10 miles are in the works, and most of these corridors span several city blocks. Bogotá, Colombia, which had in the past carved out bike lanes on sidewalks, has now set aside 52 miles of road space for cyclists. It was intended as a temporary measure, said Nicolás Estupiñán, the city’s transportation secretary, but public support has emboldened the city to make it permanent. Estupiñán said Bogotá was also staggering work hours for different industries — a 10 a.m. start for construction, noon for retail, and so on — in order to make the roads less congested. Milan has also made its pandemic-era network of bike lanes permanent. “The physical distancing requirements of COVID gives us huge leverage,” said Maria Vittoria Beria, a spokeswoman in the Milan mayor’s office. “What did we have in the drawers that could help social distancing? Bike lanes.” They are being used — at least for now, when the weather is mild. Data from the city suggests that bike sharing and electric scooter use rose sharply in May, while traffic congestion remained well below 2019 levels. In other cities emerging from lockdowns, including Berlin, London and Paris, data collected from bicycle counters indicated that cycling had become more popular than it was before the pandemic, according to Felix Creutzig, a transportation specialist at the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, a think tank in Berlin. But as cities reclaim streets from cars, they are also struggling with deep inequities in access to transportation. New York City, for instance, has historically built fewer bike lanes and bike-share docks in neighborhoods that are home to large shares of essential workers, the majority of whom are people of color. GET GAS GUZZLERS OFF THE ROAD Some cities have been trying to dissuade drivers from bringing older, more polluting vehicles into city centers, mainly by imposing levies to enter congested areas during rush hour. In May, as its lockdown loosened, London began reinstating low-emissions zones around the city, which impose fees on older cars, trucks and vans that don’t meet air pollution standards. The city also recently raised its congestion charge by 30%, requiring many drivers to pay $18 per day to enter the busiest parts of central London. In Pôrto Alegre, Brazil, where bus ridership has plunged 60% during the pandemic, city officials are worried about a death spiral for the system. They have proposed both a congestion tax on private vehicles entering the city as well as a per-mile tax on ride-hailing services like Uber, with the goal of plowing that money into the bus network to reduce fares. Still, officials concede that targeting private cars can be difficult in a struggling economy. New York City had planned to become the first American city to impose a congestion tax at the end of 2020, but the measure’s fate is now unclear. Last week, as New York allowed more nonessential businesses to reopen, the Department of Transportation warned in a sign on the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge: “Anticipate traffic.”
People huddle to get on a bus after the government has eased restrictions on public transport amid concerns over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 4, 2020. REUTERSLockdowns tamed road traffic
GET PEOPLE BACK ON PUBLIC TRANSIT People huddle to get on a bus after the government has eased restrictions on public transport amid concerns over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 4, 2020. REUTERSLockdowns tamed road traffic While ridership on buses and subways has cratered during the pandemic, public transit remains critical for essential workers and those who don’t have a car. One recent study in New York City found that subway ridership fell less sharply during the lockdown in neighbourhoods with more low-income and nonwhite residents. To make public transportation safe, many cities have focused on mask-wearing and constant cleaning. In Seoul, masks are required on mass transit and because talking can spread the virus, noisy conversations inside subway cars can prompt complaints to the authorities. Taipei has begun temperature checks at train stations. Some are using more high-tech solutions to keep passengers at a safe distance: Beijing’s transit agency now allows essential workers to reserve bus seats by mobile app and provides custom routes to transport these workers, allowing for space between seats. Denmark’s rail company, DSB, introduced an app showing which cars have the most space available, which helped increase transit ridership as lockdowns eased. Many transit officials remain optimistic that bus and train ridership will eventually return, citing early evidence that few people have caught the virus in large, crowded transit systems like Tokyo’s, as long as people wear masks and keep to themselves. But in the meantime, many cities are facing severe financial crunches as revenue falls and budgets are strained. “Without help, some systems may not survive, and others may have to reduce their service or hike fares,” said Paul Skoutelas, president of the American Public Transportation Association, which has called on Congress to provide additional aid to help transit agencies weather the storm. Even amid the crisis, some transit agencies are reimagining public transportation altogether. In Austin, Texas, the city has expanded its system of public shuttles that can be reserved through a mobile app by riders who aren’t well served by existing bus lines. Officials are also drawing up plans to better integrate existing bus and rail lines with the city’s bike-share system by offering unified ticketing and apps. They also plan to eventually replace the city’s 1,000 shared bikes with electric versions that make travel easier in the sweltering Texas heat. “The pandemic has really pushed us to think more creatively,” said Randy Clarke, president of Capital Metro, the Austin public transportation system. “How do we make a system that’s more equitable and sustainable, and give people more options besides cars?” c.2020 The New York Times Company | 0 |
LONDON, Sep 17, (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Quakes, volcanic eruptions, giant landslides and tsunamis may become more frequent as global warming changes the earth's crust, scientists said on Wednesday. Climate-linked geological changes may also trigger "methane burps", the release of a potent greenhouse gas, currently stored in solid form under melting permafrost and the seabed, in quantities greater than all the carbon dioxide (CO2) in our air today. "Climate change doesn't just affect the atmosphere and the oceans but the earth's crust as well. The whole earth is an interactive system," Professor Bill McGuire of University College London told Reuters, at the first major conference of scientists researching the changing climate's effects on geological hazards. "In the political community people are almost completely unaware of any geological aspects to climate change." The vulcanologists, seismologists, glaciologists, climatologists and landslide experts at the meeting have looked to the past to try to predict future changes, particularly to climate upheaval at the end of the last ice age, some 12,000 years ago. "When the ice is lost, the earth's crust bounces back up again and that triggers earthquakes, which trigger submarine landslides, which cause tsunamis," said McGuire, who organised the three-day conference. David Pyle of Oxford University said small changes in the mass of the earth's surface seems to affect volcanic activity in general, not just in places where ice receded after a cold spell. Weather patterns also seem to affect volcanic activity - not just the other way round, he told the conference. LONDON'S ASIAN SUNSET Behind him was a slide of a dazzlingly bright orange painting, "London sunset after Krakatau, 1883" - referring to a huge Asian volcanic eruption whose effects were seen and felt around the world. Volcanoes can spew vast amounts of ash, sulphur, carbon dioxide and water into the upper atmosphere, reflecting sunlight and sometimes cooling the earth for a couple of years. But too many eruptions, too close together, may have the opposite effect and quicken global warming, said U.S. vulcanologist Peter Ward. "Prior to man, the most abrupt climate change was initiated by volcanoes, but now man has taken over. Understanding why and how volcanoes did it will help man figure out what to do," he said. Speakers were careful to point out that many findings still amounted only to hypotheses, but said evidence appeared to be mounting that the world could be in for shocks on a vast scale. Tony Song of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California warned of the vast power of recently discovered "glacial earthquakes" -- in which glacial ice mass crashes downwards like an enormous landslide. In the West Antarctic, ice piled more than one mile (1.5 km) above sea level is being undermined in places by water seeping in underneath. "Our experiments show that glacial earthquakes can generate far more powerful tsunamis than undersea earthquakes with similar magnitude," said Song. "Several high-latitude regions, such as Chile, New Zealand and Canadian Newfoundland are particularly at risk." He said ice sheets appeared to be disintegrating much more rapidly than thought and said glacial earthquake tsunamis were "low-probability but high-risk". McGuire said the possible geological hazards were alarming enough, but just one small part of a scary picture if man-made CO2 emissions were not stabilised within around the next five years. "Added to all the rest of the mayhem and chaos, these things would just be the icing on the cake," he said. "Things would be so bad that the odd tsunami or eruption won't make much difference." | 0 |
More than 480 million people living in the vast swathes of central, eastern and northern India, including the capital, New Delhi, endure significantly high pollution levels, said the report prepared by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC). "Alarmingly, India's high levels of air pollution have expanded geographically over time," the EPIC report said. For example, air quality has significantly worsened in the western state of Maharashtra and the central state of Madhya Pradesh, it said. Lauding India's National Clean Air Program (NCAP), launched in 2019 to rein in dangerous pollution levels, the EPIC report said "achieving and sustaining" the NCAP goals would raise the country's overall life expectancy by 1.7 years and that of New Delhi 3.1 years. The NCAP aims to reduce pollution in the 102 worst-affected cities by 20 percent-30 percent by 2024 by ensuring cuts in industrial emissions and vehicular exhaust, introducing stringent rules for transport fuels and biomass burning and reduce dust pollution. It will also entail better monitoring systems. New Delhi was the world's most polluted capital for the third straight year in 2020, according to IQAir, a Swiss group that measures air quality levels based on the concentration of lung-damaging airborne particles known as PM2.5. Last year, New Delhi's 20 million residents, who breathed some of the cleanest air on record in the summer because of coronavirus lockdown curbs, battled toxic air in winter following a sharp increase in farm residue burning in the nearby states of Punjab and Haryana. According to the EPIC's findings, neighbouring Bangladesh could raise average life expectancy by 5.4 years if the country improves air quality to levels recommended by the World Health Organisation. To arrive at the life expectancy number, EPIC compared the health of people exposed to different levels of long-term air pollution and applied the results to various places in India and elsewhere. | 0 |
The Commonwealth said on Saturday climate change threatened the existence of small island members faced with rising sea levels but it failed to back binding targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A statement issued on the second day of a summit of the club of mostly former British colonies said the Commonwealth was gravely concerned about climate change, which was "a direct threat to the very survival of some Commonwealth countries, notably small island states." It said the cost of inaction would be greater than taking early measures to counteract global warming. But the declaration by the Commonwealth summit (CHOGM) contained only vague language and lacked binding targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, prompting Greenpeace Executive Director John Sauvan to condemn it as inadequate. "There is a complete lack of urgency, given the need to get climate changing emissions under control ... and the disproportionate impact of climate change on the world's poorest Commonwealth members," he said. The Commonwealth secretary-general, Don McKinnon, called the agreement "quite a leap forward" although it stopped short of the major statement that many countries had said they wanted. Before the summit, Britain had called for an "unequivocal message" and had urged developed nations to make binding commitments before an environment conference in Bali next month. The Kampala declaration stopped short of that, but did say developed countries should take the lead in cutting emissions. "No strategy or actions to deal with climate change should have the effect of depriving developing countries of ... sustainable economic development," it said. BALI SUMMIT The Bali meeting will discuss an agreement to succeed the Kyoto protocol which aims to reduce emissions of the gases that cause global warming but which expires in 2012. Kyoto exempts developing nations, including major emitters India and China, from commitments to reduce greenhouse gases. Canada's conservative government said on Friday it would not sign an agreement in Kampala unless it called for all countries to reduce emissions. The Commonwealth traditionally reaches agreement by consensus and the need to compromise between Canada's position and the demands of developing nations, especially island states, may explain the vague nature of Saturday's declaration. The Commonwealth Climate Change Action Plan called for a post-Kyoto agreement to reduce greenhouse gases but spoke only of "a long term aspirational global goal for emissions reduction to which all countries would contribute." Environmentalists sharply attacked similar non-binding language after recent summits by the G8 industrial nations and the APEC Asia-Pacific group. A British official said the statement "does what we wanted which is to continue ...to build momentum ahead of Bali." But he added: "there is a question over whether CHOGM is the right place to commit people to binding targets when we have Bali around the corner. Some participants felt Bali was the right place to discuss commitments." Australia has been one of the Commonwealth states most reluctant to combat climate change, but Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd said after winning a general election on Saturday that Australia would now sign up to Kyoto. Ex-Prime Minister John Howard government's refusal to ratify Kyoto angered Pacific island nations, including Commonwealth members, who could be submerged by rising sea levels. | 0 |
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday for talks that were likely to focus on climate change and a decades-old dispute over a group of Pacific islands. A senior Japanese official said Fukuda will urge Russia to accelerate talks aimed at resolving the territorial row over the islands, a running sore in relations that has prevented the two states from signing a peace treaty ending World War Two. "Over the past two to three years we have been able to qualitatively change the character of our relations," Putin told Fukuda at the opening of talks at the Russian presidential residence in Novo-Ogaryovo, outside Moscow. "We are continuing dialogue on the peace treaty and will create the necessary conditions for advancement along this path," Putin said. The Russian leader said bilateral trade had soared although "there still exist many unresolved problems". Fukuda will have talks later with Dmitry Medvedev, who will be sworn in as head of state on May 7. Putin, who is stepping down after eight years as president, will stay on as prime minister and leader of the biggest party. The main aims of Fukuda's visit are to "establish a personal relationship of trust with President Putin and president-elect Medvedev, and second, to prepare for the upcoming G8 summit", said a Japanese foreign ministry official. The islands, known in Russia as the Southern Kuriles and in Japan as the Northern Territories, were seized by Soviet troops in the last days of World War Two. They lie just north of the northern island of Hokkaido where Japan will host this year's Group of Eight summit. Japan has placed finding a more effective replacement for the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which expires in 2012, at the top of the summit agenda. Tokyo hopes the G8 summit will help draft a climate change agreement that would embrace the biggest polluters such as the United States, China and India. None of these has signed up to the Kyoto Protocol's limits on emissions. Russia, a G8 member, was one of the biggest emerging economies to sign up to Kyoto commitments. Japanese officials hope Moscow will support a successor agreement in Hokkaido.
