Africa

National mourning is declared after jihadist attacks reportedly kill 49 civilians and 15 soldiers.

A Group photo of participants of the regional conference on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and nuclear-free-zone in Central Asia held on August 29, 2023. Credit: Jibek Joly TV Channel

By Katsuhiro Asagiri and Kunsaya Kurmet-Rakhimova
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, Sep 7 2023 (IPS)

Exactly 32 years ago, on September 29, 1991, Kazakhstan, then part of the Soviet Union, made a historic decision that would alter its fate. On that day, Kazakhstan permanently closed the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site, defying the central government in Moscow. This marked the start of Kazakhstan’s transformation from a nuclear-armed state, possessing the fourth-largest nuclear arsenal at the time, to a non-nuclear-weapon state. Kazakhstan’s audacious move to eliminate its nuclear weapons was rooted in a profound commitment to global disarmament, setting an inspiring precedent.

Eighteen years later, in 2009, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution, led by Kazakhstan, designating August 29 as the International Day Against Nuclear Tests. This day serves as a solemn reminder of the catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons and underscores the urgent imperative for disarmament.

In a world where the threat of nuclear weapons being used again remains a grim reality, a pivotal question looms: Can we genuinely aspire to a world free of nuclear arms? To delve deeper into this pressing concern and comprehend the menace posed by nuclear weapons testing and deployment, we interviewed Karipbek Kuyukov and participants of the “Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons and the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone” regional conference. This conference, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan in partnership with the Center for International Security and Policy (CISP), Soka Gakkai International (SGI), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), took place in Astana, Kazakhstan to commemorate this year’s International Day Against Nuclear Tests.

Karipbek Kuyukov is an armless painter from Kazakhstan, and global anti–nuclear weapon testing & nonproliferation activist. Credit: Jibek Joly TV Channel

One of the most poignant moments during the conference came from Dmitriy Vesselov, a third-generation survivor of nuclear testing. He provided a heartfelt testimony about the profound human toll exacted by nuclear testings on his family and the broader community. The nuclear tests conducted at the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site over four decades unleashed explosions 2,500 times more potent than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The repercussions of these tests have echoed through generations, inflicting severe health problems and untold suffering.

Kuyukov, a renowned Kazakh artist born without hands due to radiation exposure in his mother’s womb, has devoted his life to raising awareness about the horrors of nuclear testing. His powerful artwork, created using his lips or toes, depicts the survivors of nuclear tests and serves as a poignant tribute to those who perished. Kuyukov’s unwavering commitment reflects the indomitable human spirit in the face of unimaginable adversity.

Dmitriy Vesselov’s testimony shed light on the ongoing challenges faced by survivors. He candidly shared his struggles with health issues, including acromioclavicular dysostosis, a condition severely limiting his physical capabilities. Vesselov expressed his deep concern about the potential transmission of these health problems to future generations. Consequently, he has chosen not to have children. The conference underscored the imperative of averting the repetition of history by delving into the past tragedies inflicted by nuclear weapons testings.

Hirotsugu Terasaki, Director General of Peace and Global Issues of SGI, commenting on the event said “I believe that this regional conference is a new milestone, a starting point for representatives from five countries of Central Asia to discuss how we can advance the process toward a nuclear-weapon-free world, given the ever-increasing threat of nuclear weapons.”

Terasaki observed that the international community is actively deliberating Articles 6 and 7 of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), mandating state parties to provide support to victims and address environmental remediation. He accentuated Kazakhstan’s pivotal role as a co-chair of the working group central to these discussions.

Kazakhstan does provide special medical insurance and benefits to victims of nuclear tests. However, these benefits are predominantly extended to individuals officially certified as disabled or a family member of those who succumbed to radiation-related illnesses. Numerous victims, like Vesselov, who do not fall within these categories, remain ineligible for assistance.

Despite his daunting challenges, Mr. Vesselov maintains an unwavering sense of hope. He hopes that his testimony will serve as a stark reminder of the perils of nuclear weapons and awaken global consciousness regarding the dangers posed by even small tactical nuclear weapons and the specter of limited nuclear conflicts. Ultimately, his deepest aspiration, shared by all victims of nuclear weapons, is that the world will never bear witness to such a devastating tragedy again.

As Kazakhstan assumes its role as President-designate of the third Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW, it reaffirms its steadfast commitment to global peace and disarmament. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s resolute words resonate with the sentiment of a nation that has borne the scars of nuclear testing: “Such a tragedy should not happen again. Our country will unwaveringly uphold the principles of nuclear security.”

At the conference, member states of the Treaty of Semipalatinsk were encouraged to support Kazakhstan in this endeavor, and in its efforts to represent the Central Asian region’s contribution to nuclear disarmament, through attending the second Meeting of States Parties of the TPNW, at least as observers, which will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York between 27 November and 1 December this year, and by signing and ratifying the TPNW at the earliest opportunity.

In a world still grappling with the looming specter of nuclear devastation, Kazakhstan’s journey from a nuclear test site to a leading advocate for disarmament serves as a beacon of hope. Kazakhstan’s unwavering commitment to peace stands as a testament to the enduring legacy of a nation that once bore the weight of nuclear tests and now champions a safer, more secure world for all.

