Africa

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The rise in coal prices can partly be attributed to the rising electricity demand, especially in Asian coal-producing countries. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

By Sara Bardhan
MUMBAI, India, Feb 18 2022 (IPS)

Coal—considered to be one of the most polluting fossil fuels and, therefore, one of the biggest contributors to climate change—took centre stage at COP 26. A last-minute intervention by India during the negotiations resulted in a crucial amendment to the coal pledge in the Glasgow Climate Pact.

While earlier drafts of the pact mentioned completely quitting coal power, India’s push for a change in the final text resulted in a watered-down commitment to ‘phase down’ instead of ‘phase out’ coal—this means that India pledged to cut down its total projected carbon emission by 1 billion tonnes by 2030, and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.

At COP 26, India pledged to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070. However, its coal expansion plans and lack of investment in renewable energy sources tell a different story. What will it take for India to quit coal?

While this controversial decision has sparked acerbic debate worldwide, in India, it comes on the heels of the country’s recent coal shortage. Despite Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s dismissal, recent data by the Central Electricity Authority shows that coal stockpiles have dwindled to their lowest in years and coal-fired power stations have either reported outages or had stock worth only a few days on average.

The reasons cited for the coal crunch include:

1. Increased energy demand during COVID-19
During the pandemic, India’s power demands shifted considerably. While demand dropped during the first lockdown, by September 2020, India’s electricity demand was 3.4 percent higher than in September 2019. This happened primarily because of a rise in demand for electricity from the industrial, agricultural, and commercial sectors.

2. Extended monsoons in coal-rich central and eastern states of India
Spells of heavy rain in India’s largest coal-producing states of Odisha, Jharkhand, and West Bengal disrupted the coal supply chain by affecting mining sites and transportation networks.

3. Global fluctuations in the price of coal
According to reports, coal prices quadrupled during the lockdown. The rise in prices can partly be attributed to the rising electricity demand, especially in Asian coal-producing countries.

This acute power shortage invited unwitting comparisons to countries from the Global North, most of which are currently working towards increasing their use of renewable energy. India’s total annual coal demand in 2021 stood at 1.05 billion tonnes. In fact, the India Energy Outlook 2021 suggests that, in the next two decades, India is set to see the largest increase in energy demand by any country.

In addition, the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) has rated India’s non-fossil fuel electricity capacity target (40 percent) as ‘critically insufficient’ and its emissions intensity (volume of emissions per unit of GDP) target of 33 percent–35 percent by 2030 as ‘highly insufficient’.

 

Why is weaning off coal so difficult for India?

1. India has a coal-dependent economy
Bhupendra Yadav—India’s minister for environment, forest, and climate change—rationalised the country’s climate strategy by stating, “Every country will arrive at net-zero emissions as per its own national circumstances, its own strengths and weaknesses.

Developing countries have a right to their fair share of the global carbon budget and are entitled to the responsible use of fossil fuels within this scope…Developing countries have still to deal with their development agendas and poverty eradication. Towards this end, subsidies provide much needed social security and support.”

Yadav’s sentiments reverberate across coal-dependent communities in India. According to Sandeep Pai of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, roughly 3,00,000 people are working directly with government-owned coal mines (earning fixed salaries and benefits), another 5,00,000 are reliant on coal for their pensions, and close to 4 million have livelihoods that are directly or indirectly linked to coal.

Evidently, in India’s coal belt, where families have depended on coal extraction for generations, quitting dependency on coal is not an option. This is primarily because these families do not own land where they can farm and, even if they do, research shows that mining operations usually generate acidic and chemically noxious environments that directly impact the quality of agricultural land and groundwater available in surrounding areas.

Consider the coalfields in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region where land is barren and unproductive—covered in rubble, soot, dust, sand, waste, and debris; the Jharia coalfield in Jharkhand where accidental fires have been blazing for years, leaving the ground charred and land, is dotted with fatal sinkholes; or Chhattisgarh’s Hasdeo forest where coal mining has not only caused profound ecological damage but also displaced local elephant populations.

 

2. India’s energy is still largely coal-based
As millions of homes in the country still lack an electricity connection, Samantha Gross, director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institution, points to the fact that India’s “energy policy currently focuses on bringing affordable electricity to all homes”.

Consequently, India’s increased investment in coal evacuation, infrastructure, project development, exploration and clean coal technologies is estimated to require 1 billion tonnes worth of coal production by 2023–24. Moreover, the CAT’s projections show that India’s coal capacity is expected to reach almost 266 GW, from the current 200 GW, by 2029–30.

Another key dimension in the discourse surrounding India’s climate policy is the role of energy in improving social development. Union Minister Yadav briefly mentioned it, and research has shown that modern energy services such as electricity and clean cooking fuels are critical in improving health and education outcomes, reducing poverty, and increasing productivity.

This means reliable and continuous access to electricity is crucial in building a better future for India’s marginalised. And since it is cheaper to produce electricity using coal than deploying renewable sources, the immediate trade-off in switching from coal to renewable sources is that we risk putting the country’s health and education outcomes in a precarious position.

Lastly, while India provides subsidies to both conventional and renewable energies, according to the CAT, coal subsidies are still approximately 35 percent higher than those for renewables such as solar energy and hydropower. It is no surprise then that climate professionals find India’s coal expansion plans counter-intuitive to its international climate commitments.

 

What is the way forward?

In its coal-rich central and eastern states, India has primarily implemented and expanded state-run mining projects by expropriating Adivasi lands. To compensate for the dispossession of land, local Adivasis are guaranteed jobs as assistants or labourers but the state’s compensation policies are famously ill-implemented. According to various reports, women and Adivasi workers have disproportionately suffered the impact of coal-induced displacement.

