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Sustainable Fashion Show at Al Wasl Dome during the COP28 at Expo City Dubai. Credit: COP28/Walaa Alshaer

By Joyce Chimbi
DUBAI, Dec 10 2023 (IPS)

Thousands of bales of cheap, poor-quality secondhand clothing arrive on boats and ships docking on Africa’s extensive 26,000-kilometer-long coastline, dotted with at least 100 ports and harbors. From Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Uganda, and Kenya, Africa’s ecosystems are chocking with cheap, air-polluting, and emissions-producing low-quality clothing as they often contain plastic-based fibers.

High volumes of very low-grade used clothing commonly known as fagia, Swahili for sweep, as they are often sold to fagia traders in large volumes and for very little money—to cut into tiny pieces and sell as industrial rags and thereafter be used as industrial fuels—significantly cause air pollution and emissions.

The first-ever global stocktake is set to conclude at the ongoing COP28 and is a process for countries and stakeholders to assess progress towards meeting the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. The world is not on track to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and the fashion industry has come under heavy criticism. Now some in the sector have expeditiously switched to sustainable fashion.

An estimated 300,000 metric tons of clothing end up in household bins every year, with around 20 percent going to landfills, polluting the environment and creating a health hazard. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

Clothes made from sustainable materials were on display at Al Wasl Dome during the UN Climate Change Conference COP28 at Expo City Dubai. Credit: COP28 / Neville Hopwood

“We are a hub for climate-focused solutions derived from nature. We are helping the fashion and textile industry transform into a circular economy by developing and scaling new fibers and yarns that are made from seaweeds,” says Tessa Callaghan, co-founder and CEO of Keel Labs.

“Rather than using and mitigating the systems that we currently have, we are pairing an existing supply chain—in fiber and textile manufacturing—with new raw materials. For us, that is seaweed, which is able to negate the water, land use, and chemical usage that really make the fashion industry so polluting. We work with brands to help them transition to a better, cleaner future.”

Protein Evolution, also represented at COP28, is the U.S.’s first biological recycling company with validated technology and a clear supply-chain roadmap that enables plastic production from waste, not fossil fuels. The result is recycled plastic, which makes a low-carbon, circular plastic economy possible.

A circular economy is anchored on waste management, mitigating pollution by keeping products and materials in use for longer, and regenerating natural systems. In the fashion industry, circular fashion refers to a regenerative approach that ensures that clothing and textiles are designed, produced, and consumed with great consideration for the environment and related ecosystems, minimizing waste, pollution, and the use of natural resources.

UN research indicates that greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest and decline 43 percent by 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5°C; crossing the 1.5°C threshold risks unleashing far more severe climate change impacts. To halt the pace and impact of the ongoing climate crisis, it can no longer be business as usual for the fashion industry.

Fast fashion—rapidly producing high volumes of clothing—causes extensive damage to the planet, exploits workers, and harms animals. An estimated 300,000 metric tons of clothing are dumped in household bins annually; approximately 80 percent of it is incinerated, while 20 percent goes to landfills.

The cost of fast fashion to the planet can no longer be ignored. The textile industry is responsible for 10% of all global CO2 emissions, which is more than all international aviation and shipping emissions combined. At the ongoing COP28 Summit, delegates heard from fashion industry players about steps being taken to reverse its negative impact on the climate, environment, and all its ecosystems and health.

“I would like to call what we do fashion farming, actually. We are trying to grow regenerative cotton and turn it into fabulous fabrics for our fashion lines. We have been working on this for the last five years, and we are trying to get farmers in our areas to try and succeed in regenerative agriculture. The idea is to build healthy, resilient, and interconnected ecosystems,” said Muzaffer Kayhan, CEO, SÖKTAŞ Tekstil.

“At SÖKTAŞ, we recognize the value and the inherent resilience of interconnected ecosystems. Through employing centuries-long regenerative practices, we seek to undo the negative environmental effects of industrial agriculture.

“We are the world’s first company to completely use plant-based fur as an alternative to animals, synthetic furs, and all sorts of fluffy materials. We work with fashion brands to provide an alternative to material that is more responsible, sustainable, and nature-derived—an ethical and green solution,” said Roni GamZon, co-founder and chief commercial officer, Biofluff.

New reports are highlighting the urgency of scaling up green solutions as greenhouse gas emissions hit new highs, temperature records tumble, and climate impacts intensify. According to the Emissions Gap Report 2023: Broken Record: Temperatures hit new highs, yet world fails to cut emissions (again) finds that “the world is heading for a temperature rise far above the Paris Agreement goals unless countries deliver more than they have promised.”

The Paris Agreement inspired near-universal climate action and played a central role in catalyzing cooperative action so the world could address the climate crisis. But the global stocktake shows implementation of the Paris Agreement is lacking across all areas and not where it should be.

Governments will take a decision on the global stocktake at COP28, which can be leveraged to accelerate ambition in their next round of climate action plans due in 2025. The stocktake calls for a systems transformation that follows a whole-society and whole-economy approach that mainstreams climate resilience and development aligned with low greenhouse gas emissions, and the fashion industry is expected to scale up green solutions and significantly contribute to the global journey to net zero.

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A mask seller in an Indian food market in Kerala during a recent zoonotic disease outbreak. COP28 is the first climate negotiation where the majority of the countries have agreed to declare their commitment to prevent the worsening health impacts of climate change. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS

By Stella Paul
DUBAI, Dec 9 2023 (IPS)

One Health activist, Kelly Dent, has been attending UNFCCC COPs since 2009, when it was held in Copenhagen. From there, it has been a 15-year-long journey to Dubai, but Dent is finally having a reason to feel good: for the first time, the majority of the countries have come together to formally declare their commitment to prevent the worsening health impacts of climate change.

“After 14 years of working for this (inclusion of One Health in the climate change negotiations), it is finally there in the health declaration, so we are very happy. It is mentioned clearly—says what it is and uses the exact term; there is no ambiguity,” says Dent, who is the Global Director of External Engagement at World Animal Protection, one of the 14 organizations that issued a statement of endorsement soon after the health declaration was issued in Dubai on December 3.

The Health Declaration

The three-page document called “COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health” says that the parties will facilitate collaboration on human, animal, environmental, and climate health challenges. Implementing a One Health approach would include addressing environmental determinants of health, stepping up research on the connections between environmental and climatic factors and antimicrobial resistance, and finding zoonotic spillovers early to stop, prepare for, and respond to future pandemics.

While the declaration is not legally binding, it serves as a voluntary call to action outside the formal process of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). So far, 124 countries have signed it.

According to Dent, this health declaration should be viewed alongside the “Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action,” another landmark declaration made at COP28 on December 4. This is also the first-ever leaders’ level declaration on food systems and climate at a COP, and it highlights the unique and crucial role that food systems play in either driving or mitigating climate change—as well as adapting to its impacts.

Put together, the two declarations widen the scope of addressing and tackling environmental, human, and animal health, all of which are interrelated.  “Even a couple of years ago, there was nothing on One Health or climate and health connections in the COPs. And now we have not one but two declarations on this. So, this is definitely a great start,” Dent says.

Nathalie Beasnel, a surgical nurse and health philanthropist from Chad. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS

Perspective of a Developing Oil-Producing Country

Nathalie Beasnel is a surgical nurse from Chad, a nation in sub-Saharan Africa with alarmingly high levels of air pollution due to industrial emissions, such as the production of oil and gas.

According to Energy Intelligence – a global energy information company, in the first quarter of 2023, Chad’s crude oil production was 141,700 barrels per day. Of this, the country only uses a marginal portion—slightly over 2 thousand barrels; the rest is used by consumers outside of the country. The total revenue from the oil is estimated to be over USD 1.13 billion.

Ironically, Chad ranks 190 out of 191 countries on the UN Human Development Index which makes it among the poorest countries in the world. 42% of the country’s population lives below the national poverty line.

In addition, air pollution has emerged as one of the biggest health crises in Chad. The current PM2.5 concentration in Chad is 4.9 times higher than the WHO 24-hour air quality guidelines, according to live data gathered by AQI.in, the global air quality monitoring tool.

Beasnel, who provides specific and basic medical supplies to hospitals in the rural areas of Senegal, Chad, and South Africa through her charity Health4Peace, receives dozens of requests every quarter from pregnant women to help them go abroad to give birth in a “clean air environment.”

Beasnel feels that the health declaration has hopes for communities facing health challenges induced by climate change and fossil fuel burning in poorer countries like Chad; they can expect some concrete action and support, especially since the announcement of a total of 1 billion USD in financing for climate and health. The billion-dollar funding comes from an array of existing and new funders, including the Green Climate Fund, Asian Development Bank, Global Fund, and Rockefeller Foundation.

“This is a portal. We know that USD 1 billion has already been raised, specifically by the health sector. Now I want to see where this 1 billion goes. For example, we have sudden floods, droughts, farm failures, and air pollution. However, we now need to see the mechanism of the flow of this fund—whether it is through leadership, whether it is through people, or whether it is through the people who are directly affected,” she says.

Coming up Next: One Health Guidelines From the Quadripartite

Last year in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, four UN agencies (quadripartite)—WHO, UNEP, FAO, and WOAH—collectively drew a Joint Plan of Action (JPA) to advocate for and support the implementation of One Health at all levels and across sectors to tackle interconnected health risks and protect the health of all species.

Since then, the quadripartite has taken several steps to advance the adoption of the One Health approach, which include, among others, a workshop on environmental determinants of health and the One Health Assembly.

At COP28, the quadripartite has developed an implementation guide to provide the countries with step-by-step guidance on how to adopt and adapt the OH JPA at the national level. Scheduled to be launched on December 10, 2023, the guideline is expected to focus on how to adopt a multidisciplinary and inclusive principle. According to Cristina Romanelli, Programme Officer & Biodiversity, Climate and Health Focal Point, World Health Organization, this is one of the most exciting developments that we can expect during the remaining days of COP28.

“Now that we understand what a holistic, multilayered One Health framing means, how does that apply in terms of implementation? So, what will happen on December 10 is the launch of the plan for this implementation,” Romanelli says.

Some Words of Caution

Meanwhile, One Health advocates are urging people to make note of some omissions in the health declaration that could affect its successful adoption and implementation. One of these is factory farming of animals, which significantly raises the chances of trauma and sickness in animals and contributes to at least 11% of total greenhouse gas emissions.

“There is a powerful agriculture lobby that doesn’t allow any changes. We have to challenge this dominant lobby and their business model and expose the harm they are causing. The governments also need to take responsibility, rid away subsidies in industrial agriculture, and support protein diversification,” says Dent.

Dent cites the example of Germany, which, in November, allocated 38 million euros to support the production of alternative (plant-based) proteins.

The German government’s decision follows similar steps taken by the Netherlands, which has already invested 60 million euros to develop an ecosystem for cultivated meat and precision fermentation. Denmark (168 million euros) France (65 million euros) and the UK are other European countries that have announced investing in developing plant-based, alternative proteins.

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Changing the climate means getting everyone involved. Credit: Earth Child Institute

By Umar Manzoor Shah
DUBAI, Dec 9 2023 (IPS)

In the heart of Earth Child Institute’s mission to nurture the future stewards of our planet, the story of Eric Hansel unfolds as a testament to the transformative power of educating children on environmental responsibility. Hailing from Pennsylvania, USA, Hansel’s journey took a poignant turn when his career as a respiratory therapist plunged him into the harsh realities of a trauma unit, witnessing families losing their children to various diseases. It was during these challenging moments that Hansel resolved to be part of a movement that aimed to instill eco-consciousness in the hearts of the young.