Katsuhiro Asagiri is President of INPS Japan and Kunsaya Kurmet-Rakhimova is a reporter of Jibek Joly(Silk Way) TV Channel.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Ghana's 2-1 victory over Central African Republic sees the Black Stars book their spot at next year's finals in Ivory Coast, with Angola also progressing from Group E.

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United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres addresses the 22nd session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations headquarters in New York City on 17 April 17 2023. Credit: Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

By Mandeep S.Tiwana
NEW YORK, Sep 7 2023 (IPS)

This September, world leaders and public policy advocates from around the world will descend on New York for the UN General Assembly. Alongside conversations on peace and security, global development and climate change, progress – or the lack of it – on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is expected to take centre-stage. A major SDG Summit will be held on 18 and 19 September. The UN hopes that it will serve as a ‘rallying cry to recharge momentum for world leaders to come together to reflect on where we stand and resolve to do more’. But are the world’s leaders in a mood to uphold the UN’s purpose, and can the UN’s leadership rise to the occasion by resolutely addressing destructive behaviours?

Sadly, the world is facing an acute crisis of leadership. In far too many countries authoritarian leaders have seized power through a combination of populist political discourse, outright repression and military coups. Our findings on the CIVICUS Monitor – a participatory research platform that measures civic freedoms in every country – show that 85% of the world’s population live in places where serious attacks on basic fundamental freedoms to organise, speak out and protest are taking place. Respect for these freedoms is essential so that people and civil society organisations can have a say in inclusive decision making.

UN undermined

The UN Charter begins with the words, ‘We the Peoples’ and a resolve to save future generations from the scourge of war. Its ideals, such as respect for human rights and the dignity of every person, are being eroded by powerful states that have introduced slippery concepts such as ‘cultural relativism’ and ‘development with national characteristics’. The consensus to seek solutions to global challenges through the UN appears to be at breaking point. As we speak hostilities are raging in Ukraine, Sudan, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the Sahel region even as millions of people reel from the negative consequences of protracted conflicts and oppression in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Syria and Yemen, to name a few.

Article 1 of the UN Charter underscores the UN’s role in harmonising the actions of nations towards the attainment of common ends, including in relation to solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character, and to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all. But in a time of eye-watering inequality within and between countries, big economic decisions affecting people and the planet are not being made collectively at the UN but by the G20 group of the world’s biggest economies, whose leaders are meeting prior to the UN General Assembly to make economic decisions with ramifications for all countries.

Economic and development cooperation policies for a large chunk of the globe are also determined through the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Established in 1961, the OECD comprises 38 countries with a stated commitment to democratic values and market-based economics. Civil society has worked hard to get the OECD to take action on issues such as fair taxation, social protection and civic space.

More recently, the BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – grouping of countries that together account for 40 per cent of the world’s population and a quarter of the globe’s GDP are seeking to emerge as a counterweight to the OECD. However, concerns remain about the values that bind this alliance. At its recent summit in South Africa six new members were admitted, four of which – Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – are ruled by totalitarian governments with a history of repressing civil society voices. This comes on top of concerns that China and Russia are driving the BRICS agenda despite credible allegations that their governments have committed crimes against humanity.

The challenge before the UN’s leadership this September is to find ways to bring coherence and harmony to decisions being taken at the G20, OECD, BRICS and elsewhere to serve the best interests of excluded people around the globe. A focus on the SDGs by emphasising their universality and indivisibility can provide some hope.

SDGs off-track

The adoption of the SDGs in 2015 was a groundbreaking moment. The 17 ambitious SDGs and their 169 targets have been called the greatest ever human endeavour to create peaceful, just, equal and sustainable societies. The SDGs include promises to tackle inequality and corruption, promote women’s equality and empowerment, support inclusive and participatory governance, ensure sustainable consumption and production, usher in rule of law and catalyse effective partnerships for development.

But seven years on the SDGs are seriously off-track. The UN Secretary-General’s SDG progress report released this July laments that the promise to ‘leave no one behind’ is in peril. As many as 30 per cent of the targets are reported to have seen no progress or worse to have regressed below their 2015 baseline. The climate crisis, war in Ukraine, a weak global economy and the COVID-19 pandemic are cited as some of the reasons why progress is lacking.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is pushing for an SDG stimulus plan to scale up financing to the tune of US$500 billion. It remains to be seen how successful this would be given the self-interest being pursued by major powers that have the financial resources to contribute. Moreover, without civic participation and guarantees for enabled civil societies, there is a high probability that SDG stimulus funds could be misused by authoritarian governments to reinforce networks of patronage and to shore up repressive state apparatuses.

Also up for discussion at the UN General Assembly will be plans for a major Summit for the Future in 2024 to deliver the UN Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda report, released in 2021. This proposes among other things the appointment of a UN Envoy for Future Generations, an upgrade of key UN institutions, digital cooperation across the board and boosting partnerships to drive access and inclusion at the UN. But with multilateralism stymied by hostility and divisions among big powers on the implementation of internationally agreed norms, achieving progress on this agenda implies a huge responsibility on the UN’s leadership to forge consensus while speaking truth to power and challenging damaging behaviours by states and their leaders.

The UN’s leadership have found its voice on the issue of climate change. Secretary-General Guterres has been remarkably candid about the negative impacts of the fossil fuel industry and its supporters. This July, he warned that ‘The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived’. Similar candour is required to call out the twin plagues of authoritarianism and populism which are causing immense suffering to people around the world while exacerbating conflict, inequality and climate change.