Repeated displacement and migration also lead to the breakdown of social support networks, cements inequalities and insecurities, and often leads to diminishing intra-community solidarity. As such, in more ways than one, India’s coal industry has always depended on Adivasi lands and labour and, without appropriate compensation or diversification, coal-dependent Adivasi communities are likely to face uncertainty once again in light of India’s energy transition.

While it is difficult to postulate a one-size-fits-all model for the entire country and the coal belt, here are some suggestions for how we can envision a post-coal India that is also sustainable and inclusive:

1. Develop a rehabilitation strategy on closure of coal mines
Since 2008, approximately 123 mines have been closed in India. However, there are still no proper guidelines to address the decommissioning of coal power plants. In 2020, the Supreme Court made it mandatory for mining companies to regrass mining areas on completion of mining projects.

However,  studies note that India still needs to plan a rehabilitation strategy to de-risk coal-dependent regions, rebuild their economies, and deploy adequate social protection measures.

At present, India is developing a framework for dealing with the closures of coal mines and undertaking pilot projects for the socio-economic transformation of the country’s coal mining areas with monetary assistance from the World Bank.

2. Diversify coal-dependent economies
One of the most important steps in building a robust post-coal economy is to invest in strengthening and re-training coal-dependent communities. There are currently no specific schemes that address or assist them in India.

However, American federal programmes such as Solar Training and Education for Professionals (STEP) and the Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization Dislocated Worker Grant set significant precedent for India to formulate its own. Attention also needs to be given to training displaced workers for employment in the renewable energy sector.

3. Promote entrepreneurship in rural coal-dependent regions
The Energy and Resources Institute of India (TERI) recommends the promotion of rural enterprise and microcredit financing, among other measures, to navigate post-coal revitalisation. Studies show that promoting entrepreneurship by microfinancing and adequate funds in rural areas is critical because it helps create networks, encourage community leadership, and build a diverse economy with a variety of employment options.

4. Leverage climate finance
India’s green transition could be financed by budget borrowing mechanisms such as development financial institutions (DFIs) and investments via the Climate Change Finance Unit (CCFU) to help facilitate the release of new policies, promote green finance, and aid capacity building.

There are several nationalised banks throughout the world that specifically focus on financing green technologies in their respective countries. In 2016, the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) became the first such government-backed agency.

However, it is still unclear how effective it has been in promoting clean energy in India. Overall, there is an urgent need to develop a standardised framework of green finance investments and their monitoring and evaluation in the country.

Sara Bardhan is a multidisciplinary feminist researcher working at the intersection of gender, health, and governance in developing urban spaces. She has previously worked with the Social and Political Research Foundation and Transform Rural India Foundation among others. Her writings have appeared in publications such as The Wire, The Fuller Project, Citizen Matters, and Feminism in India. Find out more about her.

This story was originally published by India Development Review (IDR)

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The Seychelles is a nation made up of some 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Credit: UN News, Manahas Farquhar/ Matthew Morgan

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 18 2022 (IPS)

A former Indian ambassador once told an American audience that one of the biggest misconceptions about the Indian Ocean is that it belongs to India. “Not so, but we wish we did”, he said, amidst laughter.

Speaking before the UN’s Ad Hoc Committee on the Indian Ocean last year, an Indian diplomat told delegates: “India and the Indian Ocean are inseparable. It is not just a statement of a fact of geography; but of deeper civilizational, historical, cultural, economic and political linkages that have been forged over centuries between India and the Ocean that bears its name”.

Throughout history, he pointed out, “India’s wellbeing and prosperity has been linked to its access to the Indian Ocean region. This remains even more relevant today and hence we have a vital stake in the security of the Indian Ocean.”

But rising big power geo-politics in the region have virtually doomed a longstanding proposal for a Zone of Peace (IOPZ)-– irrespective of whether it is in the Indian Ocean or in “India’s Ocean”.

For an unprecedented 58 years, the United Nations has been laboriously struggling to fully implement the proposal, first initiated by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike during the General Assembly sessions in 1964.

The proposal was also endorsed by the then 113-member Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the largest single political coalition at the United Nations.

At the height of the Cold War, the US, France, Britain and the former Soviet Union had naval bases in the region, including refuelling facilities in Socotra Island in the former South Yemen, Gan air base in the Maldives, Asmara in Ethiopia, Port Victoria in the Seychelles, the UK-owned military base in the island of Diego Garcia and Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam.

A 1971 UN resolution (2832) did declare the Indian Ocean a zone of peace calling upon the “great powers” to enter into immediate consultations with the littoral States of the Indian Ocean with a view to halting the further escalation and expansion of their military presence in the Indian Ocean.

But it never happened – and the declaration has remained stagnant since then.

Meanwhile, the resurrection in 2017 of the informal alliance, originally created in 2007 and called the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (and known as the Quad), comprising the US, Australia, India, and Japan, is being viewed as a group aligned in their “shared concerns about China’s increasingly assertive behavior in the Indo-Pacific region”.

Aerial view of the vast destruction of the Indonesian coast caused by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. Credit: UN Photo/E. Schneider

According to a New York Times story last December, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged to strengthen relations with Indo-Pacific nations through billions of dollars in American investments and aid “and, in doing so, counter Beijing’s regional pull”.

The Indo-Pacific region covers countries of South Asia, including India and Pakistan, two nuclear powers, plus Australia, Japan and the 10 countries that comprise the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN): Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.

Vijay Prashad, Executive Director, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, told IPS the idea of the ‘zone of peace’ is sadly not widely known. There are several countries in the world that have come together to establish a ‘nuclear-weapons free zone of peace’, such as in the South Pacific and in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The ‘zone of peace’ does not include international waters, which means that it does not impact the shipping lanes where military ships traverse.

He pointed out that the idea of the ‘zone of peace’ comes out of the peace agenda of the non-aligned states, which is why it was broached for the Indian Ocean in 1964.

The region has several nuclear powers – India and Pakistan, but also the military bases of the United States as well as France and the UK, said Prashad, who is also Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China.