Now, at COP 28, representing the Earth Child Institute, Hansel passionately shares the impact of their initiatives. The Earth Child Institute, founded by Donno Godman at the UN two decades ago, boasts observer status at the United Nations. Their unwavering mission is to mold children into climate leaders through educational programs that span 25 countries, 15 of which are in Africa.

The organization employs a hands-on approach, sending trainers to develop curriculum and work closely with teachers in schools. The programs encompass diverse topics such as clean drinking water, sanitation, and the critical role of planting trees in safeguarding coastlines. The trainers remain on-site until the initial implementation, ensuring a seamless transition to the school system. The Earth Child Institute further supports these initiatives through a grant program, providing essential financial aid to sustain and expand the programs.

Eric Hansel represents the Earth Child Institute at COP28. Credit: Umar Manzoor Shah/IPS

“The crux of their approach lies in recognizing the unique power children hold in driving change. When educated about environmental issues, children become advocates within their families, spreading awareness and influencing behavioral shifts,” says Hansel, emphasizing the effectiveness of teaching kids about planting trees to protect coastlines, a message that resonates differently with the young compared to adults preoccupied with immediate concerns like putting food on the table.

The organization’s reach extends far beyond urban landscapes, covering hundreds of schools in rural areas across the globe. Their ambition is to collaborate with ministries of education in various countries to streamline program implementation and amplify their impact. Through partnerships with organizations like Brazil’s Global Action Classroom program (GAC), Nigeria’s HACEY, and collaborations with local schools and ministries, Earth Child Institute tailors its approach to the unique needs of each region.

In Brazil, the GAC program facilitates connections among kids and young people to discuss environmental issues, bridging gaps between urban and rural communities. In Nigeria, a collaborative effort between HACEY, local schools, and the Ministry of Environment focuses on water, sanitation, and hygiene education. Ghana sees the Earth Child Institute working in tandem with the Ministry of Education, the Forestry Department, and local institutions to emphasize environmental education and tree planting.

Even in regions like Qatar and the Seychelles, where the challenges may be unique due to their geographical and geopolitical contexts, Earth Child Institute adapts its strategies. In Qatar, youth leaders collaborate with local schools in Doha to identify school teams for participation, while in the Seychelles, partnerships with the Ministry of Environment tackle climate change in an endangered small island state.

“However, the real magic happens when these programs resonate with the children. The lifelong relationships forged with schools and the lasting commitment to sustainability that grows over time. When children comprehend the direct impact of practices like proper handwashing on their health, they become the torchbearers of this knowledge within their families, setting in motion a ripple effect that extends far beyond the classroom. Indeed, the seeds of change are best planted in the fertile hearts and minds of the next generation,” Hansel told IPS.

According to the UNICEF report, the number of children potentially exposed to climate risks and their effects is alarming. Currently, over half a billion children are living in areas with extremely high levels of flood occurrence, and nearly 160 million live in areas of high or extremely high drought severity. Most of them live in some of the world’s poorest countries, with the least capacity to manage these environmental risks.

It adds that overlaying maps of projected temperature changes with projected child population data indicates that, under a business-as-usual scenario, by 2050, 1.45 billion children are projected to live in zones where the maximum average surface temperature will change by greater than 2ºC.

Under a moderately ambitious action scenario, this number is projected to drop to around 750 million children. Under a highly ambitious action scenario, the number would drop to 150 million children.

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ECW's Executive Director, Yasmine Sherif, addressed delegates over the urgent need to fast-track solutions for crisis-impacted children during the RewirEd Summit plenary session. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
DUBAI, Dec 9 2023 (IPS)

It is a global catastrophe of astounding proportions that millions of children are on the run today, forcibly displaced from their homes. As conflict and climate change increasingly become the most pressing challenges facing the world now, the number of displaced children has doubled in the last decade alone, reaching a record high of 43.3 million children.

Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), says that conflict- and climate-change-affected children are the least likely to enroll in or stay in school and are therefore the furthest left behind when it comes to fulfilling their basic human right to quality education. Many of these children are in the poorest and most vulnerable nations. ECW is the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises.

Stressing that the needs are enormous and responses must be immediate before the unfolding education crisis becomes irreversible, Sherif emphasized the need to build climate-resilient education systems as an adaptation measure, including climate change-proof education infrastructure that will ensure learning continuity.

“More than 62 million children—nearly one-third of the 224 million crisis-affected children worldwide in need of educational support—are also affected by grave climate-induced disasters. We have issued an urgent appeal for US$150 million in new funding to respond to the climate crisis. We must act now with speed, for in the face of human suffering and the destruction of our planet, patience is not a virtue,” she said.

Awut Deng Acuil, South Sudan’s Minister of General Education and Instruction, brought the situation there more into focus during an ECW side event on the designated day for education. It was the first time in the history of the COP Summits to have an entire day dedicated to the education agenda, reflecting the strong interconnection between the climate crisis and the global education crisis.

An estimated 70 percent of school-aged South Sudanese children have never set foot in a classroom, and only 10 percent of those who enroll complete primary education. This is one of the worst completion rates globally. As South Sudan faced multiple challenges over many years, a girl in South Sudan is more likely to die in childbirth than to complete primary education.

“There are parts of South Sudan that are completely flooded. I have never seen water that comes and never recedes. You hardly see any land. A week ago, I visited Unity State to assess the impact of climate shocks, and I saw many displaced families. At least 40 percent of schools are flooded and have remained closed since 2021. Before the pandemic, we had 2.3 million children in school; today, we have 2.1 million children out of school. For those still in school, the ratio is 120 students per teacher,” she said.

“To get to school in these areas, children and teachers walk along dikes—barriers built to hold back water—and despite the risks, they are running out of options. Some of the schools are inaccessible for rehabilitation. For those that can be rehabilitated, we use boats to transport rehabilitation material.”

But as the country was picking up its pieces through a peace agreement that has provided stability and normalcy, climate-induced disasters have exacerbated barriers between children and education, rolling back time by derailing access to education.

Sherif said ECW and South Sudan’s education ministry will not recoil from the imposing challenges and have a strong partnership to push the education agenda forward, appealing for additional donors to meet a funding gap of USD 25 million to fully implement the ECW-supported Multi-Year Resilience Programme in the country. She added that the needs are increasing as the conflict in Sudan pushes children out of their homes and into South Sudan.

“Since 2020, we have supported partners in improving access to quality, inclusive education for children and adolescents and increasing retention rates in South Sudan. ECW’s funding focuses on the most vulnerable ones, including girls, internally displaced children, and children with disabilities. Interventions range from covering school fees, reaching students remotely, training education personnel, and implementing child protection pathways in schools. This holistic education must be urgently scaled up to reach all crisis-impacted children,” Sherif emphasized.

Ole Thonke, Undersecretary for Development Policy, Government of Denmark, reiterated Denmark’s commitment to resolve the climate, conflict, and education crises, as they are all different sides of the same coin. The country has announced a new additional USD 6 million pledge to ECW to support the delivery of quality education to vulnerable children and youth at the forefront of the interconnected crises of climate change and conflict, with a particular focus on girls and adolescent girls.

In pastoral communities such as Kenya and the larger Horn of Africa belt, girls are particularly at risk. As the climate crisis threatens to paralyze pastoral economies, families who have lost their livestock are increasingly marrying off their young girls. Current education systems are not equipped to handle the spiraling effects of the climate crisis. In fact, delegates heard that education systems as they are currently structured can only harness 35 percent of the value, talent, and potential nestled within each child—the gift of undiscovered human brilliance.

The side event was held within the context of the RewirEd Summit, which focuses on rewiring learning for green skills, green jobs, and the green economy and ensuring that acquired skills match the needs of current markets and the world’s most pressing needs.

“Since the first RewirEd Summit, we have worked very hard to follow through on the commitment we made to elevate the role of education as the most powerful and valuable opportunity for human development. We needed to bring education to the heart of all these challenges and leverage its potential to offer solutions. We are here because of one of the greatest challenges of our time: if we do nothing about climate change, it will affect the entire future of our planet,” said Dr Tariq Al Gurg, CEO and Vice Chairman of Dubai Cares.

Dubai Cares hosted the second RewirEd Summit to encourage dialogue and action to put education at the forefront of the climate agenda. The one-day summit brought together ministers, high-profile speakers, and panelists from UN agencies, climate actors, international NGOs, academia, marginalized communities, indigenous populations, teachers, and youth, as well as representatives from the public and private sectors from around the world.

“It cannot be business as usual; as long as we keep education confined within outdated, unambitious, and broken systems, we will continue to be in a vicious cycle where for every step forward we take, another pandemic, climate disaster, or conflict will set us back again, if not even further away from our goals to help people as well as the planet. The only way forward is to recognize that the pathway to meaningful progress towards 2030 and beyond must be through positioning education at the core of every single Sustainable Development Goal,” said Reem Al Hashemi, UAE’s Minister of State for International Cooperation.

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The so-called "Green Zone" at COP28, which brings together pavilions of non-governmental organizations and companies that are not officially accredited by the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, features a clean energy area showcasing progress made on the ground, at the climate summit in Dubai. CREDIT: Emilio Godoy / IPS

By Emilio Godoy
DUBAI, Dec 8 2023 (IPS)

One of the world’s largest solar power plants, the Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum Park, captures solar rays in the south of this United Arab Emirates city, with an installed capacity of 1,527 megawatts (Mw) to supply electricity to some 300,000 homes in the Arab nation’s economic capital.

However, it is difficult to find solar panels on the many buildings that populate this city of nearly three million inhabitants, host to the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – an unlikely venue for a climate summit at a site built on oil industry wealth and at the same time highly vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis."Financing is the number one priority. The transition must be fully funded, with access to affordable long-term funds. Technology transfer is vital. Renewables are the most recognized and affordable solution for climate mitigation and adaptation." -- Rana Adib

But it is not unusual considering that this Gulf country, made up of seven emirates, is one of the world’s largest producers of oil and gas, which it is trying to compensate for by hosting the annual climate summit, which began on Nov. 30 and is due to conclude on Tuesday, Dec. 12, with the Dubai Declaration.

That is why the Dec. 2 launch of the Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge, endorsed by 123 countries and consisting of tripling by 2030 the alternative installed capacity to 11 terawatts (11 trillion watts) and doubling the energy efficiency rate to four percent per year, along with other announcements, comes as a surprise in a scenario designed by and for crude oil.

Governments, international organizations and companies have already pledged five billion dollars for the development of renewable energy in the coming years at the Expo City Dubiai, the summit venue.

For Latin America, a region that has made progress in the transition to alternative energy, although with varying levels of success depending on the country, these voluntary goals involve financial, regulatory, social and technological challenges to make real progress in that direction.

Peri Días, communications manager for Latin America of the non-governmental organization 350.org, said the existence of a declaration on renewables at COP28 is essential for the phasing out of fossil fuels, the burning of which is the main cause of global warming.

“It is fundamental that the energy transition be fair, include affected communities and the most vulnerable. We have to ask ourselves why generate more electricity and for whom. What we see today is a complementary growth that does not replace fossil fuels, it is not what we need,” the activist told IPS in the summit’s Green Zone, which hosts civil society in its various expressions.

