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Lesotho has banned poultry imports from South Africa, leaving the fast food chain short of chicken.

COP 15 in Paris. A reminder of global warming and glacier melting. Credit: Alison Kentish/IPS

By Alison Kentish
SAINT LUCIA, Oct 26 2023 (IPS)

Melting mountain glaciers. Unbearable heat. An uninsurable future. Space debris. Groundwater depletion. Accelerating extinctions. The United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security said this week that these six environmental “tipping points” can have “irreversible, catastrophic impacts for people and the planet.”

The University released its 2023 Interconnected Disaster Risks Report on October 25. It states that climate change and human behavior are among the drivers of these tipping points.

“Human actions are behind this rapid and fundamental change to the planet. We are introducing new risks and amplifying existing ones by indiscriminately extracting our water resources, damaging nature and biodiversity, polluting both Earth and space and destroying our tools and options to deal with disaster risk,” it stated. 

In terms of accelerated extinction, it states that the current species extinction rate dire – at as much as hundreds of times higher than usual due to human action.

It says the life-saving resource groundwater, which is stored in reserves known as “aquifers,” is a source of water for over 2 billion people and is used overwhelmingly (around 70%) in the agriculture sector. It adds, however, that 21 of the world’s 37 major aquifers are being used “faster than they can be replenished.”

In terms of space debris, while satellites make life easier for humanity, including providing vital information for early warning systems, only about one-quarter of the objects identified in orbit are working satellites. This means that satellites critical for weather monitoring and information are at risk of colliding with discarded metal, broken satellites, and other debris.

According to the report, climate change and increasing extreme weather events have resulted in skyrocketing insurance prices in some parts of the world. The report warns that rising coverage costs could mean an uninsurable future for many.

Another tipping point, unbearable heat, is a cause for major concern. The report states that, “currently, around 30 percent of the global population is exposed to deadly climate conditions for at least 20 days per year, and this number could rise to over 70 percent by 2100.”

And a warming earth is resulting in glaciers melting at twice the speed of the last two decades.

Report authors say the six risk areas of concern are interconnected, which means that going beyond the brink of any tipping point would heighten the risk and severity of others.

“If we look at the case of space debris, it has to do with the practice of putting satellites into our orbit without regard for handling the debris that comes as a result. At present we are tracking around 34,000 objects in our orbit and only a quarter of these are active satellites. We’re planning thousands more launches in the coming years. We may reach a point where it gets so crowded in our orbit that one collision can create enough debris to set off a chain reaction of collisions that could destroy our space infrastructure entirely,” said Dr. Jack O’Connor, Senior Scientist at UNU-EHS and Lead Author of the Interconnected Disaster Risks report.

“We use satellites every day to monitor our world. For example, we observe weather patterns that can give us data to generate early warnings. We sometimes take these warnings for granted, but can you imagine if we pass this space debris tipping point and we are no longer able to observe weather patterns? Now a storm is coming to a populated area, and we can’t see it coming,” he said.

While the report is sobering, its authors are quick to point out that there is hope. Lead Author Dr Zita Sebesvari suggests using the tipping points’ interconnectivity as an advantage for finding solutions.

“These tipping points share certain root causes and drivers. Climate change is cutting across at least four out of the six points. Therefore, decisive climate action and cutting our emissions can help to slow down or even prevent; accelerating extinction, unbearable heat, uninsurable future, and mounting glacier melting,” she said.

The report was published just one month before the United Nations Climate Conference (COP28). Dr O’Connor says the report can be instructive for policymakers.

“I think the report is connected to the COP process. Reducing our emissions is key, and we will need to integrate this with other contributing factors such as global biodiversity loss.”

The authors say passing these tipping points is not inevitable. They say the points are meant to spur action, to adequately plan for future risks, and to tackle the root causes of these serious issues.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Excerpt:

A new report by the University lists six areas of grave concern and states that in the absence of behavior and priority change, the world could face catastrophe in areas like groundwater depletion and species extinction.

Calisti Wanzama, a farmer, lost most of his relatives to the 2010 landslide in the Bududa district. He fenced off the area where he believes his house once stood. Credit: Wambi Michael/IPS

By Wambi Michael
Oct 26 2023 (IPS)

On December 4, 2019, landslides in the Bududa region of Uganda killed 20. The landslides occurred after heavy rains, and a Red Cross report estimated that 96 households were affected, with 49 houses destroyed. It displaced many, while others continued to live in high-risk areas that could “slide at any moment.”

This wasn’t the first or the last incident of flooding – news reports from the region narrate numerous incidents where people died when their homes were buried in landslides after torrential rains.

In Uganda, the case, popularly known as ‘Tsama William and 47 others,’ has been pending since it was filed in 2020.

Williams and others have argued that the Government of Uganda had been aware of the risk of landslides in Bududa for many years, but it had not implemented landslide early warning systems.

They seek relief from the courts, including declarations that their right to life, right to own property, right to physical and mental health, and the right to a clean and healthy environment were infringed when landslides occurred.

“Bududa district is likely to suffer from more landslides in the future because of the past history of landslides and, due to factors such as changing rainfall patterns and increasing extreme weather events caused by climate change and environmental degradation, and that if the affected people are not urgently relocated and resettled, further loss of life, loss of property and infringement of human rights is likely to occur,” reads their founding affidavit.

A fishing village in Uganda’s Albertine Region impacted by floods. Floods and mudslides have become frequent in many parts of Uganda. Credit: Wambi Michael/IPS

The authorities deny their culpability. Julius Muyizi, the lawyer representing the National Environment Management Authority, instead accused William and other residents in the Mount Elgon region of having contributed to landslides through their poor agricultural practices, vegetation clearance, and poor cultivation.

William and his fellow survivors await a court judgment, but it could be a long wait; another similar case has been held up in the courts for more than a decade.

However, like many others caught in climate change-impacted weather events and disasters, William is part of a group of survivors who are increasingly using the courts to test whether governments, businesses, individuals, and local authorities are responsible for the impacts of climate change.

Environment and the Judiciary

Justice Lydia Mugambe, a High Court judge and recently appointed judge at the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, told judicial officers at a recent training session that the judiciary was crucial in matters of the environment. She was presenting on judicial officers’ role in ensuring climate justice. One question was: Can individuals sue the government over climate change?

“I think the role of the judiciary is a very important one in matters of the environment, and we as the judiciary should take it on with gusto,” she said. “We need to change our mindsets; we need to separate politics from the real issues when cases come before us.”

Mugambe notes that judges need to understand the role of public interest litigation in matters of the environment.

“From my experience in the courts, a case can be brought straightforward as a public interest litigation. But there are cases that come as individual cases. But they are ‘public interest cases’ because of their nature. So, when determining these cases, what kind of remedies do we give?” she asked.

She suggested that judges could give remedies in individual cases that have the effect of creating reforms – this would ensure resolution so that other similar cases won’t need to be prosecuted.