An advance of the idea of the Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone (NWFZ), he argued, is important for several reasons:

1. It would be a pathway to pressure India and Pakistan to return to the table and seriously discuss a peace agenda.

2. It would settle the long-standing question of the Chagos islanders, whose case in the UK courts to reclaim their lands in Diego Garcia (now a US-UK base) would be strengthened. The same applies to the people of Agalega (see: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/about-a-small-mauritian-island/article24073692.ece) and

3. It would put down a marker against the Indo-Pacific warfare agenda of the Quad and of AUKUS, said Prashad.

Addressing a meeting in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta last December, US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said the Indo-Pacific region is the fastest growing region on the planet. “It accounts for 60 percent of the world economy, two-thirds of all economic growth over the last five years. It’s home to more than half the world’s people, seven of the 15 biggest economies”.

“The United States has long been, is, and always will be an Indo-Pacific nation. This is a geographic fact, from our Pacific coast states to Guam, our territories across the Pacific. And it’s a historical reality, demonstrated by our two centuries of trade and other ties with the region.”

“Today, half of the United States’ top trading partners are in the Indo-Pacific. It’s the destination for nearly one-third of our exports, the source of $900 billion in foreign direct investment in the United States, and that’s creating millions of jobs spread across all 50 of our states”.

“And more members of our military are stationed in the region than anywhere outside the continental U.S., ensuring peace and security that have been vital to prosperity in the region, benefiting us all”, he noted.

Meanwhile three ambassadors who chaired the Ad Hoc committee opted to speak only on condition of anonymity.

But Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN and a one-time Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, agreed to go on-the-record when he told IPS: “I had avoided attending the Ad Hoc Committee’s meetings both as PR and DPR (Permanent Representative and Deputy Permanent Representative) as I anticipated that there would be no worthwhile outcome of the deliberations of a committee which had “ad hoc” added to its name”.

He pointed out that countries in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) which wanted to keep US out of the Indian Ocean area were the main force behind the Committee’s propaganda-like deliberations.

“With the end of USSR, the Committee also faded away. The political nature of the Committee can be easily understood as three Committee chairs wanted to be anonymous. More so as their countries are now eager to tilt towards the reality of one “superpower,” he declared.”

Ambassador Kshenuka Senewiratne, a former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, told IPS ” as for the Indo-Pacific region, the US seems to be now more proactive due to China’s spread across this region on many aspects through their relationships with respective countries.”

But one cannot run-away from the fact that the references to trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) vis- a-vis the US and the region, she pointed out, is due to their domination by China.

“Hence the former’s interest to work with other major economic giants like India, Australia and Japan in the region & its formalization by creating the Quad. This would be the mechanism that China is watching,” she said.

Blinken’s statement speaks of the spread of the US military in the Indo-Pacific region, which is a misplaced threat, she argued, considering China has used its economic strategy to maintain power in the region and has not wielded its military might. This is so even with regard to the South China issue.

China’s manner of making countries in the region beholden to them is an aspect for the US and other related large economies in the Indo Pacific region to watch and act in a similar manner by seeking to assist in developing those countries’ economies, she declared.

Meanwhile, a senior Sri Lankan diplomat who once chaired the 44-member UN Adhoc Committee, told IPS: “The IOPZ is a dead horse—and beating it furiously is not going to revive it.”

The concept of the IOPZ, he said, was perceived during the height of the Cold War and before the ongoing technological revolution, 24/7 news cycles and China’s rise, and India under the Soviet yoke – all of which is kind of anachronistic in modern times.

“The key players in New York, and at the UN secretariat, who pay lip service to the idea, keep flogging the dead horse– like they do with many such mandates for lack of methodology to bury it permanently,” he declared.

“I quite agree that the US-China rivalry and the growing interest in the Indo-Pacific region could trigger renewed interest in the IOPZ”, said one former UN envoy.

Striking a positive note, he added: “Keeping with the UN General Assembly mandate, the IOPZ meetings are to be convened every two years. So, it may be premature to pronounce its demise!”

 

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Sita el-Nufur, who was killed during anti-military demonstrations, has become an icon for protesters.

School children crossing the road on a pedestrian crossing in Kyrgyzstan. Credit: Victor Lacken - UNRSF.

By Nneka Henry
GENEVA, Feb 17 2022 (IPS)

When we think about global crises, road safety isn’t one that comes to mind. The reality is that unsafe roads is a health crisis gone rogue. 

Unlike the COVID-19 pandemic, road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death from people between the ages of 5-29. And, with an estimated 1.35 million fatalities and 50 million non-fatal injuries every year, unsafe vehicles and roads affect everyone and impact several areas of development – including environmental sustainability. 

Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death from people between the ages of 5-29. And, with an estimated 1.35 million fatalities and 50 million non-fatal injuries every year, unsafe vehicles and roads affect everyone

In 2015, the United Nations raised the alarm. The 2030 Global Development Agenda expressly recognizes that road safety can be improved by governments providing access to safe, affordable and “greener” ways of moving, including public transport. (Sustainable Development Goal 11.2)

There are plenty of things that the UN is doing to solve this global crisis, but it cannot solve it alone. Here are three questions to spur action towards making roads safer for road users everywhere.

 

How committed are our governments to solving the road safety crisis?

To solve this crisis, we need a show of commitment, especially from governments. One way of doing that is for leaders across the developed and developing world to take an active role in safe and sustainable mobility.

The UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Improving Road Safety on 30 June 2022 in New York could be the moment in history when UN member states commit to consciously prioritize and fund a development assistance package of safe and clean mobility measures in low- and middle-income countries. 

This package could include designing and implementing safe modes of transport that are equally low-emission solutions such as affordable public transportation; accessible walking and cycling lanes; or safe and clean used vehicle standards. 

