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President Macron and Harrison Ford among speakers at the Congress Opening Ceremony. Credit: IUCN Ecodeo

By Guy Dinmore
St Davids, Wales, Oct 4 2021 (IPS)

The world’s most influential conservation congress, meeting for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, has issued its starkest warning to date over the planet’s escalating climate and biodiversity emergencies.

“Humanity has reached a tipping point. Our window of opportunity to respond to these interlinked emergencies and share planetary resources equitably is narrowing quickly,” the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared in its Marseille Manifesto at the conclusion of its World Conservation Congress in the French port city.

“Our existing systems do not work. Economic ‘success’ can no longer come at nature’s expense. We urgently need systemic reform.”

The Congress, held every four years but delayed from 2020 by the pandemic, acts as a kind of global parliament on major conservation issues, bringing together a unique combination of states, governmental agencies, NGOs, Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations and affiliate members. Its resolutions and recommendations do not set policy but have shaped UN treaties and conventions in the past and will help set the agenda for three key upcoming UN summits – food systems security, climate change and biodiversity.

“The decisions taken here in Marseille will drive action to tackle the biodiversity and climate crises in the crucial decade to come,” said Dr Bruno Oberle, IUCN Director-General.

“Collectively, IUCN’s members are sending a powerful message to Glasgow and Kunming: the time for fundamental change is now,” he added, referring to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) to be hosted by the UK in November, and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 15) to be held in China in two parts, online next month and in person in April-May 2022.

The week-long IUCN Congress, attended in Marseille by nearly 6,000 delegates with over 3,500 more participating online, was opened by French President Emmanuel Macron who declared: “There is no vaccine for a sick planet.”

He urged world leaders to make financial commitments for conservation of nature equivalent to those for the climate, listing such tasks as ending plastic pollution, stopping the deforestation of rainforests by eradicating their raw materials in supply chains, and phasing out pesticides.

Congress participants during an Exhibition event of the Sixth Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network. Credit: IUCN Ecodeo

China’s prime minister, Li Keqiang, said in a recorded message that protecting nature and tackling the climate crisis were “global not-traditional security issues”.

While noting that some scientists fear that the climate emergency is “now close to an irreversible tipping point”, the Marseille Manifesto also spoke of “reason to be optimistic”.

“We are perfectly capable of making transformative change and doing it swiftly… To invest in nature is to invest in our collective future.”

Major themes that dominated the IUCN Congress included: the post-2020 biodiversity conservation framework; the role of nature in the global recovery from the pandemic; the climate emergency; and the need to transform the global financial system and direct investments into projects that benefit nature.

Among the 148 resolutions and recommendations voted in Marseille and through pre-event online voting, the Congress called for 80 percent of the Amazon and 30 percent of Earth’s surface—land and sea—to be designated “protected areas” to halt and reverse the loss of wildlife.

Members also voted overwhelmingly to recommend a moratorium on deep-sea mining and reform the International Seabed Authority, an intergovernmental regulatory body.

“The resounding Yes in support for a global freeze on deep seabed mining is a clear signal that there is no social licence to open the deep seafloor to mining,” Jessica Battle, leader of the WWF’s Deep Sea Mining Initiative, said, quoted by AFP news agency.

The emergency motion calling for four-fifths of the Amazon basin to be declared a protected area by 2025 was submitted by COICA, an umbrella group representing more than two million indigenous peoples across nine South American nations. It passed with overwhelming support.

Representatives from COICA and Cuencas Sagradas present their bioregional plan for the Amazon during a press conference. Credit: IUCN Ecodeo

Jose Gregorio Diaz Mirabal, general coordinator of COICA and a leader of the Curripaco people in Venezuela, said the proposal was a “plan for the salvation of indigenous peoples and the planet”.

The Amazon has lost some 10,000 square kilometres every year to deforestation over the past two decades. Brazil is not an IUCN member and thus could not take part in the vote which runs against President Jair Bolsonaro’s agenda.

The five-page Marseille Manifesto makes repeated references to indigenous peoples and local communities, noting “their central role in conservation, as leaders and custodians of biodiversity” and amongst those most vulnerable to the climate and nature emergencies.

“Around the world, those working to defend the environment are under attack,” the document recalled.

Global Witness, a campaign group, reported that at least 227 environmental and land rights activists were killed in 2020, the highest number documented for a second consecutive year. Indigenous peoples accounted for one-third of victims. Colombia had the highest recorded attacks.