Over the years that Mugambe has worked as a lawyer and later judge, she said she had watched and witnessed environmental damage to Uganda’s forests and water bodies and read about climate change ravaging some of the communities.

She believes judicial officers should take an interest in emerging laws like the country’s newly enacted environmental law.

Judges should ask themselves crucial questions.

“What do these acts and conventions provide? And how can we use them in our judgments? And then what kind of remedies when these cases come before us? Are they meaningful remedies for environmental protection? Do we assess the context of the case before us so that we take account of all the factors?” suggested Mugambe.

The training session Mugambe was addressing was hosted by an environment advocacy NGO known as Greenwatch.

A young boy sits on the rocks that rolled down the mountain with the landslides at Nametsi in Mount Elgon 13 years ago. The landslides destroyed the only school and health center in the area. Credit: Wambi Michael/IPS

Though the area is disaster-prone, the soils in the foothills of Mount Elgon in Bududa district are fertile. Residents risk staying because of good crop yields. Credit: Wambi Michael/IPS

Survivors of a 2010 mudslide in Bududa district. Hundreds died in that disaster. Some of the victims were buried by huge boulders carried down by the impact of the mudslide. Credit Wambi Michael/IPS

Advocacy and Environmental Laws

Greenwatch says it’s crucial that every individual in Uganda knows that they have environmental rights, and these rights can be fully exercised through access to information, justice, and public participation.

Samantha Atukunda Mwesigwa, the director and legal Counsel at Greenwatch, told IPS that training of the judicial officers was critical because there were several environmental disputes in the courts.

“So, it’s important to have a judiciary that is knowledgeable and equipped when it comes to climate aspects, in particular, climate justice,” Mwesigwa explained.

Uganda has joined the global trend of climate litigations in which victims of climate change cite human rights and constitutional violations in their arguments.

The recent Global Trends in Climate Change Litigation: 2021 snapshot recognized the crucial role judges can play in the context of climate justice. Training of Judges was one of the critical areas of concern.

Furthermore, On March 28, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a historic resolution asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ)—the UN’s principal judicial organ—to provide an advisory opinion clarifying what governments’ obligations are under international law when it comes to tackling climate change.

Justice Richard Buteera, the Deputy Chief Justice of Uganda, agrees that the training is vital because the judges are part of the vanguard of the environmental laws.

“We have to balance between human needs for now. But sustaining the environment for the future. Because in an effort to maintain the environment, these conflicts have to be resolved by courts. And the training is making clear the position of the law,” said Buteera, who previously served as Uganda’s Director for Public Prosecutions.

Each time a new cohort of judges comes in for training, a wealth of information needs consideration. Some judges know a few things about international agreements like the Kyoto Protocol and the 2015 Paris Agreement, but because climate change and law are not everyday topics in their chambers, some are skeptical about it.

Bridget Ampurira, a lawyer with Greenwatch, has participated in the training that started in 2019.

She told IPS, “Of course, there are judicial officers who will point out that they are skeptical about climate change and climate Justice. So, they will point out and question us as to the reality of climate change. But there are those who have seen and realized that climate change is a real issue.”

Over 120 judicial officers have been trained. According to Ampurira, of those who have been trained, there has been progress in how they handle the cases before them.

“I can say in terms of court procedure, there has been great improvement in the attention accorded to climate change cases.”

Who is Liable Under International Law?

The late Justice of the Court of Appeal, Kenneth Kakuru, still referred to as one of Uganda’s front runners of environmental law, would raise questions whenever he addressed fellow judges.

“Is the government liable for failure to implement the obligations in international agreements? For example, we have seen children trying to go through a flood. This flood takes a child. Who is liable if the government has not obliged with its obligations?” asked Kakuru. “We owe it to ourselves and the citizens of this world; we owe it to those from whom we inherited this beautiful place. We owe it to our children and their children. To those yet unborn. The time is now, for tomorrow may be too late.”

While the training of judicial officers continues, cases before the Ugandan courts remain unresolved.

Climate Cases Before Ugandan Courts

Greenwatch has, over the years, filed several public interest litigations under Uganda’s constitution, which allows an individual or organization the right to sue the government where it has failed its obligations. Some of the rights can be environmental or climate change elated.

One of those cases is the one commonly known as the ‘Nisi Mbabazi.’ It was filed by Kakuru in 2012 before he was appointed a judge. Kakuru sued on behalf of the surviving minor children of the victims of a natural disaster.

The plaintiffs argued that Article 237 of the Ugandan Constitution makes the government of Uganda a public trustee of the nation’s natural resources—including its atmosphere—and that Articles 39 and 237 require the government to preserve those resources from degradation for both present and future generations. Citing multiple examples of damage and loss of life resulting from extreme weather events, they alleged that the government has breached its constitutional duty.

Climate Justice Denied

Eleven years later, there is still no judgment in this case. Some activists have described the long wait for judgment as an injustice against victims of climate because of the delays.

Ampurira said one of the challenges Greenwatch has faced in the past has been the delay with the justice or a court system beset by adjournments. “So, you would find that a case that should take a year to be settled takes ten years.”

She suggested that the Uganda government should establish an environmental court like the ones established by Kenya to expedite the cases “Because we say justice delayed is justice denied. Kenya has two specialized fora for adjudicating environmental matters.

On July 16, 2023, the Land and Environment Court in Kenya awarded an equivalent of USD 13 million in compensation for the impacts on the environment and the health of a community caused by lead poisoning from a nearby smelter that recycled batteries.

It was the first in Uganda where victims of climate change-related disasters sued the government, asking it to comply with several articles of the Paris Agreement 2015 and articles of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which Uganda is a state party.

Peter Kibeti, who witnessed many landslides in Bududa, told IPS, “The landslides are not in a way related to destroying trees. But it has been due to heavy rains. The water has sunk into the soil, leading to the collapse of the slopes. We still have many trees in Bududa. Much as they say we should plant more trees – they also get uprooted by landslides. I cannot believe that cutting down trees causes landside because heavy rains have weakened the soil.”

Yazidhi Bamutaze, an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, Geo-Informatics, and Climatic Sciences at Makerere University, told IPS that the loss of vegetation and tree cover in Bududa cannot be solely blamed for the rampant landslide disasters.

“We have had previous cases, and they are a combination of factors that lead to the occurrences of landslides in that area. The slopes are quite steep. In some areas, they go over 80 degrees. Then you also have the climatic factors, particularly rainfall. If you look at the data, you realize you get over 1500 millimeters of rainfall,” he said, explaining the multiplicity of causes for the disasters.

International Climate Justice Cases

Internationally the number of climate change cases has more than doubled from 884 in 2017 to 2,180 in 2022, according to the UN Environment Global Climate Litigation Report: 2023 Status Review.