It’s time for governments to show support, attend the High-Level Meeting and make the case for why road safety is a national priority and a priority for development assistance. And, in turn, for G7 countries to include road safety as a priority in the G7 Summit Communique 26-28 June 2022, just days before the UN High-Level Meeting on Road Safety.

 

How can we collectively build capacity in countries with high road fatalities?

The WHO together with UN Regional Commissions have helped structure a targeted action plan on road safety for the global community to rally around and implement. However, with more than 90% of road traffic fatalities occurring in low- and middle-income countries, with Africa as the hardest hit region, mobilizing finances to implement the plan remains a critical challenge.  

The UN is crowding in and around a wide range of partners to ensure the transfer of technical knowledge, best practices, and financial resources to the countries that need help the most. 

Since 2018, the United Nations Road Safety Fund has been playing a coordinating role among UN agencies to support governments through projects to improve land use for walking and cycling lanes, driving licensing, vehicle inspection, speed enforcement, safe school zone design and emergency post-crash response systems. 

FIA Foundation, the World Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility, the International Federation of the Red Cross, Bloomberg Philanthropies, NGOs, regional Road Safety Observatories and major government and corporate funders are among those consulted and engaged in designing and delivering these projects. 

From Armenia to Paraguay to West Africa, UNRSF now serves 30 countries with new calls for proposals to respond to country-led priorities that catalyze investments for better road safety.

 

How do we advocate for effective road safety financing?

Awareness-raising and advocacy of road safety financing is a game changer. The UN’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt’s, advocacy efforts helped launch the UN Road Safety Fund and raised close to $20 million dollars for related UN road safety performance reviews in Africa and capacity building projects in developing countries across the world. 

Organisations such as the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road safety are there to support and empower local groups and community-based organisations working on road safety. And at the grassroots we can replicate and take part in global advocacy initiatives such as the biennial UN Global Road Safety Week.

The week’s 2021 edition, through a Streets for Life campaign, called for 30 km/h speed limits worldwide on streets with mixed vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Or the Global Road Safety Film Festival on 21-22 February 2022, which screens short films from all over the world to help explain the challenges and solutions to improve road safety.

For the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021 – 2030, success hinges on the marriage between safe, sustainable mobility and targeted financing, which promises to bear fruit for people and the planet. Together with UN efforts, it’s time we all started doing more about it. 

Asking the right questions is the start of a positive disruption to the global road safety crisis.

 

Excerpt:

The author is Head of the UN Road Safety Fund

By 2030 the ambition is to restore 100 million hectares of currently degraded land and sequester 250 million tons of carbon. Credit: Greatgreenwall.org

By Baher Kamal
MADRID, Feb 17 2022 (IPS)

Once completed in 2030, it could well be considered the world’s eighth wonder, this time natural. It is the African-led Great Green Wall or the largest living structure on the planet – an 8.000 kilometres natural hit stretching across the entire width of the continent.

It is a symbol of hope in the face of one of the biggest challenges of our time – desertification, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) informs. And it aims at restoring Africa’s degraded landscapes and transforming millions of lives in one of the world’s poorest regions, the Sahel.

Launched in 2007 by the African Union, the Great Green Wall Initiative is being implemented in more than 20 countries across Africa.

The UN Convention adds that the initiative brings together African countries and international partners under the leadership of the African Union Commission and the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall.

Its implementation coincides with the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030.

 

What for?

On this, the UNCCD also reports that, by 2030, the ambition of the initiative is to restore 100 million hectares of currently degraded land; sequester 250 million tons of carbon and create 10 million green jobs.

This will support communities living along the Wall to the following five ‘grows’:

— Grow fertile land, one of humanity’s most precious natural assets

— Grow economic opportunities for the world’s youngest population

— Grow food security for the millions that go hungry every day

— Grow climate resilience in a region where temperatures are rising faster than anywhere else on Earth

— Grow a new world wonder spanning 8.000 km across Africa

 

Another challenge facing the African nations which will benefit from the Great Green Wall is the rapid advance of desert dunes on cultivated areas and entire villages and towns, which the Wall will help reduce.

 

From Senegal to Djibouti, from West to East

The Great Green Wall snakes the Sahel region from Senegal in the West to Djibouti in the East of Africa, explains UNCCD.

The 11 countries selected as intervention zones for the Great Green Wall are: Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan.

The total area of the Great Green Wall initiative extends to 156 million hectares, with the largest intervention zones located in Niger, Mali, Ethiopia and Eritrea. Since its launch, major progress has been made in restoring the fertility of Sahelian lands.

 

The big race

The race to restore 100 million hectares of Africa’s Great Green Wall now begins, the world Convention to Combat Desertification reported, as the ministers of Environment, Finance and Planning from Africa’s Great Green Wall countries and the partners active in the initiative met by the end of last October to discuss new arrangements to help countries in the Sahel Region in this giant effort.

Meeting for the first time since the Great Green Wall Accelerator was announced in January 2021, the partners reviewed proposals to overcome bottlenecks. Pledges have so far reached 19 billion US dollars.

According to Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD: “In a world that looks at the Sahel region and sees only despair, the Great Green Wall offers hope. In a world struggling to work out what ‘build back better’ or climate resilience or sustainable development really looks like, the Great Green Wall makes tangible and practical sense.”

The restoration of 100 million hectares of land by 2030 in the Sahel would create an estimated 10 million jobs and lock away 250 million tonnes of Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into the soil.

 

Worth investing

Africa’s Great Green Wall initiative to combat desertification in the Sahel region is not only crucial to the battle against climate change but also makes commercial sense for investors, a recent study led by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and published in Nature Sustainability shows.

For every US dollar put into the massive effort to halt land degradation across the African continent from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east, investors can expect an average return of 1.2 US dollars, with outcomes ranging between 1.1 US dollars and 4.4 US dollars, the study finds.