The formation of the UN as the conscience of the world in 1945 was an exercise in optimism and altruism. This September that spirit will be needed more than ever to start creating a better world for all, and to prove the UN’s value.

Mandeep S. Tiwana is chief officer for evidence and engagement + representative to the UN headquarters at CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance.

 

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Global community urged to decarbonise their economy. Fossil fuels emit the highest carbon footprint of all fuel types and are considered dirty energy, followed by coal. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Sep 7 2023 (IPS)

To cool down a burning planet, Africa’s Head of State and Government at the inaugural Africa Climate Summit unveiled the ‘Nairobi Declaration’ as curtains fell on the inaugural Africa Climate Summit held in Nairobi, September 4-6, 2023, under the theme “Driving Green Growth and Climate Finance Solutions for Africa and the World.”

The joint declaration is a unified approach and political leadership on an African vision that simultaneously pursues climate change and development agenda. As climate change pushes an already fragile continent between a rock and a hard place, Africa’s leaders say immediate action is needed.

Included in the declaration is an acknowledgement of the 6th Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2023, stating that the world is not on track to keeping within the 1.5°C limit agreed in Paris and that global emissions must be cut by 45 per cent in this decade.

“The report is particularly important because it highlights the interdependence of climate, ecosystems and biodiversity, and human societies – the value of diverse forms of knowledge, and the close linkages between climate adaptation, mitigation, ecosystem health, human well-being, and sustainable development,” James Njuguna from the Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources tells IPS.

As such, the Nairobi declaration underscores the IPCC confirmation that “Africa is warming faster than the rest of the world and, if unabated, climate change will continue to have adverse impacts on African economies and societies, and hamper growth and wellbeing.”

Against this backdrop, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, while speaking at the Nairobi climate summit, stressed that “an injustice burns at the heart of the climate crisis, and its flame is scorching hopes and possibilities here in Africa. This continent accounts for less than 4 per cent of global emissions. Yet it suffers some of the worst effects of rising global temperatures: extreme heat, ferocious floods, and tens of thousands dead from devastating droughts.”

To push the continent’s climate agenda forward, the declaration identifies several collective actions needed to halt the speed of the ongoing climate crisis and to build climate resilience. African leaders urged the global community to act with speed in reducing emissions and honouring the commitment to provide USD100 billion in annual climate finance, as promised 14 years ago at the Copenhagen conference.

Other actions include accelerating all efforts to reduce emissions to align with goals set forth in the Paris Agreement, upholding commitments to a fair and accelerated process of phasing down coal, and abolishment all fossil fuel subsidies. And swiftly operationalise the Loss and Damage facility agreed at COP27 and accelerate implementation of the African Union Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032).

Reducing dependency on fossil fuels and increasing reliance on renewable energy is an important tool in the fight against climate change. Fossil fuels emit the highest carbon footprint of all fuel types and are considered dirty energy, followed by coal. Africa’s abundance of wind and solar energy can simultaneously meet development and climate change adaptation and mitigation goals.

Mitigation costs for a clean energy transition in Africa are about USD 190 billion per year until 2030. In 2009, during the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15), developed countries committed to a collective goal of mobilizing USD 100 billion per year by 2020 for climate action. As the global community heads to COP28, the pledge is still very much a broken promise.

Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Sudan incurred an estimated USD 7.4 billion of livestock losses due to climate change and yet rich nations paid less than 5 per cent of the USD53.3 billion East Africa needs to confront the climate crisis.

To meet the cost of climate adaptation and mitigation efforts, Africa’s head of state and government are seeking: “New debt relief interventions and instruments to pre-empt debt default – with the ability to extend sovereign debt tenor and include a 10-year grace period. New universal global instruments to collect additional revenue.

“Decisive action on the promotion of inclusive and effective international tax cooperation at the United Nations with the aim to reduce Africa’s loss of USD 27 billion annual corporate tax revenue through profit shifting by at least 50 per cent by 2030 and 75 per cent by 2050.”

Towards pushing the continent’s climate agenda forward, the Nairobi declaration proposes to establish a new financing architecture that is responsive to Africa’s needs, including debt restructuring and relief, including the development of a new Global Climate Finance Charter through the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and COP processes by 2025.

African leaders have yet another critical platform to push the climate agenda forward at the Climate Ambition Summit to be held on September 20, 2023, during the high-level week of the UNGA – as an opportunity for ‘First Movers and Doers’.

‘First Movers and Doers’ is in reference to people and institutions from Government, business, finance, local authorities, and civil society who are already engaged in climate action and can offer pointers into how climate action can be accelerated. Further, the Nairobi declaration will form the basis of negotiations at the COP28 summit as Africa’s common position in global climate change processes.

Actioning the declaration is particularly urgent for the injustice of climate change is such that climate-induced disasters have cornered an already fragile continent, and a most vulnerable African population is in the eye of a deadly storm.

Malawi, Mozambique, and Madagascar were in February and March this year in the crosshairs of the most severe storms in the last 20 years. Deadly floods affected countries such as Chad, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya are experiencing the most severe drought in the last 40 years due to five consecutive rainy seasons. Children in 48 out of 49 African countries assessed by UNICEF are at high or extremely high risk of the impacts of climate change. Children in the Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria, Guinea, Somalia, and Guinea Bissau are the most at risk.