This trend includes cases brought on behalf of “children and youth under 25 years old, including by girls as young as seven and nine years of age in Pakistan and India, respectively, while in Switzerland, plaintiffs are making their case based on the disproportionate impact of climate change on senior women.”

The caseload indicates that human rights links to climate change, protection of the most vulnerable groups, and “increased accountability, transparency and justice, compelling governments and corporations to pursue more ambitious climate change mitigation and adaptation goals” are increasing.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Excerpt:

In 2012 four minors and their sponsors asked the Ugandan courts to develop a climate change mitigation plan and protect children from the effects of climate change and extreme weather conditions. This case remains unresolved. IPS asks if governments are liable if they fail to fulfill obligations in international agreements.
 

Credit: UNDP Yemen

By Magdalena Kirchner
AMMAN, Jordan, Oct 26 2023 (IPS)

For the first time since the beginning of a war that claimed the lives of over 220,000 people, a senior Houthi delegation travelled from Yemen to Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh in mid-September.

The timing of the visit, just before the anniversary of the capture of the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, on 21 September 2014 and the subsequent military escalation between the rebels (also known as Ansar Allah) and a Saudi-led military coalition, marks a diplomatic success for the de facto rulers of northern Yemen.

This is despite the fact that their only significant concession so far has been the temporary cessation of cross-border attacks using missiles or drones on neighbouring states such as Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Some observers cynically suggest that Riyadh’s real motivation is not to create an inclusive and lasting peace in war-torn Yemen but ‘not to disturb the newly bought European football stars with the sound of explosions’. However, the Houthis are showing a genuine interest in continuing negotiations with Riyadh and in exploiting the advantageous momentum of an Iranian-Saudi détente.

With Tehran’s support, they have developed a credible military deterrent in recent years. Neither their internal Yemeni opponents nor the latter’s regional and international supporters have succeeded in preventing or even reversing the consolidation of their rule over large parts of the country and its population.

Yet, with the end of Saudi air strikes in April 2022 and the lifting of air and sea blockades crucial to economic prosperity in northern Yemen, the rebels now lack a key driver for mobilising and securing popular support within their own territory: an external enemy.

Normalisation efforts externally, consolidation of power internally

In the past months, critical voices have grown significantly louder, particularly about the fact that while revenues from taxes, increased tariffs on imports from government-controlled areas and the boosted activity at the port of Hodeida have increased by nearly half a billion US dollars between April and November 2022, public sector employees continue to wait for salaries and pensions that have been overdue for years.

Criticism also came from the ranks of the General People’s Congress (GPC), the former unity and ruling party, to whom, until his surprising ouster by the National Security Council on 27 September, the prime minister of the Houthi government, Abdel-Aziz bin Habtoor, had belonged.

Hence, negotiations and the prospect of a financial peace dividend (i.e. an economic boost a country will get from a peace that follows a war) could be enticing and might buy the rebels time at home — even if it remains unclear how payments from a neighbouring state or the internationally recognised government (IRG) can be reconciled with their own claim to be Yemen’s only legitimate government.

Improving relations with regional states, which could offset reduced or even suspended aid from the West, may help reduce the rulers’ dependencies.

In recent months, the Houthi leadership has therefore taken stronger and more repressive measures to consolidate their rule internally. This has been particularly evident in the area of education and through significant restrictions placed on civil society organisations and women’s freedom of movement.

The latter, in particular, has put the rebels on a confrontational course, especially with Western donor states, whose humanitarian support is the livelihood of more than 20 million people across the country. These tensions are further fuelled by the fact that aid organisations’ ability to prevent the misuse of aid by those in power through independent needs assessments is systematically and sometimes violently curtailed.

Improving relations with regional states, which could offset reduced or even suspended aid from the West, may help reduce the rulers’ dependencies. This also explains why, on the anniversary of the capture of the capital, the Houthi leadership publicly announced that it wanted to address any concerns on the part of Saudi Arabia that might stand in the way of an agreement and stated its intent to double its own combat readiness if an ‘honourable peace’ could not be achieved.

The fragility of normalisation efforts between the former adversaries was underscored when a drone strike on a patrol by the Saudi-led military coalition in the Saudi border area with Yemen killed three Bahraini soldiers on 25 September.

Stuck in the starting blocks: an intra-Yemeni peace process

Although the international conflict dimension has de-escalated, this has not yet been accompanied by significant progress in a potential intra-Yemeni peace. In late September, hundreds of Yemenis commemorating the 1962 establishment of the Yemeni Arab Republic were detained in Houthi-controlled areas.

Although military clashes between the Houthi rebels and the armed forces of the IRG and its allies, assembled in the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), have significantly decreased, attacks on government troops have not ceased. In July 2023, the rebels employed drones, battle tanks and artillery in the southwestern governorate of Ad Dali. However, a new form of economic warfare is hitting the IRG and especially the people living in areas under its control even harder;

Since October 2022, the Houthis have been using drones to launch attacks on critical oil production and export facilities in IRG-held areas. According to its own reports, the IRG has suffered losses of more than $1 bn in revenue as a result. The Houthis have also imposed a ban on importing gas from government-controlled territory and made it difficult to trade goods within Yemen, especially those imported via the port of Aden.

Although Saudi Arabia stepped in to assist the struggling IRG by pledging $1.2 bn in economic aid at the beginning of August, the economic situation remains dire. The national currency, the Yemeni Rial, has lost a quarter of its value against the US dollar in the past year alone. Gas stations have frequently had to close in recent months, and the people in the southern city of Aden had to endure power outages of up to 17 hours — in sweltering heat.

Frustration among the population is running high, and there have been repeated roadblocks, injuries and even deaths during protests. Despite increased efforts by European partners to bolster the IRG through more frequent visits and a greater presence in Aden, the glaring weakness of state institutions and lack of unity among key actors in the south remain the government’s biggest Achilles heel.

Former allies become estranged

These intra-Yemeni dynamics make Saudi Arabia’s current negotiating strategy, as well as the support it receives from most international actors, all the more problematic. A statement by the US government on the Riyadh talks failed to mention the IRG or the fact that they, along with the United Nations, other conflict parties and civil society actors, are excluded from these ‘efforts for peace’.

The UAE, the second major regional power with high stakes in the conflict, might feel equally left out. Its allies, such as the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which pursues the goal of southern statehood, could perceive their own interests as being at risk. The once-close relationship between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed is now widely considered to have broken down. At the same time, the former allies now find themselves separated by the tangible geopolitical conflicts of interest in Yemen and the strategically important straits surrounding the country.

The talks in Saudi Arabia offer hope for a peaceful future for Yemen as they shed light on the real political interests of the Houthis, especially in the area of economic cooperation.

It should come as no surprise then that the President of the STC, Aidarus Al Zubaidi, publicly expressed sharp criticism of Riyadh’s actions on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. In his view, a ‘bad deal’, which could ultimately pave the way for a complete Houthi takeover, would primarily lead to Iran gaining control not only of Yemeni oil resources but also of strategically important trade routes.