The resolution calling for 30 percent of the planet’s land and ocean area to be given protected status by 2030, said selected zones must include “biodiversity hotspots”,  be rigorously monitored and enforced, and recognise the rights of indigenous peoples to their lands, territories and resources. The  ‘30 by 30’ target is meant as a message to the UN biodiversity summit which is tasked with delivering a treaty to protect nature by next May.

Many conservationists are campaigning for a more ambitious target of 50 percent.

However, the 30 by 30 initiative, already formally backed by France, the UK and Costa Rica, is of considerable concern to some indigenous peoples who have been frequently sidelined from environmental efforts and sometimes even removed from their land in the name of conservation.

The IUCN Congress also released its updated IUCN Red List. The Komodo dragon, the world’s largest lizard, was reclassified from ‘vulnerable’ status to ‘endangered’, while 37 percent of shark and ray species are now reported to be threatened with extinction. Four species of tuna are showing signs of recovery, however.

Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of IUCN’s Head of Red List Unit, said the current rate of species extinctions is running 100 to 1,000 times the ‘normal’ or ‘background’ rate, a warning that Earth is on the cusp of the sixth extinction event. The fifth, known as the Cretaceous mass extinction event, occurred 65 million years ago, killing an estimated 78 percent of species, including the remaining non-avian dinosaurs.

One of the more controversial motions adopted – on “synthetic biology” or genetic engineering – could actually promote the localised extinction of a species. The motion opens the way for more research and experimentation in technology called gene drive. This could be used to fight invasive species, such as rodents, snakes and mosquitos, which have wiped out other species, particularly birds, in island habitats.

It was left to Harrison Ford, a 79-year-old Hollywood actor and activist, to offer hope to the Congress by paying tribute to young environmentalists.

“Reinforcements are on the way,” he said. “They’re sitting in lecture halls now, venturing into the field for the very first time, writing their thesis, they’re leading marches, organising communities, are learning to turn passion into progress and potential into power…In a few years, they will be here.”

Andrea Athanas, senior director of the African Wildlife Foundation, affirmed there was a sense of optimism in the Marseille air, in recognition that solutions are at hand.

“Indigenous systems were lauded for demonstrating harmonious relationships between people and nature. Protected areas in some places have rebounded and are now teeming with wildlife. The finance industry has awoken to the risks businesses run from degraded environments and are calculating those risks into the price of capital.

“Crisis brings an opportunity for change, and the investments in a post COVID recovery present a chance to fundamentally reshape our relationship with nature, putting values for life and for each other at the centre of economic decision-making,” he told IPS.

View the complete Marseille Manifesto here.

 

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The definition of child labour on cocoa farms in West Africa is still in dispute Dr.Richard Asare/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

By External Source
Oct 4 2021 (IPS)

The evidence of child labour on cocoa farms in West Africa became public knowledge in the late 1990s. This followed press reports documenting the existence of hazardous child labour on cocoa farms. Pressure on the cocoa industry to end child labour has been growing ever since, particularly from civil society and more recently from both US and European regulators.

To meet consumer demand for more sustainable and ethical cocoa, the industry began using certification schemes in the late 2000s. Certification labels, such as Rainforest Alliance and FairTrade, aim, among other goals, to guarantee cocoa produced without the use of child labour.

The number of children under the age of 18 working on cocoa farms (certified or not) actually increased between 2013 and 2019, to reach an estimated 790,000. It’s believed that 97% of them are engaged in some of the most hazardous work, including clearing land, harvesting cocoa with a machete, or applying agrochemicals on cocoa farms

It is estimated that between one-third and one-half of the cocoa sold worldwide is currently certified.

In September 2001, by ratifying the Harkin-Engel Protocol, the cocoa industry committed to reduce the most hazardous forms of child labour by 70% by 2020. Yet, Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s largest cocoa producer, is still struggling with child labour on its cocoa farms.

Indeed, the number of children under the age of 18 working on cocoa farms (certified or not) actually increased between 2013 and 2019, to reach an estimated 790,000. It’s believed that 97% of them are engaged in some of the most hazardous work, including clearing land, harvesting cocoa with a machete, or applying agrochemicals on cocoa farms.

My new research paper focusing on certified cocoa farmers in Côte d’Ivoire argues that the real number of child labourers is likely even higher, as measures of child labour may be biased. The results also suggest that certification is not working as intended when it comes to child labour.

 

Child labour in cocoa

I found that the prevalence of child labour is likely being underestimated by studies conducted by both researchers and the cocoa industry. This is due to a concept called social desirability bias which occurs when people are reluctant to provide completely truthful answers about sensitive topics out of fear of negative consequences.