The Jebel Ali power plant, the world’s largest gas-fired power plant, includes a seawater desalination plant to supply water to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The plant is visible on the outskirts of the city, where the climate summit is being held in the Expo City this December. A reminder that renewable energy is still far from replacing fossil fuels, the main cause of global warming. CREDIT: Emilio Godoy / IPS

In the Latin American region, Brazil has emerged as the undisputed leader, developing an installed capacity of 196,379 MW, 53 percent of which comes from hydroelectric plants, 13 percent from wind energy and 5 percent from solar power.

In Chile, solar energy contributes 24 percent of energy, wind 13 percent and hydroelectric 21 percent, although thermoelectric plants still account for 36.9 percent.

Despite the lag since 2018 due to the current government’s outright support for hydrocarbons, which has halted the transition to low-carbon energy sources, Mexico is next in line, with 7000 Mw of solar power capacity and 7312 Mw of wind power, although its energy mix still depends 70 percent on fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, in Argentina, 73 percent of renewable energy comes from wind, 15 percent from the sun, 6 percent from bioenergy and 5 percent from mini-hydroelectric plants.

The Climatescope 2023 report, produced by the private consulting firm BloombergNEF, found that Brazil, Chile and Colombia are the most attractive countries in the region for investment in renewables, while Mexico is one of the least attractive.

Limitations

While it is true that most Latin American nations have set renewable generation targets, they also face hurdles to reaching them. Around the world, this segment suffers from high interest rates for financing, a bottleneck in the manufacture of wind turbines that affects producers, and slow delivery of environmental permits.

Ricardo Baitelo, project manager of the non-governmental Brazilian Institute of Energy and Environment, said the maintenance of policies plays a central role in the evolution of renewables, which require higher generation speed, integration in the electric grid and the reduction of energy losses by moving them from one point to another.

“In recent years, Brazil has intensified the regimentation of renewables, expansion has been steady, but planning is important. And it is necessary to improve processes and build infrastructure, which costs more money,” he told IPS.

The deployment of renewable energies involves concerns about respect for the rights of indigenous peoples and communities, water use, deforestation risks and the impacts of mining for elements such as copper, tin, cobalt, graphite and lithium.

Several reports warn of both the demand for these materials and the consequences.

An electric vehicle recharges at a hotel in northeast Dubai, the second largest city in the United Arab Emirates and host of COP28. In this city built on oil wealth, the Dubai climate summit includes messages of promotion and commitment to renewable energies. CREDIT: Emilio Godoy / IPS

The demand for copper and nickel would grow by two to three times to meet the needs of electric vehicles and clean electricity grids by 2050. The extraction of minerals, such as graphite, lithium and cobalt, could rise by 500 percent by 2050 to meet the requirements of energy technologies, according to the World Bank Group.

Chile and Mexico produce copper; Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, lithium; and Brazil, iron – all of which are necessary for the energy transition, which is not innocuous because it leaves environmental legacies, such as mining waste or water use and pollution.

In this regard, Rana Adib, executive secretary of the non-governmental Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21), said the evolution of renewables depends on the conditions of each nation.

The declaration “must clearly include routes for implementation and for a just and equitable transition. Financing is the number one priority. The transition must be fully funded, with access to affordable long-term funds. Technology transfer is vital. Renewables are the most recognized and affordable solution for climate mitigation and adaptation,” she told IPS.

The Dubai commitment implies a greater effort than Latin American countries had in mind.

By 2031, renewables are to account for 48 percent of primary energy and 84 percent of electricity generation, which means wind and solar would double in Brazil.

Argentina, meanwhile, plans to add 2,600 gigawatts (Gw) of renewables by 2030 and Chile has set targets of 25 percent renewable generation by 2025, 80 percent by 2035 and 100 percent by 2050.

Under its 2015 Energy Transition Law, Mexico is to generate 35 percent clean energy by 2024 and 43 percent by 2030, although these goals are in doubt due to stagnant supply of renewables.

Jorge Villarreal, climate policy director of the non-governmental Mexico Climate Initiative, said Dubai’s commitment is feasible, but argued that there must be a radical change in the country’s energy policy.

“It is not oriented towards renewables. On the contrary, we have invested in gas. Permits (for renewable plants) are at a standstill. Mexico has the potential to expand the penetration of renewables. That is where new investment in energy should be directed,” he told IPS.

Mexico committed at COP27, held in Egypt a year ago, to add 30 Gw of renewable energy and hydropower by 2030, although there is still no clear pathway towards that goal.

While governments, NGOs and academia make their calculations, it is not yet certain that the commitment made on day 2 at Expo City Dubai will translate into a clear message in the final COP28 declaration.

Traders take cattle to market in winter rain along the road to Woliso, Ethiopia. Credit: Apollo Habtamu

By Huyam Salih and Appolinaire Djikeng
NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 8 2023 (IPS)

Africa is contending with a climate crisis it did not create without sufficient recognition for the unique rights and needs of the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population. Not only is the continent least responsible for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, having historically produced just a tiny fraction, but it is also disproportionately impacted by the consequences of emissions generated elsewhere.

And when climate disasters such as cyclones in Mozambique and Malawi, or droughts in the Horn of Africa strike, the subsequent humanitarian response diverts vital funds that could have otherwise supported public health, education and food security.

Such extreme events take an enormous toll on Africa’s primary industries, including crop and animal agriculture, with the livestock sector alone losing $2 billion from the ongoing drought.

It would therefore be preposterous to hold any of these sectors directly to account for curbing climate change – let alone one that provides food and livelihoods for hundreds of millions amidst growing climate risks.

Yet this is precisely the scenario that unfolds when the global climate debate around the role of livestock results in calls for blanket reductions of herd numbers and wholesale dietary shifts away from meat.

Broad campaigns for a transition away from animal agriculture and towards plant-based diets without qualifying regional differences overlook the severe levels of undernutrition in parts of the world caused by inadequate intake of animal-source foods. This risks creating the impression that Africans, who consume as little as seven kilograms of meat a year, must give up vital yet underconsumed sources of protein and micronutrients to mitigate emissions mostly generated elsewhere.

It is critical that regional and even national distinctions are made when making the case for dietary and production changes. Meat consumption and production practices vary enormously around the world. Where meat is over-consumed and produced unsustainably, we recognise this needs to change – not only to bring down emissions but to improve health standards.

But applying this argument globally misses the livestock sector’s outsized and fundamental role in the development of low-income countries, including those across Africa. And this blind spot is made all the more unjust by the fact that those in the Global North have both driven up global emissions and failed to meet commitments to Africa for climate-related development finance.

Livestock keeping offers African countries a gateway to the food security and economic growth enjoyed elsewhere while also enabling the climate adaptation made necessary largely by the actions of others. Investing more climate funding to support Africans farmers and animals adapt to new extremes is an enormous opportunity for a climate-resilient economy. And it is also a matter of climate justice.

Unlike many other parts of the world, Africa is facing exponentially more mouths to feed in the decades ahead just as climate change makes farming harder and riskier than ever.

By 2050, a quarter of the global population will be African, while the region already suffers from the highest prevalence of hunger and malnutrition in the world. From 2021 to 2022, an additional 11 million Africans faced hunger, with 57 million more slipping into food insecurity since the Covid-19 outbreak began.

For many Africans, meat, milk and eggs are a precious and infrequent addition to our diets, providing a dense supply of nutrients and energy that are not as readily available from other foods or supplements.

Africa’s rising population is also an increasingly youthful population, and the majority of young people in sub-Saharan Africa already work in agriculture and in rural areas. Livestock will remain fundamental to Africa’s economic development, contributing up to 80 per cent of agricultural GDP.

As the sector adapts to new demands and circumstances, it also has the opportunity to develop differently to the livestock sector in industrialised countries. At present, half of Africa’s meat and milk is produced by pastoralists, whose animals roam and graze, providing valuable services for natural ecosystems and biodiversity.

However, changes in drought cycles are resulting in shortages of animal feed and fodder, which leads to food and economic insecurity, instability and even conflict among rural communities.

Solutions already exist in Africa that allow rural communities to continue to benefit from raising livestock in spite of climate extremes. These include more climate resilient indigenous cattle breeds and varieties of livestock forages, better climate information services, training and services for farmers and more sophisticated infrastructure and markets. Moreover, these innovations also help to make African livestock systems more efficient, meaning less loss and waste, and lower levels of emissions.

But the continent urgently needs more climate finance to help the entire livestock sector access these new developments. Africa needs to be able to realise the full potential of its livestock sector as a driver for development, and this has been recognised by the African Union in its Agenda 2063 as well as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the Livestock Development Strategy for Africa (LiDeSA).

For the most part, the continent does not contend with the same overconsumption, industrialisation and carbon footprints that drive the agenda in the Global North. Because of this, the opportunities that livestock present for Africa should be fully recognised – and fully funded.

Dr. Huyam Salih, Director of African Union – Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR)
Professor Appolinaire Djikeng, Director General, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Activists Digo Bikas Institute at COP28 demand reparations rather than loans for loss and damage. Experts believe while the agreements on Loss and Damage Fund on the first day of the conference there is a long road ahead. Credit: COP28/Mahmoud Khaled

By Alison Kentish
DUBAI & DOMINICA, Dec 8 2023 (IPS)

An award-winning international development expert and a climate justice expert have called for a rethink of the global financial system that would bring reparatory justice to small, climate-vulnerable nations while offering concessionary development financing to the countries most in need of assistance.

Hannah Ryder, the Chief Executive Officer of international development consultancy Development Reimagined, and Yamide Dagnet, Director of Climate Justice at the Open Society Foundations, for a side event on the margins of the Dubai Climate Talks on December 7.

The discussion was part of Climate+, a conversation series organised by independent news organisation Devex, and presented a frank analysis of progress towards climate justice, the current state of the global financial system, and why the two issues are inseparable.

“We have been in the multilateral and climate finance space where we have been beating around the bush on a range of issues, and that has delivered the outcomes that we are talking about today. It has exacerbated inequalities even if there’s good intention behind it,” Ryder, a trained economist, said.

“Simple example. You are a low-income country, expecting to become a middle-income country. When you apply for World Bank financing, as soon as you get past that threshold, you suddenly have to pay more interest. You don’t have any incentive to declare that you are middle-income. It is a very odd situation. You can understand why that was logical in the past, but if you are designing it for today’s problems, that is a system that doesn’t work.”

Ryder says there are many middle-income countries with an urgent, unmet need for concessional financing.

“My country, Kenya, is just about middle-income; we have to work really hard to get USD 300 million for one project, but we need at least (USD) 4 billion a year to reach the development goals that give every citizen access to proper education and health.”

Dagnet says the most vulnerable countries, those least responsible for but disproportionately impacted by climate change, have recognised that their demands for climate justice and financial reform are more impactful in unison.

“We are here at COP, and the reason why COP matters is because the multilateral forum is really where vulnerable nations have a seat at the table, and they do that by coming together. We are invested in empowering such a coalition. One of them is the V20, a group of finance ministers that started with 20 countries and is now at 68, representing 1.5 billion of the world population. They have been pushing the boundaries and moving the discussion on financing because of that empowerment.”

A former climate negotiator, Dagnet, says the OSF has been supporting decision-makers from vulnerable countries to attend financing events and assisting in areas like understanding communication, capacity-building, and analysis for developing solutions.

“Eight years after the Paris Agreement, we need to objectively say: ‘This is where we are, but this is not where we need to be, and this is what we need to do to get there,” she said.

The development aid and climate justice experts say the landmark announcement of the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund on Day One of COP28 is a long-fought victory, but agree that there is a long road ahead.