He firmly rejected the notion of unilateral participation by the Houthis in the state revenues generated in the south – particularly in light of the current emergency situation in the region – as well as concessions related to salaries, seaports or the withdrawal of foreign forces in response to what he sees as blackmail tactics by the Houthis before an actual ceasefire is reached.

The talks in Saudi Arabia offer hope for a peaceful future for Yemen as they shed light on the real political interests of the Houthis, especially in the area of economic cooperation, providing a basis for substantial leverage in longer-term negotiations.

However, as long as Saudi Arabia’s primary objective remains limited to a face-saving exit from its involvement in the war and to securing its own border, there is a growing risk that former allies may disrupt the peace process. Additionally, the danger of new military expansionist efforts by the rebels, with potentially dramatic consequences for an already suffering civilian population, increases.

In view of these scenarios, international actors such as the German government should intensify their efforts to promote Yemen-Yemeni reconciliation, including in areas related to development and economic policy, and enable political institutions to regain the trust of an increasingly disillusioned population.

Dr Magdalena Kirchner heads the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s offices for Jordan and Yemen, based in Amman. Previously, she was the FES representative in Afghanistan.

Source: International Politics and Society (IPS)-Journal published by the International Political Analysis Unit of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Hiroshimastrasse 28, D-10785 Berlin

IPS UN Bureau

 

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“You shall love truth and peace.” Zechariah 8:19

By Kevin P. Clements
TOKYO, Japan, Oct 25 2023 (IPS)

The world and the Middle East do not need another violent conflict. This is a region that has experienced far too much violence over the years. Hamas’ desperate attacks on innocent civilians was intended to provoke an Israeli overreaction that would, among other things, jeopardise Israeli diplomatic negotiations with the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia and create generalised anxiety within Israel. It was also aimed at demonstrating Hamas’ military capacity and vengeance for years of a humiliating blockade of Gaza. Kidnapping Israeli civilians was callous and brutal but part of a plan to use hostages as bargaining chips around the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

The ferocity of the Hamas violence against innocent Israelis was appalling and many war crimes were committed in the first 24 hours of the invasion. After the initial shock, Israeli military vengeance has been swift in coming.

Since the events of the weekend, a gigantic humanitarian catastrophe and many other war crimes are unfolding in Gaza itself. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised “Vengeance”. He stated that there would be no “restraint on the military” and that the newly formed coalition government would crush Hamas, whose fighters he called “wild animals” and “barbarians.”

“We are fighting a cruel enemy, an enemy that is worse than ISIS,” he said, adding “and we will crush and eliminate it, like the world crushed and eliminated ISIS.” While the swift military response is understandable, an unencumbered Israeli military operation to extract vengeance for the 1,200 Israeli’s killed is likely to generate many more casualties and new martyrs especially since Israel has “laid siege” to Gaza, cutting off water, power, electricity and food supplies. Medical and health facilities are overstretched and supplies running out.

There are two wars currently in play. The first has to do with the battle on the ground. Initially Hamas’s unrestrained militia had the upper hand but now the formidable Israeli military machine is moving into action with terrifying consequences for the 2.3 million inhabitants of Gaza, not all of whom are Hamas supporters. One million are under the age of 19. The Israeli air force has been dropping hundreds of bombs on Gaza including strikes throughout the day and night. Over 263,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip, as heavy bombardments from the air, land and sea continue to hit the Palestinian enclave. There is nowhere for these displaced persons to go. Over 2,000 Palestinians have been killed since the blockade and bombing of Gaza began.

There are no exits to Egypt and certainly none to Israel. The presence of thousands of Israeli self-defence forces in tanks and on foot all around Gaza suggest that an invasion of the strip is highly likely with 2.3 million Palestinians unable to escape Israeli “vengeance” .

The second battle is for control of the narrative. Israel immediately moved into a victim narrative, comparing the Hamas assault to 9/11, Pearl Harbour and the Holocaust. President Biden called the Hamas attacks “pure evil”. All of these comparisons are intended to evoke memories of swift and “legitimate” military action and “vengeance”. Hamas, on the other hand claims that its actions are justified by years of blockade, oppression and humiliation. Gaza, for example, is often referred to as the largest open-air prison in the world. The world’s media (led by the United States) promotes the first narrative while pro-Palestinian states and free Arab media the second. Neither narrative, however, can be used to demonise, and justify unrestrained bloodshed against, the other.

Despite years of occupation and humiliation by Israel, Hamas gains nothing by killing and kidnapping Israeli civilians and randomly terrorizing the Israeli population.

On the other side, nothing is gained by Israel declaring “vengeance” against Hamas, bombing civilians and now blockading Gaza.

All victims will and must be grieved and mourned by friends and families. There are no winners in this war. It’s a disaster for everyone.

As the SG of the United Nations put it. This most recent violence “does not come in a vacuum” but “grows out of a long-standing conflict, with a 56-year long occupation and no political end in sight.”

Antonio Gutteres appealed for an end to “the vicious cycle of bloodshed, hatred and polarization”:

Israel must see its legitimate needs for security materialized – and Palestinians must see a clear perspective for the establishment of their own state realized. Only a negotiated peace that fulfils the legitimate national aspirations of Palestinians and Israelis, together with their security alike – the long-held vision of a two-State solution, in line with United Nations resolutions, international law and previous agreements – can bring long-term stability to the people of this land and the wider Middle East region.

In the meantime, we are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe unfold before our eyes. We cannot remain mute in the face of violence on both sides. There can be no military solution to the Palestinian conflict. It’s critical that there be swift negotiations to generate some humanitarian corridors to let those that wish to leave Gaza do so and to enable the UN and other humanitarian organisations bring in water, power, food and medical supplies to serve the needs of a besieged population. It’s also important (even as the Israeli army prepares for an invasion) that both sides are reminded of and are willing to fight according to long established rules of war. Proposing that Israel will fight “without restraint” is a recipe for multiple human rights violations in response to those already perpetrated by Hamas.

Let’s hope and work for a return of hostages, and reinforce all Turkish and UN moves for a ceasefire and negotiations to end the war. Without imagination and courage there will be no end to Palestinian hopelessness, humiliation, death and destruction. Without imagination and creativity on the Israeli side there will be no real security, and cycles of vengeance and violence will be deepened and normalised. The challenge is to draw on all the rich Jewish traditions of forgiveness and reconciliation to ensure that the responses to Hamas’s appalling slaughter are proportionate and restrained. There is no room for Gaza to become another Warsaw Ghetto with Israel responsible for vengeful death and destruction.

Kevin P. Clements is the Director of the Toda Peace Institute.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Amid relentless violence, families flee their shattered homes in Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, seeking refuge in the southern Gaza Strip. Credit: UNICEF/Eyad El Baba

By Antonio Guterres
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 25 2023 (IPS)

The situation in the Middle East is growing more dire by the hour. The war in Gaza is raging and risks spiralling throughout the region.