In the case of child labour on Ivorian cocoa farms, certified farmers may lie about their reliance on child labour as any type of child labour is prohibited by the certification schemes they belong to. Hazardous labour is also prohibited by national legislation.

Fear of legal, social, or economic repercussions is likely leading certified farmers to under report their use of child labour. This is making it harder to accurately measure the scope of the problem and to enact effective policies to fight it.

 

Sensitive questions

My study relied on a list experiment survey method. It asks respondents about sensitive topics in a more indirect manner than standard surveys.

The prevalence of child labour use estimated using the indirect measure is twice as large as the one from direct questioning. Using list experiments, I find that between 21% and 25% of the surveyed cocoa farmers were relying on child labour during the past 12 months, depending on the type of work involved. This difference suggests that at least half of Ivorian cocoa farmers who use child labour on their certified farms are not willing to admit it.

 

Why the reliance on children

Main drivers include failures in labour markets, lack of school infrastructure and difficulties in monitoring the use of child labour by certified cocoa farmers, mainly because of the remoteness of the farms.

Cocoa production requires a significant amount of physical labour, as many tasks associated with cocoa farming are not mechanised. Additionally, as cocoa prices in Côte d’Ivoire are fixed seasonally, the only way for farmers to increase their cocoa-generated income is to increase their production. This requires increased labour.

At the same time, Ivorian cocoa farms tend to be clustered in cocoa-growing communities. This means that local adult labour is scarce because most able-bodied adults are employed on their own cocoa farms, and are not seeking labour on other farms.

This labour market failure —- more labourers are needed precisely where they are not available — results in more cocoa farmers relying on child labour. This phenomenon is even more important when cocoa farms are located in remote communities with difficult access to roads. The reliance on child labour by cocoa farmers is then partly due to adult labour shortages. This finding is further borne out by the fact that the presence of an additional adult in a cocoa-growing household reduced the likelihood of relying on child labour up to 4%.

I also found that the prevalence of child labour is higher on more remote farms, which can be explained by weaker law enforcement in these areas, fewer available adult labourers, and limited opportunity for children to attend school due to a lack of school infrastructure.

 

Conclusion

Taken together, these findings strongly suggest that child labour rates, and potentially other sensitive subjects, are not being measured accurately. In addition, they show that the issue of child labour remains rampant in Côte d’Ivoire, even on cocoa farms certified as child-labour-free.

Understanding the various reasons behind farmers’ continued use of child labour and reluctance to admit that use is an important first step in designing more effective policies. By taking the phenomenon of social desirability bias into account in future research, governments and development partners can lead to more accurate measures of the issue and inform more effective policymaking.

Marine Jouvin, PhD Candidate in development economics, Université de Bordeaux

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

A huge leak of financial documents puts the spotlight on the hidden assets of the rich and powerful.

By Marty Logan
KATHMANDU, Oct 4 2021 (IPS)

Today we’re talking about the aftermath of the horrendous murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the protests that ensued. But first, this is the fourth episode of the show, and we’d really like to hear what you think of it. So could you please take a minute to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. Thank you!

Welcome to Strive, a podcast by IPS News. My name is Marty Logan.

The brutal murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 horrified people around the world. The weeks of massive demonstrations that followed, and the often violent response by police, left many of us captivated and inspired others worldwide to take to the streets in solidarity.

Racial justice activist and organizer Larry Dean would normally have been leading people onto the streets of Chicago, as he had been doing for a decade—but this killing struck him to his core. Instead he went back to his family home to try to tune out the world.

Today, Dean looks back on those dark days and can identify some shafts of light in the movement for racial justice and equality in the United States. But are they bright enough to reveal a path to autonomy and freedom for Black people, one that can overcome a biased justice system, impoverished schools, police budgets that are still ballooning in many cities and many other barriers?

Listen now to my conversation with Larry Dean to find out.

 

 

“Our Common Agenda” report looks ahead to the next 25 years and represents the Secretary-General’s vision on the future of global cooperation and reinvigorating inclusive, networked, and effective multilateralism. The Secretary-General presented his report to the General Assembly in September 2021 before the end of the 75th session of the General Assembly. Credit: United Nations

By Simone Galimberti
KATHMANDU, Nepal, Oct 4 2021 (IPS)

There is no doubt that Secretary General Antonio Guterres is going big and bold with the recent release of an ambitious blueprint that could pave the way for a more inclusive, effective and networked international system centered on youth’s aspirations and needs.