PERSONAL RELATIONS Fukuda will urge the Russian leaders to accelerate talks aimed at resolving the territorial row, a senior Japanese government official said. "Prime Minister Fukuda is expected to tell them that it is indispensable for the two countries to advance negotiations in a concrete fashion in order to elevate bilateral ties to a higher dimension," the official said. Russia has said it is ready to talk about the dispute, but has given no sign it is prepared to give up the islands. "There is no change in our position. We do not expect any breakthroughs (in the talks with Fukuda)," said a Kremlin official. Trade between Russia and Japan was worth $20 billion in 2007, fuelled by automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp which has set up a factory to tap into the booming Russian market. But trade is far smaller than the volumes between Russia and its biggest trading partner, the European Union. Japanese firms have taken stakes in vast oil and gas projects on Russia's Pacific Sakhalin island, and a pipeline is under construction that will eventually deliver oil from eastern Siberia to the Pacific coast. | 1 |
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday pressed China to improve human rights and take on greater international responsibilities as its global influence grows. In a speech to Chinese researchers, Merkel said she welcomed China's economic development and rising participation in international affairs, but she also urged Beijing to give citizens a greater say. "Human rights are of very high importance to us," Merkel said, adding that rights needed to include freedom of religion, press and expression. "Nobody has the right to put himself above others ... human dignity cannot be divided." China has been criticised by many in the West for its treatment of journalists, minority and religious groups, a subject that has gained weight in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games next year. Merkel in the morning met a group of Chinese journalists, including one who had been dismissed from a state-run newspaper for decrying censorship. Merkel said that international attention on China was sure to grow in the lead-up to the Olympics. "The world will be watching China more intensely than ever before," she said. She urged China to continue pressing Sudan to help create peace in Darfur and restated the German position that all countries needed to work together to halt climate change. | 0 |
Australia is living up to its iconic image as a sunburnt country of droughts and flooding rains, with a huge outback storm causing flooding in three states on Saturday as drought-fuelled bushfires continued burning. Monsoon rains over the country's vast interior have caused the usually dry Todd River in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory to come to life and flooded outback South Australia state and parts of Victoria and New South Wales states. The small rural town of Oodnadatta in South Australia was flooded and most major roads leading to it closed to traffic by rising waters, emergency service officials said. Sister Joan Wilson at the Oodnadatta Hospital said medical supplies were running low. "If we don't get the supplies through in the next couple of days, some people may be in a bit of pain," she told reporters. The flooding prevented the Royal Flying Doctor service, the outback's medical lifeline, from reaching the town. Many remote cattle properties in South Australia were also cut off, but farmers battling the worst drought in 100 years welcomed the rains. "I am sure there will be a lot of pastoralists around here rubbing their hands together with glee," said Trevor McLeod, a local government officer in the opal mining centre of Coober Pedy, another flooded South Australian town. Cattle property owner Dean Rasheed said the rain was the heaviest to hit South Australia's Flinders Ranges in living memory and would bring his dry land back to life. "I'm looking at the largest flood I've seen in my lifetime and I'm getting on in years, so it's very significant," Rasheed told Australian Associated Press news agency. "The water is 200 metres wide and four metres deep." As the outback storm moved east across Australia it caused flooding in Victoria, which has been battling bushfires for more than 50 days, and also the state of New South Wales. Fires have struck five of Australia's six states since November, blackening more than 1.2 million hectares (4,600 square miles) of bushland, killing one and gutting dozens of homes. Some have been "megafires", created in part by global warming and a drought which has provided an abundance of fuel, stretching thousands of kilometres. Rain in Victoria's north and east on Saturday eased bushfire threats, but failed to douse the large fires, and left the Victorian towns of Mildura and Stawell flooded, with rising waters inundating shops and stranding motorists. Weather forecaster Ward Rooney said he could not remember when Victoria last reported such contrasting extreme weather conditions. "It's a large bundle of warnings altogether, a combination you wouldn't see too often," said Rooney. Across the border in New South Wales, favourable weather conditions on Saturday saved the alpine resort of Thredbo from a nearby bushfire, with lower temperatures and rain from the outback storm expected on Sunday. But in the far west of New South Wales, rain caused flooding in the mining town of Broken Hill, forcing residents to sandbag homes to stop water entering. Roads around the town were cut. Australia's weather bureau said this month that the country appeared to be suffering from an accelerated climate change brought about by global warming. While the heavily populated southeast experiences its worst drought for a generation, the tropics and remote northwest are receiving unseasonally heavy rains accounting for more than Australia's yearly total average. | 0 |
Conspiracy theorists have claimed SARS-CoV-2, now responsible for more than 200,000 deaths worldwide, was synthesised by the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), based in the city where the disease was first identified. Though the scientific consensus is that the coronavirus evolved naturally, such claims have gained traction. US President Donald Trump said on April 15 that his government was investigating whether it had originated in the Wuhan lab. Yuan Zhiming, professor at WIV and the director of its National Biosafety Laboratory, said "malicious" claims about the lab had been "pulled out of thin air" and contradicted all available evidence. "The WIV does not have the intention and the ability to design and construct a new coronavirus," he said in written responses to questions from Reuters. "Moreover, there is no information within the SARS-CoV-2 genome indicating it was manmade." Some conspiracy theories were fuelled by a widely read scientific paper from the Indian Institute of Technology, since withdrawn, claiming that proteins in the coronavirus shared an "uncanny similarity" with those of HIV. However, most scientists now say SARS-CoV-2 originated in wildlife, with bats and pangolins identified as possible host species. "More than 70% of emerging infectious diseases originated from animals, especially wild animals," Yuan said. "In recent years, we have seen increasing risks posed by close contact between humans and wild animals, with global climate change and the continuous expansion of human activities," he said. All seven known human coronaviruses have origins in bats, mice or domestic animals, scientists say. Yuan also rejected theories that the lab had accidentally released a coronavirus it had harvested from bats for research purposes, saying the lab's biosecurity procedures were strictly enforced. "High-level biosafety labs have sophisticated protective facilities and strict measures to ensure the safety of laboratory staff and protect the environment from contamination," he said. 'STILL NO ANSWERS' Conspiracy theories are common during epidemics. Russian scientists claimed the SARS outbreak in 2002-2003 originated in a lab, and during the emergence of HIV/AIDS in the late 1970s, some political groups also claimed the virus had been "spliced" together by government scientists. Though the new coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan, conspiracy theories circulating within China have suggested the virus did not originate there. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Twitter in March that the coronavirus might have emerged in the United States, and there has been speculation on Chinese social media that it reached Wuhan via the World Military Games, held there in October. Yuan did not comment directly on the claims, but said there were "still no answers" about the virus's origins. He cited a paper by British and German scientists published this month suggesting that the SARS-CoV-2 variant circulating in the United States was a more "primitive" version of the one in China, and might have appeared there first. "Tracing the virus's origin is a very challenging scientific question with strong uncertainty," Yuan said. China has been accused of underestimating its total number of cases and trying to cover up the origins of the disease, which the government rejects. Asked whether his institute would cooperate with an international inquiry into the pandemic, Yuan said that he was unaware of "such a mechanism", but that the laboratory was already inspected regularly. He added that his institute was committed to transparency and would share all available data about the coronavirus in a timely fashion. "I hope everyone will put aside their prejudices and biases in order to provide a rational environment for research on tracing the origin of the virus," he said. | 0 |
Macron, 42, was running the country remotely after going into quarantine in the Elysee Palace, the presidency said. His wife Brigitte was also self-isolating. “This diagnosis was made following a PCR test performed at the onset of the first symptoms,” Macron’s office said, declining to give further details of his conditions or the symptoms he had. Macron will cancel all upcoming trips including a Dec. 22 visit to Lebanon where the French president has led international efforts to resolve a deep-rooted political crisis. But it was closer to home that Macron’s COVID infection spurred other leaders to take their own tests. Macron joined all but two of the European Union’s 27 leaders at a summit in Brussels late last week to discuss climate change, the EU budget and Turkey. Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Giuseppe Conte and others were seen initially mingling in the summit room with their face masks on. German officials said Merkel wore a mask at the summit and complied with COVID rules. The German government said Merkel tested negative for the coronavirus after the EU summit. More recently, Macron had lunch with European Council President Charles Michel, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and OECD chief Angel Gurria, who is 70, on Monday. He also held talks with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa on Wednesday. Costa was in self-isolation and awaiting the results of a test, though displaying no symptoms, his office said. Sanchez’s office said he would quarantine until Dec. 24. An EU spokesman said Michel, would self-isolate as a precaution. MILD SYMPTOMS Macron’s illness comes as negotiations between Britain and the EU over a post-Brexit deal near their crunch point, with France saying it would rather veto a bad deal than sacrifice its fishermen. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent Macron his best wishes. “Sorry to hear my friend @EmmanuelMacron has tested positive for coronavirus. We are all wishing you a speedy recovery,” Johnson said on Twitter. Johnson himself caught COVID-19 in March and fell gravely ill. He tried to work through the illness but ended up in intensive care. Macron lives a healthy, active lifestyle, his aides say. He exercises regularly and does not smoke. France has one of the highest COVID-19 death counts in western Europe. The disease has killed nearly 60,000 people and Macron’s positive test comes just after France replaced a nationwide lockdown with a curfew, even as new cases show signs of ticking higher once again. Elysee Palace officials said Macron and his team were trying to assess where he could have contracted the virus. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said Macron detected the first symptoms late on Wednesday. Two days earlier, the president had also held a four-hour long debate with members of a citizens’ climate convention. Macron wore a face mask throughout the event attended by several dozen people. On Wednesday, he chaired a cabinet meeting. Prime Minister Jean Castex will also self isolate after coming into contact with Macron over the last few days, although he has tested negative, his office said. Political party chiefs from France’s lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, were also in isolation as they had a lunch with Macron earlier this week. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire had been the highest profile politician in France to get the virus until now. He said after recovering that it had been a particularly tough ordeal. | 0 |
Each resilient variety becomes a tiny, critical ingredient in a resilient seed system that supports agriculture, the foundation of a resilient food system. And in the tumultuous 2020 seed-catalogue season, resilience proved a valuable human trait as well, for seed company staff and their customers. Insights gleaned from that chaotic year of record sales can smooth the ground for the 2021 garden season, which officially begins this month, as new catalogues start appearing in mailboxes and online. This time last year, no one could have seen it coming — sales spikes of as much as 300% that began immediately after a national emergency was declared March 13, echoing the World Health Organization pandemic declaration two days earlier. “When many of us came back to the office Monday, we were astonished to see how many orders had come in,” said Joshua D’errico, marketing coordinator for Johnny’s Selected Seeds, which has 47 years of sales history for comparison. “We thought it was a blip, but it wasn’t.” Heron Breen, a research and development manager at Fedco Seeds, serving Northeastern gardeners since 1978, said: “Luckily, we had some warning from colleagues at other companies — a heads-up that they were seeing this volume. The bigger, first-line companies got flooded first, and when they were overwhelmed, then we really got swamped, too.” Fulfilment operations were pushed past capacity; sales had to be suspended by almost every supplier, sometimes repeatedly, in attempts to catch up. Catalogue requests and web searches for growing advice were way up as well. But sellers large and small, older and newer, have a reassuring message for home gardeners: They are well stocked. There are no seed shortages beyond what can happen in any farming year, when crop failure in one variety or another is always a possibility. That may sound counterintuitive to those who saw “out of stock” labels on many website product pages last spring. Despite the wording, it often wasn’t because of a lack of seed on hand. “It was more a matter of not enough hands to pack it into packets in time to meet the surge in demand,” said Andrea Tursini, chief marketing officer of the 25-year-old High Mowing Organic Seeds. “And it came near the tail end of our usual peak season — not a time when we are usually packing a high volume of seeds.” Add to that the challenge of staffing up safely and operating within pandemic guidelines — along with mounting employee burnout — and something had to give. Seed companies have worked overtime, skipping summer breaks, to refine and strengthen their systems. But before home gardeners start madly browsing their catalogues, it’s a good time for them to also fine-tune their processes. Here are some thoughts on how to shop smart, along with some favourite catalogues. Catalogues are for studying, not just shopping. When it comes to seed catalogues, more is better (whether in print or online). Each has its specialties. And they make for good reading. If you read variety descriptions carefully, you’ll learn about the diversity of traits possible within a single crop and notice that some broccoli makes one big head, for example, while others are “non-heading,” like Piracicaba, forming a cluster of smaller florets over a number of weeks. Catalogs also provide expert growing information — not simply when to sow, or how far apart, but which varieties stand up to summer heat — insights that can help you order and then sow each in its time, yielding months of continuous lettuce for salads, for example. The educational support that seed companies provide has only deepened with the creation of digital resources. A leading example is Johnny’s Grower’s Library, which has had “a huge increase in visits this year,” D’errico said. Avoid impulse buying. Seed-shopping and garden-planning season can start in the darkness of a cool, dry cupboard, where one might store leftover seed. A careful inventory of what remains is the first step, to prevent duplicates that waste money and seed. The occasional binge is encouraged; trying new things expands firsthand experience. But before placing your orders, study the basic rules of the game of succession planting. Want to enhance your sense of personal seed security? Order some open-pollinated varieties, not just hybrids (which may not reproduce true from seed), and save their seed for 2022. Be ready to adapt (like a seed). Despite all the preparations, no company can predict things like how many of last season’s new gardeners will order again, or if even more will show up for 2021. In a tiny piece of normalcy, one element, at least, remained basically unchanged from 2019 to 2020, D’errico said. At Johnny’s Selected Seeds, the same 12 crops were the top sellers among home gardeners, if in slightly different order. And among the top four — zinnias, bush beans, heirloom tomatoes and hot peppers — the order didn’t even change. Still, sellers and buyers must be ready to adapt. “Be flexible,” advised Tursini, of High Mowing Organic Seeds. “If Cherry Bomb tomato is sold out, try another cherry tomato variety.” You might find one you like better. Also: “Order early, but don’t panic,” she said, a sentiment echoed elsewhere, perhaps most memorably by Breen, of Fedco Seeds. “Be mindful and plan your garden,” he said, “not your dystopian survival plan.” Here’s where to find seed. Most companies listed here are farm-based companies that don’t just buy and resell seed, but grow — and even breed — at least some stock. In addition to the companies mentioned in this article — Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Fedco Seeds and High Mowing Organic Seeds — small Northeastern standouts include Hudson Valley Seed, Turtle Tree Seed and Fruition Seeds. It is hard to imagine a more cold-adapted bean or tomato than those from the North Dakota-based company Prairie Road Organic Seed. The Pacific Northwest is one of the most favourable and productive seed-farming climates in the United States, so it’s no surprise that some exceptional companies have taken root there, including Adaptive Seeds, Siskiyou Seeds, Uprising Seeds and Wild Garden Seed. For gardeners seeking heat-adapted seeds for Southeastern gardens (or Northerners wanting to try okra and greasy beans), I’d suggest Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and Sow True Seed. Companies serving niches with some of the toughest growing conditions also deserve attention. Examples include Redwood Seed Co. in Northern California; High Desert Seed and Gardens in high-altitude Colorado; Native Seed/SEARCH, a nonprofit in arid Arizona; and Snake River Seed Cooperative, in Idaho, focused on the Intermountain West. Seed Savers Exchange is in Iowa, but its longtime mission as a nonprofit (the preservation of heirloom varieties) makes it a national resource. Some of its collection came by way of Glenn Drowns, part of Sand Hill Preservation Center, also in Iowa. There is no online shopping cart, so expect old-school snail-mail ordering, but oh, the diversity. © 2020 New York Times News Service | 6 |
Although fish in the Gulf have generally adapted to higher water temperatures, the frequency and scope of coral reef bleaching in recent years suggest the region is at real risk of losing its bio-diverse ecosystem in the coming decades, said Pedro Range, Research Assistant Professor at Qatar University. Global warming damaging to coral reefs, coupled with overfishing, could cause a 30% decline in future fish catch potential in Qatari waters by the end of the century, he said. "In terms of climate change unfortunately the actions we can take on a local scale are irrelevant. What we can do is control local pressures that interact with climate change, in terms of controlling fishery stocks and habitat availability." Last November, Qatar launched its first offshore aquaculture project, using floating cages producing seabass. The Samkna fish farm, located 50 km (30 miles) offshore from Qatar's Ruwais region, produces 2,000 tonnes of fish annually. "We have started an expansion plan to double our production capacity to 4,000 tonnes. We are obtaining permits for the expansion and building new cages," said Mahmoud Tahoun, operations and development director for marine aquaculture at Al-Qumra, the company running the Samkna fish farm. "Five years from now, we expect to cover 60% of local demand." Fish farm production is supposed to prevent the depletion of fish stocks in offshore waters, where access is regulated by Qatari authorities. But Range said if that the broader international problem of excessive production of greenhouse gases that create climate change is not tackled, then none of the local fish-preservation efforts can be effective. A University of British Columbia study in 2018 found that a third of marine species could become extinct in the Gulf by 2090 because of rising water temperature, changing salinity and oxygen levels, and human activities such as overfishing. | 0 |
The Obama administration opened the way to regulating U.S. greenhouse gas emissions on Friday by declaring climate-warming pollution a danger to human health and welfare, in a sharp policy shift from the Bush administration. Environmental activists and their supporters in Congress were jubilant and industry groups were wary at the news of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's move. The White House said President Barack Obama would prefer legislation over administrative action to curb greenhouse emissions. Congress is already considering a bill to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, which is emitted by cars, coal-fired power plants and oil refineries, among other sources. EPA's declaration was seen as a strong signal to the international community that the United States intends to seriously combat climate change. In its announcement, the EPA said, "greenhouse gases in the atmosphere endanger the public health and welfare of current and future generations" and human activities spur global warming. "This finding confirms that greenhouse gas pollution is a serious problem now and for future generations," said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. "Fortunately, it follows President Obama's call for a low carbon economy and strong leadership in Congress on clean energy and climate legislation," "The president has made clear his strong preference that Congress act to pass comprehensive legislation rather than address the climate challenge through administrative action," a White House official said, noting that Obama has repeatedly called for "a bill to provide for market-based solutions to reduce carbon pollution." The EPA's endangerment finding said high atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases "are the unambiguous result of human emissions, and are very likely the cause of the observed increase in average temperatures and other climatic changes." The document is available online at www.epa.gov. The EPA's finding is essential for the U.S. government to regulate climate-warming emissions like carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act. Regulation is not automatically triggered by the finding -- there will be a 60-day comment period. But as that period proceeds, legislation is moving through Congress aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions with a cap-and-trade system, which would let those companies that emit more than the limit buy credits from those that emit less. MAJOR SHIFT FROM BUSH EPA scientists last year offered evidence of the health hazards of greenhouse emissions, but the Bush administration took no action. It opposed across-the-board mandatory regulation of climate-warming pollution, saying this would hurt the U.S. economy. Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who shepherded climate legislation to the Senate floor last year, called the EPA's finding "long overdue." "We have lost eight years in this fight," Boxer said in a statement. "... The best and most flexible way to deal with this serious problem is to enact a market-based cap-and-trade system which will help us make the transition to clean energy and will bring us innovation and strong economic growth." "At long last, EPA is officially recognizing that carbon pollution is leading to killer heat waves, stronger hurricanes, higher smog levels and many other threats to human health," said David Doniger at the Natural Resources Defense Council. But the National Association of Manufacturers said trying to regulate greenhouse emissions with the Clean Air Act would "further burden an ailing economy while doing little or nothing to improve the environment." "This proposal will cost jobs. It is the worst possible time to be proposing rules that will drive up the cost of energy to no valid purpose," NAM President John Engler said. Steve Seidel of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change said the EPA announcement is an important message to the international community, which is set to meet in Copenhagen in December to craft a follow-up agreement to the carbon-capping Kyoto Protocol. "This decision sends a strong signal to the international community that the United States is moving forward to regulate greenhouse gas emissions," Seidel said by telephone. However, he said this move alone is no guarantee of success in Copenhagen. Participants in that meeting will also look for progress in the U.S. Congress, and for movement from other developed and developing countries. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled two years ago that the EPA has the authority to make these regulations if human health is threatened by global warming pollution, but no regulations went forward during the Bush administration. Carbon dioxide, one of several greenhouse gases that spur global warming, is emitted by natural and industrial sources, including fossil-fueled vehicles, coal-fired power plants and oil refineries. | 0 |
Seventy-two per cent of Americans believe climate change is happening, including 85 per cent of Democrats and 61 per cent of Republicans, revealed the survey from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Seven in 10 Republicans and nearly all Democrats who believe climate change is happening think the government needs to take action, the findings showed. When asked about key climate policy decisions, the largest shares of Americans said they oppose the repeal of the Clean Power Plan and the withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. "These results put the polarised climate debate in sharp relief, but also point to the possibility of a path forward," said Michael Greenstone, director of EPIC and Professor at the University of Chicago. While many Americans favour policies that would help the country lower emissions, questions on how much they would personally be willing to pay to confront climate change (in the form of a monthly fee on their electric bill) revealed great disparity. While half are unwilling to pay even one dollar, 18 per cent are willing to pay at least $100 per month. "Although half of households said they were unwilling to pay anything for a carbon policy in their monthly electricity bills, on average Americans would pay about $30 per month, as a meaningful share of households report that they are willing to pay a substantial amount," Greenstone said. gWhat is particularly striking is that it's projected to cost less than $30 per person to pay for climate damages from the electricity sector. So, while the raw economics appears to be less and less of a problem, the open question is whether it is feasible to devise a robust climate policy that accommodates these very divergent viewpoints," Greenstone added. Interviews for this survey were conducted between August 17 and 21, 2017, with adults age 18 and over representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. | 0 |
SOFIA, Sun Jul 5, (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Bulgarians voted on Sunday in a parliamentary election they hope will restart reforms to combat endemic corruption and heal an economy severely damaged by the global crisis. Opinion polls show the Socialist party that leads the current coalition government is likely to lose due to recession and a climate of impunity for crime bosses and politicians that has turned Bulgaria into the black sheep of the European Union. Last year the ex-communist Balkan country, which joined the EU in 2007 and is the bloc's poorest member, lost access to over half a billion of euros in EU aid as punishment for graft. If opinion polls prove correct, the center-right opposition party of Sofia Mayor Boiko Borisov, GERB, will get a shot at forming a government, most likely another coalition. Borisov, 50, a former bodyguard-turned-politician, has promised to tackle crime but observers are cautious because of his limited track record and concerns his ability to introduce reforms may be watered down in any coalition talks. His party now garners roughly 30 percent of the vote, pollsters say, against 20 percent for the ruling Socialists. "I am fed up with the government," said former teacher Pepa Kozhuharova, 64, as she cast her vote in a Sofia neighborhood. "This country badly needs change. We have to show we don't want corrupt politicians anymore." Straight-talking, burly Borisov, nicknamed Batman after the fictional superhero due to his zeal for action, has won the hearts of many Bulgarians, tired of two decades of slow reforms. "I supported Boiko because he is the only man who can stand up and say what is wrong and what is right and implement it," said Maria Nikolova, 50, after casting her vote in Sofia. A new government must move fast to avoid new EU sanctions on aid, badly needed to fund Bulgaria's cash-strapped economy, and to attract investors, many of whom fled this year. It is not clear whether GERB will get enough votes for a stable majority in the 240-strong chamber with planned coalition partners, the Blue Coalition -- a group of rightist parties. SLIPSHOD REFORMS The current government took Bulgaria's 7.6 million people into the EU, lowered taxes and maintained tight fiscal policies. But critics accuse it of incompetence and lacking the will to sever links between politicians, magistrates and crime chiefs. Underscoring the depth of the problem, prosecutors have launched investigations into widespread allegations of vote-buying by virtually all parties before the ballot, and on Saturday at least five people were arrested. EU countries have also expressed concern over the participation of several suspected criminals who last month registered to run for parliament to obtain temporary immunity from prosecution and release from custody. Hit hard by the global financial crisis, Bulgaria is in recession after 12 years of growth and this has sparked mass protests. Rising unemployment is ending years of voracious private spending that has fueled a mountain of debt. The economy is seen shrinking by 2 percent in 2009, and like some of its former Soviet bloc peers now in the EU, Bulgaria will likely seek International Monetary Fund aid, analysts say. Voting started at 6 a.m. (11 p.m. EDT on Sunday) and ends at 7 p.m., with exit polls due shortly afterwards. Turnout was 29.3 percent by 6 a.m. EDT. | 2 |
Trump told the New York Times in an interview that he thinks there is "some connectivity" between human activity and global warming, despite previously describing climate change as a hoax. A source on Trump's transition team told Reuters earlier this month that the New York businessman was seeking quick ways to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris Agreement to combat climate change. But asked on Tuesday whether the United States would withdraw from the accord, the Republican said: “I’m looking at it very closely. I have an open mind to it." A US withdrawal from the pact, agreed to by almost 200 countries, would set back international efforts to limit rising temperatures that have been linked to the extinctions of animals and plants, heat waves, floods and rising sea levels. Trump, who takes office on Jan 20, also said he was thinking about climate change and American competitiveness and "how much it will cost our companies,” he said, according to a tweet by a Times reporter in the interview. Two people advising Trump’s transition team on energy and environment issues said they were caught off guard by his remarks. A shift on global warming is the latest sign Trump might be backing away from some of his campaign rhetoric as life in the Oval Office approaches. Trump has said he might have to build a fence, rather than a wall, in some areas of the US-Mexican border to stop illegal immigration, tweaking one of his signature campaign promises. Also in Tuesday's interview, he showed little appetite for pressing investigations of his Democratic rival in the presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton. “I don’t want to hurt the Clintons, I really don’t. She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways," he told reporters, editors and other newspaper officials at the Times headquarters in Manhattan. But Trump said "no" when asked if he would rule out investigating Clinton over her family's charitable foundation or her use of a private email server while she was US secretary of state during President Barack Obama's first term. If Trump does abandon his campaign vow to appoint a special prosecutor for Clinton, it will be a reversal of a position he mentioned almost daily on the campaign trail, when he dubbed his rival "Crooked Hillary," and crowds at his rallies often chanted: "Lock her up." His comments to the Times about Clinton angered some of his strongest conservative supporters. Breitbart News, the outlet once led by Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, published a story on Tuesday under the headline, "Broken Promise: Trump 'Doesn't Wish to Pursue' Clinton email charges." The FBI investigated Clinton's email practices, concluding in July that her actions were careless but that there were no grounds for bringing charges.