Divisions are splintering societies. Tensions threaten to boil over. At a crucial moment like this, it is vital to be clear on principles — starting with the fundamental principle of respecting and protecting civilians.

I have condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented 7 October acts of terror by Hamas in Israel. Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians – or the launching of rockets against civilian targets.

All hostages must be treated humanely and released immediately and without conditions. I respectfully note the presence among us of members of their families.

It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum.

The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.

They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing.

UN Secretary-General addresses the Security Council 24 October 2023. Credit: UN Photo

But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

Even war has rules.

We must demand that all parties uphold and respect their obligations under international humanitarian law; take constant care in the conduct of military operations to spare civilians; and respect and protect hospitals and respect the inviolability of UN facilities which today are sheltering more than 600,000 Palestinians.

The relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces, the level of civilian casualties, and the wholesale destruction of neighborhoods continue to mount and are deeply alarming.

I mourn and honour the dozens of UN colleagues working for UNRWA – sadly, at least 35 and counting – killed in the bombardment of Gaza over the last two weeks. I owe to their families my condemnation of these and many other similar killings.

The protection of civilians is paramount in any armed conflict. Protecting civilians can never mean using them as human shields.

Protecting civilians does not mean ordering more than one million people to evacuate to the south, where there is no shelter, no food, no water, no medicine and no fuel, and then continuing to bomb the south itself.

I am deeply concerned about the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza. Let me be clear: No party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law.

Thankfully, some humanitarian relief is finally getting into Gaza. But it is a drop of aid in an ocean of need.

In addition, our UN fuel supplies in Gaza will run out in a matter of days. That would be another disaster. Without fuel, aid cannot be delivered, hospitals will not have power, and drinking water cannot be purified or even pumped.

The people of Gaza need continuous aid delivery at a level that corresponds to the enormous needs. That aid must be delivered without restrictions.

I salute our UN colleagues and humanitarian partners in Gaza working under hazardous conditions and risking their lives to provide aid to those in need. They are an inspiration.

To ease epic suffering, make the delivery of aid easier and safer, and facilitate the release of hostages, I reiterate my appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

Even in this moment of grave and immediate danger, we cannot lose sight of the only realistic foundation for a true peace and stability: a two-State solution.

Israelis must see their legitimate needs for security materialized, and Palestinians must see their legitimate aspirations for an independent State realized, in line with United Nations resolutions, international law and previous agreements.

Finally, we must be clear on the principle of upholding human dignity.

Polarization and dehumanization are being fueled by a tsunami of disinformation. We must stand up to the forces of antisemitism, anti-Muslim bigotry and all forms of hate.

Today is United Nations Day (October 24), marking 78 years since the UN Charter entered into force.

That Charter reflects our shared commitment to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights.

On this UN Day, at this critical hour, I appeal to all to pull back from the brink before the violence claims even more lives and spreads even farther.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Excerpt:

UN Secretary-General, in an address to the Security Council

Credit: UN Women

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 25 2023 (IPS)

The UN agency, which advocates women’s rights and gender empowerment, has predicted that gender equality is “300 years away.”

Addressing the UN Commission on the Status of Women last March, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres not only quoted the estimates provided by UN Women but also warned that progress toward gender equality is “vanishing before our eyes.”

“Women’s rights are being abused, threatened and violated around the world,” he said.

But a new report — the 2023 fourth edition of the global Women Peace and Security Index (WPS Index)—released October 24 draws on recognized data sources to measure women’s inclusion, justice, and security in 177 countries—covering over 99% of the world’s population.

“No country performs perfectly on the WPS Index and the results reveal wide disparities across countries, regions, and indicators. The WPS Index offers a tool for identifying where resources and accountability are needed most to advance women’s status – which benefits us all”, says the report.

India passes law to reserve seats for women legislators
4 OCTOBER 2023

The Index finds that societies where women are doing well are also more peaceful, democratic, prosperous, and better prepared to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Denmark leads the 2023 rankings as the top country to be a woman, scoring more than three times higher than Afghanistan which is at the bottom.

Afghanistan ranks worst of 177 countries– in terms of the status of women, according to this year’s Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Index launched in New York.

The five highest ranking countries were Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland and Luxembourg. And the five lowest ranking countries were Afghanistan, Yemen, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.

Published by Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) and the Centre on Gender, Peace and Security at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, the WPS Index uses 13 indicators to measure women’s status, ranging from education and employment to laws and organized violence.

The United States ranks 37th this year, scoring similarly to Slovenia, Bulgaria and Taiwan in the second quintile.

Dr. Purnima Mane. Ex- President and CEO of Pathfinder International, and former Deputy Executive Director (Program) of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), told IPS the WPS Index emphasizes the sobering realities which different sectors of society –- including academic institutions, the United Nations, the media and civil society in general – have emphasized repeatedly over the years:

She said many countries which rank low in women’s status continue to remain so over time, despite global advocacy for gender equality

“Growing conflict and lack of security in countries could even worsen the situation for women and will not ensure adequate results in our efforts to boost women’s status. The relationship between peace and security and women’s overall wellbeing remains critical and demands adequate attention and investment.”

Data from the WPS Index, funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs show evidence of this relationship between peace and security and women’s status.

A clear example is the countries that rank high and low in this Index –not surprisingly the countries that rank low in women’s status are the very same countries in which peace and security are at an abysmally low level, she added.

Sanam Anderlini, Founder/CEO of the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)* told IPS according to the index, in 2017, Afghanistan was ranked 152 out of 153 countries, with Syria coming last.

In 2019/2020, it was 16th out of 167, with Yemen coming last, and now in 2023, Afghanistan is coming at the bottom of the index.

‘This indicates that Afghan women were facing a long struggle even prior to the Taliban, but given that 60% of Afghans were under the age of 25, and many young women were in universities and entering professions including law, medicine and education, there was hope that the country’s overall ranking could also improve over time.’

She pointed out that Taliban’s takeover has set them on a downward generational spiral. The tragedy is that this decline was a result of the US’s loss to the Taliban at the negotiating tables in Doha.

“It is a result of the diplomatic community’s unwillingness to heed the warnings of Afghan women about the Taliban, or uphold their own commitments to the women peace and security agenda’s first tenet — the participation of women in peace processes.”

“But despite the darkness, we cannot forsake and forget Afghan women and girls. They are still fighting and finding ways to access education, healthcare and livelihoods,” said Anderlini.

“Now, more than ever, the international community must double down on engaging them and ensuring they are present and fully participating in the decision-making pertaining to the future of their country — not only in the humanitarian space, but also on economic, social and political and security matters. There are plenty of Afghan women – inside and outside the country — ready to take on this challenge,” she declared.