“It’s an obvious win so early on in the climate talks,” said Ryder. “I was one of those people who worked on that USD 100 billion commitment, which was a great win in 2009/2010, and it was an innovation, but that hasn’t delivered. Since we’ve had that experiment, let’s learn from it. What we need are financial mechanisms that are predictable and are not linked to immediate or random government decisions on issues like financial transaction taxes. That’s what the work should be over the next year.”

Dagnet says a lot of questions remain.

“There is going to be a lot of discussion next year to ensure sources of funding and how systematic it will be. What will be the role of insurance companies? The polluter space principle? How are we going to make sure that windfall profits by those who are responsible for where we are, like fossil fuel companies and other intensive sectors like aviation and maritime (contribute to climate change funding)? Who is to ensure it goes to where it is needed? Transparency and accountability will also matter,” she said.

So far, pledges to the Loss and Damage Fund total over USD 400 million.

The United Nations estimates that USD 387 billion will be needed annually until 2030 to help developing countries adapt to climate change.

“At this point, we are in a mature enough world, and we are trying to look after our children and future. Let’s take responsibility. Let’s call it reparations. Let’s call it loss and damage. Let’s work with countries that need to build the capacity to speak to their domestic audiences on how to explain what reparations are. If we keep on beating around the bush, we’re not going to make much progress,” says Ryder.

For Dagnet, the goal is a financial system that acknowledges and addresses the burden placed on vulnerable countries and provides concessionary assistance to the countries that need it most.

“Call it global solidarity. Call it due reparations and debt. What matters is that we cannot hide. We need to face the fact that we need to mobilize and address historical missteps,” she says.

The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, has been on a global crusade to restructure the global financial architecture through the Bridgetown Initiative. Named after Barbados’ capital, it calls for an overhaul of development finance that would address issues like inequality and help climate-vulnerable nations build resilience and respond to climate change.

Many argue that it is a reform over 80 years in the making and that it is inextricably linked to justice for the world’s most vulnerable countries.

Economists like Ryder say the current system is just not designed to give the kind of scale to redistribute finance and ensure that money goes to the places where it’s necessary.

“We need to think of the global financial system not as it is but also as what it could be if designed from scratch. That is the benchmark.
IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Credit: World Bank

By Mary Assunta and Irene Reyes
BANGKOK, Thailand, Dec 8 2023 (IPS)

As the world commemorates the 75th anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ( on Human Rights Day December 10), we turn the spotlight on a glaring contradiction the world is experiencing from a harmful industry. Despite causing 8 million annual deaths and a myriad of diseases, the tobacco industry has enjoyed six decades of the legal right to manufacture and sell its harmful products.

This travesty to human rights remains unaddressed with no admission of liability, compensation for victims, or withdrawal of the product.

Instead, the tobacco industry has thwarted and undermined government efforts to protect public health, intimidated governments with legal challenges, used exaggerated data to persuade policy makers that tobacco is a good investment, and funded charity during crisis to polish its tarnished image.

The tobacco business and human rights are diametrically opposed. To protect public health, the UN global treaty, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) has set standards to regulate the industry and reduce tobacco use globally.

Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC empowers governments to shield their tobacco control policies from being derailed and undermined by the tobacco industry and its representatives. Governments can address conflicts of interest issues and keep the industry at arm’s length.

In 2017, the UN Global Compact removed the tobacco companies from its list in recognition of the harm caused by tobacco and hence deserving distinct treatment.

Despite the strong action from the UN system, the tobacco industry has remained defiant. To spruce up its image, it is even mischievously associating itself with human rights. Reports from Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco claim to “respect” human rights, and BAT released a report on human rights and modern slavery.

Unfortunately, many governments have not utilised Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC which provides clear guidance to avoid conflicts of interest and unnecessary interactions with the tobacco industry.

The 2023 Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index, a survey of 90 countries, has reported widespread unnecessary interactions between the government and the tobacco industry, opening the door for conflicts of interest through potential partnerships and collaborations. These interactions occurred even in countries that prohibit such engagements.

The Global Index is a civil society report on how well governments are protecting their health policies from tobacco industry interference according to the recommendations in Article 5.3 Guidelines and ranks countries accordingly
(Figure 1).

Figure 1: Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2023: Country Rankings

Some governments have taken action, but still face meddling from the industry. For example when they limit interactions with the tobacco industry, they often face challenges from industry-funded front groups, as seen in Uganda and Brazil. Usually, governments are unaware of their industry links because they have not implemented transparency measures.

The Global Index found that transparency and accountability are lacking globally, with most countries failing to implement rules for disclosure of industry ties. Most countries do not have rules for disclosure of meetings with the tobacco industry, a register of lobbyists from the tobacco industry, or policies to require the tobacco industry to disclose information on its marketing and lobbying.

In Asia, none of the 19 countries surveyed have a registry disclosing affiliations, or individuals linked to or operating on the tobacco industry’s behalf.

Since the harms of smoking are well established, the tobacco industry is now rebranding itself as a “responsible and caring industry” by marketing supposedly less harmful products, while simultaneously undermining government efforts to combat the tobacco epidemic and protect future generations.

Vaping (use of e-cigarettes) was even presented as ‘a human rights issue’ at an industry-sponsored event claiming it should be made affordable for smokers in poor countries. In Argentina, Malaysia, Philippines and Pakistan, industry front groups participated in discussions on the regulation of e-cigarettes and HTPs to convince governments to embrace these products.

The Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance warns of the alarming increase in vaping, particularly among the youths. Countries that allow sales of e-cigarettes such as Canada, Indonesia, New Zealand, Philippines and the UK, have all seen rapid and high uptake by youths because enforcement is a challenge, as traders continue to market to minors, offering products in appealing designs and thousands of flavors and making them easily accessible online.

In 2022, the Philippines passed legislation on e-cigarettes that lowered the purchase age, allowed flavors and online advertising, contributing to the alarming rise of vaping among Filipino adolescents. The ease of access through online shopping platforms, lacking age verification, exacerbates the problem.

Malaysia recently passed a new omnibus tobacco control law, seen as weaker than originally proposed, and some policy makers have pointed a finger at Big Tobacco’s influence particularly in removing a forward-thinking generational endgame clause.

By yielding to industry influence, Malaysia has missed an opportunity to prevent future generations from becoming victims of the tobacco epidemic.

Malaysia ranked 78 out of 90 countries in the Global Index and their scores have been deteriorating over the years by allowing the tobacco industry in policy development and engaging in unnecessary interactions with the industry.

Governments alone hold the power to determine the health standards for their citizens and decide how to protect the current and future generations. Every instance of a government yielding to tobacco industry lobbying, represent a step backward in ensuring health and fundamental human rights of their people.

Mary Assunta is the Head of Global Research and Advocacy at Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control; Irene Reyes is the Tobacco Industry Denormalization Manager at Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Climate-induced disasters continue to have severe economic and social impacts on vulnerable countries in Africa. The Loss and Damage Fund is expected to boost recovery efforts. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
DUBAI, Dec 8 2023 (IPS)

A record-breaking drought is unfolding in the Horn of Africa, where millions of people are trapped in the world’s worst acute food insecurity emergency. Food insecurity and malnutrition in West and Central Africa are on track to reach a 10-year high as coastal countries edge even closer to the debilitating effects of climate change.

“Growing up in Mombasa, Kenya, we could not imagine a time when catching fish for food in the big Indian Ocean would be a problem. But the destruction of mangroves has destroyed the fish industry. Fish hide in the roots of the mangroves to breed. The country used to have at least two major food baskets—in the Central and Rift Valley regions—but today, Kenya is queuing for food relief,” Moses Murina, a smallholder farmer in Burnt Forest town, Kenya, told IPS during the COP28 Summit.

“We are hearing of mothers boiling what we call male arrowroots, a crop that looks like an arrowroot but is really not food because it cannot be boiled or eaten, for it remains hard no matter how long you boil it in hot water. Others are boiling stones to trick their small children into thinking food is cooking on the fireplace and give desperate mothers some relief from hungry, crying children. How unfortunate that this is happening today when we have the best brains and strongest arms to put food on the table.”

COP28 has mobilized over USD83 billion in the first five days, setting the pace for a new era in climate action. The ground-breaking first ever declarations on food systems transformation are particularly crucial for Africa’s peasant farmers—134 world leaders signed up to the landmark agriculture, food, and climate action declaration, with an overall 140 countries endorsing it.

The ‘COP28 UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action’ is expected to be a lifeline for millions of smallholder farmers on the African continent, putting food on the table for households around the world.

COP28 funding as of December 7, 2023. Source: COP28; Credit: Joyce Chimbi and Cecilia Russell/IPS

All 134 signatory countries to the declaration are home to over 5.7 billion people and almost 500 million farmers, produce 70 percent of the food eaten globally, and are responsible for 76 percent of all emissions from global food systems, or 25 percent of total emissions globally.

“The Declaration addresses both global emissions and protecting the lives and livelihoods of farmers who live on the frontlines of climate change. There is no path to achieving the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and keeping 1.5C within reach that does not urgently address the interactions between food systems, agriculture, and climate,” said Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment and COP28 Food Systems Lead.

But this is not the only big win for Africa. The Loss and Damage Fund issue was expeditiously addressed on day one of COP28; a historic agreement was reached to operationalize and capitalize funding for Loss and Damage, supporting those on the front lines of the climate crisis with USD 726 million already pledged to date.

African and global institutions, together with the governments of Germany, France, and Japan and philanthropies, have already pledged over USD 175 million to the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa (AGIA). The landmark initial pledge will help to rapidly scale up financing for transformative climate-aligned infrastructure projects across the continent.

The new pledges will also advance AGIA towards the USD 500 million needed for early-stage project preparation and development blended capital—USD 40 million of the capital was provided by the African Development Bank.

Importantly, the African Development Bank Group has presented its planned USD1 billion facility to provide insurance to more than 40 million farmers across the continent against the severe impacts of climate change. An estimated 97 percent of farmers in Africa do not have agricultural insurance, as their best bet is to plant and pray.

The IFAD report shows there are an estimated 33 million smallholder farms in Africa, and the farmers that live on them contribute up to 70 percent of the food supply. In sub-Saharan Africa, growth from agriculture can be as much as 11 times more effective at reducing extreme poverty than any other sector.

The United Nations has designated 46 economies as Least Developed Countries (LDCs), entitling them to preferential market access, aid, special technical assistance, and capacity-building on technology, among other concessions. A majority, 33 of the 46 countries, are in Africa. The USD 129.3 million announced toward the Least Developed Countries Fund is expected to be life-transforming for affected African countries.

Gender, women, and climate issues are high on the COP agenda this year, with an entire day dedicated to unpacking gender and climate-related relations and other related socio-economic pressing problems such as conflict. There is progress for African women as USD 2.8 million in new money goes to gender, USD 30 million to clean cooking, USD 1.2 billion to relief, recovery, and peace, and USD $467 million to local climate action.

It is expected that this time round will be different and that these deals and pledges will help in strengthening Africa’s food systems, building resilience to climate change, reducing global emissions and therefore reducing climate-induced disasters in Africa, boosting women’s empowerment, and improving health and livelihoods in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

 

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Faith leaders gather at COP28 to add a spiritual dimension to resolving issues related to climate change. Credit: Umar Manzoor Shah/IPS

By Umar Manzoor Shah
DUBAI , Dec 7 2023 (IPS)

For the first time at COP28, faith has a pavilion alongside science, technology, nations, and philanthropy, allowing religious leaders from all over the world to discuss the potential for using spiritual merits to protect the earth from climate change.