The Clinton Foundation charity has also been scrutinized for donations it received, but there has been no evidence that foreign donors obtained favours from the State Department while Clinton headed it. Businessman and president Trump, a real estate developer who has never held public office, brushed off fears over conflicts of interest between his job as president and his family's businesses. "The law's totally on my side, the president can't have a conflict of interest," he told the New York Times. My company's so unimportant to me relative to what I'm doing," Trump said. Conflict-of-interest rules for executive branch employees do not apply to the president, but Trump will be bound by bribery laws, disclosure requirements and a section of the US Constitution that prohibits elected officials from taking gifts from foreign governments, according to Republican and Democratic ethics lawyers. "There may be specific laws that don’t apply to the president, but the president is not above the law," said Richard Painter of the University of Minnesota, a former associate counsel to Republican President George W. Bush. "Do we really want to run our government where you have the president, the leader of the United States and the free world, saying: 'I'm going to do the bare minimum to squeak by?'" asked Norman Eisen, a former top ethics lawyer in Obama's White House. Trump's businesswoman daughter Ivanka joined her father's telephone call with Argentine President Mauricio Macri earlier this month and attended a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, raising questions of possible conflicts of interest. When asked whether House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republicans in Congress would consider his trillion-dollar infrastructure plan, Trump boasted he was popular with the party's leaders on Capitol Hill. “Right now, they’re in love with me," he said. Since his Nov 8 election victory, Trump has been meeting with prospective candidates for top positions in his administration. Ben Carson, a former Republican presidential hopeful who dropped out of the 2016 race and backed Trump, has been offered the post of secretary of housing and urban development, Carson spokesman Armstrong Williams said. Carson, a retired surgeon who met with Trump on Tuesday, will think about it over the Thanksgiving holiday, Williams said. Trump arrived in Florida on Tuesday evening to spend Thursday's holiday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. | 1 |
Greenhouse gases are making the earth's atmosphere wetter and stickier, which may lead to more powerful hurricanes, hotter temperatures and heavier rainfall in tropical regions, British researchers reported on Wednesday. The findings, published in the journal Nature, are some of the first to show how human-produced greenhouse gases have affected global humidity levels in recent decades and could offer clues on future climate change, the researchers said. "It is another piece of the puzzle that climate change is happening and we are influencing it," said Nathan Gillet, a climate researcher at the University of East Anglia. Human emissions of gases such as methane and carbon dioxide that trap heat in the atmosphere are widely blamed for changes in the climate. Scientists say average global temperatures will rise by 2 to 6 degrees Celsius (4 to 11 Fahrenheit) by the end of the century, causing droughts, floods and violent storms. Warmer air can hold more water vapour. "It has been predicted for a long time that humidity would increase with greenhouse gas increases," said Gillet, who led the study. "But this is the first study that shows a significant human impact on surface humidity," he said in a telephone interview. The British team collected data from weather stations, buoys and ships across the world to measure the effect of rising greenhouse gases on humidity between 1973 and 1999. A computer simulation showed that natural events such as volcanoes and variations in the sun's brightness could not alone have produced the increase in humidity, and pointed to greenhouse gases generated by humans, Gillet said. "It is getting moister at the surface, so humidity is increasing," Gillet said. "You only see that in the model with the human effect." The findings are especially important for tropical regions, which will see the largest increase in humidity because they are warm already, he said. The research also provides a better understanding of potential changes in the earth's water cycle, which could result in floods and droughts that have an even bigger impact on people than rising temperatures, he added. | 0 |
Cyber attacks, terrorism, inter-state conflict and natural hazards are the top threats to British security, officials said Monday, a day before a major military review due to include deep spending cuts. In a new National Security Strategy, the government highlighted threats from al Qaeda and Northern Ireland-linked groups, as it sought to convince critics that a sweeping armed forces review due on Tuesday is policy driven, and not a money-saving exercise. Britain is trying to reduce a budget deficit close to 11 percent of national output, and at the same time retain Britain's place as strong military power in Europe and a capable ally to the United States, which it has backed in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Our strategy sets clear priorities -- counter-terrorism, cyber, international military crisis, and disasters such as floods," the government said in its National Security Strategy report. The report relegated threats from insurgencies abroad that could foster terrorist attacks in the UK -- a scenario similar to the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan -- to a lower, "tier two" level priority. The document said threats could come from other states, but highlighted threats from non-state and unconventional actors, a move likely to be used to justify cuts to major military hardware purchases. The Ministry of Defiance's budget of 36.9 billion pounds ($58.62 billion) is set to be cut less than 10 percent, way below the average of 25 percent applied to other government departments, but the cuts are still likely to have major political, industrial and diplomatic consequences. The National Security Strategy also highlighted nuclear proliferation as a growing danger and added that British security was vulnerable to the effects of climate change and its impact on food and water supply. ($1=.6295 Pound) | 1 |
With oil above $100 a barrel and Arctic ice melting faster than ever, some of the world's most powerful countries -- including the United States and Russia -- are looking north to a possible energy bonanza. This prospective scramble for buried Arctic mineral wealth made more accessible by freshly melted seas could bring on a completely different kind of cold war, a scholar and former Coast Guard officer says. While a US government official questioned the risk of polar conflict, Washington still would like to join a 25-year-old international treaty meant to figure out who owns the rights to the oceans, including the Arctic Ocean. So far, the Senate has not approved it. Unlike the first Cold War, dominated by tensions between the two late-20th century superpowers, this century's model could pit countries that border the Arctic Ocean against each other to claim mineral rights. The Arctic powers include the United States, Russia, Canada, Denmark and Norway. The irony is that the burning of fossil fuels is at least in part responsible for the Arctic melt -- due to climate change -- and the Arctic melt could pave the way for a 21st century rush to exploit even more fossil fuels. The stakes are enormous, according to Scott Borgerson of the Council on Foreign Relations, a former U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant commander. The Arctic could hold as much as one-quarter of the world's remaining undiscovered oil and gas deposits, Borgerson wrote in the current issue of the journal Foreign Affairs. Russia has claimed 460,000 square miles (1.191 million sq km) of Arctic waters, with an eye-catching effort that included planting its flag on the ocean floor at the North Pole last summer. Days later, Moscow sent strategic bomber flights over the Arctic for the first time since the Cold War. "I think you can say planting a flag on the sea bottom and renewing strategic bomber flights is provocative," Borgerson said in a telephone interview. SCRAMBLING AND SLEEPWALKING By contrast, he said of the U.S. position, "I don't think we're scrambling. We're sleepwalking ... I think the Russians are scrambling and I think the Norwegians and Canadians and Danes are keenly aware." Borgerson said that now would be an appropriate time for the United States to ratify the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, which codifies which countries have rights to what parts of the world's oceans. The Bush administration agrees. So do many environmental groups, the U.S. military and energy companies looking to explore the Arctic, now that enough ice is seasonally gone to open up sea lanes as soon as the next decade. "There's no ice cold war," said one U.S. government official familiar with the Arctic Ocean rights issue. However, the official noted that joining the Law of the Sea pact would give greater legal certainty to U.S. claims in the area. That is becoming more crucial, as measurements of the U.S. continental shelf get more precise. Coastal nations like those that border the Arctic have sovereign rights over natural resources of their continental shelves, generally recognized to reach 200 nautical miles out from their coasts. But in February, researchers from the University of New Hampshire and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released data suggesting that the continental shelf north of Alaska extends more than 100 nautical miles farther than previously presumed. A commission set up by the Law of the Sea lets countries expand their sea floor resource rights if they meet certain conditions and back them up with scientific data. The treaty also governs navigation rights, suddenly more important as scientists last year reported the opening of the normally ice-choked waters of the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. "Of course we need to be at the table as ocean law develops," the US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It's not like ocean law is going to stop developing if we're not in there. It's just going to develop without us." | 0 |
The political importance of the effort, pushed by the European Commission, the EU’s bureaucracy, is without doubt. It puts Brussels in the forefront of the world’s efforts to decarbonize and reach the goal of a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. To force the issue, Brussels has committed to reducing its emissions of greenhouse gases 55% by 2030 compared with 1990 levels. The European Union produces only about 8% of global carbon emissions. But it sees itself as an important regulatory power for the world and hopes to set an example, invent technologies that it can sell and provide new global standards that can lead to a carbon-neutral economy. By contrast, the United States has promised to reduce emissions 40% to 43% over the same period. Britain, which will host COP-26, the international climate talks, in November, has pledged a 68% reduction. China, the world’s largest emitter of carbon, has said only that it aims for emissions to peak by 2030. The commission’s executive vice-president, Frans Timmermans, who is in charge of the environment and Europe’s “Green Deal,” considers these proposals fundamentally important in creating a new economy. “In terms of the direction Europe is taking, it could actually be of the same nature as the internal market or the euro,” he has said. The EU goal of 55%, increased by law in June from 40%, has prompted significant pushback from industry, lobbying groups and some member countries, especially in poorer Central Europe, that have been more traditionally reliant on fossil fuels. So the commission has tried to build in gradual markers for industry, including free carbon credits for a decade and many millions of euros in financial aid. Brussels has also made environmentally friendly investments a key part of its conditions for countries using its coronavirus recovery fund. To be sure, while environmentalists have praised Brussels for its efforts, others say that it does not go far enough and relies too much on the development of new technologies to reduce carbon emissions. One of the key proposals announced Wednesday is a revision of Europe’s carbon market, known as the Emissions Trading Scheme, under which major carbon producers like steel, cement and power pay directly for their carbon emissions. Another central but contentious proposal is a carbon border-adjustment tax that will target goods produced outside the bloc, so that European companies bearing the cost of decarbonization are not disadvantaged by cheaper imports from companies that do not. That proposal, which would be gradually introduced from 2023, has not been welcomed by many countries that trade with Europe, including the United States. If passed, it could be challenged in the World Trade Organization.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gestures as presents the EU's new climate policy proposals with Vice-President Frans Timmermans and EU Commissioners Kadri Simson, Paolo Gentiloni, Adina-Ioana Valean, Brussels, Belgium, July 14, 2021. REUTERS
The hundreds of pages of proposed laws — which the commission has called “Fit for 55,” a slogan that some have joked would better suit a yoga studio — will be sharply debated and inevitably amended before becoming binding on the 27-member bloc. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gestures as presents the EU's new climate policy proposals with Vice-President Frans Timmermans and EU Commissioners Kadri Simson, Paolo Gentiloni, Adina-Ioana Valean, Brussels, Belgium, July 14, 2021. REUTERS There are concerns that the poor will pay an inequitable share of the cost of decarbonization and that it will be seen as an elite project, prompting more political backlash from populist parties and groups, like the 2018 “yellow vest” protests over a climate-related increase in French gasoline prices. But without the new legislation, said Simone Tagliapietra of Bruegel, a Brussels-based economic think tank, Europe would have reduced its emissions only 60% by 2050, rather than reaching carbon neutrality. The 12 legislative proposals presented Wednesday are designed to reduce reliance on fossil fuels including coal, oil and natural gas; to expand the use of renewable-energy sources including solar, wind and hydro power to at least 38.5% of all energy by 2030; to force the faster development of electric cars with much tighter carbon dioxide limits and hope to end the sale of all internal-combustion cars by 2035; and to support clean-energy options for aviation and shipping, which are prime polluters. For the first time, a carbon market will be established for road transportation and buildings. Transportation and buildings respectively account for 22% and 35% of all EU carbon emissions, Tagliapietra said. But creating a separate market for them will be politically difficult, because it will increase fuel costs for families and small and medium businesses, he said. The EU is “the first large economy in the world to start translating climate neutrality ambition into real-world policy action,’’ he said. “But if there is one principle that should be guiding the negotiations over the next two years, this certainly is the principle of climate justice.” Trying to ensure that the impact of the transition is socially fair, both domestically and internationally, he said, “becomes the most important element to make it successful in the long-run.” It will also be important to stimulate technological development in a Europe that has often fallen behind the United States and China in bringing new ideas to market. Eric Rondolat, chief executive of the lighting company Signify NV, which is headquartered in the Netherlands, said that “climate action and economic prosperity go hand-in-hand.” This is why the new legislative package “is so important,’’ he said. “It will accelerate the deployment of innovative technologies that reduce carbon emissions and create jobs.” © The New York Times Company | 0 |
The financing will help rural people by reducing poverty and creating new livelihood opportunities, the World Bank said in a statement on Saturday. The funds will also help local communities in Cox’s Bazar hosting the Rohingyas who have fled violence in Myanmar, it said. “These three projects will create opportunities for the rural population and especially help the vulnerable people come out of poverty,” said Qimiao Fan, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. “At the same time, they will improve the country’s resilience to climate change.” According to the World Bank the $175 million Sustainable Forests & Livelihoods Project will help improve forest cover through a collaborative forest management approach involving the local communities. It will plant trees in about 79,000 hectares of forest, including a coastal green belt helping to increase climate change resilience, the statement said. The project will support increasing income for about 40,000 households in the coastal, hill and central districts in Bangladesh, said Madhavi Pillai, World Bank Senior Natural Resources Management Specialist adding it will include Cox’s Bazar, which became shelter for nearly one million Rohingya people. The project will develop and implement protected area management plans for about 10 Protected Forest Areas with involvement of community members. The World Bank says $240 million Sustainable Coastal and Marine Fisheries Project will help improve fisheries management, expand mariculture and strengthen aquaculture biosecurity and productivity in 10 coastal districts. It will also empower female workers through alternative livelihoods support, skills development, and nutrition awareness. “The project will help improve fisheries management systems, infrastructure, and other value chain investments. This will result in better productivity and availability of fish,” said Milen Dyoulgerov, World Bank Senior Environment Specialist and Task Team Leader for the project. Finally, the $100 million additional financing to the Second Rural Transport Improvement Project will help rehabilitate rural roads in 26 districts that were damaged from last year’s heavy rainfall and floods. The ongoing project has improved and repaired more than 5,000 km rural roads that helped millions of people to access markets, hospitals, and schools. The financing will factor in climate-resilience in planning, technical design, implementation and maintenance of the roads. | 2 |