To cushion vulnerable communities against the vagaries of climate change, the declaration seeks to hold rich nations accountable for their contribution to the climate status quo and to therefore reach new global carbon taxes, restructure global climate financial infrastructure and decarbonise the global economy in favour of a green economy.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Rosina Das used a loan from Accion’s partner Annapurna Finance to keep her grocery store in Odisha, India, open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: Accion

By Debdoot Banerjee
MUMBAI, India, Sep 7 2023 (IPS)

Thunderstorms, flash floods, and landslides have made headlines this year’s monsoon season, as rainfall in northern India was far more intense than forecast. This comes hot on the heels of what was for many, the warmest pre-monsoon season on record. These extreme weather patterns are creating chaos for farmers, with smallholders hardest hit.

When the temperature in a wheat field exceeds 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius), seeds start to break down. During last year’s heatwave, some farmers saw their incomes reduce by as much as 50%, as thousands of hectares were affected.

Tailored financial tools – such as heat-indexed insurance, emergency loans that compensate for lost income, and even facilitating relocation to more liveable climates as a last resort – are essential. Although microfinance is widely available in India, few financial services have been tailored to address the climate crisis

As temperatures around the world continue to break records, India is among the most affected. Reports indicate that almost 80% of the country’s 1.4 billion people are vulnerable to climate shocks.

In the context of these rapid onset disasters, new tools are needed to help low-income communities respond and build their resilience. Digital tools and services provided by inclusive fintechs have an important role to play here and will be key to helping communities adapt.

 

Heat insurance, emergency loans key to helping people adapt

In partnership with the Government of India, the country’s financial services sector has a vital role to play in ensuring low-income individuals have the knowledge, financial tools, and resources they need to survive a crisis and adapt to climate change. Doing so will also benefit the economy as a whole, as it is estimated that by 2030, heat stress alone could lead to the loss of 34 million jobs in India, mostly in agriculture and construction.

Tailored financial tools – such as heat-indexed insurance, emergency loans that compensate for lost income, and even facilitating relocation to more liveable climates as a last resort – are essential. Although microfinance is widely available in India, few financial services have been tailored to address the climate crisis.

One pioneering exception comes from the Mahila Housing Trust (MHT) in Ahmedabad. Their research revealed the heavy financial losses suffered by low-income urban women during heat waves and determined that the women would be willing to pay up to $2 per month for a heat-index insurance program with predetermined payouts designed to cover several days of lost income.

The pilot program has already offered insights into the necessary preconditions for such a product, including a clearly defined index and data sources, and a strong local distribution channel. Its lessons can guide the development of similar financial solutions for other low-income groups and climate events, such as floods.

As climate change accelerates, not everyone is able to adapt where they are, and growing numbers of people are being displaced. Digital records of assets, income, and lending histories could be critical to ensuring displaced persons are able to start new businesses and lives elsewhere with climate-sensitive financial tools, such as emergency loans, microloans, and bundled products.

 

Digital delivery increases options for end users

Rosina Das who runs a small grocery shop in Odisha is one of the thousands of Annapurna clients to benefit from an emergency loan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Accion worked with Annapurna to develop the digital emergency loan product as part of a wider program with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth to connect small businesses to the digital economy.

Debdoot Banerjee, Director of Digital Strategy and Transformation with Accion’s Global Advisory Solutions team, based in India

These types of emergency loans can help smallholder farmers and micro businesses survive in the face of climate crises and supply chain disruption. With rapid capital injections, businesses can stay open and continue to benefit the local community during the unpredictability of the monsoon season.

And bundled insurance and loan products like those offered by agricultural insurance company Pula provide smallholder farmers across Africa protection they have never had, as well as incentives to switch to resilient seeds and other measures to protect against climate-related losses in future years.

Finally, continuing to expand access to digital financial platforms is key to building an inclusive financial system and resilience in the context of climate change. Governments and fintech companies can use these platforms and data analytics to identify communities most vulnerable to extreme heat and use this information to target relief efforts, including financial solutions. Residents can access the information on their mobile and smart phones, and for providers, the cost of servicing and acquiring their clients is far lower through digital channels.

To be sure, financial solutions are only one part of the larger changes needed for low-income communities to adapt to climate change.

In the long term, India and all countries must develop a financially inclusive green economy. This takes a comprehensive approach that includes greater investments in renewable energy, the development of climate-resilient infrastructure, and the widescale promotion of sustainable agriculture, aided by digital tools and financial solutions that enable farmers to increase their productivity while playing a vital role in the sustainable management of rural environments.

Policymakers and financial technology developers in India must act swiftly to address both the short-term and long-term solutions. Policymakers’ support could incentivize green financing initiatives, including through subsidizing climate-sensitive financial products for the poor.

Financial technology developers need to collaborate with local communities and organizations to design and implement innovative solutions that cater to the specific needs of low-income individuals in different situations and facing different climate threats.

Unless we find a way for rural farmers and low-income working people to survive today’s climate extremes, there will be no sustainable, prosperous future. And for this, digital financial services designed for the most impacted communities are an indispensable solution.

 

Debdoot Banerjee is the Director, Digital Strategy and Transformation with Accion’s Global Advisory Solutions team, based in India.