“The greening and land restoration along this belt stretching 8,000 km across the continent is already underway. Communities are planting resilient and hardy tree species such as the Acacia senegal, providing gum arabic, widely used as an emulsifier in food and drinks and the Gao tree or Faidherbia albida, which helps to fertilise soil for the cultivation of such staples as millet, and for animal fodder.”

 

Growing a World Wonder

The UNCCD has launched a public awareness campaign on the Great Green Wall, called “Growing a World Wonder.”

The campaign aims at boosting global awareness of the initiative in public spheres, policy debates, as well as media and cultural sectors with a clear view towards inspiring long-term public and private investment in the initiative.

As importantly, the Great Green Wall places local populations and national institutions at the center, making traditional knowledge and capacities the entry points, taking a holistic approach and putting in place effective governance and accountability systems.

History tells that in the so-called ‘Black Continent’ — home to nearly 1,4 billion people–, the region covered by the Great Green Wall was, once upon a time, a huge green valley.

 

Data collected by Transparency International looks at bribery, the diversion of public funds, officials using their office for private gain, conflicts of interest and legal protections for those denouncing corruption. Credit: UN News/Daniel Dickinson

By Gabrielle Gorder and Seth Robbins
MEDELLÍN, Colombia, Feb 17 2022 (IPS)

Latin American countries scored poorly on Transparency International’s latest corruption index, with the worst joining the ranks of war-torn nations and dictatorships.

Of the 19 Latin American countries ranked, three-quarters scored below 50 in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2021. The worst was Venezuela, which scored below North Korea and Afghanistan.

Using assessments from country experts, business analysts, and international organizations, the index rates countries on a scale from zero to 100. Scores below 50 indicate flagrant corruption problems.

The data collected by Transparency International looks at bribery, the diversion of public funds, officials using their office for private gain, conflicts of interest and legal protections for those denouncing corruption.

Caribbean countries fared better in the index. Of the ten ranked, six scored above 50, though none rated above 65.

When Canada and the United States are excluded, the average score for the region is 41, putting it a notch below the global average of 43. Without the Caribbean, it drops to 37.

Below, InSight Crime breaks down the scores in a region that continues to be rife with corruption.

 

Scores of 0 to 25: Highly Corrupt

Venezuela held the title for the seventh consecutive year as the most corrupt country in the Western Hemisphere with a score of 14, an all-time low for the country.

As InSight Crime has reported, Venezuela has essentially become a mafia state. Officials and security forces at every level are involved in criminal activity. Pilfering of state coffers is rampant, while drug trafficking, illegal mining, and other criminal economies are widespread.

Venezuelan government officials are known to collaborate with gangs. State security forces have colluded with the Colombian guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN) to take control of illegal gold mines in the Amazon.

The rot in Venezuela starts at the top, with President Nicolás Maduro, whom the United States Department of Justice has accused of narco-terrorism, corruption, drug trafficking and other offenses.

Just above Venezuela were Haiti and Nicaragua, which each received a score of 20.

Haiti saw a slight uptick as compared with the last two years, as the effects of the July 2021 assassination of the country’s president, Jovenel Moïse, are only just beginning to be felt.

Meanwhile, Nicaragua saw its score hit a new low. This is not surprising, considering that, on his way to winning his fourth consecutive presidential election, President Daniel Ortega used the country’s justice system to silence political opponents, some of whom were jailed or subjected to a range of abuses.

Honduras also hit a new low, scoring a 23 — tying the country with Iraq. The low score stemmed partly from accusations linking Honduras’ former president, Juan Orlando Hernández, to his brother’s drug trafficking ring.

Meanwhile, Guatemala’s score of 25 remained unchanged from the previous year. The country tied with Iran. High-profile graft probes and the dismissals of those investigating corruption explain the country’s low ranking.

 

Scores of 26 to 50: Corruption Issues

The average global corruption perception score was 43 out of 100. Of the 21 Latin American and Caribbean countries scoring less than 50, 19 fell below the global average.

The countries scoring in this bracket were Paraguay (30), the Dominican Republic (30), Bolivia (30), Mexico (31), El Salvador (34), Panama (36), Ecuador (36), Peru (36), Brazil (38), Argentina (38) and Colombia (39), Guyana (39), Suriname (39), Trinidad and Tobago (41).

Only Jamaica (44) and Cuba (46) scored higher than the global average.

In the case of Paraguay, InSight Crime published an investigation just last year revealing how a Paraguayan congressman conspired with an alleged drug trafficker to protect cocaine shipments in exchange for illicit funds.

El Salvador’s declining score reflects growing corruption within the government of President Nayib Bukele, including the decision to dissolve the International Commission against Impunity in El Salvador (Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad de El Salvador – CICIES) after the entity started to investigate several members of the Bukele administration for mismanaging coronavirus emergency funds. Additionally, the US government, in 2021, blacklisted two officials with close ties to Bukele for allegedly making deals with street gangs.

Ecuador’s plummeting score was also to be expected. The country has emerged as a key trafficking route for drugs, arms, explosives, and migrants. Corruption has eaten away at state institutions.

Peru’s falling score comes as President Pedro Castillo faces corruption allegations that have led to impeachment proceedings, while in Argentina, instances of corruption among judicial authorities have created the impression of impunity.

Cuba’s comparatively high CPI ranking may come as a surprise to some, given that it is a one-party state.

While Cuba’s low corruption perception score may reflect steps taken to rein in corruption during the administrations of former president Raúl Castro and President Miguel Díaz Canel, political corruption remains an issue, and the low perception score could be more a reflection of the country’s limits on press freedom.

 

Scores of 50 to 100: Relatively Clean

Only three Latin American countries scored above 50: Uruguay, Chile and Costa Rica.

Uruguay scored higher than the United States, but lower than Canada. Transparency International credited its “independent judiciary and the protection of basic rights [as] vital in preventing corruption from permeating the [Uruguayan] State.” Chile, meanwhile, tied with the United States.