A senior adviser to Pope Benedict said on Thursday he believes the Pontiff should raise the dangers of climate change and global warming with US President George W Bush when the two meet in June. Cardinal Renato Martino told reporters on the sidelines of a Vatican-sponsored scientific conference on climate change that religious leaders around the world should remind members of their flocks that wilfully damaging the environment is sinful. Bush is due to meet Benedict at the Vatican in June while the US president is in Europe for a Group of Eight (G8) summit when Germany, the current G8 president, wants to forge an international agreement on combating climate change. "It's not for me to say what the Pope and President Bush should discuss but certainly they will discuss current issues and therefore I imagine and I hope they will (discuss climate change)," Martino said. "It certainly merits it," said Martino, who, as head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, is the Pope's point man for social issues such as the environment. The Bush administration, which did not sign up to the Kyoto Protocol on Climate change, has long been reluctant to curb the greenhouse gases blamed for swelling sea levels and causing droughts as well as floods. Bush pulled out of the treaty, which Washington had signed under the previous, Democratic, administration, saying it would damage the economy and was unfair as it did not require rapidly developing nations like China and India to stem emissions. In a message to conference participants, including British Environment Secretary David Miliband, the Pope said he hoped studies could lead to "lifestyles and production and consumer methods that aim to respect creation and (aim for) sustainable progress". In recent years, the world's major religions have gone green in the race to save the planet. Asked if wilful damage of the environment is a sin, Martino said: "Yes, because not using the environment correctly is an offence not only against yourself but against all others who make use of the environment." He said all religious groups should be involved in environmental causes and raise awareness about global warming. "We have to start at the level of elementary schools, to make sure children are taught to respect nature and be aware of the problems of the world. We can't wait until they are older. This has to be done naturally in religion classes, in religious groups everywhere," Martino said. | 0 |
Washington should work with the international community to provide economic and humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, help the new regime run governmental functions normally, maintain social stability, and stop the currency from depreciating and the cost of living from rising, Wang said, according to a statement. "While respecting the sovereignty of Afghanistan, the US should take concrete action to help Afghanistan fight terrorism and stop violence, rather than playing double standards or fighting terrorism selectively," Wang said, warning that the "hasty withdrawal" could allow terrorist groups to "regroup and come back stronger." Chinese state TV said the call was made at the invitation of Washington. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement that Blinken and Wang spoke about "the importance of the international community holding the Taliban accountable for the public commitments they have made regarding the safe passage and freedom to travel for Afghans and foreign nationals." Before the chaos of the past two weeks, US officials had argued that withdrawing from Afghanistan would free up time and attention of senior US political and military leaders, as well as some military assets, to focus on the Indo-Pacific and the challenge posed by China, which the Biden administration has declared its foreign policy priority. But China's state-controlled media have seized on the often chaotic pullout, portraying US support for allies as fickle. China has not officially recognised the Taliban as Afghanistan's new rulers, but Wang Yi last month hosted Mullah Baradar, chief of the group's political office, and has said the world should guide and support the country as it transitions to a new government instead of putting more pressure on it. Wang earlier told Blinken in a call on Aug 16 that the hasty pullout of US troops from Afghanistan had a "serious negative impact," but pledged to work with Washington to promote stability in the country. But Wang said Washington could not expect China's cooperation if it was also trying to "contain and suppress China and harm China's legitimate rights and interests," Chinese state media reported at the time of the earlier call. The engagement comes as relations between Beijing and Washington are at their lowest point in decades and just after the release of a US intelligence assessment into the origins of COVID-19 that China said "wrongly" claimed that Beijing was hindering the investigation and dismissed as "not scientifically credible." The two diplomats also discussed US-China ties on Sunday, according to the Chinese statement. Wang said recent communications between the two countries on Afghanistan and climate change show that dialogue and cooperation are better than confrontation, it said. "China will consider how to engage with the US side based on the US attitude towards China," Wang was quoted as saying. | 0 |
But the pope also told reporters aboard a plane returning from Portugal that he would keep an open mind and not pass judgment on Trump until first listening to his views at their meeting on May 24. "Even if one thinks differently we have to be very sincere about what each one thinks," Francis said in a typically freewheeling airborne news conference. "Topics will emerge in our conversations. I will say what I think and he will say what he thinks. But I have never wanted to make a judgment without first listening to the person." The pope's meeting with Trump could be potentially awkward given their diametrically opposed positions on immigration, refugees and climate change, which he told reporters on the plane "are well known". Last year, in response to a question about then-candidate Trump's views on immigration and his intention to build a wall along the US border with Mexico, Francis said a man with such views was "not Christian". Trump, who grew up in a Presbyterian family, shot back saying it was "disgraceful" for the pope to question his faith. Seeking common ground The two men also disagree strongly about climate change. Trump signed an executive order dismantling Obama-era environmental legislation. Francis has made defense of the environment a key plank of his papacy, strongly backing scientific opinion that global warming is caused mostly by human activity. Still, Francis said he was willing to find common ground with Trump. "There are always doors that are not closed. We need to find the doors that are at least partly open, go in, and talk about things we have in common and go forward, step by step," he said. Trump will visit the Vatican during a tour of the Middle East and Europe that will also include a meeting in Sicily of the leaders of the Group of Seven leading economies. The pope is a head of state as well as being leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. Such meetings allow for an exchange of views on world affairs and a chance for the pope to encourage ethical solutions to world problems. About 21 percent of Americans, or 70 million people, are Catholic. Washington has had full diplomatic relations with the Vatican since 1984, when President Ronald Reagan saw Pope John Paul, a Pole, as a crucial ally against communism. | 0 |
Dhaka, Nov 8 (bdnews24.com)— A shadow climate tribunal has held developed countries singularly responsible for destroying the livelihoods of fisherfolks communities in coastal Bangladesh. The shadow climate tribunal observed that climate change was responsible for bringing about the misery to these communities dependent on nature, and thus held the Annexe-1 countries (as in Kyoto Protocol), who are large emitters, to be responsible. UK-based international NGO, Oxfam organised the tribunal, aiming to find ways to safeguard victims of climate change in a legal context. Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihood (CSRL), an alliance of local NGOs and civil service organisation, coordinated the event, held Monday at the city's Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. A five-member jury panel headed by Bangladesh Human Rights Commission's chief Mizanur Rahman heard testimonies of four climate victims from different backgrounds, ranging from housewives in cyclone affected coastal regions to fishermen lost at sea and landing up in Indian jails. It also heard from a two experts of climate change and international law in an effort to establish a link between the science of climate change, its national and international legal aspects and the on-going multilateral negotiations. Unfortunately, the world still lacks a legally binding international instrument which could facilitate ensuring compensation to the climate change affected countries by the developed world, the carbon emitters, according to law expert Ahmed Ziauddin. "Bangladesh as a state can file its complaints in the Hague-based UN international court, the WTO and UNESCO, but there's now way to move individually for such damages," he said. An act for climate change as well as an article in this regard should be included in the constitution of Bangladesh, added Ziauddin. "There is no legal definition of climate change in Bangladesh," he added. Climate change expert Ahsan Uddin Ahmed told the tribunal that the developed nations ask for specific accounts of damage due to climate change in an apparent effort to shirk their responsibilities. "This is just impossible," he said, "that climate change is responsible, is scientifically proven but a separate account for that is hard to establish." After hearing testimonies, the jury recommended formulation of a separate law and including an article in the constitution on climate change. The jury ruled that since the developed nations were mostly responsible for the atrocities of climate change, it was their liability to pay for the mitigations. It also observed that the human rights of the coastal area people had been violated by the affects of climate change. The jury panel consisted of lawmakers Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Tarana Halim, Hasanul Huq Inu and economist Quazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmed. | 4 |
Xi provided no details, but depending on how the policy is implemented, the move could significantly limit the financing of coal plants in the developing world. China has been under heavy diplomatic pressure to put an end to its coal financing overseas because it could make it easier for the world to stay on course to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement to reduce carbon emissions. Xi's announcement followed similar moves by South Korea and Japan earlier this year, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and US climate envoy John Kerry have urged China to follow the lead of its Asian counterparts. "China will step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energy, and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad," Xi said in his pre-recorded video address at the annual UN gathering, in which he stressed China's peaceful intentions in international relations. Kerry quickly welcomed Xi's announcement, calling it a "great contribution" and a good beginning to efforts needed to achieve success at the Oct 31-Nov 12 COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. "We’ve been talking to China for quite some period of time about this. And I’m absolutely delighted to hear that President Xi has made this important decision," Kerry said in a statement. Alok Sharma, the head of COP26, also hailed the announcement. "It is clear the writing is on the wall for coal power. I welcome President Xi’s commitment to stop building new coal projects abroad - a key topic of my discussions during my visit to China," he said on Twitter. Xi spoke after US President Joe Biden gave his first United Nations address. Biden mapped out a new era of vigorous competition without a new Cold War despite China's ascendance. In a measured speech, Xi made no direct mention of China's often bitter rivalry with the United States, where the Biden administration has made policies on climate change mitigation a top priority and sought to cooperate with Beijing. Xi repeated pledges from last year that China would achieve a peak in carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. Some experts have criticised those targets as not ambitious enough, though it allowed Beijing to claim moral high ground on the issue after then-US President Donald Trump, who had called climate change a "hoax", had withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement. China, the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, is still heavily reliant on coal for it's domestic energy needs. One of Biden's first moves after assuming office in January was to reassert US leadership on climate change and return the United States to the Paris agreement. "China was the last man standing. If there's no public finance of coal from China, there's little to no global coal expansion," Justin Guay, director of global climate strategy at the Sunrise Project, a group advocating for a global transition from coal and fossil fuels, said of Xi's promise. Guterres welcomed both Xi's move on coal and Biden's pledge to work with the US Congress to double funds by 2024 to $11.4 billion per year to help developing nations deal with climate change. "Accelerating the global phase out of coal is the single most important step to keep the 1.5-degree goal of the Paris Agreement within reach, he said in a statement. 'BREATHE FREE' Hours earlier, without mentioning China by name, Biden said democracy would not be defeated by authoritarianism. "The future will belong to those who give their people the ability to breathe free, not those who seek to suffocate their people with an iron hand," Biden said. "We all must call out and condemn the targeting and oppression of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, whether it occurs in Xinjiang or northern Ethiopia, or anywhere in the world," he said, referring to the western Chinese region where authorities have created a network of internment camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. China denies allegations of abuses in Xinjiang. Ties between the world's two biggest economies have been languishing at their lowest point in decades over issues ranging from human rights to transparency over the origins of COVID-19. Xi said there was a need to "reject the practice of forming small circles or zero-sum games," a possible reference to the US-led Quad forum of Australia, India, Japan and the United States seen as a means of pushing back against China's rise, which is due to meet at leader level in Washington on Friday. China last week warned of an intensified arms race in the region after the United States, Britain and Australia announced a new Indo-Pacific security alliance, dubbed AUKUS, which will provide Australia with the technology and capability to deploy nuclear-powered submarines. Biden's image has taken a battering over the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, but he has said the end to America's longest war will allow the United States to refocus resources and attention to the Indo-Pacific. "Military intervention from the outside and so-called democratic transformation entail nothing but harm," Xi said, in an apparent swipe at the United States. | 1 |
Bacteria ate nearly all the potentially climate-warming methane that spewed from BP's broken wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico last year, scientists reported on Thursday. Nearly 200,000 tons of methane -- more than any other single hydrocarbon emitted in the accident -- were released from the wellhead, and nearly all of it went into the deep water of the Gulf, researcher David Valentine of the University of California-Santa Barbara said in a telephone interview. Bacteria managed to take in the methane before it could rise from the sea bottom and be released into the atmosphere, but the process contributed to a loss of about 1 million tons of dissolved oxygen in areas southwest of the well. That sounds like a lot of oxygen loss, but it was widely spread out, so that the bacterial munching did not contribute to a life-sapping low-oxygen condition known as hypoxia, said Valentine, whose study was published in the journal Science. What happens to methane has been a key question for climate scientists, because methane is over 20 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Like carbon dioxide, methane comes from natural and human-made sources, including the petroleum industry. For two months after the BP blowout on April 20, 2010, methane was not being consumed in and around the wellhead, leading some scientists to suspect it might linger in the water and eventually make its way into the air, where it could potentially trap heat and contribute to climate change. BACTERIA'S METHANE DIET "If you have a very large release of methane like this, and it did make it into the atmosphere, that would be a problem," Valentine said. "There have been a number of ... large-scale methane releases in the past that have come from the ocean that have warmed the climate." Those methane releases came from natural sources, and researchers like Valentine and his co-authors wondered what role bacteria might have had in those cases. The BP spill offered an "accidental experiment" that showed particular bacteria with an all-methane diet multiplied quickly as the methane spread with the underwater plume from the broken well. Peak consumption of methane probably came in late July and early August, Valentine said. Other organisms dealt with other hydrocarbons, including ethane and propane emitted in the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The methane-eating bacteria were the last to the hydrocarbon banquet, and based on past observation, the scientists questioned whether they could do the job. "Given observations about how slowly methane is normally consumed, we didn't think the (bacteria) population was up to the challenge at all ... we thought it would be a lot slower," Valentine said. The fact the bacteria took in that large amount of methane could indicate that bacteria might absorb other large-scale deep ocean methane releases, the scientists said. The US government filed a civil suit last month against BP and its partners for damage caused by the spill. The White House commission on the oil spill said on Wednesday that BP and its partners made a series of cost-cutting decisions that ultimately contributed to the spill. | 6 |
According to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), it may have increased five-fold, By 2050, the cost of adapting to the impact of rising sea levels, greater extremes of heat, changing seasonal growth patterns, drought and potentially more intense, or more frequent, floods and storms is set at between $280bn and $500bn a year. The last such study, by the World Bank in 2010, estimated the annual costs between 2010 and 2050 as being from $70bn to $100bn a year. But the new report, written by authors from 15 institutions and reviewed by 31 experts, takes a closer look, building on the earlier estimates by examining national and sector studies.
Innovative financing And that figure, the report says, is the “adaptation finance gap” − that is, the difference between the financial costs of climate change and the money actually available to meet those costs. “It is vital that governments understand the costs involved in adapting to climate change,” says Ibrahim Thiaw, deputy executive director of UNEP. “This report serves as a powerful reminder that climate change will continue to have serious economic costs. “The adaptation finance gap is large, and likely to grow substantially over the coming decades, unless significant progress is made to secure new, additional and innovative financing for adaptation.”“ “This report serves as a powerful reminder that climate change will continue to have serious economic costs” On an almost daily basis, researchers emphasise this urgency of action to help the poorest and most vulnerable. On the heels of the UNEP report, a separate study warns that the kind of heat wave normally considered “unusual” in tropical Africa could, by 2040, happen every year, with terrible consequences for crop harvests and for human mortality. Scientists report in Environmental Research Letters that by 2075 the so-called “unusual” heat waves could occur up to four times a year, as global average temperatures rise. Developing nations, by definition, have contributed least to the problem of climate change, but are overall likely to suffer most from the changes that lie ahead.