Elaborating further, Dr Mane said a range of reports prepared by a variety of sources, including the UN and academic institutions have been referenced in this Index using 13 different indicators on women’s status, to show that societies where women’s economic, social, and political situation, formal and informal justice for women, and the status of the security of women at the social and community level are doing well, are the very same societies, which overall, are more peaceful, economically stronger, have more democratic systems in place and are also dealing better with the impacts of climate change.

The WPS Index and its data, she pointed out, identify clearly areas where further investment is needed to boost women’s status. But what about general conflict and lack of security which adversely impact women particularly hard, along with others who are marginalized in different societies?

“The Index clearly demonstrates that all of the bottom 20 countries have experienced war and armed conflict of some sort, between 2021 and 2022 with more than half the women living in or near zones of conflict”.

With armed conflict growing in many countries over the last few years and the continuation of a generally negative climate in terms of women’s status in several countries such as Afghanistan, she argued, one cannot hope for a change in the status quo for women unless countries take a hard look at their policies and investments in both national peace and security and in women’s status.

“Any real change is possible only if the world acknowledges that the link between the two is critical, and paying attention to both is vital for improvements in national wellbeing as well as gender equality”, said Dr Mane, a former UN Assistant-Secretary-General (ASG) and an internationally recognized expert on gender, population and development, and public health, and who has devoted her career to advocating for population and development issues and working on sexual and reproductive health.

“With its scores, rankings, and robust data, the WPS Index offers a valuable tool for people working on issues of women, peace, and security,” said Elena Ortiz, the lead author of the WPS Index.

“Policymakers can use it to pinpoint where resources are needed. Academics can use it to study trends within indicators and across regions. Journalists can use it to give context and perspective to their stories. And activists can use it to hold governments accountable for their promises on advancing the status of women.”

All of the bottom 20 countries on this year’s Index have experienced armed conflict between 2021 and 2022. In most of these countries, more than half of women live in close proximity to conflict.

“Since 2021, Afghanistan has ranked the worst in the world to be a woman. Afghan women wake up each day to no jobs, no education and no autonomy over their lives. This report should serve as a wakeup call to world leaders that a nation of women is imprisoned.” said Torunn L. Tryggestad, Director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo’s Centre for Gender, Peace and Security.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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A group of "curileros" ride in a boat in the bay of Jiquilisco, in the Pacific Ocean off the Salvadoran coast, during the daily task of searching for "curiles", a locally prized mollusk. Two municipalities bordering the bay, Jiquilisco and Puerto El Triunfo, are working to keep a treatment plant that processes wastewater from these towns active, in order to avoid contaminating this important wetland and protect the health of local families and visitors. CREDIT: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

By Edgardo Ayala
CHIRILAGUA, El Salvador , Oct 25 2023 (IPS)

Insufficient wastewater treatment systems in El Salvador have taken a toll on the environment and the health of the population for decades, but some municipalities are putting more attention on processing their liquid waste.

Various reports warned as early as 2014 that in El Salvador, a country of 6.7 million people, only 8.52 percent of wastewater receives some form of treatment, and the picture has not changed much since then."My job is to provide the proper maintenance so that the plant works well and we make sure that the environment is not polluted.” -- Eduardo Ortega

It is not surprising, then, that only 12 percent of the rivers have good quality water and that dozens of people die each year from diarrhea: this year, as of Sept. 30, 63 people had died from this cause, of a total of more than 164,000 reported cases.

Wastewater includes what is generated in domestic activities, such as the use of toilets, sinks, washbasins and laundry. Wastewater is also produced by industry, but due to its characteristics it requires more complex treatment.

With international assistance

Few municipalities and communities have their own wastewater treatment systems, in some cases created as collective efforts that included their own funds as well as financing from international institutions and from the central government.

“My job is to provide the proper maintenance so that the plant works well and we make sure that the environment is not polluted,” Eduardo Ortega, who runs one of the few treatment plants located in eastern El Salvador, told IPS.

Ortega works in maintenance in the plant located next to La Española, a rural settlement in the municipality of Chirilagua, which borders the Pacific Ocean, in the south of the department of San Miguel.

La Española, a village of 40 houses, was built with Spanish aid funds for 40 fishing families affected by Hurricane Mitch, which left a trail of death and destruction in Central America in October 1998.

The housing project, financed by the government of the southern Spanish region of Andalucía, included a basic sanitation system that is unusual in rural areas: a sewage network that transports wastewater, including human waste, to the treatment plant.

A nearby similar initiative of 278 houses built for 1,500 people, called Flores de Andalucía, in the vicinity of Chirilagua as well, was also financed by humanitarian aid from the regional government of Andalucia.

There are currently 196 “ordinary” treatment plants in the country, in other words, plants that treat wastewater from domestic activities.

Of these, 90 are private, 78 are public and 17 are community-run, among other categories, according to the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources.

Eduardo Ortega (L), in charge of the treatment plant located near Chirilagua, in the department of Usulután in eastern El Salvador, and Edwin Guzmán (R), head of the municipality’s Environmental Unit, are mainly responsible for ensuring that the liquid waste treatment plant is operating at 100 percent. The station was built with financial aid from Spain as part of a housing project to benefit victims of Hurricane Mitch, which devastated large areas in Central America in October 1998. CREDIT: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

Bacteria and gravel filters

The process begins with a hydraulic structure that removes sand and other small particles which, before passing into a tank, are filtered through a screen, Edwin Guzmán, head of the environmental unit of the local government of Chirilagua, a municipality of 25,000 people, including the local capital and outlying villages, told IPS.

The liquid then runs into another tank containing bacteria that eliminate the organic matter that has been dissolved into particles before reaching the tank.

After this, the waste passes to the biofiltration areas: rectangular ponds two meters deep, filled with layers of volcanic rock and gravel.

Finally, everything goes to another pond with “percolator” filters, which contain more bacteria to eliminate any remaining organic matter.

“This treated water will not contaminate the San Román river, which is about three kilometers away,” Guzmán said.

He added: “If this treatment plant were not here, there would be terrible pollution of the river, which is one of the few in the area that always has a good flow of water.”

And if the river were polluted, it would also affect the waters of the Pacific, where it flows into from this small Central American country that only has coasts on that ocean.

A view of part of the infrastructure of the treatment plant set up next to Jardines de Andalucía, the second housing project built in 2003 mostly with Spanish aid near the Salvadoran municipality of Chirilagua, on the coastal strip of the eastern department of Usulután. CREDIT: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

A cleaner sea

The larger Flores de Andalucía plant also receives sewage from El Cuco, a beach located about two kilometers to the south, visited by tourists drawn by its kilometers of gray sandy beaches and the gentle waves of the sea.

The inhabitants of El Cuco have always been dedicated to fishing, but there are also businesses, small hostels and restaurants, whose wastewater no longer goes directly into the sea.