 

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By Mads Flarup Christensen
AMSTERDAM, Sep 7 2023 (IPS)

Super-charging efforts and setting a fresh direction for the next phase of climate policymaking is what’s urgently needed and on offer this month during the 78th UN General Assembly in New York, as mass heat waves, devastating wildfires, fatal floods, and withering droughts continue to wreak havoc across continents.

These extreme weather events, alongside geopolitical tensions, expose how fundamental it is for the world to have solutions inexplicably based on climate justice, collaboration and international cooperation to address ongoing impacts and to prevent future polycrises.

If we are to live up to the theme of this year’s UNGA debate of “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity”, we need to stop pitting the urgent fossil fuel phaseout against who should pay for climate impacts around the world. It’s a false choice as we need both, and we need to act for the global common good.

Climate justice means both the end of the era of fossil fuels, through a green just transition, and holding country and corporate polluters responsible, legally and financially, for the harm caused by climate change.

Climate Justice Camp in Lebanon. Led by climate groups across the Middle East and North Africa, youth organisers and mobilisers from almost 100 countries attended the week-long Climate Justice Camp in Lebanon.

The climate justice bill can start to be settled by rich countries making good on their long standing $100 billion per year climate finance promise, and committing to scale up further.

Also, by governments introducing taxes to ensure the fossil fuel industry, and other major polluters, pay for the destruction and harm they have caused. The ‘big five’ oil and gas companies, for a start, had 2022 profits of $200bn.

This more accurate meaning of climate justice is essential and global since climate impacts don’t respect borders. Take the devastating wildfires in Canada in June, when New Yorkers all over the state were enveloped in smog and more than 50 million people were put under air quality alerts across the US.

Or how India, the world’s largest rice exporter, brought in a ban in July on the staple, which dozens of countries especially in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa rely on, furthering food insecurity, hunger and discord.

Political leaders need to look past their country lines and their next election cycle, and act in the interests of the next generation and people on the frontlines of the climate crisis today, instead of the big multinational fossil fuel companies.

Oil, coal and gas are the largest contributors to global climate change and they are undeniably killing us. Recent studies show that nearly 9 million people a year die from inhaling particulates produced by burning fossil fuels.

The toxic politics around the G20 summit are not shaping up to deliver anything useful on climate. This cannot set the tone of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Climate Ambition Summit on September 20th.

Masses of people will be mobilising across the planet, and on the streets of New York, calling for climate justice and solutions that work for us all in the present day, and not untested tech fixes of the faraway.

A straight up climate justice action leaders could take from is how 58% of Ecuadorians voted to keep new oil in the ground in the Amazonian Yasuní National Park, a home to Indigenous communities and highly biodiverse regions. As part of the result, the state-owned Petroecuador has one year to close up shop there.

This monumental vote by the people of Ecuador, somewhat to their government’s dismay, is in stark contrast to the UK government’s tomfoolery in wishing to “max out” the North Sea’s remaining oil and fossil gas reserves to shore up “energy security”. This despite even the World Economic Forum stating in January that “short-term fixes will lead to a bleak future – to achieve energy security and sustainability, the only solution is to accelerate the low-carbon transition.”

Who will be the climate justice leaders at the Climate Ambition Summit remains to be seen, but it is clear to civil society that young people are leading the charge. The end of August saw one of the largest climate justice camps take place in the mountains of Lebanon, where 450 young leaders from the world’s most climate-affected regions co-created strategies and demands that call on leaders to put climate justice at the core of climate policy. They know the science is crystal clear and they demand a livable future.

The moment is upon decision-makers now, especially of the biggest polluting countries, to become climate justice leaders by delivering a fast and fair fossil fuel phase out that is funded and makes polluters pay.

It is the time for the political and corporate elite to act justly, cooperatively and collaboratively to stop us all from boiling.

Mads Flarup Christensen is interim Executive Director of Greenpeace International.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Delegates outside the Climate Action Innovation Hub on the frontlines of the Africa Climate Summit. Credit: Aimable Twahirwa

By Aimable Twahirwa
NAIROBI, Sep 6 2023 (IPS)

A group of young African startups made their presence known at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, hoping to play a big role in promoting home-grown climate-oriented solutions.

In line with the recently adopted African Union Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy (2022-2032), experts believe that broad-based ownership and inclusive participation are vital for engaging Africa’s women and young people to showcase their ‘game-changing’ innovations.

According to Dr Yossi Matias, Vice-President of the Google Research initiative, pushing for innovative solutions and research around climate change remains critical for Africa when considering that the continent continues to feel the impacts of global warming in many ways.

“Most solutions promoted by African startups and innovators are in danger of being ignored because of many factors, but there is a way to overcome these challenges,” Yossi told IPS.

Among the solutions put forward by young innovators at the Climate Action Innovation Hub, which took place on the sidelines of the summit, were clean energy, climate-smart agriculture and sustainable land management, biodiversity conservation, water storage and conservation, waste management, and circular economy.

The innovations can also enhance the key cross-cutting areas needed to amplify climate cooperation and action, including climate advocacy, empowerment, awareness raising, capacity building, and climate literacy.

Other key areas of innovation are green transport and climate-resilient infrastructure, resilient, climate-smart cities, digital transformation, and food security.

The latest estimates by the UN agencies show that changing precipitation patterns, rising temperatures, and more extreme weather contributed to mounting food insecurity, poverty, and displacement in Africa.