Drastic reduction This has been implicitly and explicitly recognised by global discussions on climate change. At the UN climate change conference in Paris last December, 195 nations formally agreed to take steps to limit global warming to “well below” 2°C above the pre-industrial average. This can only be achieved by drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels. And to help the developing states, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change has called on the richest nations to provide $100 billion a year by 2020 to help the poorest nations adapt. Even if the world achieves this target, the costs of adaptation for the less developed nations are rising swiftly. And the warmer the world gets, the greater the cost and the greater the potential hazards. But the latest report notes: “There is no agreement as to the type of funding that shall be mobilised to meet this goal. This hampers efforts to monitor progress toward meeting the goal.” | 0 |
This will be the last budget of the present Awami League-led grand alliance government, which would not get the entire fiscal year of 2013-14 to implement it.The allocation for annual development programme (ADP) was estimated at Tk 656 billion while the overall budget deficit would be Tk 563 billion, the minister told bdnews24.com in an interview at his Secretariat office.The Ministry of Finance has prepared the budgetary framework and a copy of the same is available with bdnews24.com.As per the preliminary estimate, the targeted GDP growth will be 7.2 percent in next fiscal.The minister also proposed to bring down overall inflation rate on an average below 7 percent.Tk 68.52 billion – Tk 19.83 billion and US$ 608 million in foreign currency – has been allocated in the next budget for construction of the much-talked-about Padma Multipurpose bridge.The Finance Minister will place the proposed budget in Parliament on June 6.Asked about the size of the national budget for the upcoming fiscal year, Muhith said: “The size is yet to be finalised, it’s under process. I’ll finalise the budget proposal after my return from the 38th Annual General Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank Group in Dushanbe, Tajikistan (on May 18–22).”“However, I can forecast that the size of the next budget will be more than Tk 2 trillion since the total outlay for the revenue and development in the outgoing fiscal was Tk 1.917 trillion. So, the size of the new budget will obviously be bigger.”Asked whether the figure would exceed Tk 2.20 trillion, Muhith said: “It’s likely. Wait for a few days and then you’ll be able to know everything.”In the budgetary framework, the targeted annual revenue income has been set at Tk 1674.60 billion (Tk 1.675 trillion).To meet the budget deficit, Tk 211.1 billion will come as foreign assistances while Tk 351.8 billion will be borrowed from the internal sources, according to the framework.Revised BudgetThe actual outlay for 2012-13 fiscal was Tk 1917.38 billion, but it has been revised to Tk 1893.30 billion.The revenue income was targeted at Tk 1396.70 billion and it has been kept unchanged in the revised budget.In the budget for the 2012-13 fiscal, expenditure for the ADP was estimated at Tk 550 billion which has been now revised to Tk 523.66 billion.The estimated budget deficit was Tk 520.68 billion which has been brought down to Tk 496.60 billion in the revised budget.Priorities in New BudgetPower, energy, roads, ports and infrastructural development sectors will be given the highest priority in the new budget. Besides, human resources development, agriculture and rural development, creating employments, strengthening the social safety net, climate change and building ‘Digital Bangladesh’ will also get importance.The ruling Grand Alliance government also gave priority to these sectors in the last four national budgets.Fulfilling Electoral PledgesThe budgetary framework said that the next budget will be the final step of the incumbent government to implement its election pledges. The new budget will strengthen the pillar of the economic and social development that the government laid in the last four budgets.The next budget will also set a directive for development for the next government. A new framework will be inserted in the new budget for development of the railway sector. | 1 |
Climate campaigners camped next to London's Heathrow airport to protest expansion plans denied on Tuesday they would endanger passengers at the world's busiest international air hub at its peak time of year. Despite promises of "direct action", the campaigners have complained to the Press Complaints Commission at a report that they planned to make hoax bomb calls and other activities to interrupt the airport that handles 200,000 passengers a day. "We cannot afford to alientate the public and we will not. Direct action will be safe and it won't be targeting passengers," said campaigner and Leeds University science lecturer Simon Lewis at the encampment on the path of a proposed third runway for the airport. The protest comes at the height of the holiday season, three months after a blazing jeep was used to attack Glasgow airport and a year after police thwarted what they said was a plan to bomb airliners flying out of Heathrow to the United States. The campaigners plan a week of activities they say will culminate on Sunday midday with 24 hours of "direct action" in a bid to force the government to halt the expansion of the airport, which they say will exacerbate global warming. They said actions could involve a mass picnic in Sipson, a town set for destruction if the runway is built, and targeting the offices of airport operator BAA, owned by Spain's Ferrovial. The camp formally opened on Tuesday under sodden skies and with more rain forecast, with the start of a series of lectures on the science of global warming and personal actions to help combat what has been described as a threat worse than terrorism. The atmosphere among the damp but cheerful participants who range from toddlers to pensioners was a cross between a pop concert and a picnic in a camp that was a model of organisation, with sanitation, sleeping, cooking, eating and lecture areas. BAA said it deplored the reports of the planned disruption. "BAA agrees that there is a debate to be had about aviation and climate change, but the 1.5 million passengers who will travel through the airport during the camp have a right to go about their lawful travel plans without being harassed or intimidated," it said in a statement. Lewis accused the airports operator of obfuscating: "There is a smear campaign against this camp. We don't know who is doing it but we do know that BAA wants to talk about anything but climate change." The protest comes at the height of the holiday season at an airport that handles an average of about one flight a minute and a total of nearly 70 million passengers a year. Scientists say air transport contributes heavily to global warming, noting that the carbon dioxide and water vapour emitted at altitude are four times more potent than at sea level. Organisers said around 250 protesters had arrived at the camp, just to the north of the airport. Up to 1,500 campaigners are expected to join the camp over the week. Police said extra officers had been drafted in but that so far all was quiet. | 0 |
Exxon Mobil Corp, a longtime opponent of mandatory regulations to combat climate change, met with US environmental groups last month to discuss how the oil behemoth might respond to global warming. This move was the latest hint that the world's biggest public company could be open to shifting its position of opposing mandatory caps on emissions of heat-trapping gases. Exxon organised an exclusive meeting with representatives from groups, including Washington environmental research group Worldwatch Institute and New York-based the Interfaith Centre on Corporate Responsibility, at meetings in Virginia to discuss climate change and human rights. Exxon spokesman Mark Boudreaux confirmed the company organised the meeting, but said what transpired was confidential. Earlier this week the company said it is meeting in separate talks with representatives from about 20 companies to discuss potential US policy options on reducing heat-trapping emissions. Environmentalists were cautiously optimistic that all the talks could indicate that the company, which had long avoided meetings with nonprofit groups on global warming and dismissed investments in emissions-reducing sources of energy like solar power, could be considering a policy shift. "Exxon could be reading the political tea leaves that emissions controls could be coming, but it has yet to agree to anything in which it would have to take mandatory action on climate change," said Gary Cook, the director of the US Climate Action Network. Since Democrats won control of Congress in November, US energy companies have been nervously watching which route the United States may take on future regulations of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases scientists link to global warming. On Friday US Senators John McCain, an Arizona Republican, and Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, reintroduced a bill on capping emissions that failed previously. It supports development of a cap and trade system that rewards companies that cuts emissions under set limits and penalises ones that do not. President George W Bush has opposed mandatory emissions cuts such as those required by the international Kyoto Protocol. He withdrew the United States, the world's top carbon emitter, from the Kyoto pact early in his first term. The Exxon meetings with other companies are expected to generate a report this fall, furnishing information on policy options to legislators on how to reduce emissions. For years Exxon has struggled with climate policy. It had touted reductions of heat-trapping emissions at refineries while at the same time funding groups like the Competitive Enterprise Institute that question global warming. Exxon also said this week it has stopped funding CEI and about five other groups in 2006. It said the other groups will be released in the spring. "We're winning," said Kert Davies a Washington based researcher at Greenpeace, which along with other green groups have been urging Exxon to stop funding groups that question the global warming. But he said it was yet to be determined whether Exxon's recent climate meetings represented real change on emissions. | 0 |
Faced with increased flooding at home due to climate change, terror attacks and the threat of bird flu, Britain's Red Cross is moving beyond raising funds for overseas aid work to tackling domestic disasters. When a flash flood devastated the Cornish town of Boscastle in 2004, officials at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Geneva were underwhelmed by the British Red Cross response -- a handful of volunteers and support for local council fundraising. "In the last five years, we've had terror attacks in London, climate change -- particularly flooding -- and we have scaled up operations," British Red Cross chief executive Nick Young told Reuters in an interview. "We have scaled up volunteers, equipment -- particularly ambulances -- and rescue boats and vehicles." Parked outside the organisation's headquarters in London's financial district is a white disaster response Red Cross Land Rover, more at home in an African or Asian disaster. The Red Cross has also bought a giant off-road Unimog truck to drive through floods, which was used to deliver essential supplies when the town of Gloucester was inundated last year. "We have a team who, when there is a disaster overseas, go out fast to help run supply operations," he said. "We'd never used it before in the UK but we did in the floods last year." Globally, the Red Cross says it is seeing more and more disasters linked to climate change -- an increase from 200 to 500 a year in three years. The chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 showed both government and voluntary agencies in developed countries still had much to learn, even from poorer states such as Bangladesh and Mozambique that have become used to disasters. Some 4,000-5,000 volunteers -- almost double the number five years ago -- are now ready across Britain to run rest centres, provide basic first aid and counselling, taking on roles they lost after the foundation of the National Health Service. "You had the nationalisation of the welfare state... and in a sense organisations like the Red Cross lost their way," Young said. "What's happening now is that we are seeing gaps in state provision and the government are saying they want the Red Cross to be a more major player." That extends beyond disaster relief to helping patients home from hospital, helping fire victims sort out the wreckage of their houses and tackle any pandemic of avian flu by providing volunteers to work in hospitals and nursing homes. It could be extended further to building greater disaster preparedness, ensuring schools and halls are suitable for rest centres and repositioning supplies -- all strategies tried and tested in the developing world. But the rise in disasters makes the Red Cross's other role -- fundraising for foreign crises -- harder, he said. "At the time we raised 5 million pounds for the victims of the UK floods there was also very serious flooding across India, parts of Africa, Asia and China and it was very difficult to raise funds for them," he said. "I think a certain compassion fatigue sets in very quickly." | 0 |
The 16-year-old Swede also told a huge Montreal rally that world leaders had disappointed young people with empty words and inadequate plans. "Today we are millions around the world, striking and marching again, and we will keep on doing it until they listen," Thurnberg told a crowd that organisers estimated to be about half a million people in the Canadian city. Trump mocked Thunberg this week and Canadian Member of Parliament Maxime Bernier called her alarmist and mentally unstable. "I guess they must feel like their world view or their interests or whatever... is threatened by us. We've become too loud for people to handle so they try to silence us," she told reporters before the rally. "We should also take that as a compliment." On Friday, the climate strikes she inspired started in Asia and continued in Europe after similar strikes a week earlier. Tens of thousands of students kicked things off in New Zealand. About 500 students in the South Korean capital, Seoul, urged more government action to address climate change, marching towards the presidential Blue House after a downtown rally, where they said the government gets an "F" in climate action. Thousands of Dutch children also skipped school to join a global climate strike on Friday, blocking traffic and asking their leaders "how dare you?" in a reference to Thunberg's speech at the United Nations. Matthew McMillan, 22, a mechanical engineering student at Montreal's Concordia University, held a "Make America Greta Again" poster as he joined other students at the protest. "I think it is the most important event of our generation," he said. Holding placards and chanting "protect the planet", nine-year-old Xavier Damien Tremblay joined his three younger siblings and mother Maude Richard in the march. "It's our planet that's at stake," he said. TRUDEAU TELLS THUNBERG CANADA MUST DO MORE Thunberg's presence in Canada coincides with campaigning ahead of an Oct. 21 federal election. She met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau privately for about 15 minutes in his capacity as a leader of the government not the Liberal Party. Later she was asked what her message to Trudeau had been. "He is of course obviously not doing enough but... this is such a huge problem," she said. "My message to all the politicians is the same, to just listen to the science, act on the science." Trudeau is promising more climate action but has also had to defend his decision to buy and expand a major oil pipeline in western Canada. "You are the problem! Climate criminal!" shouted a man who police hauled away from one of Trudeau's campaign stops. As the prime minister joined the Montreal march, police tackled another man who lunged at him to throw eggs. Video showed Trudeau consoling his son, who appeared to be frightened and was crying after the incident. Of his meeting with Thunberg, Trudeau said he had a "wonderful conversation with Greta" and that they "talked directly about the need to do more, much more". AVIATION LEADERS MEET IN MONTREAL United Nations aviation leaders are in Montreal on Friday attending a meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which is debating ways to minimise the sector's impact on climate. Commercial flying accounts for 2.5% of carbon emissions, but passenger numbers are forecast to double by 2037, so experts say emissions will rise if more is not done. ICAO expressed "enthusiasm and support" for the march on Thursday, adding that "more action and faster innovation are now required to address aviation's near- and long-term impacts". | 2 |
The Graecopithecus freybergi, who lived 7.2 million years ago, is known only from a lower jawbone, unearthed in 1944 in Greece, and an isolated tooth, found in 2009 near the Bulgarian town of Chirpan, where excavations have now restarted. "It would be great to find a whole skeleton but a thigh would also help us a lot," Professor Nikolai Spassov, head of Bulgaria's National Museum of Natural History, told Reuters. The scientific consensus long has been that humanity's ape-like ancestors, known as hominins, originated in Africa. Until now, the oldest-known hominin was Sahelanthropus, which lived 6-7 million years ago in Chad. But Spassov hopes new fossils will back up the theory that hominins originated in the Eastern Mediterranean. "They have most probably migrated to Africa due to climate change," he said. Surrounded by dangerous predators in a savannah-type environment, life would have been hard for a Graecopithecus freybergi. A male would have weighed around 40 kg and a female around 30 kg, Spassov said. Scientists in Greece are also expected to resume the search for remains of the hominin, and excavation work will begin in neighboring Macedonia in September. | 0 |
Washington,Oct 9 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - With world attention trained on resolving a financial crisis in Western economies, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said the poverty-fighting institution is warning developing countries to prepare for tougher times. In an interview with Reuters ahead of weekend meetings of world finance ministers, Zoellick said business failures, bank emergencies and balance of payments crises are all possible in developing countries as the crisis spreads. He said a growing financial squeeze, together with higher food and fuel prices, will only make it more difficult for governments in developing countries to protect the poor. A new World Bank report prepared for the meetings warns that high food and fuel prices will increase the number of malnourished people around the world in 2008 by 44 million to over 960 million. The World Bank chief said the bank had identified around 28 countries that could face fiscal difficulties. He said he would release the details later on Thursday ahead of weekend meetings of finance leaders in Washington. "What we're now moving into is the phase where one has to look more broadly at the danger of developing country growth and there it depends on policies they take and the support we and others can give them," Zoellick told Reuters. "Over the medium and long term, I remain optimistic about the possibilities of sub-Saharan Africa being a pole of growth, but it won't happen automatically, it will require their actions and the right investments," he added. Zoellick said the World Bank was working with developing countries to make them aware of the services the bank could provide to help prepare contingency plans and support countries whose banking systems may come under strain. STAKES ARE HIGH The financial crisis threatens to undo much, or in some cases all, of the progress made in many developing countries over the past several years to lift growth and reduce poverty and disease. Between 1997 and 2007, 17 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa grew on average 6 percent, most of them non-oil producers. Another 8 countries, all oil producers, grew on average 8 percent over the same 10 years. Zoellick told a news conference earlier there was frustration, fear and anxiety at the difficulties economies may now encounter from a crisis that began in the United States. Better economic management, fewer conflicts, and prospects of high returns on investments have attracted more private sector interest into developing countries. Among those investors has been China, Brazil, India and Gulf countries, spurring so-called south-south investment where one emerging economy invests in another. Zoellick said that despite ripple effects from the financial crisis into emerging economies, he was confident China would continue to invest in natural resources in Africa, while Gulf states look to investments in agriculture. "While we're dealing with today's problems, you have to keep your eye on tomorrow (and) take the problem and turn it into an opportunity," he said. Just as Western central banks and China took unprecedented coordinated action to cut interest rates on Wednesday to restore calm to markets, he hoped they would do the same when it comes to helping the developing world deal with effects from the financial crisis, but also the "human crisis" of increasing malnourishment. The same countries could help by contributing to a World Bank fund to assist developing countries struggling with higher food and fuel prices and that would provide fertilizer to small farmers and energy to the poor. There would also be a need for developed countries to help the World Bank and International Monetary Fund support governments facing balance of payments needs and challenges to do with climate change and trade, he said. "We can play a role but we need the developed countries to also act in coordinated action to support that." | 3 |
When the dry season sets in, cattle-keepers like Lobunei
prepare to drive their herds across the region towards dams or other distant
water bodies, negotiating access with communities they find along the way. The time-honoured practise helps local people - known to
outsiders as the Karamojong - survive in a harsh environment where rainfall
patterns were already volatile from one year to the next before climate change
made them even more erratic. But nowadays it is becoming harder for herders to make their
seasonal migration, as shrinking access to common land, resurgent insecurity
and the deepening presence of the state have made negotiations over resources
more formal. Some herders and activists say an overreaching government is
undermining the viability of cattle-keeping and pushing them to rely on crop
farming, which is vulnerable to drought and floods. In his home district of Nakapiripirit, Lobunei said he is
increasingly hemmed in by large farms that are off-limits to his cows and has
to skirt around a wildlife reserve that used to let herders through a few
decades ago. He must also seek written permission from a growing number of
government officials who regulate movement across the grasslands where his
forefathers once grazed their cattle freely. "Are we the Karamojong - or is it the government which is
the Karamojong?" he pondered. CHANGING SEASONS A 2017 report by the Ugandan government and partner agencies
noted that since 1981 Karamoja has seen more extended dry spells and more
frequent bursts of heavy rain. And in the future, it warned, a warming planet will make the
area's rainfall "more unpredictable, unreliable and intense". Locals report the seasons have shifted, so that the names of
the months no longer correspond to the natural events they describe. The month of "lomaruk", for example, is named after
white mushrooms that used to sprout in March but now appear months later. Historically, the region's herders could adapt by moving their
animals, negotiating access to water and pasture via a mechanism called etamam,
or "sending a message", said Emmanuel Tebanyang, a policy analyst at
the Karamoja Development Forum (KDF), a civil society group. Elders first hold a series of clan meetings to decide whether
to migrate that season, after which scouts are dispatched to seek possible
grazing areas. If a host community offers a welcome, a bull will be slaughtered
as a sign of peace. But etamam is undergoing "rapid transformation",
said Tebanyang, as discussions are increasingly conducted through local
government officials, who must provide written permission before migration can
begin. The state has sought to control and document movement in
Karamoja since colonial times, but in recent decades pastoralists say its
presence has become more entrenched. "This is a new culture where everything is done by the
government," said Alex Lemu Longoria, who as a Karamojong elder and former
mayor of Moroto town has worked in both traditional and official systems. There are now nine districts in Karamoja, up from four in
2005. The carving out of new districts and sub-counties means herders need
authorisation from a larger array of officials before they can move across
boundaries. "They don't even go now because of that problem,"
Longoria said. "There's lots of questions being asked (by officials): 'Why
are you moving there?'" Another barrier is a new wave of armed cattle-raiding since
2019, as guns have flowed over the border from neighbouring Kenya and South Sudan,
making herders more fearful and the authorities stricter. Karamoja police spokesperson Michael Longole said herders have
"a free-range system of movement", but the authorities have slapped
"a lot of restrictions" on traders transporting cattle across
districts. "Our personnel have been moving around telling (traders)
that we are tightening this because of the cattle raids," he said. POWER SHIFTS One attempt to bridge the gap between grassroots dialogue and
formal processes is the creation of "peace" and
"resource-sharing" committees made up of community representatives,
said Denis Pius Lokiru, a programme manager at international aid agency Mercy
Corps. The organisation has supported the signing of four agreements
in Karamoja since 2019, which were witnessed by government officials and
incorporated into local by-laws. "These agreements were clearly putting out the modalities
on how best water and other natural resources can be shared peacefully without
causing any conflict," Lokiru said. The new committees also include more youth and women, said
Cecilia Dodoi, vice-chair of the Kotido Women's Peace Forum. "There is now a great change because our voices are
listened to," she said, adding many of the women are widows who can
testify to the consequences of conflict. But Tebanyang of the KDF wonders whether written agreements
are aimed at herders on the grasslands or bureaucrats in offices. "(The herders) don't need these documents," he said.