Syed Salman Chishty, representing India’s largest spiritual shrine, Ajmer Sharief, gave IPS the rationale for the pavilion: “As we gather at COP28, we are reminded of the importance of justice and compassion as guiding principles for transformation—this is the overarching theme of the event—the need for genuine change rooted in universal values found in diverse cultures.”

The Ajmer Sharief shrine is the tomb of Moinuddin Chishti, a 13th-century Iranian Sufi saint and philosopher who made India his final abode. People of all faiths venerate his shrine, which is often described as a symbol of India’s pluralism.

The Faith Pavilion at COP28 has also brought together heads of countries, religious leaders, scientists, and activists in a united front against the looming threat of climate change. Among the dignitaries present at its opening was Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with spiritual luminaries, climate activists, and representatives of global think tanks.

The Coalition of Faith Partners and the USA both supported the initiative, which has co-hosts like the UAE’s Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence, Judge Mohamed AbdlSalaam of the Muslim Council of Elders in Abu Dhabi, and Iyad Abumoghil, Director of Faith for Earth at the UN Environment Program (UNEP) in Nairobi.

The Faith Pavilion at COP28 aims to tap into the power of faith communities and religious institutions to address the climate crisis. A diverse array of leaders congregated to explore the potential of spirituality in combating environmental challenges. The discussions were not merely about policies and technologies; rather, they delved into the profound realms of justice, compassion, and conscious transformation.

The Call to Consciousness event panel featured international delegates such as Audrey Kitagawa, founder and President of the International Academy for Multicultural Cooperation in the USA; Ben Bowler, Executive Director of Unity Earth in Australia; Ambassador Mussie Hailu of the United Religious Initiative in Ethiopia; Surender Singh Kandhari, chair of Gurudwara Gurunanak Darbar in Dubai; and Rocky Dawuni, a musician and Global Peace Ambassador of UNEP from Ghana.

The leaders at the Faith Pavilion, says Chishty, emphasized the cultivation of three attitudes towards nature: sunlight-like grace, river-like generosity, and earth-like hospitality. These attitudes, they argued, could serve as a blueprint for individuals to integrate into their daily lives. By doing so, they believed that these principles could bridge differences and divisions in the collective service of others.

“The call for unity in diversity echoed through the discussions, inspired by the teachings of our saint, Khwaja Garib Nawaz, also known as the patron saint of the poor. It was a celebration of the interconnectedness of humanity and nature, urging everyone to look beyond borders and backgrounds in the pursuit of a shared goal: combating climate change,” Chishty said.

He added that the Faith Pavilion at COP28 became a platform not only for dialogue but also for the formulation of actionable strategies.

“The leaders recognized the urgency of the situation and committed to translating the discussions into tangible initiatives. The combination of spiritual wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the collective will of diverse faith communities generated a sense of hope and purpose,” Chishty.

According to him, the event marked a departure from conventional approaches to climate change discussions.

“It acknowledged that addressing the environmental crisis requires more than technological advancements and policy changes; it necessitates a profound shift in consciousness and values. The Faith Pavilion was a testament to the understanding that faith, when aligned with a shared vision, has the potential to drive transformative change on a global scale,” Chisty said.

According to him, once the deliberations in the Faith Pavilion were concluded, the participants left with a renewed sense of purpose and a shared commitment to take concrete actions in the fight against climate change.

“The fusion of faith, science, and activism paved the way for a new chapter in the global response to environmental challenges—a chapter written with the ink of unity, compassion, and a deep reverence for the interconnectedness of all life on Earth,” Chishty concluded.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Indigenous Peoples from Alianza Ceibo fight to counter environmental degradation and protect more than 2 million hectares of primary rainforest in four provinces and 70 communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Credit: Alianza Ceibo

By Marcos Athias Neto
NEW YORK, Dec 7 2023 (IPS)

The triple planetary crisis of climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and pollution is a threat to the well-being and survival of millions of people around the world. Corruption, in its many forms, worsens these multiple crises.

From illegal logging and wildlife trafficking to bribery in environmental permits, to lax enforcement of regulations, corruption inflicts severe damage on our already affected fragile ecosystems.

In the forestry sector alone, close to 420 million hectares of forest have been lost between 1990 and 2020 as a result of deforestation enabled by corruption.

Climate change interventions are currently worth US$546 billion and, although difficult to measure accurately, Transparency International estimates suggest anywhere between 1.4 and 35 per cent of climate action funds have been lost to corruption, and only in 2021, over 350 land and environmental defenders were murdered.

UNDP has been recognizing and championing Indigenous Forest Defenders like Nemonte Nenquimo, the Indigenous Waorani activist from Ecuador, co-founder of the Alianza Ceibo— UNDP Equator Prize winner of 2014, named among the 100 most influential people of 2020 by the Time Magazine. There are 275 Equator Prize winners many of whom are defending land rights.

Anti-corruption is a development financing issue.

Corruption siphons off funds from urgently needed climate financing and the green energy transition. Effective, transparent, and inclusive governance mechanisms and institutions are prerequisites for combating corruption and will help not only ensure that financing achieves its maximum impact, but also contributes to the trust required for the releasing of additional funds.

If we can tackle corruption, we can improve our efforts to successfully protect our environment. However, we must act now, and we must work together. Anti-corruption tools, including those powered by digital advancements, have the potential to help countries reach their climate goals.

Resources lost in illicit financial flows and to corruption each year can be used in targeted investments in governance, social protection, green economy, and digitalization. This is the ‘SDG Push’ scenario which would prevent as many as 169 million people from being driven into extreme poverty by 2030.

Governance mechanisms must be in place

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is working to promote the investment of over $1 trillion of public expenditure and private capital in the SDGs. A portion of these investments are likely to be directed towards climate finance.

In Sri Lanka and Uganda, UNDP is using data and digital monitoring tools to tackle illegal environmental practices and promote integrity and transparency in environmental resource management.

UNDP has also recently launched its Energy Governance Framework for a Just Energy Transition to contribute to achieving more inclusive and accountable energy transitions. In Eswatini, UNDP is supporting inclusive national dialogues to identify mini-grid delivery models and clarify priority interventions for an inclusive and integrated approach to off-grid electrification.

A mini-grid delivery model, determined by the national government with active multi-stakeholder engagement, is the cornerstone of a country’s over-arching mini-grid regulatory framework. It defines who finances, builds, owns and who operates and maintains the mini-grids.

Technology must be promoted

To ensure that crucial financial resources are used for their intended purposes and are not manipulated by corruption, we must ensure that transparency mechanisms exist. With appropriate safeguards in place, technology can be a game-changer for addressing corruption. Big data analytics, mobile applications and e-governance systems are valuable tools in the prevention, detection and investigation of corruption.

In Ukraine, a new e-platform supported by UNDP is increasing transparency in procurement. UNDP in partnership with the EU and the National Agency on Corruption Prevention has also developed a new basic online course to train anti-corruption officers.

Partnerships against corruption must galvanize global efforts

UNDP and the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Nazaha) are jointly launching a new global initiative for measuring corruption at the 10th Session of the Conference of the States Parties to UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), hosted by the United States in Atlanta from 11 – 15 December 2023.

The objective of this new partnership is to strengthen international cooperation to fight corruption and enable countries to track and monitor progress on tackling corruption. This new initiative will develop evidenced-based indicators to evaluate progress and efforts of countries to end multiple forms of corruption.

It will identify policy recommendations and reforms to enable countries to achieve national anti-corruption objectives, as well as address the SDG16 targets for reducing corruption and illicit financial flows.

UNDP remains committed to being united against corruption and to advance the spirit and letter of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption by driving new efforts to measure corruption, with our partners from the UN and beyond.

The Anti-corruption Day is commemorated on 9 December, along with the 20th Anniversary of UNCAC.

Marcos Athias Neto is UN Assistant Secretary General and Director of UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support.

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With COP23 underway, researchers and activists are pointing at the plight of climate migrants. On November 30, a few hours before the COP23 was officially inaugurated, long, serpentine queues could be seen outside Expo 2020, the venue of the COP23. Standing under the blazing sun, besides delegates and media personnel, were hundreds of migrant workers, […]

Three programmes were announced at COP28 including a greening and forest partnership. This picture shows an example of landscaping for urban spaces and high-rises in Singapore.

By Umar Manzoor Shah
DUBAI, Dec 6 2023 (IPS)

In the spirit of global cooperation and environmental commitment, COP 28 launched a groundbreaking initiative aimed at transforming the building and construction sectors. Titled ‘Buildings and Construction for Sustainable Cities: New Key Partnerships for Decarbonization, Adaptation, and Resilience,’ the initiative marks a turning point in addressing the environmental challenges posed by the construction industry.

Three major frameworks were announced at the launch: Buildings Breakthrough, Cement Breakthrough, and the Forest and Climate Leader’s Partnership’s Greening Construction with Sustainable Wood initiative. These frameworks seek to catalyze collaboration between governments and stakeholders, providing a comprehensive solution for mitigating climate change, adapting to its impacts, and building resilience in the sector.

The sector accounts for nearly 40% of global energy-related CO2 emissions and 50% of extracted materials, which highlights the urgency of the initiative. Additionally, the sector generated one-third of global waste, highlighting the critical need for coordinated efforts to guide its transformation.

The global leaders and representatives, during the event, highlighted the urgency of the building and construction sector’s transformation. Their shared commitment to sustainability, resilience, and decarbonization set the stage for a new era of international collaboration, offering hope for a future where cities are built with a conscious effort to mitigate climate change and adapt to its inevitable challenges. The success of this initiative hinges on the continued dedication of nations, organizations, and communities to work together toward a sustainable and resilient future for all.

The COP28 panel at the launch of the ‘Buildings and Construction for Sustainable Cities, New Key Partnerships for Decarbonization, Adaptation, and Resilience’ commitment. Credit: Umar Manzoor Shah/IPS

Maimunah binti Mohd Sharif, the Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, emphasized the sector’s role in greenhouse gas emissions and stressed the importance of accelerating the transition to more sustainable practices.

“The way we build our cities now will determine future emissions. Housing and buildings are also at the core of resilience. We need to accelerate the transition to regenerate the material. We need to ensure that the sector is decarbonized along with a lifecycle and increasingly resilient to natural disasters,” she said.

Stafen Wanzel, Deputy Director General of International Climate Action at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action for Germany, echoed the sentiments, focusing on the pivotal role of cement and steel in achieving net-zero and resilient buildings. “Germany pledged 20 million euros for an international climate initiative to fund advancements in building materials, showcasing their commitment to holistic approaches that consider the energy, environment, and climate nexus,” she said.

Ditte Juul-Jorgensen, Director General of the ENER European Commission, reinforced the need for action to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. She highlighted the potential to design and construct buildings more efficiently, using greener materials, and improving energy efficiency. This, she argued, aligned with the global commitment to triple renewables and double energy efficiency, essential for staying on track with the Paris Agreement’s targets.

“Today’s initiative is a necessary contribution to our work to mitigate climate change and to mitigate emissions, and it is completely aligned with the global pledge for tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency. To respect our 1.5 degrees as agreed in Paris, this initiative is really part of it,” she said.

Abdel Khalek Ibrahim, the Assistant Minister for Technical Affairs at the Ministry of Housing Utilities in Egypt, emphasized the initiative’s global scope. With over 500,000 informal areas, Egypt faces the challenge of balancing housing demand with green climate resilience.  He said that the Egyptian government established a national council for green housing and urbanism to formulate a roadmap for gradually transforming housing to be more resilient and energy efficient. “We need to think about how to strike a balance between housing demand and green climate resilience, as Egypt has more than 500,000 informal areas.”