Official figures show that food insecurity increases by 5–20 percentage points with each flood or drought in sub-Saharan Africa

While African Governments are committed to supporting climate solution innovation to varying levels and with different approaches to tackle this phenomenon, some experts believe that what is needed is to encourage a growing number of African startups to shift in mindset—by becoming providers of solutions to improving the continental climate change resilience.

“What is needed for these young African innovators is to look for mentors and incubators because, as an entrepreneur, you need to learn how to develop a successful product that brings some short-term and long-term positive benefits to combat climate change in your community,” Yossi said.

Through its Accelerator programs, the Google Research initiative currently seeks to empower startups, developers, and nonprofits, especially in Africa, to better solve the world’s biggest challenges — from economic development, diversity, sustainability, and climate change — relying on its technology.

For example, one of the initiatives presented at the summit seeks to produce plastic waste collected from local communities in the Rwandan capital Kigali where a startup is producing handcrafts from plastic waste collected in the city.

Sonia Umulinga, a young Rwandan female entrepreneur and owner of ‘Plastic Craft’, a company that seeks to tackle the problem of plastic pollution, told IPS that key priority had been given not only to help reduce plastic pollution but also to her new business model in using the collected waste to produce unique products on the markets.

Harsen Nyambe Nyambe, Director, Sustainable Environment and Blue Economy, African Union Commission, told delegates that the current situation where the lack of ownership over innovations, coupled with a whole narrative built around imported solutions, constitutes a major challenge for the continent to combat climate change.

“Africa needs to redefine on how to engage of the issue of climate change, and countries need to work together to find possible innovative solutions to the challenges they are facing,” he said.

While some officials and experts cite innovation as an important driver of growth and the fight against hunger and malnutrition, which continue to affect major parts of the African continent, others believe there is a need for these African startup entrepreneurs to test and refine these ideas for the benefit of their community.

Current efforts for Africa’s transformation emphasize switching agriculture from subsistence to commercial, which means producing a surplus for the markets and making agriculture become a business while relying on home-grown innovative ideas.

Prof Lindiwe Sibanda, system Board Chair at the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), pointed out that the startup initiative is critical for the African Agriculture sector to expedite the production of food.

“We should not give up because we need these startup home-grown solutions to help small-scale farmers meet their needs,” she told delegates.

However, some small-scale farmers and pastoralists believe that indigenous innovation also constitutes another driver for innovation in African Agricultural systems considering that climate change impacts are stalling progress towards food security on the continent.

Tumal Orto, a livestock breeds farmer from Marsabit County in Northern Kenya, told IPS that weaving indigenous knowledge with scientific research remains critical.

“Small-scale farmers are also innovators in their own ways using local ingenuity in their practices,” he said.

However, most experts at the innovation hub on the sidelines of the Africa Climate Summit (ACS) in Nairobi were unanimous that more productive and resilient solutions to combat climate change in Africa will still require a major shift in the way various resources are managed.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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The poorest people in some of the least responsible regions for climate change or emissions - like East Africa - are losing their lives and livelihoods to human-induced climate change. Credit: Charles Karis/IPS

By Fati N'Zi-Hassane and Amitabh Behar
NAIROBI, Sep 6 2023 (IPS)

From 2017, Shamso Isac has helplessly witnessed the demise of all her sources of income. Failed rain seasons and dried-up water sources meant a lack of pasture, which led to the death of her livestock. Widespread hunger exacerbated by rising food costs forced her to relocate to Burlhedi internally displaced persons camp in Baidoa in the Southwest state of Somalia. She recalls walking for weeks seeking a place she could get food for her family. When her child asks for something to eat or drink, she has nothing to offer; all she can do is cry, overwhelmed by the utter hopelessness she feels.

The devastating droughts and floods in these four East African countries have also costed the region an estimated $30 billion losses from 2021 to the end of 2023 with Oxfam calculating that approximately $7.4 billion worth of livestock have perished, pushing farmers and pastoralists deeper into poverty

Shamso’s story mirrors that of millions across East Africa and many other parts of the world. Despite contributing a mere 0.1% of global emission, millions are bearing the harshest impact of climate change with over 31.5 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and South Sudan experiencing the worst episode of climate-induced extreme weather, which is fuelling an alarming hunger crisis.

The devastating droughts and floods in these four East African countries have also costed the region an estimated $30 billion losses from 2021 to the end of 2023 with Oxfam calculating that approximately $7.4 billion worth of livestock have perished, pushing farmers and pastoralists deeper into poverty.

Climate change has resulted in the rise of the global temperature by up to 1.2° Celsius making the severity of East Africa’s drought 100 times more likely. The poorest people in some of the least responsible regions for climate change or emissions – like East Africa – are losing their lives and livelihoods to human-induced climate change. Rich industrial countries are responsible for 92% of excess emissions.

Yet, it is the people like those in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan that are facing a multitude of detrimental social, economic and health impacts that are exacerbated by climate change. Small island nations are losing their land to rising oceans and if this trajectory persists, entire countries could disappear under rising sea levels. The climate crisis is a human tragedy and is making existing inequalities and injustices a whole lot worse.

Climate justice demands that those responsible for causing the crisis must be held accountable, and those most affected must get adequate support to adapt to the problems and mitigate them. Why does this matter? It matters because it compels the global community and those primarily responsible for the climate crisis to work with and support those who bear the heaviest burden.