The Caribbean countries of Barbados, The Bahamas, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Dominica and Grenada all scored above 50, suggesting minimal corruption concerns. But these countries are all known hubs for money laundering, a known contributor to corruption worldwide.

 

This story was originally published by InsightCrime

Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) and the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) continued their crucial role of supporting parliamentarians in promoting population and development agenda during the COVID-19 pandemic by organizing online and hybrid events. The organizations this year celebrate their 40th anniversary. Credit: APDA

By IPS Correspondent
Tokyo, Feb 17 2022 (IPS)

The Asian Population and Development Association (APDA) has been ahead of the international community in addressing population and development issues, says the former Japanese Prime Minister and Chair of APDA Yasuo Fukuda.

Yasuo Fukuda, Yoko Kamikawa, MP and Chair of Japan Parliamentarians Federation for Population (JPFP), and Professor Keizo Takemi, MP and Chair of Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD), were speaking to IPS ahead of the 40th anniversary of APDA and AFPPD.

JPFP was formed in 1974 out of concern for burgeoning populations, food security, and other development issues in Japan. APDA and AFPPD were founded in 1982 – ahead of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994.

“APDA has consistently propounded groundbreaking concepts and frameworks and led international public opinion and activities in this field,” says Fukuda.

“Based on the idea that it is necessary to promote balanced development through social development to ameliorate a rapid increase in population and poverty, APDA has consistently advocated, ahead of the international community, to address population issues from such a perspective of economic and social development.”

Kamikawa agrees and sees the organizations playing a crucial role in post-COVID-19 development as countries and continents race to meet the ICPD 25 commitments.

“APDA has been working on food and population issues from a wide perspective, and now it is required to deepen the discussions on topics such as health, “water for life”, and climate change from the perspective of population,” Kamikawa said. She added that “what we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is how important it is to share experiences and knowledge of each country with the rest of the world.”

Looking toward the future, Takemi says climate change, the impact of COVID-19, and digitalization have impacted on widening the gap between rich and poor.

He also notes that an ageing population is Asia’s “most emerging issue.” AFPPD has put this on the agenda, and it counts as a crucial success.

Looking back on the 40th years and looking forward to the future are former Japanese Prime Minister and Chair of APDA Yasuo Fukuda, Yoko Kamikawa, MP and Chair of JPFP, and Prof. Keizo Takemi, MP and Chair of Asian AFPPD. Takemi was interviewed by Prof. Kiyoko Ikegami, Executive Director of AFPPD. Credit: APDA

Here are excerpts from the interviews:

IPS: In 1974, some 20 years before the ICPD conference in Cairo in 1994, JPFP was formed because of concerns about burgeoning populations, food security, and other development issues in Asia. Then APDA was established in 1982. What would you consider to be the most significant success of the organization?

Former PM Hon. Yasuo Fukuda: For one, APDA has consistently propounded groundbreaking concepts and frameworks and led international public opinion and activities in this field.

Based on the idea that it is necessary to promote balanced development through social development to ameliorate a rapid increase in population and poverty, APDA has consistently advocated, ahead of the international community, to address population issues from such a perspective of economic and social development.

Under this principle, Japanese parliamentarians launched JPFP, the world’s first supra-partisan parliamentary group on population and development, in 1974, followed by the founding of APDA in 1982. JPFP and APDA strongly supported the establishment of regional parliamentary fora and National Committees on Population and Development in various countries and created a groundbreaking framework of a parliamentary network.

Through this network of parliamentarians, APDA and JPFP have taken the lead in parliamentary activities on population and development worldwide, effectively sharing diverse knowledge, including Japan’s experiences and promoting international cooperation, which resulted in concrete results.

Japanese politicians, who were involved in JPFP and APDA, also played a central role in the formation of the concept of “sustainable development”, which is the basis for today’s SDGs. They requested the United Nations to establish the World Commission on Environment and Development (commonly known as Brundtland Commission) in 1984. The concept of “sustainable development” was presented in their report adopted in 1987.

On the occasion of our 40th anniversary, we would like to continue to promote inter-regional cooperation and collaboration in response to the challenges faced by each region and address population and development issues both domestically and internationally from a long-term perspective, beyond the SDGs. In particular, we would like to focus not only on economic development but also on valuing each individual, drawing out the full potential, respecting each culture and tradition, and fostering the importance of cultivating humanity.

IPS:  APDA and JPFP have established global partnerships in Asia, Africa, and the Arab region. How necessary are these multilateral arrangements to achieve the ICPD Programme of Action?

Hon. Yoko Kamikawa, Chair of JPFP:

As various global issues are becoming more and more serious, it has become clear that population and development issues are complicatedly and closely related to various other areas, with diversified demographics worldwide.

Therefore, as the principles of the ICPD, which is a major outcome of our activities to date, have been taken over by the principles of the SDGs, it is no exaggeration to say that addressing population issues will also mean the achievement of the SDGs.

APDA has been working on food and population issues from a broad perspective, and now it is required to deepen the discussions on topics such as health, “water for life”, and climate change from the perspective of the population.

Our role as parliamentarians is to serve the people of respective countries, fulfilling a responsible role in legislation and administration to realize a society where everyone can maintain life and health and enjoy human rights and quality of life bestowed upon people. However, what we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is how important it is to share experiences and knowledge of each country with the rest of the world.

I hope that APDA will further contribute to achieving the ICPD Programme of Action and SDGs and ushering in a new post COVID era by strengthening the networks and platforms of parliamentarians it has developed over the past 40 years.

Prof. Kiyoko Ikegami, Executive Director of AFPPD: Is there a crucial new challenge in the Asia region that parliamentarians need to confront?

Hon. Prof. Keizo Takemi, Chair of AFPPD: The ageing population is the most emerging issue in Asia, although UNFPA did not yet recognize this in the past. I believe that one of the great outcomes of the AFPPD was to improve the recognition of the issues relating to ageing, not only demographic change but as improvement of quality of life of the older people.