Ali Zaidi, assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor of the USA, highlighted the transformative potential of the initiative for people’s lives. Focusing on building codes and transitioning from fossil-based to electricity-based heating, the U.S. emphasized a worker- and community-centered approach. Zaidi stressed the importance of grants, design standards, and enforcement to facilitate the sector’s transformation.

“Buildings are the places where we worship, where we live, play, and breathe. There will be a visible difference in the lives of so many people in the coming time. This is the opportunity we must deliver for our citizens. This transformation we are making here must be worker-centered and community-centered,” Zaidi said.

Jo da Silva, Global Sustainability Director for ARUP, discussed the challenges faced by her organization in driving change amid diverse jurisdictional rules. While acknowledging the success keys in Europe, Asia, and the U.S., she emphasized the unique opportunities in Africa, where 80% of the buildings needed in the next two decades are yet to be built. Da Silva urged governments to create a level playing field, facilitating collaboration rather than competition, to unlock the full potential of innovation and industrialized construction in the sector.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Credit: UNICEF/UNI463720/El Baba

By Jan Egeland
OSLO, Norway, Dec 6 2023 (IPS)

The pulverising of Gaza now ranks amongst the worst assaults on any civilian population in our time and age. Each day we see more dead children and new depths of suffering for innocent people enduring this hell.

Across the Gaza Strip, almost the entire population – 1.9 million people – have been displaced. Nearly two in three homes are now damaged or destroyed. Amid relentless air, land and sea attacks, thousands of families are forced to relocate from one perilous zone to another.

Today, more than 750,000 people are crowded into just 133 shelters. Tens of thousands live on the streets of southern Gaza, where, under bombardment, they are forced to improvise basic shelters from whatever they can get hold of.

The winter rains have arrived and so have infectious diseases, just as public health services have been utterly paralysed. Many of my own NRC staff members now live on the streets. One of them does so with her two-month-old baby.

Credit: NRC – Norwegian Refugee Council

Our colleagues in Gaza ask themselves a simple question: how is it that these atrocities are beamed across the world for all to witness, and yet so little is done to stop them?

Countries supporting Israel with arms must understand that these civilian deaths will be a permanent stain on their reputation. They must demand an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Gaza. Only a cessation of hostilities will allow us to ensure effective relief to the two million who now require it.

Severe restrictions on aid access have aggravated the situation, leading to starvation among Gaza’s population, intensifying an already dire humanitarian crisis. We have been forced to halt nearly all of our aid operations due to the bombardment, the chaos, and the panic.

There must be accountability for those responsible for the killings, the torture, and the atrocities committed in Israel on October 7th.

The killing of thousands of innocent children and women, the siege on an entire civilian population, and the trapping of bombarded civilians behind closed borders in Gaza are also crimes under international law.

There must also be accountability for this, from political and military leaders as well as those who provided arms and support. This military campaign can in no way be described as ‘self-defense.’

We again demand that all hostages are immediately and unconditionally released. Neither the lives of innocent children, women or men, nor the ability of aid workers to access the vulnerable, should be used as bargaining chips.

The situation in Gaza is a total failure of our shared humanity. The killing must stop.

Jan Egeland is a Norwegian diplomat political scientist, humanitarian leader and former Labour Party politician who has been Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council since 2013. He served as State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1990 to 1997 and as United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator from 2003 to 2006.

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Credit: Forus

By Bibbi Abruzzini and Nina Sangma
NEW DELHI, India, Dec 6 2023 (IPS)

We, a global coalition of over 50 civil society and human rights organizations from over 30 countries have co-developed the “Civil Society Manifesto for Ethical AI”, a groundbreaking initiative aiming to steer AI policies towards safeguarding rights and deconolonising AI discourse. We question, and we are not the only ones: whose voices, ideas and values matter in AI ?

“If Silicon Valley was a country it would probably be the richest in the world. So how genuinely committed is Big Tech and AI to funding and fostering human rights over profits? The barebones truth is that if democracy was profitable, human rights lawyers and defenders including techtivists from civil society organizations wouldn’t be sitting around multistakeholder engagement tables demanding accountability from Big Tech and AI. How invested are they in real social impact centred on rights despite glaring evidence to the contrary?,” asks Nina Sangma, of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, a regional organization founded in 1992 by Indigenous Peoples’ movements with over 40 members across 14 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

We are currently at a critical juncture where most countries lack a comprehensive AI policy or regulatory framework. The sudden reliance on AI and other digital technologies has introduced new – and often “invisible” – vulnerabilities, and we have just seen the tip of the iceberg, literally melting from the effects of climate change.

Some things we have already seen though: AI is still a product of historical data representing inequities and inequalities. A study analyzing 100+ AI-generated images using Midjourney’s diffusion models revealed consistent biases, including depicting older men for specialized jobs, binary gender representations, featuring urban settings regardless of location, and generating images predominantly reinforcing “ageism, sexism and classism”, with a bias toward a Western perspective.

Data sources continue to be “toxic”. AI tools learn from vast amounts of training data, often consisting of billions of inputs scraped from the internet. This data risks to perpetuate harmful stereotypes and often contains toxic content like pornography, misogyny, violence, and bigotry. Furthermore, researchers found bias in up to 38.6% of ‘facts’ used by AI.

Despite increased awareness, the discourse surrounding AI, like the technology itself, has predominantly been shaped by “Western, whiteness, and wealth”. The discrimination that we see today is the result of a cocktail of “things gone wrong” – ranging from discriminatory hiring practices based on gender and race, to the prevalence of algorithms biases.

“Biases are not a coincidence. Artificial intelligence is a machine that draws conclusions from data based on statistical models, therefore, the first thing it eliminates is variations. And in the social sphere that means not giving visibility to the margins,” declares Judith Membrives i Llorens, head of digital policies at Lafede.cat – Organitzacions per la Justícia Global.

“AI development isn’t the sole concern here. The real issue stems from keeping citizens in the dark, restricting civic freedoms and the prevalence of polarisation and prejudice on several dimensions of our societies. This results in unequal access, prevalent discrimination, and a lack of transparency in technological processes and beyond. Despite acknowledging the potential and power of these technologies, it is clear that many are still excluded and left at the margins due to systemic flaws. Without addressing this, the global development of AI and other emerging technologies won’t be inclusive. Failure to act now and to create spaces of discussion for new visions to emerge, will mean these technologies continue to reflect and exacerbate these disparities,” says Mavalow Christelle Kalhoule, civil society leader in Burkina Faso and across the Sahel region, and Chair of the global civil society network Forus.

The Civil Society Manifesto for Ethical AI asks, what are the potential pitfalls of using current AI systems to inform future decisions, particularly in terms of reinforcing prevailing disparities?

Today, as EU policymakers are expected to close a political agreement for the AI Act, we ask, do international standards for regulating machine learning include the voice of the people? With the Manifesto we explore, challenge, disrupt, and reimagine the underlying assumptions within this discourse but also to broaden the discussion to incorporate communities beyond the traditional “experts.” Nothing about us, without us.

“We want Artificial Intelligence, but created by and for everyone, not only for a few,” adds Judith Membrives i Llorens.

From the “Internet of Cows” to the impact of AI on workers’ rights and on civic space, developed by over 50 civil society organisations, the Manifesto includes 17 case studies on their experiences, visions and stories around AI. With each story, we want to weave a different path to build new visions on AI systems that expand rather than restrict freedoms worldwide.

“The current development of AI is by no means an inevitable path. It is shaped by Big Tech companies because we let them. It is time for the civil society to stand up for their data rights,” says Camilla Lohenoja, of SASK, the workers’ rights organisation of the trade unions of Finland.

“Focusing on ethical and transparent technology also means giving equal attention to the fairness and inclusivity of its design and decision-making processes. The integrity of AI is shaped as much by its development as by its application,” says Hanna Pishchyk of the youth group Digital Grassroots.

Ultimately, the Manifesto aims to trigger a global – and not just sectorial and Western-dominated dialogue – on AI development and application.

Civil society is here not just as a mere token in multistakeholder spaces, we bring forward what others often dismiss, and we actively participate worldwide in shaping a technological future that embraces inclusivity, accountability, and ethical advancements.

Bibbi Abruzzini, Forus and Nina Sangma, Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP)

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School of fish and coral. Credit: UNDP Seychelles

By Midori Paxton
NEW YORK, Dec 6 2023 (IPS)

As COP28 delegates focus on the first Global Stocktake, there is no doubt that the race to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions is vital.

But while electric vehicles and solar power uptake have seen visible and welcome progress in particular, the transition to a thriving future on a healthy planet requires much more than decarbonization alone.

Don’t get me wrong. Decarbonization is a must. It has to be done. But focus on just one lane of what must be a systemic transition to a liveable planet is dangerously myopic.

Water vapor, for example, is overlooked as a highly significant greenhouse gas. It is the most abundant greenhouse gas, and responsible for about half of greenhouse heating effects. Recent research published in the International Journal of Environment and Climate change highlights that the quantities of water vapor in our atmosphere are affected by a breadth of environmentally damaging human activities, beyond fossil fuel emissions.

The oceans are the world’s biggest carbon sink and a weather and climate regulator in their own right. Harm to ocean ecosystem functions due to ocean acidification, toxic “forever chemicals” and microplastic pollution has led to reductions in phytoplankton photosynthesis by as much as 50 per cent since the 1950s. Phytoplankton photosynthesis underpins almost all marine animal life by generating most of the oxygen and food that provide other organisms with the chemical energy they need to exist.

This has knock-on implications deeply interlinked with climate action: reduced phytoplankton leads to higher concentrations of dissolved carbon dioxide in ocean surface water, further accelerating ocean acidification and allowing evaporation and atmospheric water vapor concentrations to increase, increasing humidity, precipitation and temperature as an additional climate change feedback loop.

Importantly, if we achieve net zero carbon by 2050, we could still face catastrophic climate change if ocean ecosystem health is overlooked. In addition to the consequences of global heating, ocean acidification and the collapse of the marine ecosystems could lead to the loss of most seals, birds, whales, fish, and food supply for three billion people.

Take another example: deforestation. In the past 300 years or so, 1.5 billion hectares of forest have been removed – an area roughly one and a half times the size of the US. Scientists have shown that ecosystems damaged by humans are more vulnerable to wildfires, which add to atmospheric carbon dioxide and cause excessive atmospheric heat to pass back to the ocean, releasing more water vapor and further increasing greenhouse gases.

Similarly, the increasing severity of devastating floods in recent years is not only linked to climate change but often also the result of forest and vegetation loss, land conversion, intensive land management and river straightening. Anthropogenic climate change is making extreme weather events more frequent and more severe, while human activity is also eroding the resilience of the environment to absorb these impacts.

Any narrow focus on something that is systemic is inherently problematic. Our planet’s multivarious ecosystems are deeply interconnected dynamic systems within which human activity is interwoven. We cannot silo our environmental challenges, nor our responses to them. Successful climate mitigation can be only achieved in the wider context of terrestrial and marine ecosystem health and social impact, measuring progress in lockstep with planetary health metrics and the sustainable development goals.

This is why it is beyond time to rethink our relationship with nature. Without a shift in how we value our natural environment and our relationship to it, we will always be trapped in a race against time to clean up after ourselves, treating only the symptoms of a dysfunctional relationship with our natural world, rather than the cause.