"They have killed bulls... Then we disregard all those symbols and only
look for a thumbprint as conclusive evidence of an agreement." MORE CROPS, LESS CATTLE While pastoralism continues to evolve in Uganda, President
Yoweri Museveni has promoted sedentary farming in Karamoja. On a 2019 visit, he insisted "everybody must be engaged
in modern commercial agriculture", which he argues is more productive. Although many of Karamoja's 1.2 million people have long
practiced agropastoralism - combining cattle-keeping with small-scale crop
farming - research shows they have been leaning more heavily on agriculture
over the past two decades. Analysis of satellite data by researchers at the University of
Maryland showed a four-fold increase in the area under cultivation between 2000
and 2011. And a 2018 study by the Karamoja Resilience Support Unit, a
research group, found that nearly 60% of households no longer own enough
livestock to provide an adequate food supply. But local observers warn against an unbalanced focus on crops
in an era of accelerating climate change impacts. "There is nobody who wants to completely abandon
livestock," said Simon Peter Lomoe, executive director of the Dynamic
Agro-Pastoralist Development Organisation, a Ugandan nonprofit. "If there is drought here, you can still move livestock
to look for water. You cannot move crops." | 1 |
A meeting of four of the world's fastest-growing carbon emitters on Sunday ahead of a Jan. 31 deadline for countries to submit their action plans to fight climate change may discuss a climate fund for poorer nations. The meeting would be attended by the environment ministers of Brazil, South Africa, India and China -- the so-called BASIC bloc of nations that helped broker a political accord at last month's Copenhagen climate summit. The non-binding accord was described by many as a failure because it fell far short of the conference's original goal of a more ambitious commitment to prevent more heatwaves, droughts and crop failures. The document set a Jan. 31 deadline for rich nations to submit economy-wide emissions targets for 2020 and for developing countries to present voluntary carbon-curbing actions. Brazil's environment minister said it will propose a BASIC fund to help poor countries adapt to global warming as part of a broader attempt to revive stalled global climate talks. Indian officials said such a fund could undermine rich countries, particularly the United States, which have been criticised for not doing enough. "The resources we'll put into it will call attention to how they are escaping their responsibilities," Brazil's Environment Minister Carlos Minc told Reuters in an interview late on Wednesday. He did not give a figure. Neither is there any clarity on the nature of the fund, who would administer it or how it would be distributed. "All this could be discussed," an Indian official unwilling to be identified said. The New Delhi meeting is seen as crucial because what the four countries decide could shape a legally binding climate pact the United Nations hopes to seal at the end of the year. Countries that support the Copenhagen Accord are supposed to add their emission reduction commitments to the schedule at the end of the document. But there is concern some countries might weaken their commitments until a new deal is agreed. China has pledged to cut the amount of carbon dioxide produced for each unit of economic growth by 40-45 percent by 2020, compared with 2005 levels. For India, that figure is up to 25 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels. China is the world's top CO2 emitter, while India is number four. BLAME GAME? Refusal by the BASIC nations to add their commitments to the schedule would likely raise questions about the validity of the accord, which was only "noted" by the Copenhagen conference and not formally adopted after several nations objected. "If any of the BASIC countries do not submit their actions then the blame game will again start and the whole purpose of the accord, which was to put a more vigorous political process in place, would be defeated," said Shirish Sinha, WWF India's top climate official. The Copenhagen conference was originally meant to agree the outlines of a broader global pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which binds nearly 40 rich nations to limit carbon emissions. The first phase of the existing protocol expires in 2012. But developing countries, which want rich nations to be held to their Kyoto obligations and sign up to a second round of tougher commitments from 2013, complain developed nations want a single new accord obliging all nations to fight global warming. The BASIC countries, while endorsing the Copenhagen Accord, oppose any single legally binding instrument that allows rich nations to dilute their climate commitments. Poorer nations say developed economies have polluted most since the Industrial Revolution and should therefore shoulder most of the responsibility of fixing emission problems and paying poorer nations to green their economies. Though Indian officials ruled out any revisiting of the BASIC countries' position on the accord, some clarifications could be sought on the issue of monitoring CO2 reduction actions by developing countries. The accord says their actions would be open to "consultation and analysis". The United States has said regular reporting and analysis of CO2 curbs by poorer nations is crucial to building trust. "Things like who will analyse and what constitutes consultation need to be sorted out. These are definitions that have to be agreed by all the countries," another negotiator said. | 0 |
Australian police arrested 12 Greenpeace activists on Sunday after an APEC protest at Newcastle, the world's biggest coal export port, as authorities again warned protesters against violence at Sydney's APEC summit. New South Wales state premier Morris Iemma said the full force of the law would be used against violent protesters at this week's Asia Pacific Economic Co-Operation (APEC) gathering. Australian authorities are staging the nation's biggest ever security operation for APEC, which is to be attended by 21 leaders including US President George W. Bush. "I accept the commentary that is being made from a number of groups who have said they want to incite violence," said Iemma told reporters on Sunday. "My message to them is, don't. But if you do the police will be out in force and they'll enforce the law and they'll do so with strength and authority," said Iemma. Thousands of protesters plan to rally in Sydney during the APEC meetings to demonstrate against the Iraq war and global warming. APEC officials began the first meeting on Sunday. Authorities have erected a 5-km (3-mile) security fence across the central business district to isolate the leaders in the Sydney Opera House and nearby hotels. Environmental group Greenpeace staged an APEC protest on Sunday on a coal ship in the port of Newcastle, north of Sydney. Greenpeace unfurled a banner written in Chinese urging Beijing to be aware of efforts to undermine the Kyoto Protocol by Australia and the United States. Both Australia and the United States are opposed to Kyoto, arguing its effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions is flawed as it excludes some of the world's biggest polluters, like India. UNDERMINING KYOTO "Greenpeace is calling on APEC countries to reject (Australian Prime Minister) John Howard's efforts to undermine the Kyoto Protocol through his calls for "aspirational targets'," said Greenpeace campaigner Ben Pearson. Howard is opposed to setting targets for greenhouse gas reduction, arguing it would damage the Australian economy which is heavily reliant on coal-fired power. He prefers to talk of "aspirational targets" for individual nations. "Australia's climate policy is to push export coal and to hell with the consequences for the planet," said Pearson. "Real action on climate change means moving away from coal and shifting to clean, renewable energy and we don't have the luxury of time for expensive talkfests that have no concrete outcomes," said Pearson. Malaysian Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz, who will attend APEC, said last week that the absence of Australia and the United States from Kyoto meant they lacked the credentials to lead climate change talks at this week's Sydney meetings. Australian security officials say they have received no intelligence of a terrorist threat to APEC and the nation's counter-terrorism alert remains unchanged at medium, which means a terrorist attack could occur. Australia, a staunch US ally, has never suffered a major peace-time attack on home soil. But authorities unveiled an emergency public communications system on Sunday in case of a major incident. Flashing message boards have been erected at 14 locations across the city and loud speakers at 49 sites. Fighter aircraft and police helicopters are enforcing a 45-nautical-mile restricted air space over Sydney and will intercept any unauthorised aircraft. A total of 5,000 police and troops are patrolling the city centre. | 0 |
Britain, which is co-hosting the virtual summit ahead of climate negotiations in Glasgow next year, has faced accusations of hypocrisy from campaigners for continuing to finance climate-warming oil and natural gas projects abroad. "By taking ambitious and decisive action today, we will create the jobs of the future, drive the recovery from coronavirus and protect our beautiful planet for generations to come," Johnson said in a statement. More than 70 world leaders from countries including China, India, Canada and Japan are due to unveil more ambitious climate commitments at the summit. Britain would be the first major economy to commit to ending public finance for overseas fossil fuel projects. "This policy shift sets a new gold standard for what serious climate action looks like," said Louise Burrows, policy adviser with consultancy E3G. "Britain now has a mandate to mobilise other countries to follow suit." The UK Export Finance agency has offered guarantees worth billions of dollars to help British oil and gas companies expand in countries such as Brazil, Iraq, Argentina and Russia, Burrows said. Johnson had faced particular criticism from campaigners for UKEF's role in backing French major Total's planned $20 billion liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique. The government said the new policy would come into effect "as soon as possible" and would mean no further state support for oil, natural gas or coal projects overseas, including via development aid, export finance and trade promotion. There would be "very limited exceptions" for gas-fired power plants within "strict parameters" in line with the Paris deal, the statement said. | 1 |
US President Barack Obama arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday for a visit aimed at boosting US security and trade ties with Indonesia, and using the most populous Muslim nation to reach out to the wider Islamic world. Indonesia is an important destination for Obama for a variety of strategic and personal reasons, aides said. Its importance as a US ally is on the rise, even if the joy over Obama's election has faded since he became president almost two years ago. As Southeast Asia's biggest economy and a G20 member, Indonesia proved resilient to the financial crisis and has become a hot destination for emerging market investors looking to tap strong consumer demand, abundant resources and political stability. "We see in Indonesia the intersection of a lot of key American interests, and we see this as a partnership that is very important to the future of American interests in Asia and the world," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security advisor for strategic communications. Obama's return to a country where he spent four years of his childhood comes after two previously scheduled trips were put off -- in March as he fought to pass his healthcare overhaul law and in June as he faced the cleanup of the massive BP oil spill. Even this visit had been in some doubt because of concerns about volcanic ash from eruptions of the Mount Merapi volcano, which led to flight cancellations over the weekend. Some policemen were seen enduring the long wait for Obama by playing chess outside their armoured vehicles on the city's streets. Jakarta is the second stop on Obama's 10-day four-nation Asian tour. He spent three days in India, where his emphasis was on developing business links that could lead to U.S. jobs, and later will visit South Korea, where he attends a G20 summit and Yokohama, Japan, for an Asia-Pacific economic meeting. The US's loose monetary policy, which has sent a flood of cash looking for higher returns towards emerging markets such as Indonesia, may be a topic for discussion ahead of the G20 meet. COMPREHENSIVE PARTNERSHIP Obama and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono are expected to sign a "Comprehensive Partnership" agreed a year ago, ahead of a state dinner where Obama will be served childhood favourite dishes such as Indonesian fried rice and meatballs. The pact covers security, economic and people-to-people issues, said Jeffrey Bader, Obama's top Asian adviser. Obama could announce hundreds of millions in funding to fight climate change by protecting Indonesia's forests, sources say, although large corporate deals have not been flagged. The United States exports only about $6 billion worth of goods to Indonesia each year, making it America's 37th largest market, according to the US Chamber of Commerce. Two-way trade, from US soybeans and Boeing aircraft to Indonesian textiles, is likely to pick up slightly to around $20 billion this year. However, the US has dwindled in importance as a source of foreign direct investment into Indonesia, with just $171.5 million or 1.6 percent of the total last year, reflecting rampant graft, poor infrastructure and concerns on nationalist policies. "Indonesia maintains significant and far-reaching foreign investment restrictions," said the U.S. Trade Representative's 2010 National Trade Estimates Report. "Its investment climate continues to be characterized by legal uncertainty, economic nationalism and disproportionate influence of business interests." While Obama is hoping for US investment in sectors such as clean energy to help spur a sagging economy at home, growing direct investment is now coming more from Asia than the West. Obama will also use his short stay to reach out to the Muslim world. On Wednesday he will visit the Istiqlal Mosque, one of the world's largest, and make a major outdoor speech that aides said is expected to draw large crowds. Around 15,000 police and military are massing to maintain security, in a city that saw bomb attacks on hotels last year but that has made progress in tackling Islamic militancy. The long US wars in Muslim nations Afghanistan and Iraq have lost Obama support among Muslims since he made a major speech in Cairo in June 2009, and a pro-Palestine group protested on Tuesday against his visit outside the US embassy in Jakarta. | 0 |
Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) reappointed Pascal Lamy as director-general for a second four-year term, the WTO said Thursday. The 62-year-old Frenchman was the only candidate to head the body that referees world trade and was approved by consensus at a meeting of the WTO General Council. It was the first time in the WTO's 15-year history that the candidacy had not been contested. The first term of the marathon-running former trade chief of the European Union has been dominated by efforts to conclude the WTO's seven-year-old Doha round to liberalize world trade and help poor countries prosper through exports. Lamy argues that concluding the round, to boost business confidence and bolster bulwarks against protectionism in the economic crisis, is the WTO's top priority. "Beyond the trade-offs required to conclude the Doha round and also beyond the market access that it will bring, lies its hugely important systemic value," he told the council on Wednesday. "The biggest prize in the Doha round is the certainty, predictability and stability it will bring to global trade. It is in a moment of crisis, such as the one we are witnessing today, that the value of this insurance policy increases." Lamy, whose new term starts in September, told the council the 153-member state body had to address other issues such as climate change, food security, energy, labor and financial protectionism. But serious work on these questions should not start until the immediate task of reaching a Doha deal was in sight. He estimated 80 percent of a Doha agreement was in the bag. Lamy said the WTO's dispute settlement system, resolving trade rows between countries involving billions of dollars, was working well. But developing countries need to be given more help to make use of the complex and expensive dispute processes, and more needs to be done to ensure all countries comply promptly with decisions of WTO dispute panels that go against them. Besides bringing in ministers to clinch a Doha deal, the WTO should hold a regular ministerial conference this year to set strategy and review how the body is working, Lamy said. He noted it had not held a ministerial conference since 2005. WTO rules require one every two years. Lamy was widely credited with nursing French bank Credit Lyonnais -- now part of Credit Agricole -- back to health from near-bankruptcy. He became director-general of the WTO in September 2005. | 1 |
NEW DELHI, Fri Feb 20,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - A deal placing a strict emissions regime on rich nations is likely in Copenhagen despite pressures to dilute the climate fight in times of a global financial slowdown, the UN climate panel chief said. RK Pachauri said his optimism that rich nations would agree to an emissions cut was rooted in what he was hearing from global leaders and a genuine willingness to do something fast. But his bullishness is in sharp contrast to a gloomy outlook forecast by some experts who say the financial crisis affects the ability of countries to pay for climate measures or agree to emission cuts when jobs were being lost. Pachauri said he saw growing political will to consider the global financial downturn an opportunity to build low carbon economies. About 190 countries are trying to craft a broader climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol that only binds wealthy nations to emissions targets between 2008 and 2012. The new deal is due to be wrapped in Copenhagen by December. Many industrialised nations are shelving ambitions for deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, while industries worldwide are pushing for dilution of climate policies, saying that slowing economies are already causing emission levels to fall. Pachauri told Reuters late on Thursday there was global realisation that the financial problems were "temporary" while the climate challenge was an existential issue. "I mean nobody is going to miss the woods for the trees," he said. "It is only a temporary reprieve so to speak. This is only temporary. But one has to bring about some major structural changes, otherwise it will be back to business as usual." He said the United States was setting an example of how to turn the economic adversity into an advantage for climate change. "They are really thinking of reviving the economy through the generation of so-called green jobs," he said. President Barack Obama has spoken of a "planet in peril" and says he will cut U.S. emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020, followed by deeper cuts to 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050. Pachauri has said that Obama might even be able to do more. Worldwide emissions of greenhouse gases have risen roughly 50 percent since 1970, and if current trends continue, emissions are expected to rise nearly half again by 2030. However, a UN climate panel said emissions levels need to peak by 2015 in order to avoid the worst of global warming. It says rich nations need to cut by 25-40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 to keep temperatures below what some nations see as a "dangerous" 2 Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) rise. "There is no choice," Pachauri said, referring to a deal by the year-end. "They will have to agree." | 0 |
US President Barack Obama will attend the end of the Copenhagen climate change summit, a late change of plan the White House attributed Friday to growing momentum towards a new global accord. Obama was originally scheduled to attend the December 7-18 summit in Denmark Wednesday before travelling to nearby Oslo to collect his Nobel Peace Prize. Some European officials and environmentalists had expressed surprise at the initial decision, pointing out most of the hard bargaining on cutting greenhouse gas emissions would likely take place at the climax of the summit, when dozens of other world leaders are also due to attend. "After months of diplomatic activity, there is progress being made towards a meaningful Copenhagen accord in which all countries pledge to take action against the global threat of climate change," the White House said in a statement. Danish officials say more than 100 world leaders have confirmed they will attend the conference, which Denmark hopes will help lay the foundation for a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on curbing global warming gases. "Based on his conversations with other leaders and the progress that has already been made to give momentum to negotiations, the president believes that continued US leadership can be most productive through his participation at the end of the Copenhagen conference on December 18th rather than on December 9th," the White House said.