The wastewater is collected in a tank and, fueled by a gasoline engine, is pumped uphill through a pipeline to the plant, its final destination.

“Before, all that water went straight to the sea,” José Henríquez, one of the plant’s operators, told IPS.

“It is important to treat the water, because otherwise we are contaminating ourselves,” said Henríquez, while cleaning the plant’s pipelines.

But despite this initiative, it is estimated that only 60 percent of the wastewater from El Cuco and surrounding areas is treated, as there are people and businesses that, for some reason, bypass the regulations and continue the old practice of dumping their wastewater on the beach.

Moreover, the municipalities near Chirilagua do not have treatment plants and, consequently, much of their waste is discharged into the rivers, which carry it to the sea.

Official figures show that 61.5 percent of Salvadoran households throw gray water, from washing clothes, hands, dishes, etc., into the street or outdoors, 33 percent dispose of it through sewage systems and 2.3 percent through septic tanks. The remaining 3.1 percent discharge their gray water into rivers or use other means.

El Cuco beach, on the Pacific coast of El Salvador, is a community whose wastewater is pumped through a pipeline uphill to the treatment plant located in Jardines de Andalucía, near Chirilagua, to prevent contamination generated by the villlage’s shops, homes, restaurants and hostels from reaching the sea. CREDIT: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

A bay without pollution

Further west on the Salvadoran coast is Jiquilisco Bay, the country’s main wetland, a place of exuberant natural beauty covering more than 600,000 hectares, home to numerous marine-coastal plant and animal species.

The municipality of Puerto El Triunfo, population 20,000, is located on the edge of the bay’s estuary in the south of the department of Usulután. A treatment plant that has been processing the municipality’s wastewater since the end of 2009 is located nearby.

The Puerto El Triunfo plant was also partially financed by aid from Spain, which contributed approximately 50 percent of the cost of the work, which totaled 660,000 dollars.

The rest of the investment came from the municipal and central governments.

“The water used to be dumped untreated into the mangrove swamp and into the bay; now it is discharged treated, cleaner,” Evelio Álvarez, in charge of the Environmental Unit of the Puerto El Triunfo municipal government, told IPS.

Álvarez said that in 2010, due to financial problems, the municipality could no longer afford to run the plant and ceded control to the government’s National Aqueduct and Sewer Administration, which has managed it ever since.

The facility also processes liquid waste from Jiquilisco, a municipality of some 50,000 inhabitants located about eight kilometers north of Puerto El Triunfo, from where the wastewater is pumped down to the station.

In the past, the waste from Jiquilisco went directly into the El Paso River, which flows into the bay.

Only 8.52 percent of the wastewater generated in El Salvador receives some type of treatment, and much of the waste is dumped untreated into rivers and streams, which end up depositing it in important wetlands in the country, contaminating ecosystems and affecting people’s health. CREDIT: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

“Most of the families make their living from fishing, and all that pollution was going raw into the mangroves,” agro-ecologist Etelvina Pineda, head of the environmental unit of the Jiquilisco municipal government, told IPS.

From the mangrove swamp and its web of canals the pollution spread to the lowlands bordering the bay, and as a result the homemade wells that supplied the coastal communities in the area had high concentrations of Escherichia coli, a bacterium present in human feces.

In addition, in the mangroves, “we ended up contaminating the mollusks, crustaceans and all the marine fauna that live there, through feces and heavy materials,” said Pineda.

As a result, people got sick from eating improperly cooked seafood. The pollution also decimated the marine fauna, a source of income for local families.

However, as in Chirilagua, Pineda pointed out that the pollution has not been stopped 100 percent.

She stressed that this would require a broader and more comprehensive effort, including the other four municipalities with an impact on the bay: Usulután, San Dionisio, Concepción Batres and Jucuarán.

In addition to the lack of financial resources to carry out such a program, Pineda argued that there is an absence of political will on the part of local governments and the central government, which she said are not committed to solving the environmental problems of this area or the country as a whole.

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By Siti Sarah Abdul Razak and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct 25 2023 (IPS)

Policy approaches relying solely on voluntary actions to address urgent needs are unlikely to succeed. Depending on optional compliance to address global warming will not fix things in time.

Regulation for transformation
Tariq Fancy, former Chief Investment Officer for Sustainable Investing at BlackRock, had created a storm with his criticisms of ESG (environmental and social governance) ‘greenwashing’, remaining wary of voluntary corporate-led reforms.

Sarah Razak

Nevertheless, judicious and effective regulation based on ESG principles, combined with changing incentives and increased public awareness, can incentivize companies to do better.

Fancy believes changing rules for better regulation is essential for better outcomes. Limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is essential to ensure responsible governance aligned with the long-term public interest.

Investment managers have several responsibilities – including fiduciary duties, legal obligations, and financial incentives – requiring them to prioritize short-term profitability rather than sustainability.

Fancy believes imposing financial costs will provide stronger incentives for corporations to pursue greener alternatives. After all, voluntary measures are rarely enough to ensure sufficient adoption of sustainable practices.

Changing regulations to incorporate sustainability considerations should require portfolio managers to prioritize social and environmental concerns, and make choices supporting long-term sustainability goals.

Profits not aligned with public interest
Fiduciary duties oblige company managers to always act in the best interest of shareholder profits. This means ESG initiatives will only happen if they help, or at least do not hurt, profitability.

Fancy noted managers are not allowed, by law, to sacrifice potential profits from shareholder investments. They are legally obliged to never sacrifice shareholder interests, especially profitability, for anything else.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Social, cultural and media shifts in the West have undoubtedly influenced transnational business behaviour. The popularization of ESG discourses reflects these trends, but there is no strong evidence of their efficacy and positive impact.

Fleeting episodes of public attention cannot even ensure long-term protection of the public interest. With managers constrained by their fiduciary duties, relying on corporations to do the right thing is neither reliable nor sufficient.

Relying on corporate social or environmental responsibility may well become a distraction, delaying urgent and much-needed efforts. This failure underscores the need for government regulation and corporate compliance to achieve vital social and environmental goals.

Quick fixes delay progress
Fancy found many people believe safeguarding investment portfolios from climate risks prevents global warming. But safeguarding finance from climate risks is not the same as mitigating climate change.

De-risking finance means protecting the financial value of an investment portfolio. This includes protecting against asset damage, or reducing the risk of lower investment returns, but certainly not climate change mitigation.

Mitigating climate change requires proactive measures to reduce GHG emissions. This includes measures to generate and use clean, especially renewable energy.

Financial protection is important for financial asset owners, but it cannot replace the efforts needed to fight climate change. Worse, believing such measures address the climate crisis serves to delay government interventions and other changes needed to do so.

Climate inequity
Climate change exacerbates inequality, which in turn delays progress. The intergenerational distribution of the burden of climate risks disproportionately affects younger and future generations.