AFPPD co-sponsored seminars on the ageing and nursing service in Vietnam in 2017, which helped members of AFPPD to fully understand the issue of ageing. With the Health Ministry of Vietnam, AFPPD National Committees of Vietnam, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and JCIE, AFPPD conducted discussions about a caring service to ensure people can age happily.

Unemployment is also a serious problem, especially in central Asia, where the youth population is rapidly increasing, and migrant worker numbers are also increasing. It is an urgent matter to be resolved due to the dynamics of youth behavior in the context of a nation-building process. An AFPPD-led seminar on youth has looked at how to get youth involved in industry after being trained, and at the same time how to encourage industry to respond to the needs of each nation.

Ikegami: What are the crucial discussions to be had in this anniversary year on SDGs and the ICPD25 Programme of Action?

Takemi: The recognition and addressing climate change and population are the most critical issues in front of us.  We have learned that it is inevitable to create and accept the new framework and concept of population issues in the Anthropocene era, in order to respond to current and future population-related issues.  The discussions have just begun, but there are several ideas to be debated, such as the close relation between water and population, demographic analysis on human movement of refugees, and internally displaced persons.  It is definitely challenging for all of us, MPs, to foresee the future planning of our nations.

• Prof. Kiyoko Ikegami, Executive Director of AFPPD, interviewed Takemi.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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Credit: Pacific Community (SPC)

By Michelle Belisle
SUVA, Fiji, Feb 17 2022 (IPS)

All over the world, students who attend tertiary education do so with the belief that the investment of their time, money and effort will provide them with returns on that investment that will change their lives and the lives of their families for years to come. As qualified graduates, those students emerge from their tertiary programmes with recognised skills and knowledge making them employable in their chosen fields, moving them forward along a career pathway and in many cases, bringing recognition to the institutions that trained them as they experience success and achievements related to their expertise.

While it is relatively straight forward to see that the graduates of a given program from a specific institution will be recognised and employed in the community and even the country that houses the institution, taking those qualifications to other jurisdictions, either for employment or further education, becomes much more complicated. While the institution that has awarded the qualification stands fully behinds its content and quality, the employers, regulators and institutions in other places don’t have that same depth of knowledge and therefore trust, to give the same level of recognition. This is where accreditation, particularly regional and international accreditation, come into play.

The accreditation of a qualification is a formal confirmation that the qualification is recognised and meets quality assurance and industry standards and requirements. Employers look for accredited qualifications as they know they are quality assured and are deemed “fit for purpose”. The industry’s trust in the qualification will translate to increased employability for the graduates.

National accreditation by a recognized authority provides students with assurance that their qualification will be accepted and paves the way to employment in the country in which it was awarded.

EQAP Director Michelle Belise

In the Pacific, however, a region where remittances from those who have moved to live and work abroad is a significant portion of national revenue, labour and student mobility is critical. Students need to know that their tertiary programmes open doors to employment and further education opportunities beyond their national borders. For graduates, students, and faculty to become more mobile in the region and internationally, regional and international accreditation of qualifications; and development of regional qualifications are necessary.

A qualification accredited internationally is generally widely recognised. Learners can therefore move across borders, in search of qualifications that are recognised internationally, and completion of which will qualify them for employment opportunities in different countries and regions.

By encouraging and supporting institutions of higher education to seek international recognition of programs, there is a strengthening of both the institution in terms of its appeal to prospective students and faculty, and the programs themselves by way of ongoing efforts to meet and maintain internationally agreed standards in program content, delivery and assessment.

A regional qualification is one that is developed and endorsed with input from stakeholders in the region, is accredited regionally, is available for delivery by providers in the region and is owned by the region. The learners enrolled in a regional qualification also have the option of moving from one provider to another to complete a qualification, and similarly, the faculty involved in the delivery of a regional qualification could move from one institution to another almost seamlessly as the learning outcomes and requirements of the qualification remain constant across all institutions delivering the programme.

International accreditation and regional qualifications have a great deal to offer for higher education in the Pacific. However, one of the greatest challenges to increasing the mobility of graduates, students and faculty are fears, at institutional and national levels, of losing individual identity and autonomy. The Tokyo Convention can become the catalyst for increased labour and student mobility.

The Convention is significant in providing the platform for countries to appreciate and respect the differences that exist in their education and qualifications systems and to work towards embracing a common recognition system. Strong and robust institutional as well as national quality assurance systems are instrumental in ensuring national recognition mechanisms are recognised and valued and they consequently can become the pillar upon which a regional recognition process is built. To facilitate and support the establishment of a regional recognition process, it is imperative that national mechanisms exist to enable institutions to recognise each other’s programs and qualifications.

Ratification of the Tokyo Convention by countries in the Pacific Region will strengthen and fortify the efforts already being undertaken to establish a regional recognition process mutually agreed to by the countries; it can become the next step in the process where national and regional mechanisms already exist.

Through the continued collaboration of governments, higher education institutions, and regional and international organizations it is our hope that Pacific Island students and graduates will reap the benefits of international recognition of their education and at the same time, the world at large will benefit from the contributions of Pacific Islanders in their workplaces and higher education institutions.

Dr Michelle Belisle is the Director of the Educational Quality and Assessment Programme (EQAP) at the Pacific Community (SPC).

 

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Nature Insight: Speed dating with the Future’, an IPBES podcast, is spreading the love for science and nature. Its aim is to change perceptions and ignite interest even in animals like the bat. Bats are often blamed for ills but in reality we, as humans, have expanded into bats' territory. Credit: Geoff Brooks/Unsplash

By Busani Bafana
Feb 17 2022 (IPS)

In a busy world where love is a complicated affair, speed dating is one way to connect, but can it work to ignite more sustainable relationships with nature? Are we open to a romance with science and evidence?