GROWING CONSENSUS The Obama administration has been encouraged by recent announcements by China and India, two other major carbon emitters, to set targets to rein in emissions and the growing consensus on raising cash to help poor nations cope with global warming, seen as a stumbling block to a new UN deal. Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen swiftly welcomed Obama's decision, saying his attendance was "an expression of the growing political momentum towards sealing an ambitious climate deal in Copenhagen." In London, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Obama's presence would give "huge impetus" to the negotiations. The United States will pledge in Copenhagen to cut its greenhouse gas emissions roughly 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. It was the last major industrialized country to offer a target for cutting greenhouse gases in a UN-led drive to slow rising world temperatures that could bring more heatwaves, expanding deserts, floods and rising sea levels. Experts expect the Copenhagen gathering to reach a political agreement that includes targets for cuts in greenhouse gases by rich nations by 2020. Agreement on a successor to Kyoto will be put off until 2010. The White House said Obama had discussed the status of negotiations with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Britain's Brown. There appeared to be a growing consensus that a "core element" of the Copenhagen accord should be to seek pledges totalling $10 billion (6 billion pounds) a year by 2012 to help developing countries cope with climate change, the White House said. "The United States will pay its fair share of that amount and other countries will make substantial commitments as well," it said. Environmentalists welcomed Obama's move and some called for him to shift his administration's target for cutting emissions at the same time. "After a global outcry, President Obama has listened to the people and other world leaders; he has come to his senses and accepted the importance of this potentially historic meeting," Martin Kaiser, Greenpeace International's political climate coordinator, said in a statement. "Now that he has moved the date, he needs to move his targets and his financial contribution to be in line with what climate science demands," he said. | 1 |
On Monday, the Extinction Rebellion group took action in several countries including Britain, Germany, Austria, Australia, France and New Zealand as they lobby politicians to go further in cutting carbon emissions. The protests are the latest stage in a global campaign for tougher and swifter steps against climate change coordinated by the group, which rose to prominence in April when it snarled traffic in central London for 11 days. London police said 319 arrests had been made by the end of Monday and Johnson criticised the activists. Speaking at an event on Monday evening he said: “I am afraid that the security people didn’t want me to come along tonight because they said the road was full of uncooperative crusties,” using a slang British term for eco-protesters. “They said there was some risk that I would be egged,” he added.On Tuesday, some protesters hit back at him. “It’s not helpful,” Diana Jones, from the southern English county of Sussex, told Reuters. “We’re just ordinary people trying to express our deep disappointment with how slow the process of getting climate change action to occur is taking place, with the government not really listening, not really taking it forward on the scale it needs to be taken.” The group wants Britain to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025 rather than the government’s 2050 target. | 0 |
The cables, seen by Reuters, say US government engagements should reflect the goals set in an executive order issued at the start of the year aimed at ending American financial support of coal and carbon-intensive energy projects overseas. "The goal of the policy ... is to ensure that the vast majority of US international energy engagements promote clean energy, advance innovative technologies, boost US cleantech competitiveness, and support net-zero transitions, except in rare cases where there are compelling national security, geostrategic, or development/energy access benefits and no viable lower carbon alternatives accomplish the same goals," a cable said. The announcement was first reported by Bloomberg. The policy defines "carbon-intensive” international energy engagements as projects whose greenhouse gas intensity is above a threshold lifecycle value of 250 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour and includes coal, gas or oil. The policy bans any US government financing of overseas coal projects that do not capture or only partially capture carbon emissions, allowing federal agencies to engage on coal generation only if the project demonstrates full emissions capture or is part of an accelerated phaseout. It exempts carbon-intensive projects for two reasons: they are deemed to be needed for national security or geostrategic reasons or they are crucial to deliver energy access to vulnerable areas. The policy formalises the goals set by the administration in earlier executive orders and policy guidances and reiterated in multilateral forums such as the G7 meeting in France in August and UN climate summit in the fall. At the UN climate talks in Scotland, the Biden administration pledged with 40 countries and five financial institutions to end new international finance for unabated fossil fuel energy by the end of 2022, except in limited cases. "The administration has elevated climate change as a core tenet of its foreign policy," a State Department spokesperson said on Friday in response to a request for comment on the cables. The commitment made in Scotland "will reorient tens of billions of dollars of public finance and trillions of private finance towards low-carbon priorities, " the spokesperson said. “This policy is full of exemptions and loopholes that lack clarity, and could render these restrictions on fossil fuel financing completely meaningless," said Kate DeAngelis, a climate finance expert at Friends of the Earth. | 0 |
They seemed helpful, but the women’s leader, Martha Agbani, sensed danger. “No, leave it!” she said sharply. “Let the women carry.” It was not the first time she had run into these men in Yaataah, perched on a small hill in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, and she knew their offer contained menace: If she did not pay them, there would be trouble. And one of her main goals was to create work for the women. All her life Agbani had watched as women from Ogoniland, a part of the oil-rich Niger Delta famous for standing up to polluting oil companies, struggled to get by and struggled to be heard over men. And she was determined that men would not disrupt or muscle in on her new project: establishing an enormous nursery to grow hundreds of thousands of mangrove plants to sell to the Nigerian subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, the dominant oil company in Ogoniland and the one responsible for wiping out many of them in the first place. Agbani, a hardy woman with a ready laugh and a kind but no-nonsense manner, was trying to turn her hand to a business that could put money in women’s pockets and go some way to restoring their devastated environment. Mangroves have prodigious natural powers, filtering brackish water, protecting against coastal erosion and providing a sheltered breeding ground for aquatic life, which in turn sustains humans. The Niger Delta is home to one of the largest mangrove ecosystems in the world, one that humans lived in harmony with for centuries. But with the advent of oil production — something that the Nigerian government has come to depend upon for most of its revenue — the mangrove forests suffered. In 2011, the United Nations Environment Program released a major report documenting pollution in Ogoniland, saying it could take 30 years to clean up. But the government agency set up to clean the land and water, the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, has been grindingly slow to act. After two oil spills in 2007 and 2008 killed off thousands of acres of mangrove forests near the village of Bodo, Shell agreed to compensate the community, clean up the oil and replant. Agbani spotted an opportunity. The company would need thousands upon thousands of mangroves, tropical trees that grow in the spaces between land and sea, protecting the coastline and providing vital habitat for baby fish and periwinkles, the sea snails that are a staple of Niger Delta cuisine. She started by growing mangroves in her yard, then started looking for a place to establish a nursery. That is how she came across Yaataah. Once, its creek was home to thick forests of mangroves, but now most were gone, the victims of past environmental disasters and encroachment of invasive nipa palms, brought there long ago by the British. She started planning the project’s rollout there and bused in more than 100 female mangrove planters to celebrate its launch in late 2019. But at the party, Agbani said, she had her first experience with the young men, who suddenly arrived and demanded money as well as the snacks she had brought for the women. When she remonstrated with them, pointing out that the women had come to help restore the land so that their mothers and sisters could once again harvest periwinkles, they physically attacked her. “They were dragging me from behind,” she said. “It all went bad.” Shaken, Agbani and her team left and did not return to Yaataah for months. She decided to base the nursery elsewhere; a local leader agreed to lend her land close to the polluted sites in Bodo. But she could not quite let go of Yaataah. It had a good creek where they could practice cultivating mangroves out in the wild, directly from seeds, rather than first establishing them in the plastic grow bags of the nursery in Bodo. And now, in May 2021, the women were back to plant. Hoisting the sacks onto their heads, and with their skirts above their knees, the women descended the little hill barefoot and slipped into the clear water of the creek. It did not stay clear for long, though, as dozens of feet stirred up the soft sediment. “Something’s sizzling round my legs,” said Agbani, 45, laughing, leaning on a stick and struggling to get a foothold in the mud. “Oh, my god, Martha is an old woman.” The spot was perfect. There was very little oil pollution. Birds, frogs and crickets still sang from their clumps of foliage. Like many a creek of the Niger Delta in southern Nigeria, it was choked by nipa palms. But Agbani had arranged for villagers to clear a large patch of the palms. The women squelched nimbly through the mud over to the patch and worked quickly, passing the seeds — technically, podlike “propagules” that germinate on the tree — from hand to hand and sticking them in the mud at foot-long intervals, directed by Agbani. “Carry me dey go-o,” one of the women, Jessy Nubani, sang, bobbing up and down as she worked, adapting a popular call-and-response song. The other women sang back in harmony: “Martha, carry me dey go, dey go, dey go.” The young men had shown up again and summoned their friends, who buzzed in on motorcycles to see what they could get. But they stayed on shore. Agbani had given them a round telling-off. Agbani learned activism partly from her mother, who in the 1990s was involved in the Ogoni people’s struggle against the Nigerian government and Shell. Like her mother, Agbani worked for years for the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, set up in 1990 in response to the environmental destruction of the ecologically delicate area by multinational oil companies. And like her mother, she was inspired by the work of activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, Ogoniland’s greatest hero, who was executed by the Nigerian government under military dictator Sani Abacha in 1995. She remembers clearly the day Ken Saro-Wiwa was arrested, when she was a teenage student in Bori, his birthplace. She hid in a drain and watched the city erupt. “People were running helter-skelter,” she said. “Soldiers got into the communities. In Bori, they were shooting. People were on the rampage.” That experience, and Saro-Wiwa’s insistence on rights for the oppressed, made her want to fight for her people. And, she said, while there were many organisations focused on the ravaged environment, few looked at the rights of women, who suffered disproportionately from the effects of oil pollution. “Women were always crying. Women were victims of so many things,” she said. “I need to help my women to stand.” In Ogoniland, men often go deep-sea fishing, but women traditionally stay close to shore, collecting crustaceans for their thick, fragrant soups or to sell. When there are no mangroves and thus no shellfish to harvest, Agbani said, “they now depend solely on men.” “That overdependence has been leading to a lot of violence, too,” she said. “You are there just to serve the man.” The way Agbani saw things, the Ogoni people were custodians of a borrowed environment — borrowed from their forefathers and from a generation not yet born. And it pained her to see local young men obstructing and trying to profit from the women’s efforts to rebuild it. “We have a lot of motivation,” she said. “We feel they’ve not really understood what it means, restoring the environment.” As a parting shot, the ringleader of the young men told Agbani that he would see her in court. “I think he was joking. If he wants to sue, that would be nice,” she said ironically, laughing with surprise. “That’ll be a good one.” As she headed out of Yaataah on a bumpy track, headed for the nursery in Bodo, the driver scooted out of the way of a bevy of motorbikes buzzing toward the village. More young men. They had heard that there was money to be had, but they had arrived too late. Agbani was on her way out. © 2021 The New York Times Company | 2 |
At least 25 people in the central Chinese province of Henan died on Tuesday, including a dozen trapped in a city subway as waters tore through the regional capital of Zhengzhou after days of torrential rain. Coming after floods killed at least 160 people in Germany and another 31 in Belgium last week, the disaster has reinforced the message that significant changes will have to be made to prepare for similar events in future. "Governments should first realize that the infrastructure they have built in the past or even recent ones are vulnerable to these extreme weather events," said Eduardo Araral, associate professor and co-director, Institute of Water Policy, at Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. In Europe, climate change is likely to increase the number of large, slow-moving storms that can linger longer in one area and deliver deluges of the kind seen in Germany and Belgium, according to a study published June 30 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. As the atmosphere warms with climate change, it also holds more moisture, which means that when rainclouds break, more rain is released. By the end of the century, such storms could be 14 times more frequent, the researchers found in the study using computer simulations. While the inundation that devastated wide swathes of western and southern Germany occurred thousands of kilometres from the events in Henan, both cases highlighted the vulnerability of heavily populated areas to catastrophic flooding and other natural disasters. "You need technical measures, bolstering dikes and flood barriers. But we also need to remodel cities," said Fred Hattermann at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. He said there was increasing focus on so-called "green-adaptation" measures, like polders and plains that can be flooded, to stop water running off too fast. "But when there's really heavy rain, all that may not help, so we have to learn to live with it," he said. Reinforcing dikes and climate-proofing housing, roads and urban infrastructure will cost billions. But the dramatic mobile phone footage of people struggling through subways submerged in chest-deep water in Zhengzhou or crying in fear as mud and debris swept through medieval German towns made clear the cost of doing nothing. "It is shocking and I have to say it is scary," said John Butschkowski, a Red Cross driver who was involved in rescue work in western Germany this week. "It is ghostly, no people anywhere, just rubbish. And it is inconceivable that this is happening in Germany." ONE YEAR'S RAINFALL IN THREE DAYS Koh Tieh-Yong, a weather and climate scientist at Singapore University of Social Sciences, said an overall assessment of rivers and water systems would be needed in areas vulnerable to climate change, including cities and farmlands. "Floods usually occur due to two factors combined: one, heavier-than-normal rainfall and two, insufficient capacity of rivers to discharge the additional rainwater collected," he said. In both China and northwestern Europe, the disasters followed a period of unusually heavy rain, equivalent in the Chinese case to a year's rainfall being dumped in just three days, that completely overwhelmed flood defences. After several severe floods over recent decades, buffers had been strengthened along major German rivers like the Rhine or the Elbe but last week's extreme rainfall also turned minor tributaries like the Ahr or the Swist into fearsome torrents. In China, built-up urban areas with inadequate water evacuation and large dams that modified the natural discharge of the Yellow River basin may also have contributed to the disaster, scientists said. But measures such as improving the resilience of buildings and raising riverbanks and improving drainage are unlikely to be enough on their own to avert the effects of severe flooding. As a last resort, warning systems, which were heavily criticized in Germany for leaving people insufficient time to react, will have to be improved. "It really needs to be embedded in practical knowledge that people have so they know what to do," said Christian Kuhlicke, head of a working group on environmental risks and extreme events at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. "If you can't keep the water back, if you can't save your buildings then at least make sure that all vulnerable people are moved out of these places." | 0 |
Bangladesh is the world's second biggest producer of jute after India, though the so-called "golden fibre" - named for its colour and its once-high price - has lost its sheen as demand has fallen. Now, however, a Bangladeshi scientist has found a way to turn the fibre into low-cost biodegradable cellulose sheets that can be made into greener throw-away bags that look and feel much like plastic ones. "The physical properties are quite similar," said Mubarak Ahmad Khan, a scientific adviser to the state-run Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) and leader of the team that developed the new 'sonali' - the Bengali word for golden - bags. He said the sacks are biodegradable after three months buried in soil, and can also be recycled. Bangladesh is now producing 2,000 of the bags a day on an experimental basis, but plans to scale up commercial production after signing an agreement last October with the British arm of a Japanese green packaging firm. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in March urged those working on the project "to help expedite the wider usage of the golden bags” for both economic and environmental gains. In April, the government approved about $900,000 in funding from Bangladesh's own climate change trust fund to help pave the way for large-scale production of the bags. “Once the project is in full swing, we hope to be able to produce the sonali bag commercially within six months,” Mamnur Rashid, the general manager of the BJMC, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. BIG DEMAND Bangladesh was one of the first countries to ban the use of plastic and polythene bags, in 2002, in an effort to stop them collecting in waterways and on land - though the ban has had little success. Today more than 60 countries - from China to France - have outlawed the bags in at least some regions or cities, Khan said. As the bans widen, more than 100 Bangladeshi and international firms are looking into using the new jute-based shopping sacks, Khan said. “Every day I am receiving emails or phone calls from buyers from different countries," he said, including Britain, Australia, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan and France. The bag is likely to have "huge demand around the world," said Sabuj Hossain, director of Dhaka-based export firm Eco Bangla Jute Limited. He said his company hopes eventually to export 10 million of the bags each month. Commercial production is expected to start near the end of the year, said Rashid of the BJMC. Khan said that if all the jute produced in Bangladesh went to make the sacks, the country was still likely to be able to meet just a third of expected demand. While Bangladesh's own plastic bag ban is now almost two decades old, million of the bags are still used each year in the South Asian country because of a lack of available alternatives and limited enforcement, officials said. About 410 million polythene bags are used in the capital Dhaka each month, the government estimates, and in some waterways such as the Buriganga River a three-metre-deep layer of discarded bags has built up. The new bags should help ease the problem, said Quazi Sarwar Imtiaz Hashmi, a former deputy director general of the Department of Environment. “As jute polymer bags are totally biodegradable and decomposable, it will help check pollution," he said. | 2 |
Produced from water from the adjacent Red Sea that is forced through salt-separating membranes, it is piped into the campus’ gleaming lab buildings and the shops, restaurants and cookie-cutter homes of the surrounding planned neighbourhoods. It irrigates the palm trees that line the immaculate streets and the grass field at the 5,000-seat sports stadium. Even the community swimming pools are filled with hundreds of thousands of gallons of it. Desalination provides all of the university’s fresh water, nearly 5 million gallons a day. But that amount is just a tiny fraction of Saudi Arabia’s total production. Beyond the walls and security checkpoints of the university, desalinated water makes up about half of the fresh water supply in this nation of 33 million people, one of the most water-starved on Earth. Worldwide, desalination is increasingly seen as one possible answer to problems of water quantity and quality that will worsen with global population growth and the extreme heat and prolonged drought linked to climate change. “It is a partial solution to water scarcity,” said Manzoor Qadir, an environmental scientist with the Water and Human Development Program of United Nations University. “This industry is going to grow. In the next five to 10 years, you’ll see more and more desalination plants.”
A road through an undeveloped area at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, which has a security wall on its perimeter, in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, Oct 2019. The New York Times
Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa are at the centre of this growth, with large new desalination projects planned or being built. Renewable water supplies in most of these countries already fall well below the United Nations definition of absolute water scarcity, which is about 350 gallons per person per day, and a 2017 report from the World Bank suggests that climate change will be the biggest factor increasing the pressure on water supplies in the future. A road through an undeveloped area at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, which has a security wall on its perimeter, in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, Oct 2019. The New York Times Yet the question remains where else desalination will grow. “In low income countries, almost nothing is happening,” Qadir said. The primary reason is cost. Desalination remains expensive, as it requires enormous amounts of energy. To make it more affordable and accessible, researchers around the world are studying how to improve desalination processes, devising more effective and durable membranes, for example, to produce more water per unit of energy, and better ways to deal with the highly concentrated brine that remains. Currently, desalination is largely limited to more affluent countries, especially those with ample fossil fuels and access to seawater (although brackish water inland can be desalinated, too). In addition to the Middle East and North Africa, desalination has made inroads in water-stressed parts of the United States, notably California, and other countries including Spain, Australia and China. There are environmental costs to desalination as well: in the emissions of greenhouse gases from the large amount of energy used, and in the disposal of the brine, which in addition to being extremely salty is laced with toxic treatment chemicals. Despite a practically limitless supply of seawater, desalinated water still accounts for about 1% of the world’s fresh water. Even in Saudi Arabia, where vast oil reserves (and the wealth that comes from them) have made the country the world’s desalination leader, responsible for about one-fifth of global production, there is a realisation that the process must be made more affordable and sustainable. At the university here, engineers are aiming to do just that. “We are trying to develop new processes, to consume less energy and be more environmentally friendly,” said Noreddine Ghaffour, a researcher in the Water Desalination and Reuse Centre at the university, which is universally known as Kaust. As the centre’s name implies, there is also a realisation that treating and reusing wastewater can help decrease stress on water supplies. “Any place you are doing desalination you should also be doing water reuse,” said Paul Buijs, who serves as the contact between researchers and industry at the centre. Outside the main Kaust desalination plant, which uses a technology called reverse osmosis, four huge tanks full of sand filter impurities from the seawater as it arrives through a pipeline. Inside, the scream of pumps is deafening as the water is forced at up to 70 times atmospheric pressure into several hundred steel tubes, each stuffed like a sausage with spiral-wound membranes.
Silos of lime, which is used to treat water after it is desalinated, at the desalination plant at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, Oct 2019. The New York Times
The microscopic pores in the membranes allow water molecules through but leave salt and most other impurities behind. Fresh water comes out of plastic pipes at the end of each tube. Silos of lime, which is used to treat water after it is desalinated, at the desalination plant at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, Oct 2019. The New York Times Worldwide, almost all new desalination plants use reverse osmosis, which was introduced half a century ago. Over the decades, engineers have made the process much more efficient, and significantly reduced costs, through the development of bigger plants and better membranes and energy-recovery methods. “The introduction of membranes in desalination was extremely disruptive,” Buijs said. “Yet it has taken from the 1970s to now to reach a maximum daily capacity of around a million cubic meters per day,” or about 250 million gallons, at the largest plants. “That is huge,” he said, “but each step of 10 times bigger is roughly taking 15 to 20 years.” There are also thermodynamic limits to how much more efficient plants can be made. Although membrane plants use a lot of electricity, mostly for the pumps, that energy can be from any source, including solar, wind or other renewable forms. The Saudi government has committed itself to expanding renewable energy as part of its plan to reduce dependence on oil and diversify the economy by 2030. But elements of the plan, which relies heavily on foreign investment, have been put in doubt because of the international backlash following the assassination of a dissident Saudi writer, Jamal Khashoggi, a year ago. Efforts to combine renewable energy and desalination are still in their early stages. One issue is the intermittent nature of most types of renewable power; a desalination plant would still need conventional sources of power at night or when winds are slight. Thomas Altmann, vice president for technology with ACWA Power, which develops, owns and operates desalination and power plants worldwide, said that plants that operate on renewable power 24 hours a day remained a goal. Yet Saudi Arabia and other countries still have many desalination plants that use older thermal technologies that rely completely on fossil fuels. Simply put, these plants boil seawater and condense the resulting steam, which is fresh water. Thermal plants are usually located next to fossil fuel-burning power plants, and use the excess heat from electricity generation to flash the seawater to vapour. They use tremendous amounts of energy — in 2009, the Saudi minister for water and electricity estimated that one-quarter of all the oil and gas produced in the country was used to generate electricity and produce fresh water. And gallon for gallon, thermal plants are currently much more expensive to operate than membrane plants. But since some thermal plants have at least a quarter of a century of life left in them, researchers at Kaust are working on ways to make them more efficient.