Titled Our Common Agenda, the report is fundamentally a call for action, a manifesto for change with plenty of innovative ideas, an encompassing and holistic document that builds on the Declaration on the Commemoration of the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the United Nations that was signed last year on 21st of September.

The aim is really to start a reflection that leads to imagine a possible different and better future as there is the recognition that we have almost reached the breaking point and fundamental changes are urgent.

As stated in the document, Our Common Agenda “represents the Secretary General‘s vision on the future of global cooperation and reinvigorating an inclusive, networked, effective multilateralism” and there was no better way for the Secretary General to start his second mandate.

The challenges are so dire and multifaceted.

From the “triple planetary emergency” of climate change, biodiversity and pollution to envisioning a better, more equal education and health care systems while making a strong case on the centrality of social protection systems as the best shield to protect the most vulnerable in times of shocks, it is high time for a difference global governance.

Such new system can better reflect an approach to international relations based on cooperation and solidarity.

This is exactly what Guterres is trying to pitch with Our Common Agenda, concrete actions that might show the way to the international community on the directions global leaders must take if they want to ensure a better, more equal planet for the generations to come.

There are many proposals on the plate.

For example, the High-Level Summit on the Future will be a platform aiming to forge a new global consensus on what our future should look like and how we secure it”.

Clear on this agenda is an effort to bolster a new understanding on peace by reducing new threats, including those coming from cyber warfare and lethal autonomous weapons, including investing in new efforts to prevent new conflicts.

The proposal for a Global Digital Compact is another idea to create a global debate and consensus on ensuring that new technologies, including artificial intelligence, become a force for good rather than a tool of self-harm and destruction.

Retooling the global economy to the new challenges emerging from the climate emergency is another top priority for the Secretary General.

New sources of funding must be created and in an era of complex and “creative” financial derivatives and other tools that are enriching the global capitalist elite, ironically, we are running out of imagination and creativity.

Indeed, funding is one of the thorniest roadblocks to an agreement at the Cop 26 in Glasgow.
How can we secure a better, greener and less polluted world if there is still no agreement on 100 billion USD climate financing package that was agreed in Paris back in 2015?

In trying to answer some of daunting questions, Secretary General Guterres is proposing biennial summits to “tackle public and private financing for climate change, with the overriding aim of creating a more sustainable and resilient global economy.”

New metrics able to “value the life and the wellbeing of the many over short term profit for the few” might replace the GDP.

What it is noticeable is that the level of ambition found in Our Common Agenda aims to create momentum on a series of ideas and initiatives that have been for long occupying a space in the debate sphere but could never move forward for lack of buy in.

The World Social Summit in 2025, another of the proposals, is exactly designed to rally world leaders behind the concept of New Social Contract, a better deal between the people and the government.

In practice it means universal health care, stronger education system, more responsive public services and huge investments in social protections measures. Unless a global consensus will emerge from other world leaders, hardly any of these proposals can be implemented.

Yet it is worthy for the UN as a system to enable a global conversation on what needs to be changed if the humankind aspires to thrive for the next decades and beyond.

Perhaps the most important part of Our Common Agenda is the focus given on the youth.

I am not really talking about tokenistic measures like creating a new UN Youth Office that basically will integrate the neglected and overshadow office of the UN SG’s Envoy on Youth.
The Secretary General is absolutely right in bringing youth on the top of the agenda but how doing so will be key.

While it is important to lay the ground for a Declaration on Future Generations, another promised envisioned in the report that also include holding a Transforming Education Summit in 2022, what at the end will count is finding practical ways to enable youth to be active and engage in the society.

The UN should certainly play a big part in centering a new global agenda for change on the youth but the proposals envision to “retrofitting” the UN System for the future, also included in the report, risk just to be a smokescreen.

We truly need a more agile, more effective UN System but in order to achieve such shift, so much change in its offices around the world must first happen because they really need to be more people responsive, more open and less opaque.

This means going well beyond the “McKinsey or BCG for the good” caps that represent the business as usual at the UN, a style that also contributes to insulate its agencies and programs in a comfortable, almost luxurious balloon.

A different mindset and different attitudes are needed and this does not mean neglecting or going beyond the UN core mandate of working with the governments.

This is something extremely important but should not prevent more openness and more understatement and perhaps humbleness.

Therefore, besides the bold announcements contained in Our Common Agenda that are related to youth, UN agencies and programs should undertake a turnaround so that they can truly become more youth centric.

This implies also a rethinking of usual working approaches in order to embrace the freshness and enthusiasm of the youth.