A revaluation of how humanity interacts with nature will bring the sea change we need. Protecting nature is too often falsely considered a trade-off against economic development, when the fact is that one helps the other: the collapse of ecosystem services would cost $2.7 trillion annually by 2030. The truth is that thriving, protected ecosystems are an exceptionally powerful development asset.

Not only is the protection of nature an absolute prerequisite for the success of climate action, but policies that preserve natural land could also increase global real GDP in 2030 in the order of trillions of dollars. This includes benefits through carbon sequestration, and through the multiple benefits that natural lands, waters and oceans provide.

The economic case for protecting nature by the World Bank found that restoring 350 million hectares of land could generate about $170 billion per year in net value by sequestering up to 1.7 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually and through watershed protection, improved crop yields and forest products.

As we race towards net zero, we must look with equal urgency at nature’s protection to ensure we decarbonize alongside progress towards ecological health and social stability on a superhighway of durable transition. Only change that accounts for humanity’s relationship with nature at a systemic level, its climate and its ecosystem health, will truly be a transition to thriving future on a liveable planet.

Midori Paxton is Director, Nature Hub, United Nations Development Programme

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Klimt: Life and Death, Wikipedia

By Jan Lundius
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Dec 6 2023 (IPS)

A dark cloud is hovering above human existence. It is a fairly illusory cloud haunting our minds and wellbeing, but also an actual, menacing, mostly invisible cloud that covers the Earth’s entire atmosphere. Saturated by greenhouse gases, this global threat increases with every year, threatening all life on Earth, causing increased flooding, extreme heat, draught, wild fires, rising sea levels, food and water scarcity, as well as diseases and mounting economic loss. This misery, caused by human greed, thoughtlessness, and self-aggrandizement, trigger human migration and armed conflicts.

If global temperatures keep rising and reach 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, people will, worldwide and simultaneously, face the fatal and multiple impacts of climate change. A 2-degree rise in global temperatures is considered to be a critical threshold. In 2023, the average global temperature was on a third of all days at least 1.5 Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels, and the year is ending up as the hottest on record and – the year 2024 is expected to be even hotter.

Climate change poses a particular threat to children and youth and may potentially derail their normal development; affecting physiological systems, cognitive abilities and emotional skills in ways that may be irreversible. The emerging problems are manifold and the effects of these looming calamities make children and young people increasingly frustrated. Many youngsters feel threatened and betrayed by the behaviour of ruthless entrepreneurs and financiers, as well as poor and often corrupt governmental response to a disastrous climate change. Rampant climate anxiety motivates some young people to take action, not only through a recent surge in marches and the emergence of various environmental movements, but also in the form of violent and occasionally misdirected protests.

One of several means to draw attention to the threat of climate change are activists’ attacks on famous artworks. Since early 2022, artworks have been attacked all over Europe and the US. Mashed potatoes have been thrown on a Manet painting, chocolate cake smeared on statues, tomato soup on Van Gogh’s magnificent depiction of sunflowers, and oil-like substances thrown on several other paintings, like Klimt’s Death and Life. That painting is found in the Leopold Museum in Vienna, which presents some works form the dispersed Lederer art collection. The Lederer was a Jewish art collecting family, who among others financially supported the now renowned artists Klimt and Schiele. In 1938, the Gestapo expropriated all of Lederer’s possessions. Some of the confiscated Klimt paintings were by Nazi authorities stored in a castle, burned down by a German army unit just before the Soviet Red Army appeared. Seventeen Klimt paintings and frescoes perished in the fire, one of the few salvaged artworks was Klimt’s Death and Life, now smeared with a black substance

The spokesperson for one of several climate activist groups, Just Stop Oil, that attacks works of art has declared: “If things need to escalate then we’re going to take inspiration from past successful movements and we’re going to do everything we can.” What he meant by “successful movements” was among other incidents when a lady in 1914 slashed a Velasquez painting with a meat cleaver, protesting the arrest of the defender of women’s rights, Emeline Pankhurst. The enraged woman explained: “I have tried to destroy the picture of the most beautiful woman in mythological history as a protest against the Government for destroying Mrs. Pankhurst, who is the most beautiful character in modern history.”

Angry members of Just Stop Oil shouted, as they were hindered from attacking paintings at the National Gallery in London: “What is worth more, art or life?” A member of the group stated after throwing soup on a van Gogh painting: “The cost-of-living crisis is part of the cost of oil crisis. Fuel is unaffordable to millions of cold, hungry families. They can’t even afford to heat a tin of soup.” A somewhat awkward statement by someone who demonstrated disrespect of food by throwing it on a masterpiece of world art. Another declared: “We’re not killing anyone, climate change will.”

Supporters of “climate action groups” have defended them by saying that so far, no piece of art has been “permanently destroyed”. However, it is at best a half truth. In May last year, a self-declared “environment activist” tried at the Louvre to smash the glass protecting Mona Lisa. When he was hindered from concluding his deed, he succeeded in smearing cake on the painting. Last month, two women did with hammers smash the glass protecting the same Velasquez painting that was slashed in 1914, screaming that they were intending to rip it to pieces once more.

Another member of Just Stop Oil defended the various actions of the group and warned that they could worsen: “The function of art is for people to be able to understand the world that they live in and reflect on the human condition, but big art isn’t fulfilling that function. That’s the reason for us to be in museums: to tell people that we are in the middle of an emergency, and it is the time now for you to face that emergency.”

She was right by stating one of art’s essential functions. Artistic works have existed for almost as long as humankind and is an expression of humans’ creative and imaginative abilities, involving technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, and conceptual ideas. Art helps us to perceive the beauty of the world we live in, the happiness we find among other human beings, in nature and animals, in all creation. It inspires reflection, willingness to act, imagination and innovative thinking. How can defenders of the preservation of nature and human rights imagine that the destruction and profanation of art may amend climate change? I assume that the enclosed mind of such activists, like ISIS fanatics, believe that their specific message and destructive actions take precedence over everything else, not the least other people’s feelings and intention to defend the very same values those fanatics, in their twisted minds, declare they are supporting.

I understand the frustration, but not the means. Like spoke-persons for Just Stop Oil, leaders of ISIS could declare that their destruction of World Heritage was to grab the world’s attention by assuring extensive media coverage and international condemnation from those they considered to be their opponents and antagonists.

Instead of destroying art, “climate activists” would probably benefit from supporting and using it as a means to overcome humans’ tendency to value personal experience over scientific facts, assuming that everything will be alright by not acting in time. Art can be a persuasive means to popularize and make understandable data-based representations, making them vivid and accessible. Art can engage viewers and hopefully stimulate them to make an effort to hinder the worlds’ sloping down towards Armageddon.

Artistic endeavours to depict, present and make us aware of the dangers of climate change is increasingly becoming more common and engaging. This “Climate Change Art” assumes a wide array of forms and expressions. Often with an engaging, awareness raising component of personal commitment.

Crotchet Coral Reef https://crochetcoralreef.org/exhibitions/

The Institute for Figuring (IFF), which in 2003 was founded in Los Angeles by Margaret Wertheim and her twin sister Christin, is a non-profit organization generating projects at the intersection of art, science and mathematics. One IFF project is the so-called Crochet Reef, which all around the world engages professional artists, scientists and groups of amateurs. The Crotchet Reef has become one of the largest participatory art and science endeavours in the world. By creating giant installations mimicking living coral reefs and crocheted out of yarn and re-used plastic, harvested from debris in the Pacific Ocean, the project engages associations which members are learning and applying mathematics, science, handicraft, environmentalism, and community art practice, while promoting awareness of the effects of global warming. Project creations have all around the world been successfully displayed in galleries and museums.

More modest activities, but nevertheless quite extensive, are various happenings, like those of Eve Mosher, who draw a blue “high-water” line around Manhattan and Brooklyn, indicating areas that would be underwater if climate change predictions are realized. She has since drawn high-water lines around Bristol, Philadelphia and coastal cities in Florida. In 2018, Xavier Cortada placed signs in front yards throughout Miami, indicating each property’s height above sea level to illustrate how sea level rise would flood the owner’s land.

A sophisticated, renowned and multifaceted artist is the Danish-Icelandic Olafur Eliasson, who creates large-scaled installations employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer’s experience and create an awareness of humans’ intimate connection with nature, how its changes are influencing us, both in a positive and negative manner. Eliasson has founded a “laboratory for spatial research” that engages a large team of architects, engineers, craftsmen, and assistants, working together to conceive and construct large-scale sculptures, installations and other artwork, highlighting what happens to and on our living planet.

Awareness of the dangers faced by or planet, its ecosystem and organic lifeforms, including humans, is on the rise. At all levels of human existence an ever-increasing creative power is making itself evident; in art, literature, religion and science. To vanquish the threats to our planet we have to leave destruction behind us and become more creative, more willing to cooperate with one another, more tolerant, more respectful. Destroying art, our common human cultural heritage, is an entirely wrong way towards a brighter future and just like the emissions of greenhouse gases it must immediately come to an end.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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By Ong Kar Jin and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Dec 6 2023 (IPS)

Greater government reliance on consulting companies has greatly enriched them while also undermining state capacities, capabilities, national economies, progress, governance and legitimacy.

The Big Con
Over recent decades, policy consultancy has gradually gained more public attention. With the COVID-19 pandemic, consultancies were paid billions, with meagre results, leaving even less for millions of others desperately struggling to cope.

Ong Kar Jin

In The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps our Economies, Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington explain how consultancies persuade governments and corporations to use their services, with problematic consequences.

Many argue that governments and corporations need such expertise as they cannot be expected to be good at everything, let alone familiar with the latest trends and challenges. Others argue consultancies provide much-needed second opinions, especially when organisations have lost their capacities and capabilities.

The Big Con argues their clients rarely get what they most need. Heavy dependence on consultancies also compromises accountability and retards needed innovation. Consequently, governments allow their capacities and capabilities to deteriorate, with consultancy firms profitably filling the gap.

‘Voluntary’ dependency
The Big Con provides many examples of problems arising from becoming “overly reliant on expensive contracts”. These include McKinsey’s role in France’s bungled vaccine programme, and Deloitte’s in the UK’s botched Test and Trace programme.

Consultancy firms have taken over many public services in France. The trend began in 2007 when Nicolas Sarkozy became president, promising to “make the French state cost-efficient”. His government gave 250 million euros ($269m) in contracts to management consultancies like McKinsey, Deloitte and the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG).

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Under Emmanuel Macron, consultancy firms received 2.4 billion euros ($2.6bn) in government contracts in 2018. They have become involved in various public services, including France’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout and controversial pension reforms.

The UK spends more on consultants than all countries other than the US. Rather than have its National Health Service involved in its test-and-trace programme, ministers and civil servants turned to consultancies. At one point, over £1m was spent on consultants daily, with some ‘senior’ advisers billing over £6,000 per diem!

One consultant confessed, “It just seemed like every project had loads of wandering Deloitte people … the sheer volume of them that were around created the situation of these zombie emails just arriving all the time … taking our attention away from actual work.”

As its bankruptcy proceedings started in 2016, Puerto Rico hired McKinsey to advise a US federal oversight board. The team, led by recent US Ivy League graduates, was to prepare an ‘aspirational vision’ for the US island territory. Its recommendations included privatising state-owned enterprises, ‘rightsizing’ job cuts, and reducing social, especially labour protection.

While consultancies are often touted as involving experienced experts, most client governments, especially from developing countries, often host young graduates of reputable institutions, mainly adept at using the latest jargon and making impressive presentations.