Electric water pressure pumps and reverse-osmosis membrane tubes at the Sawaco Desalination Plant in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Oct 2019. The New York Times
A small pilot plant in one of the research buildings uses solar energy to heat the water directly. The project, run by Muhammad Wakil Shahzad, a research scientist, also broadens the operating temperature range, effectively producing much more fresh water than a conventional thermal design. Electric water pressure pumps and reverse-osmosis membrane tubes at the Sawaco Desalination Plant in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Oct 2019. The New York Times Shahzad and others are designing a scaled-up version of the system for an existing Red Sea desalination plant. “We are at the point where we have to look into out-of-the-box solutions to achieve sustainable water production for future supplies,” he said. Regardless of the method used, all plants produce concentrated brine as a waste product. Qadir of United Nations University was an author of a recent study showing that brine volumes are greater than most industry estimates — on average, a gallon and a half for every gallon of fresh water produced. The most widespread current practice is to pump the brine back into the sea. But the extremely salty water can harm seagrasses and fish larvae, and can create oxygen-deprived layers in the water that can harm or kill other marine creatures. The industry argues that if done correctly, locating outlet pipes properly and equipping them with diffusers and other devices to immediately dilute the brine, most, if not all, of those problems can be avoided. Another approach is to try to do something with the brine other than throwing it away. “We do believe that brine is not just for discharge,” said Nikolay Voutchkov, a technical adviser to the Saline Water Conversion Corp, a government corporation that is the largest producer of desalinated water in the world, responsible for three-fourths of Saudi Arabia’s production. “That’s what we do with it today. But it is actually a very valuable source of minerals.” At the company’s research institute on the Persian Gulf coast, scientists are studying ways to extract some of those minerals. Obvious targets are calcium and magnesium, which occur naturally in seawater and remain in the brine through the desalination process. Yet for health reasons and to reduce corrosion in distribution pipes, the minerals must be added back to the desalinated water. The current way to do this is by buying them elsewhere. But why not harvest the calcium and magnesium from the brine instead? “Have the chemicals needed for remineralisation of the water extracted from the water itself,” Voutchkov said. “That’s our goal.” © 2019 New York Times News Service | 0 |
Audrey Withers, the editor who commissioned it, made an appearance herself in the magazine’s November 1941 issue. Tidy and imperturbable in a plaid over-shirt and pillbox hat, she is seen huddled with her staff in the basement of the magazine’s makeshift headquarters on New Bond Street, putting the final touches on the issue against a backdrop of peeling walls and shattered glass. “Here is Vogue, in spite of it all,” she declares in the accompanying text. Her words had the force of a rallying cry, the assertion of a woman who, from the day she took the magazine’s helm in 1940, at age 35, was bent on serving readers coverage of country houses and city brogues alongside plain talk about coping with food shortages and clothes rationing, spliced with harrowing glimpses of a nation and world under siege. A self-effacing figure who climbed the masthead as a copy writer and administrator, Withers was by her own account an unlikely pick for the job. “I am very well aware,” she wrote in “Lifespan,” her 1994 autobiography, “that I would not have been an appropriate editor of Vogue at any other period of its history.” Yet her voice seems freshly resonant (and has been cited on social media) in a time of pandemic, widespread unemployment and unrest. “It is an old right-wing trick to sit tight and say nothing (because that’s the best way of keeping things as they are),” she once all but scolded her American employers at Condé Nast, and moreover “to accuse the left wing of ‘being political’ because it is forced to be vocal in advocating anything new.” Withers’ left-of-centre politics and visceral response to events beyond the hermetic world of style is the subject of “Dressed for War,” a biography by Julie Summers. Published in February by the British division of Simon and Schuster and recently optioned for television, the book is an appreciation of an editor coolly grappling with challenges of a chaotic time.
Audrey Withers, photographed by Lord Snowdon, January 1960, was once called ‘the most powerful woman in London’. ©The Condé Nast Publications Ltd
In a heated political climate, compounded in publishing by advertising declines, slashed budgets, staff cuts, and an audience largely diverted to rival social-media platforms, Withers, these days, is being invoked — in spirit at least — as a role model for a new generation. Audrey Withers, photographed by Lord Snowdon, January 1960, was once called ‘the most powerful woman in London’. ©The Condé Nast Publications Ltd The British Vogue editor, who died at 96 in 2001, has found a kindred spirit in Edward Enninful, the current editor of British Vogue. A champion of inclusivity and social progress, Enninful in his July issue gives star billing on the magazine’s cover to three essential workers — a train conductor, a midwife and a supermarket clerk — and a gallery of others inside. An Irving Penn series commissioned once by Withers similarly portrays men and women holding traditional blue-collar jobs: a chimney sweep, a cobbler, a fishmonger and what was then known as a rag-and-bone man, a sack slung over his shoulder. “Here at Vogue we are, perhaps, not most famous for chronicling the minutiae of everyday life,” Enninful acknowledges in his editor’s letter, adding, “I can’t think of a more appropriate trio of women to represent the millions of people in the UK who, at the height of the pandemic, in the face of dangers large and small, put on their uniforms and work clothes and went to help people.” His tribute arrives at a time of transition for fashion magazines. Harper’s Bazaar has announced that next month Samira Nasr, formerly the executive fashion director of Vanity Fair, will succeed Glenda Bailey, who stepped down as editor of Harper’s Bazaar in January. Nasr will be the first black editor of the venerable Hearst title. “I will work to give all voices a platform to tell stories that would never had been told,” Nasr said in a video announcing her move. Over at American Vogue. Anna Wintour, its editor in chief, and the artistic director of its parent company, Condé Nast, has faced calls for accountability on matters of race and class, amplified during an abrupt change of leadership at the food magazine Bon Appétit. In a new memoir, “The Chiffon Trenches,” former Vogue mainstay André Leon Talley portrays Wintour, his onetime friend and boss, as soulless and stone-faced, driven by nothing more urgent, as he writes, than “a sense of her own ability to survive as a power broker,” carrying on “with sheer brute force.” Long said to be approaching retirement, Wintour has cast herself as a progressive; she announced her support of Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, in Vogue’s May issue. A vocal champion of the fashion industry, if not of the consumer, in her June/July issue she introduced A Common Thread, a fundraising initiative to support designers. The magazine otherwise offers a somewhat tepid acknowledgment of the continuing coronavirus crisis, with uncaptioned portraits of masked health care workers and a portfolio of “creatives” — models, artist, designers and others — photographed chopping and cooking homegrown vegetables, painting, or bonding with their pets. High time, some argue, for change of the guard. “The industry needs a new mindset,” said Phillip Picardi, a former editor at Teen Vogue and Out magazine. The very concept of leadership needs reinvention, Picardi suggested. “When I think about the overall culture, how these insular people keep being built up or torn down,” he said, “it seems society is ready to move past the idea of one-above-all.” For others the matter is moot. “To have an expectation that an editor is going to lead in the conversation, whether in words or pictures, is to be disappointed,” said Ariel Foxman, a writer and brand consultant, and the former editor of InStyle. “To expect a magazine to become that voice or offer consistent and innovative context for the new world that we live in is anachronistic.” At a time of rising democratisation in media, authoritarian magazine editors may themselves be anachronisms. “The celebrity editor is a dead or dying breed,” said Samir Husni, the director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi. In a time of upheaval, he said, readers are increasingly inclined to place their faith in a brand, not an editorial diva. “The editor doesn’t have to be somebody sitting on the side of the runway,” said Michael Wolf, a media consultant and the chief executive of Activate, a consulting firm in New York. “I don’t think readers are looking for the editors themselves to be aspirational figures.” They may gravitate instead to a model cast in the image of Withers, a woman driven less by self-regard and a thirst for fame than by a fervid sense of mission. “It is simply not modern to be unaware of or uninterested in what is going on all around you,” she wrote to Edna Woolman Chase, her mentor, in a kind of manifesto. In a time of crisis, Withers argued, a fashion magazine would be remiss turning its back on politics. “One is being every whit as political,” she wrote to Woolman Chase, “in giving one’s tacit approval to things as they are than in pressing for change.” She buttressed that conviction, dispatching journalists including Beaton and Lee Miller, a model turned photographer, to the front lines. Who would have thought? Born in 1905 into a free-spirited, intellectual family, Withers was educated at in Oxford and worked in a bookshop and, briefly, at a publishing house, before taking a post at Vogue. “Austerity,” as she was affectionately known among staff, was bent from the outset on exhorting her readers to make more of less — and, at a time of shortages to plant and harvest their own vegetables, stock preserves and, rather than shop, to “mend and make do” with items already in their wardrobes. Sartorially she lead by example, her own fashion rotation consisting of three suits and some blouses for work, one wool dress for evenings, and trousers and sweater off-duty. When limits were placed on the amount of labor and material used in civilian clothing, she consulted the British Board of Trade on a range of utility fashions priced within reach of many of her readers and encouraged paring down. “Subtraction,” she told readers, “is the first of fashion rules.” She reacted with wit to London’s nightly blackouts, sprinkling her pages with luminescent hatpins and brooches and a selection of jaunty gas mask totes. Amid fears that female factory workers would tangle their hair in machinery, she promoted cropped styles. Most radically, she assigned Miller to write about and photograph the siege of Saint Malo in Brittany, the liberation of Paris and the death of Hitler. As Vogue’s war correspondent, Miller delivered, capturing scenes from a hospital in a bombed-out Normandy village, including a searing image of a dying man being treated by an emergency medical team. She documented the liberation of Buchenwald, with its piled skeletal bodies, although Withers chose to publish only a small photograph. Withers commissioned journalist Jane Stockwood to write about the depredations of Nazi occupation in France, the shortages of food, electricity and water, and most wrenchingly, the massacre at the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, where SS officers shot 190 men and burned 452 women and children alive in the church. “It might not have been what Vogue readers wanted to read,” Summers writes, “but it was what Audrey needed them to understand, and she did not let up. That kind of fierce commitment could go a long way toward restoring the vitality of fashion magazines. “When we divorce political and social justice coverage from a magazine’s fashion coverage, we are saying these things are separate,” Picardi said. “What I’ve learned is, they are not.” c.2020 The New York Times Company | 2 |
A climate deal among key powers, and brokered by US President Barack Obama, has disappointed developing countries and observers by putting off tough decisions until 2010. Obama spoke of "the beginning of a new era of international action" but many other leaders said it was "imperfect," "not sufficient" and at best a "modest success" if it gets formally adopted by all 193 nations in Copenhagen on Saturday. Problems faced by China and the United States -- the world's top emitters -- stood in the way of a stronger deal for the world's first pact to combat climate change since the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol in 1997. In big advances, the deal adds a promise of $100 billion a year to help developing nations from 2020 and promotes the use of forests to soak up carbon dioxide. But it is unclear where the cash will come from. European leaders fell in reluctantly after Obama announced the deal with China, India, South Africa and Brazil. It was drafted by 28 nations ranging from OPEC oil produces to small island states. A drawback is that the deal is not legally binding -- a key demand of many developing nations. The text instead suggests an end-2010 deadline for transforming it into a legal text that had long been expected in Copenhagen. The deal sets a goal for limiting a rise in world temperatures to "below" 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times but does not set out measures for achieving the target, such as firm near-term cuts in emissions. "It clearly falls well short of what the public around the world was expecting," said Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "It's clearly not enough to keep temperatures on a track below 2 degrees." A U.N. study leaked this week showed that current pledges by all nations would put the world on track for a 3 Celsius warming, beyond what many nations view as a "dangerous" threshold for droughts, floods, sandstorms and rising seas. Mention in some past drafts of a goal of halving world emissions by 2050 below 1990 levels, for instance, was dropped. China and India insist that rich nations must first set far tougher goals for cutting their own greenhouse gas emissions. And developed nations failed to give an average number for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 -- many scientists say they need to cut by between 25 and 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 to avoid the worst of climate change. Instead, all countries would have to submit plans for fighting global warming by the end of January 2010 to the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat. The pact sums up pledges by major economies for curbing emissions so far -- the looming deadline of Copenhagen spurred nations including China, the United States, Russia and India to promise targets. But no nations promised deeper cuts during the December 7-18 conference as part of a drive to shift the world economy away from fossil fuels toward renewable energies such as wind and solar power. The deal proposes deadlines of the end of 2010 for a new "legally binding" instruments. Jake Schmidt, of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that the talks were complicated by China's drive to assert a new, more powerful, role for itself in the world. "Part of the dysfunction is that China is feeling its way into a new, more powerful role," he said. Obama pushed through the pact while he faces problems at home. His goal of cutting U.S. emissions by 4 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 is stalled in the U.S. Senate. And the deal is unclear on many points. It says developed nations should provide $30 billion in aid to help the poor from 2010-12 and then raise aid to $100 billion a year from 2020. But it does not say where the money will come from, saying it will be a variety of sources, including public and private. That means that developed nations might try to tap carbon markets for almost all the cash and plan little in public funds. | 0 |
Lights went out at tourism landmarks and homes across the globe on Saturday for Earth Hour 2009, a global event designed to highlight the threat from climate change. From the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge to the Eiffel Tower in Paris and London's Houses of Parliament, lights were dimmed as part of a campaign to encourage people to cut energy use and curb greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. Organizers said the action showed millions of people wanted governments to work out a strong new U.N. deal to fight global warming by the end of 2009, even though the global economic crisis has raised worries about the costs. "We have been dreaming of a new climate deal for a long time," Kim Carstensen, head of a global climate initiative at the conservation group WWF, said in a candle-lit bar in the German city of Bonn, which hosts U.N. climate talks between March 29 and April 8. "Now we're no longer so alone with our dream. We're sharing it with all these people switching off their lights," he said as delegates and activists sipped bluish cocktails. The U.N. Climate Panel says greenhouse gas emissions are warming the planet and will lead to more floods, droughts, heatwaves, rising sea levels and animal and plant extinctions. World emissions have risen by about 70 percent since the 1970s. China has recently overtaken the United States as the top emitter, ahead of the European Union, Russia and India. BILLION PEOPLE TAKE PART The U.N. Climate Panel says rich nations will have to cut their emissions to a level between 25 and 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 to avoid the worst effects of warming. Developing nations will also have to slow the rise of their emissions by 2020, it says. Australia first held Earth Hour in 2007 and it went global in 2008, attracting 50 million people, organizers say. WWF, which started the event, is hoping one billion people from nearly 90 countries will take part. "The primary reason we do it is because we want people to think, even if it is for an hour, what they can do to lower their carbon footprint, and ideally take that beyond the hour," Earth Hour executive director Andy Ridley told reporters at Sydney's Bondi Beach. In Asia, lights at landmarks in China, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines were dimmed as people celebrated with candle-lit picnics and concerts. Buildings in Singapore's business district went dark along with major landmarks such as the Singapore Flyer, a giant observation wheel. Other global landmarks that switched off their lights included the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the Reserve Bank in Mumbai, the dome of St Peter's Basilica in Rome, Egypt's Great Pyramids and the Acropolis in Athens. | 2 |
Japan plans to unveil a proposal later this week for a new global framework on cutting greenhouse gas emissions from 2013, Kyodo news agency said on Monday, quoting government officials. The topic of global warming will be high on the agenda at next month's Group of Eight summit, where host Germany wants members countries to agree to halve carbon emissions by 2050. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said Japan was willing to take leadership on building a framework to extend beyond 2012 the Kyoto protocol on cutting carbon emissions, named after the country's ancient capital where it was signed in 1997. "I am considering an appropriate target, including numerical targets, but I cannot tell you about it at this stage," Abe told reporters on Monday. Japan, which has said the environment will be a key issue when it hosts the G8 summit next year, has been stressing the need to cut down on emissions. Abe brought up the issue when he met US President George W. Bush during a visit to Washington last month. The United States has refused to ratify the Kyoto protocol and is believed to be against setting any numerical targets for the future. "Any target must be beneficial to setting up a framework that many countries would participate in and would prevent global warming," Abe said. Abe will meet British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett on Tuesday in Tokyo, where she is to speak about climate change at a seminar sponsored by Japan's biggest business lobby. Beckett during a visit to Hong Kong on Monday urged China, the world's second-largest emitter of carbon emissions after the United States, to join global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases or face the prospect of slower economic growth. | 0 |
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Sunday there was a real chance industrialised countries could agree the outline of a deal to succeed the Kyoto Protocol on curbing greenhouse gas emissions at a June summit. Britain put global warming at the top of the diplomatic agenda during its presidency of the Group of Eight (G8) club of industrialised nations in 2005 and Blair is pushing for a breakthrough before he leaves office this year. "I think there is a real change of mood in America, for reasons of energy security, as well as climate change, people know we've got to act," Blair told BBC television. "I think there is a real chance of getting outline agreement this year at the G8 to a proper stabilisation goal for the climate, a framework within which we set a carbon price ... and ... technology transfer," he said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, presiding over Germany's twin presidencies of the G8 and the European Union, said last week climate change was a top item on the agendas of both. She said there would be a G8 conference in May to discuss the technical details so an agreement on issues such as climate change could be worked out ahead of the G8 summit in June. Blair repeated on Sunday that getting the United States -- which pulled out of Kyoto in 2001 -- and China and India on board was key to striking a deal. Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa will attend the June summit as part of the G8's 'outreach' programme, along with members Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Russia and the United States. Blair has said this means the meeting will be an ideal forum to thrash out a deal which could have global acceptance. "The whole idea is to create the circumstances in which America, China and India are part of the new deal so that once the Kyoto Treaty expires you've then got something in the international community," he said. Kyoto runs until 2012 but took two years to negotiate, eight more to come into force, and does not include United States, China and India. Blair said setting a carbon price was essential to give business, industry and nations an incentive to reduce their dependence on fossil fuel. He also said transfer of technology to China and India to tackle climate change was vital. | 0 |
The conservative state is already one of the only EU members to bar marriage or civil partnerships for same sex couples. But supporters of the proposal, including the Orthodox Church and all but one parliamentary party, say they want to go further and change the constitutional definition of marriage from a union of "spouses", to one exclusively of a man and a woman to stop gay couples winning the right to marry in the future. Dozens of human rights groups, which are encouraging people to boycott the ballot, have warned that approval would embolden further attempts to chip away at the rights of minority groups and push Romania onto a populist, authoritarian track. A poll released on Friday by CURS estimated a turnout of 34 percent - above the needed 30 percent threshold - with 90 percent in favour of the change. A group called the Coalition for the Family collected 3 million signatures to enable the change. The lower house of parliament voted in favour last year and the senate followed in September, making the referendum the last needed stage. Some Coalition campaign posters urged people to vote "Yes" to defend family values or run the risk of gay couples stealing or adopting their children. A separate advert said a "No" vote would enable a man to marry a tree. "Many fear that what has happened in other countries, such as legalizing marriage between a man and an animal, could happen here," the leader of the ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD), Liviu Dragnea, told television station Romania TV. LOOSE CONTROLS Days before the vote, the government relaxed anti-fraud monitoring and limited options for challenging the result, while the country's broadcasting regulator eliminated a cut-off date for campaigning. "There are ... no efficient, applicable mechanisms to verify fraud for this referendum," independent think tank Expert Forum (EFOR) said, adding the conditions have created "a climate of distrust in the fairness of the process" Some opposition politicians and activists have accused the PSD of using the vote as a smokescreen to divert attention from its leader's legal problems, and its clashes with the European Commission over the rule of law. Dragnea's appeal against a conviction in an abuse of office case begins on Oct 8, one day after the vote. "The plan is clear: creating an anti-European sentiment in Romania that Liviu Dragnea can use when European officials ask him not to destroy the judicial system, rule of law and anti-corruption fight," former Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said. The government has dismissed the accusations and the Orthodox Church has said a "Yes" vote would be Christian, democratic and patriotic. Romania decriminalised homosexuality in 2001, decades after neighbouring countries and LGBT discrimination is widespread. >>>>>>>>>>>> Photo name: Romania 1+2 Caption 1: Romanian clergymen take part in a rally in support of a "Yes" vote on the upcoming referendum, proposing changes to the constitution to prevent future recognition of same-sex marriages, in Draganesti, Romania, Oct 4, 2018. REUTERS | 2 |
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