From the ground to the top, the UN system can truly foster civic engagement, youth participation especially by better involving girls and young women through new grassroots programs in partnership with local governments and civil society and by also advising the UN Country Offices.

As Secretary General is in last mandate, Guterres is right at envisioning a better world order focused on a genuine multilateralism.

Yet in order to create opportunities for the youth to be able to participate in the decision making at global level, the home work start within the UN system locally.

It is here where the Secretary General can really have an impact and shows the world leaders how to model a youth centric future.

The Author is the Co-Founder of ENGAGE, a not-for-profit NGO in Nepal. He writes on volunteerism, social inclusion, youth development and regional integration as an engine to improve people’s lives.

 

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By 2050, one in four people in the Asia Pacific region will be above the age of 60 years. Credit: UNFPA Bangladesh

By Bjorn Andersson
Oct 1 2021 (IPS-Partners)

Imagine it is the year 2050. In Asia Pacific, one in four people will be over the age of 60 years—three times the number of older people in 2010. With close to 1.3 billion senior citizens in less than 30 years from now, are countries in the region prepared to fully address the needs of their older populations, so that they age with dignity?

Let’s rewind.

Today, 72-year-old Ping sells three kilograms of sticky rice every day at her remote village in a Southeast Asian country, earning barely enough for a basic living. She’s been doing this for more than 10 years, ever since her husband passed away. Her son died two months ago, and her two daughters have married and moved to another province. Ping gets some consolation from the health insurance she is entitled to, as maintaining good health in her old age is her main concern.

Back in the day, Ping and other women in numerous countries across the Asia Pacific region might have been supported by their families and communities. But times are changing. Migration and urbanisation have shifted traditional support systems for the elderly, and more and more governments are grappling with increasing healthcare costs and a shrinking workforce. While less than a third of older persons in the region currently receive a pension of some sort, pension payments are increasing as the older populations grow, straining the governments further.

As the world observes the International Day of Older Persons today, there is an urgent need for policy reform in addressing population ageing now more than ever. This must be driven by a shift in mindset to convert the challenges into a demographic opportunity.

We must rethink population ageing, celebrating it as the triumph of development that it truly is. More and more people are living longer due to the result of successive advancements in healthcare, nutrition, and economic and social well-being. Along with longer life expectancy, couples are having fewer babies. This is due to a variety of reasons, such as the challenges couples face in striking a work-life balance, and not being able to afford having more children. However, low fertility and longer life expectancy are not the problem. The real problem is not being ready to face this rapidly changing demographic shift.

This is why governments must act now. Policymakers must work together with academics and civil society to incorporate rights-based ageing policies and systems into national development plans. While some countries in Asia Pacific have already taken such steps, implementation must be strengthened, particularly within the contexts of Covid-19 and the escalating humanitarian crises that increase vulnerabilities of older people.

Adapting a life-cycle approach with gender equality in focus

In Asia Pacific, with more than half of the older population being women, it is crucial to adopt a life-cycle approach to population ageing, grounded in gender equality and human rights.

Life-long gender discrimination leaves women even more disadvantaged in an ageing society. Older women are often more financially dependent than older men due to generally lower education levels and unpaid work, having often carried the burden of being the family caregiver. Investing in each stage of life, starting from before a girl is born, determines the path of her life course. When a woman is able to safely deliver her baby, this in turn improves the long-term health of both mother and child. When a girl has access to quality education, including comprehensive sex education, it helps her make informed decisions about life-changing matters as she transitions from childhood to adolescence, and on to adulthood.

When a woman has equal opportunity to contribute to the workforce and has bodily autonomy, she has the power to shape her own future. The decisions she makes, and is allowed to make, at every stage of her life paves the way towards a healthier and more financially secure silver age.

There is little time to lose

We need to take action now. The megatrend of rapid demographic shifts is altering Asia Pacific as well as the entire world. This is why the years 2021-2030 have been declared the UN Decade for Healthy Ageing, complementing the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA), the 20th anniversary of which is next year, and will bring together governments in Asia Pacific and the world to review the progress made and make better plans for the challenges ahead.

While there is no single comprehensive policy that can address population ageing, we must invest in forward-thinking, rights-based and gender-sensitive policies that focus on the needs of people at every stage of their lives. In doing so, countries in the Asia Pacific region can aspire to and achieve a better future for all, where no one is left behind.

Björn Andersson is Asia Pacific regional director at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

Former French legionnaire Col Mamady Doumbouya becomes the second youngest leader in Africa.

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