This deters proactive measures, as older generations are less inclined to spend more now for future generations who will suffer more from global warming. Instead, they may prefer measures to better adapt to its contemporary effects.

Aside from younger and future generations, the more vulnerable will also bear its worst effects. Thus, for example, small farmers in developing nations will have to cope with increased droughts, floods and crop failures.

Thus, further progress on climate change is delayed due to financial short-termist thinking, business interests, limited contemporary accountability for future consequences, as well as political and cost considerations.

Developing nations, with much smaller per capita carbon footprints, typically lack resources, leaving them more vulnerable. Meanwhile, developed countries, the major historical greenhouse gas emitters, have more resources to slow and adapt to climate change.

Can ESG principles help?
Will businesses maintain commitments to ESG ‘principles’ over the long term? They are legally obliged to maximize shareholder interests, especially profits, and also know public interest, attention, sentiment and priorities are always changing.

Business leaders may only commit to ESG principles in the long term if compelled to embrace them owing to the pecuniary costs of ignoring them. Obligations to other stakeholders – including investors, customers and employees – can also help sustain ESG commitments.

Establishing clear governance arrangements for ESG oversight, setting measurable and achievable goals, reporting regularly, and ensuring comprehensive organizational accountability should also help.

But ultimately, regulation should appropriately advance social and environmental responsibility, with such commitments sustained despite shifting public attention, fads and profit concerns.

Are voluntary efforts enough?
The COVID-19 experience has also taught us to prioritize proactive, systemic and mandatory measures, rather than rely solely on voluntary efforts. While voluntary efforts can advance sustainability efforts, the pandemic experience suggests they will not be sufficient to achieve needed changes soon enough.

A systemic approach can induce businesses and individuals to do the needed. Policy interventions, especially regulation, are essential to drive systemic changes on a large scale, and to align businesses and individuals with ESG principles.

Clear communications, transparency and collaboration – among governments, businesses and civil society – are crucial for achieving long-term sustainability and progressive social change.

To control the pandemic, governments adopted ‘all of government’ and ‘whole of society’ approaches, imposing strict mandatory lockdowns, but also providing vaccinations to all, and support to the vulnerable.

Similar top-down approaches may be needed to effectively address social and sustainability challenges. This could involve implementing regulations, standards and incentives promoting, even requiring, sustainable practices.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Many young Ugandan patients stop free treatment as their families cannot afford other hidden costs.

By Yasmine Sherif
NEW YORK, Oct 24 2023 (IPS-Partners)

Today, as we commemorate United Nations Day, more than 224 million children and adolescents are in need of quality education, and the hope, protection and opportunity it provides. Their numbers are increasing by the day. From Afghanistan and Sudan to Ukraine; from South Sudan, Latin America and across sub-Saharan Africa; and in Gaza, where 50% of the total population of 2.2 million are children under siege.

On United Nations Day, let us remember that the United Nations was born out of the unspeakable horror of World War II and the Holocaust. The world promised ‘never again’ for any human being. The preamble to the UN Charter in 1945 states:

“We, the Peoples of the United Nations determined

to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brough untold sorrow to humankind, and

to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of women and men and of nations large and small, and

to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained …”

On this United Nations Day, we must revive and act upon the promises enshrined in the UN Charter of 1945 and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. These eternal, universal principles were translated into international law and will never change – just as the Golden Rule has remained true throughout history. It is not our international law and values of humanity that need to change. It is we who must change.

We must change for the millions of young people in this world – the majority in the Global South – who have no access whatsoever to education and its protection, no access to mental health services for their battered souls, no chance of at least one hot school meal a day for their empty stomachs, and no protection from attacks against schools, students and teachers – all enshrined in International Humanitarian Law. We must change for the millions of children and adolescents to whom we made these promises. The world is failing them.

It is time to face the unacceptable horrors of today with our collective resolve for positive action and change. It is time to fully apply and respect Universal Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law and the UN Charter, not disregard them.

It is time to start serving as a role model for the younger generation who suffer because of the world’s collective fears and failures. We must show them that we have the capacity to show empathy for all of humanity, without any discrimination. This is what makes us civilized and humane.

We must deliver on the right to quality education and protection for the millions of girls and boys who today risk never experiencing the excited anticipation of attending their first day in school, who may never carry a backpack of books and pens, or ever access psycho-social services to deal with the dispossession and brutality in which they live.

Working within and around United Nations for 35 years, I believe that the United Nations has not failed, and we need it now more than ever. UN national and international staff are working with national and local partners and with civil society, risking their lives on a daily basis to alleviate human suffering. They do so amidst excruciating human pain in the most dangerous parts of the world.

Unacceptably, one in six people are estimated to be affected by conflict today and last year saw a 96% increase in conflict-related deaths. Forced displacement is also on the rise. In 2022, the number of people forcibly displaced by persecution, conflict, violence and human rights violations grew by 21%, with over 108 million people displaced by the end of the year.

The climate crisis is making matters worse. As people are forced from their homes by floods, droughts and other extreme weather events, we see further massive disruptions in education, impacting negatively on progress to economic and social stability. On our current trajectory, climate change will force 140 million people from their homes by 2050, disrupting continuous access to education for millions of school-aged children each year.

Today, as we commemorate United Nations Day, we must stand up for 1.1 million Palestinian children in Gaza who acutely need us and we must support all the national and international staff in UNRWA, UNICEF, WFP, UNHCR and WHO, and other aid organizations, living and working amongst them as I write this.

Education Cannot Wait has invested in 44 lower-income, crisis-affected countries across the globe. These are countries who cannot manage the needs alone. ECW has already reached 9 million children and adolescents with quality education. We have done so based on the imperatives of humanity and impartiality – without discrimination as to race, ethnicity, gender or religion. We have done so with an absolute commitment to the UN Charter, just like all our colleagues in the UN system and its civil society partners.

Education is one of the most critical tools we have in our global efforts to end violent conflict, breaches of international law and the erosion of our humanity. Today, we stand at a crossroad. We have choices to make. Do we choose ‘the will to power’ or the ‘will to humanity’, or finally a configuration of both? This is the choice we have to make, now.

In all that we dream to possess and achieve,
let us seek to remove the “I” and the “me”.
In all that we yearn to become and to be,
let us seek to merge the “them and we”.
Because for all that we crave and all that we want
there is a greater ‘What shall be?’
Humanity set free.

Let me conclude by stressing that my modest poem is not simply a wishful ideal. It represents hardcore international law. The United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all related conventions, along with International Humanitarian Law, provides us with the roadmap.

We can no longer walk blindly.

In the final analysis, when all else falls away during our short lifespan on earth, true power can only be measured by our collective capacity to feel for – and serve – all of humanity.

That’s the power of humanity.

Yasmine Sherif

 

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Excerpt:

United Nations Day Statement by Education Cannot Wait Executive Director

Incumbent George Weah will face Joseph Boakai, separated by around 7,000 votes in the first round.