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is spreading the love for science through an innovative podcast series, ‘Nature Insight: Speed dating with the Future’. A podcast is a regular series of digital audio episodes focused on a particular topic, which can be subscribed to, downloaded, or streamed.

Talking science

The IPBES podcast was first piloted in 2021 to help make the work of IPBES more accessible to a wider audience. IPBES is involved in documenting, synthesizing, and critically evaluating relevant knowledge about our relationship with the rest of nature to help reverse the global loss of biodiversity.

A second podcast season, launched just last week, will feature interviews with experts offering insights about biodiversity loss from many angles. This will include the sustainable use of wild species, the many values of nature, how the law can address the nature crisis, the role of the financial sector in biodiversity protection, and mobilizing private sector philanthropy for nature.

“We want to bring our work to new audiences and explain to decision-makers outside the environment space why they should care about the science of biodiversity and the science behind nature and the protection of nature,” explains Rob Spaull, Head of Communications at IPBES. He argues that biodiversity is often made to sound academic, something that belongs in a lab or a university, with little effect on people’s lives.

“That is furthest from the truth because biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people are all about what happens in our daily life; the food that we eat, the water that we drink, the air that we breathe, and the diseases that we try to avoid. Biodiversity is the cornerstone of human wellbeing.”

Rob Spaull, Head of Communications at IPBES says the idea behind the podcast was to bring IPBES’ work to new audiences. Credit: IPBES

“Our first season of Nature Insight has been downloaded in dozens of countries and broke into the Top Ten charts for podcasts about nature and science. By the end of our first season, we had the evidence to show that not only had we produced a good podcast but that we had managed to expand our IPBES audience, particularly among non-environment decision-makers,” Spaull said. He noted that the podcast series also sought to give decision-makers the best evidence possible on biodiversity issues. For instance, in the first season, Dr Anne Poelina, an indigenous leader from Australia, discusses the value of different kinds of knowledge systems. She argues that indigenous knowledge should complement western science in science-policy reports.

Biodiversity under threat

IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body established to strengthen the science-policy interface on biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human wellbeing, and suitable development. Its seminal publication, The Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services, released in 2019, found that 1 million animals and plant species are threatened with extinction, many within decades. Changes in land and sea use, direct exploitation of organisms, climate change pollution, and invasive alien species are the leading causes of changes in nature.

According to the Global Assessment Report, the average abundance of native species in most major land-based habitats has fallen by at least 20 percent, mostly since 1900. More than 40 percent of amphibian species, almost 33 percent of reef-forming corals, and more than a third of all marine mammals are threatened. The picture is less clear for insect species, but available evidence supports a tentative estimate of 10 percent being threatened.

“The overwhelming evidence of the IPBES Global Assessment, from a wide range of different fields of knowledge, presents an ominous picture,” said Robert Watson, former IPBES Chair, in 2019. “The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health, and quality of life worldwide.”

The IPBES podcast had been recorded remotely and launched during the first wave of COVID-19, which relates directly to nature loss. Spaull said the first episode of the first season had focused on the links between the risk of pandemics and the destruction of nature.

Speaking on the first episode of the show, zoologist and expert on disease ecology Dr Peter Daszak said people cannot blame the rest of nature – especially not pangolins, snakes, and bats, for our environmental health problems.

“I feel really sorry for bats in particular that they are getting blamed, already they have got such a bad rap in films, TV shows, and books. They are going about their daily business doing what they have done for millions of years,” said  Daszak, who is also President of EcoHealth Alliance. This non-profit organization supports global health. He explained that human populations have expanded to reach into the habitats of all animal species, like bats.

“We are eating them, cutting down the trees they live in, we invading the caves that they inhabit, and as by-products of that, we get exposed to the viruses they have carried for millions of years which do not harm them and unfortunately kill us. It’s really our fault actually if we want to point the blame.”

Admitting to having taken something of a gamble with the podcast’s title, Spaull said the podcast was essentially offering listeners a chance to speed date with nature and the future.

“As with real speed dating, you get this opportunity to connect, for a very short time, with people you might never otherwise have a chance to meet – and if what they say resonates with you, it could make a difference to both of your lives,” said Spaull. “We want to give people information about the science of biodiversity so that they can better understand our relationships with the species and ecosystems with whom we share our planet – so that we can all take better action and make better-informed choices.”

Mangroves substantially reduce the vulnerability of coastlines to erosion from waves and tides and are an important contributor to biodiversity. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

Policymakers listening to the science?

Governments, decision-makers, and ordinary citizens need to protect biodiversity through transformative change. This was the underlying message in an episode entitled ‘Choose your own adventure (what is transformative change and how we all can make it happen)’ with Professor Kai Chan, an interdisciplinary, problem-oriented sustainability scientist at the Institution for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia.

Dr David Obura, one of the world’s leading experts on coral reefs and fisheries and the importance of coral reefs and coastlines for biodiversity and people, said the podcast has helped communicate science.

“I have enjoyed doing the podcast. It helps build up awareness about IPBES as an institution and what it does,” said Obura. He admitted that the Speed Dating podcast had introduced him to listening to podcasts.

“Policymakers are listening to the science to a greater extent in different countries and different sectors. I think the COVID pandemic has shown the importance of science and how we communicate it,” he said. “Amazing science is being done, but getting the message out about this science and evidence is critical.”

Acting for the future of biodiversity

With the second season of the Nature Insight: Speed Dating with the Future podcast now underway, Spaull said the series would continue to offer the views of seldom-heard voices and people with great stories to tell.

“Season two is timely; the global negotiations will take place later this year to agree on the biodiversity targets for the next ten years. These are going to be agreed by governments around the world, much as the climate change targets were recently discussed and agreed,” Spaull said.

“So it is a good time to be talking about all these issues and how they fit into people’s lives because it’s not just academic, it vital for us all.”

• IPS UN Bureau Report

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