It matters because it addresses a more systemic problem that is the fundamental cause of this crisis and many others. The problem is an economic model that is fossil-dependent and designed to benefit a select few, the super-rich, and that’s causing a planetary crisis and aggravating social injustices around the world.

A fundamental shift is needed to effectively tackle this injustice, without which, extreme weather conditions will recur more frequently and with increasing intensity leading to more hunger and human suffering in the future in countries where people have done the least to contribute to climate change.

As a crucial starting point, the governments of industrialized countries must pay their fair share of climate finance and honour their commitment to provide 0.7% of their Gross National Income to the Global South countries including the $8.74 billion needed to support for the humanitarian response in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan in order to save lives and livelihoods.

To fill this gap, governments in the affluent and in the industrialised nations must ensure companies and the rich are paying their fair share of taxes, not least those profiting from harming the planet. This will enable these countries and communities at the frontline to start building back and build resilience for the next climate shock.

Secondly, the top polluting countries must pay their fair share of the climate finance to East Africa to help its governments scale up their climate mitigation and adaptation so they can help the most impacted communities to recover from climatic shocks. These funds should no longer be in the form of loans but as grants.

Finally, industrialized polluting countries should commit to paying their fair share of the losses and damage suffered by East Africa countries. Estimates show that these polluters owe $8.7 trillion to developing countries, including in Africa. This finance will be crucial to support communities and countries to adapt to climate change, recover from damage and loss and to transition to clean development.

We need to embrace a fundamental, systemic change. Even as we’re saving lives through the humanitarian response, we must also focus on the root causes of the climate change crisis and food insecurity.

Hunger is unacceptable in the 21st century. To witness millions suffering from lack of food in a world of plenty and in a world where billionaire wealth has exploded, is an abomination. The hope side of this doom-and-gloom scenario is that we have the resources in the world to address these challenges. The right leadership and political choices can end hunger. The time to act is now.

 

Fati N’Zi-Hassane is the Oxfam in Africa Director at Oxfam International. Amitabh Behar is the Interim Executive Director at Oxfam International

With presidents onsite, nothing can go wrong. How does the UN Protocol team prepare?. Credit: UN Photo

By Ian Richards
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 6 2023 (IPS)

When heads of state, heads of government and top diplomats from around the globe flock to New York for high-level week beginning September 19, it marks the culmination of many months of intensive preparation for the United Nations Protocol and Liaison Service.

In addition to the general debate of the General Assembly, numerous other events with VIP participation take place at the UN headquarters and at other locations around the city that week. The Secretary-General receives visitors in rapid succession, and the same is true for the Deputy Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly.

“Basically, our team makes sure everyone is at the right place at the right time,” says Beatrix Kania, the Chief of Protocol of the United Nations.

The Protocol and Liaison Service is part of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management of the United Nations. Each September, the normally 12-person strong team is reinforced with volunteers from within the Secretariat and protocol experts from other duty stations around the globe.

While preparations for the General Assembly have been going on throughout the year, in August and September the headquarters start buzzing with coordination meetings for the many different events and walk-throughs with advance delegations from capitals. Flags are steamed and standing arrangement for photo-ops prepared.

To make any event a success, good cooperation across the Secretariat and with the permanent missions to the United Nations is key. “We plan every event to the last detail. But there will always be changes. Your next speaker may be held up in another meeting, a video may not start – and then you have to react quickly and find a solution.

For example, for the General Assembly, we always try to have the next two speakers already backstage in a special area which is called GA 200,” explains Kania.

Since almost all heads of delegations request a meeting with the Secretary-General, bilateral meetings take place on the 27th floor during the General Assembly. There, several VIP holding rooms, a room for a photo op, the meeting room itself as well as offices for the Secretary-General and his team allow for a seamless transition from one encounter to the next.

When VIPs and their delegations are held up or do not make it back to the headquarters in time, another visitor may have to be pulled forward. If this happens, flags need to be exchanged, other media representatives will need to be brought in to capture the photo op, and the internal UN participants in the meeting may be different.

“We maintain contact with the delegations at all times, but the traffic is pretty bad around the UN during High-Level Week. Sometimes, we see the delegation we are waiting for from the windows on the 27th floor, stuck in traffic on First Avenue and unable to come in,” says the Chief of Protocol.

In the run-up to High-Level Week, the protocol team approves thousands of grounds passes for temporary delegates from capitals and registers the members of permanent missions and observer offices – who also traditionally change in summer. Some countries send delegations which are a few hundred members strong for the events in September. Therefore, crowd control becomes an issue as well.

There are a limited number of seats in each room, so each delegation can only bring a limited number of people to each event. In cooperation with the substantive office responsible for an event and the Department for Safety and Security, the Protocol and Liaison Services distributes special access cards for most events.

The most exciting day this year will be 19 September. This is when the General Debate opens at 9 a.m. and the General Assembly Hall will be filled to the last seat. To kick things off there is a welcoming event for Heads of State and Government takes place from 8 a.m. in the ECOSOC chamber and the Northern Delegates’ Lounge.

“We have people at the curb to receive and escort our visitors and people in the room to introduce our guests to the Secretary-General, the Deputy-Secretary-General and the Chef de Cabinet. We also prepare GA 200 and attend to the VIP seating area in the General Assembly Hall,” explains Kania.

Once the meeting starts, the Secretary-General will first present his report on the work of the organization, followed by the President of the General Assembly. Since 1947, Brazil has been the first country to speak at the General Debate, traditionally followed by the President of the United States, the host country.

The opening of the general debate will be framed by two summits: On Monday, the “SDG Summit” will take place, and on Wednesday, the Secretary-General will be announcing a “Climate Ambition Summit”.

Three health-focused meetings on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday as well as a ministerial meeting to prepare the 2024 “Summit for the Future” will bring large numbers of participants to New York this September.

With approximately 14,700 delegates, 2019 saw the highest number of participants so far, but the protocol team expects to reach a new record number in 2023.

Ian Richards is Deputy Editor, UN TODAY

Source: UN TODAY, the official magazine of international civil servants, Geneva

The link to the website: https://untoday.org/

IPS UN Bureau

 

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International Summit Against Human trafficking, July 2023, Washington DC USA Senate.

By Rosi Orozco
ARLINGTON, Virginia, Sep 6 2023 (IPS)

In the years when Mexico did not have a general law against human trafficking, there existed an evil man known as “El Osito” (“The Little Bear”). His alias could mislead those who heard of his criminal record: he was a ruthless pimp, devoid of any trace of kindness in his body, who claimed to collect kidnapped women to exploit their bodies.

“El Osito,” whose real name was Noe Quetzal-Mendez, did not operate alone. Despite having not completed primary education and struggling with reading and writing, he built and established a path of pain between Mexico and the United States. This route began in his hometown of Tenancingo, Tlaxcala, and ended in New York City, United States.

Along these more than 4,000 kilometers, his victims suffered physical, emotional, and sexual violence within safe houses controlled by his criminal organization.

On the Mexican side, “El Osito” paid dirty police officers, human traffickers, and members of the Sinaloa Cartel who provided him with protection and aided in crossing hundreds of victims through Tijuana. He had eyes and ears on the country’s roads and cruelly punished any escape attempts.

On the other side of the border, he had corrupt authorities and a long list of clients eagerly waiting for the teenagers and women he brought to the United States to be raped in exchange for coins.

Areli was one of his victims. Deceived, kidnapped, trafficked, sexually exploited for the benefit of “El Osito’s” criminal organization. She is one of the few Mexican women who survived his reign of terror and has the courage to tell how this man, who was once one of the FBI’s most-wanted criminals, operated.

July 28Th 2023, Washington DC USA Senate.

Legislative panel

Mexican Senator Nancy De La Sierra Arambúro

Congresswomen: Cynthia Lopez Castro, Juanita Guerra Mena, Olimpia Tamara Giron Hernandez, Rosi Orozco Activist.

Her testimony not only calls us to be ashamed of the past but also to reflect on the present and plan for a future without human trafficking: on both sides of the border, we all failed.

Areli never imagined that life without “El Osito” could be as difficult as being in captivity. Once she escaped from his criminal organization, she did not find the necessary support in her own country, such as specialized shelters or emotional support. Her safety in Mexico was not guaranteed either, so she had to seek asylum in the United States out of fear of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Today, she lives in a secret location. Gradually, her wounds are beginning to heal thanks to family members who have taken her in and have not hesitated to lend a helping hand. Despite all the accumulated suffering, Areli is one of the luckier cases because two more survivors of another binational human trafficking gang, Los Melendez, are abandoned by the United States government and need help as victims of this transnational crime.

These other two young women are experiencing a painful reality firsthand: neither in Mexico nor in the United States is there sufficient support from both governments for the victims of this crime that enslaves 50 million people worldwide and generates around 150 billion dollars annually for organized crime.

In the absence of action from the political class, it falls to civil society to step forward and take on a debt with the most vulnerable people on both sides of the border.

That is why on July 27th, a new binational center against human exploitation began, one of the most important agreements of the International Summit Against Human Trafficking 2023 held in Washington D.C.

This historic center is funded by the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and benefits from the expertise of American and Mexican legislators, leaders, activists, specialists, and journalists, who will be guided by the testimonies and knowledge of survivors of this crime.

Among its most urgent tasks are raising awareness in educational institutions, preventing the crime within families, creating new laws, promoting a culture of reporting, decriminalizing victims, and ensuring that exploitative clients are held accountable by the law as active members of human trafficking networks.

In Mexico, ten brave mayors, such as Adrián Rubalcava and Fernando Flores, will spearhead efforts to teach more authorities how to combat these dark businesses. Their experience in fighting this crime will be crucial to ensuring the success of this mission on Mexican soil, led by Nallely Gutiérrez Gijon, president of the Association of Municipalities of Mexico.

This new center joins forces with the movie “Sound of Freedom,” produced by Eduardo Verástegui and starring Jim Caviezel and Mira Sorvino, who have surprised the world by getting involved in this fight beyond just a story about the courage to stand up against human trafficking. Now, it’s time to move from the excitement of the movie theater to taking action in real life.

These are times for the braves. The globalization of organized crime forces us to think about how to safeguard our families beyond the borders of both countries and political rhetoric.

This new center welcomes all people from all backgrounds, colors, and ideas who want to act under a single premise that contains an irrevocable truth: in no country in the world should a victim be abandoned by civil society.

We dare to dream of a world where no human can be for sale.

Rosi Orozco is Activist and Founder Unidos Vs Trata.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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