Losing capacities and capabilities
Most governments have not tried hard to enhance their capacities and capabilities, e.g., to develop their public information and communications (ICT) or digital technology expertise. Instead, they ‘outsource’, depending on consultancies, even for sensitive strategic policy matters.

A book review suggests, “One also cannot help but gain the impression of the big consultancies as vultures, feasting on calamitous challenges like Covid-19, Brexit and climate change. Meanwhile, they pose as disinterested and expert helping hands.”

Management consultants are increasingly widely used by both governments and corporations, giving the impression of expert authority for mooted reforms. As a British minister noted, governments have been ‘infantilised’ by relying on management consultants.

The Big Con notes, “The more governments and businesses outsource, the less they know how to do.” Consultancies have eroded government and business capacities and capabilities. The presumption seems to be that clever young consultants, coming from abroad, know much better than experienced employees, and “knowledge can be purchased, as if off a shelf”.

So why have governments accepted all this? As the book’s title implies, successful consulting requires gaining customers’ confidence, e.g., persuading them that consultants have the answers, regardless of whether this is true.

Some decision-makers also simply want to be able to pass on responsibility for policy solutions, as it is generally politically easier to blame an external party, e.g., consultants, than to take responsibility. This is especially useful if policy recommendations are likely to be unpopular, e.g., involving downsizing or cuts.

Growing con
The Big Con notes that a con gains momentum with seeming success. The authors argue the bigger the consultancies and their scope of work, the weaker governments become. As governments lose confidence in their own abilities, consultancies become the default solution.

Some governments have become so taken with consulting that they have set up ‘internal’ consultancy arms, e.g., Malaysia set up PEMANDU, PADU and other entities for this purpose. This is part of a wider trend of increasing corporatisation of public institutions to pursue ‘efficiency’.

Perhaps urged by major donors, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has championed ‘entrepreneurship’, ‘impact investing’ and ‘accelerating social enterprises’ in recent years. It now has labs, team leads, and strategic innovation units, all spouting corporate buzzwords.

This turn reflects growing faith in what Daniel Greene terms the ‘access doctrine’, i.e., the belief that poverty and other social problems can be simply overcome by new technologies and technical skills, regardless of their complexities. Policymakers increasingly embrace and proselytise such technical fixes, ensuring consultants’ status as the cult’s new high priests.

Threatened by fiscal austerity and criticisms of being obsolete, public institutions increasingly embrace the access doctrine. They shift resources to foster ‘startups’ or ‘accelerating innovation’ to retrieve legitimacy and secure much-needed resources as public spending is threatened by fiscal austerity.

By redefining poverty as a problem of technology access, consultants reframe problems as seemingly more manageable for staff, politicians, other decision-makers, donors and others. The technological fix fetish has provided a powerful rationale for cutting social protections, replacing them with upskilling programmes and entrepreneurship ‘boot camps’.

Neoliberal consultancies
With the counter-revolution against Keynesian macroeconomics and development economics, policymakers embraced ostensibly market and private solutions from the 1980s.

As state-owned enterprises were privatised, the public sector was expected to function like businesses. Governments embraced ‘performance-related pay’ and cost-benefit analyses to promote private sector values in the public realm.

After Margaret Thatcher became UK prime minister in 1979, her party chairman declared: “The management ethos must run right through our national life – private and public companies, civil service, nationalised industries, local government, the National Health Service.”

Such policies were mimicked in many developing countries, either for access to concessional finance or voluntarily, as the Washington Consensus gained hegemony in policymaking circles. The consultancy cult’s osmosis into public institutions in recent decades as well as its more novel recent iterations are their consequences.

The book ends with a call to change the role of consultancies, arguing they have caused the public sector to become less capable and innovative. Investing in public sector expertise will be necessary to retrieve the space ‘voluntarily’ ceded to ‘the big con’.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Pro-Africa financial infrastructure could help Africa feed the world. Africa is home to an estimated 60 percent of the world's uncultivated arable land. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
DUBAI, Dec 6 2023 (IPS)

Although long profiled as the face of climate change, a high-risk continent with a pipeline of unbankable green projects, there are areas where Africa is leading the world. The 1987 accidental discovery of the first deposit of natural hydrogen during a water drilling campaign in Bourakebougou village, Mali, is today proving that Africa can export viable green solutions.

Naturally occurring or geological hydrogen is low-carbon and cheap and can be used for transportation, heating, and power generation. A growing number of countries, including Oman, New Caledonia, Canada, Russia, Australia, Japan, Germany, New Zealand, France, and Switzerland, have now joined the scramble for natural hydrogen, and this could trigger an energy revolution.

Senegalese chef Pierre Thiam told delegates at the ongoing COP28 Summit in Dubai, UAE, that with the right support, Africa will be the hub for green projects.

“Today, fonio is on the market in the United States, providing a stable source of income for hundreds of smallholder farmers despite the climate crisis.”

“The grain does not need much to grow and is often referred to as ‘the lazy farmer’s crop’ for whatever the weather; as long as you have put the seed in the ground, it will grow.”

Fonio is an ancient drought-tolerant, gluten-free, nutritional powerhouse that can be used like any other grain and has had its roots in the arid Sahel belt for over 5,000 years. Since 2017, Yolélé, which roughly translates to ‘let the good times roll’, is Thiam’s U.S.-based West African food company, which has been collaborating with smallholder farmers in sharing the ancient West African grain in the United States and is now expanding internationally.

With the right financial structures, Thiam says the ground is ripe for such innovative initiatives. While Africa contributes the least to climate change yet suffers the worst consequences, it also represents 20 percent of the global population, attracting less than three percent of global investments, particularly into green energy.

Despite immense green energy potential and growing political goodwill, Africa still lags other regions on many green growth dimensions. The climate finance architecture must now work for Africa, for the risks are enormous and the size of investment needed is over 200 billion dollars in energy alone by 2030.

“At the African Development Bank (AfDB), we really see the lack of climate finance as the biggest impediment towards accelerating development on the continent. Just to put it into context, the level of financing gap will be 2.8 trillion by 2030 just to implement 51 African countries Nationally Determined Contributions, representing each country’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said AfDB’s Yamadjako Audrey-Cynthia, Principal Climate Finance Officer and Africa Green Bank Initiative Coordinator.

According to AfDB, to close Africa’s climate financing gap by 2030, approximately USD 213.4 billion will need to be mobilized annually from the private sector to complement constrained public resources. Africa received USD 4.2 billion in private climate finance in 2019–2020, or 14 percent of total climate finance flows of USD 29.5 billion. It requires USD 242.4 billion a year on average until 2030—$2.7 trillion over 2020–30—to implement the climate action expressed in the latest NDCs.

Speaking during a session titled ‘Green Banking and a Renewed Climate Finance Architecture for Africa’ at the ongoing COP28 Summit, she spoke of the huge financing need on the continent, which is also an investment opportunity, for Africa is the next green investment frontier. AfDB turns these gaps into investment opportunities by looking into practical solutions at the local level to develop a bankable pipeline of green projects, as quite often, existing projects need to be better structured.

“We also need de-risking instruments such as blended financing—one of several tools to mitigate risk and facilitate financing for private sector-led projects—at the local level to make these projects attractive for the private sector to invest in. We are proactively mobilizing and scaling up climate finance for green infrastructure in Africa. Importantly, we also work at the local level to build the climate financial architecture through green investment vehicles embedded in existing commercial banks so that we do not re-invent the wheel,” she observes.

A report titled ‘Developing Green Banking Ecosystems’ authored by Jean-Paul Mvogo, a nonresident senior fellow at Africa Center, reveals that “financing mobilized to face Africa’s climate challenges represented roughly one-tenth of its needs, fueling a feeling of climate injustice and also depriving Africa of a growth capable of providing work for the hundreds of millions of young people who will enter the labor market in the next two decades.”

Stressing that “one solution to increase green financing for Africa lies in the implementation of strong and proactive policies that: address systemic constraints hindering the absorption capacity of African countries in terms of green projects and their financing; attract new categories of national and international investors; and ensure the optimal allocation of these new resources.”

Africa will also require about $1.3 trillion annually to meet its sustainable development needs by 2030—and thus to achieve green growth. Most of this finance is expected to be met through private finance. To meet these needs and given the current levels of public climate finance, private climate finance should increase by about 36 percent each year until 2030. Africa has great potential and self-interest to achieve green growth.

In a powerful signal of support during COP28, African and global institutions, together with the governments of Germany, France, and Japan and philanthropies, have already pledged over USD 175 million to the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa (AGIA). The landmark initial pledge will help to rapidly scale up financing for transformative climate-aligned infrastructure projects across the continent.

The new pledges will also advance AGIA towards its first close of USD 500 million of early-stage project preparation and development blended capital. The Alliance is a partnership of the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank, Africa50 and other partners. It works to unlock up to USD 10 billion in private capital for green infrastructure projects and to galvanise global action to accelerate Africa’s just and equitable transition to Net Zero.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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In Africa, the average amount of time spent collecting firewood is 2.1 hours, which robs women and girls of hundreds of hours every year. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
DUBAI, Dec 5 2023 (IPS)

Across the African continent, many first-born children in poor and vulnerable households do not go to school as they spend their school days collecting biomass fuel. The regional average of the amount of time spent collecting firewood is 2.1 hours, robbing women and girls in particular of hundreds of hours in a year and crippling their capacities to engage in learning and productive activities.

“I was one of those children that arrived to school late every day or not at all. I grew up in Limuru, Central Kenya, near the Kinare Forest. Every day, I would rush to the forest first thing in the morning to collect the firewood needed to prepare porridge and then dash to the neighbor’s house to borrow fire,” Njambi Muigai, a climate activist and COP28 delegate, told IPS.

“I would carry a dry firewood and light it up at the neighbor’s fireplace and rush back home with the burning firewood to light our cooking place. In the evening, I would repeat the same routine. Discussions around climate, clean energy, and women’s empowerment must find space in such high-level forums if there is to be any meaningful progress towards net zero.”

Muigai was speaking on the sidelines of a session dubbed ‘Electrifying Cooking: A Just Journey Toward Net Zero’ at the ongoing COP28 Summit in Dubai, UAE. As climate change increasingly becomes the most pressing issue facing humankind today, countries are urged to pursue ambitious climate actions towards net zero—the cutting of greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions re-absorbed from the atmosphere by ecosystems such as oceans and forests.

Scientific evidence shows that to avert a climate catastrophe, already signaled by an increase in climate-induced disasters such as fatal floods and crippling droughts, global temperature increase needs to be limited to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

UN’s research shows that currently, the Earth is already about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s, and emissions continue to rise. To keep global warming to no more than 1.5°C, as called for in the Paris Agreement,  emissions need to be reduced by 45 percent by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.

Speaking during the event, COP28 CEO Adnan Z Amin, who also served as the founding Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency, made a strong case for electrifying cooking and its place in accelerating climate action towards net zero.

“One of the major priorities for COP28 is in the broad area of energy, and within that, to increase access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030. This represents an important strategy in our efforts to reach our global net-zero goal. Evidence shows that one of the most reliable paths to reaching the goal is based on electrification without decreasing the use of renewable energy,” he said.

He stressed that despite progress made towards access to electricity over the last decade, improved access to modern cooking remains overlooked. Nearly a billion people, or 940 million, in Sub-Saharan Africa lack access to clean cooking fuels and technologies. The rampant use of biomass for cooking has negative consequences for health, gender, climate, and the environment.

A clean cooking report shows that in sub-Saharan Africa, a staggering 29 countries have access to clean cooking at a rate below 20 percent, with half of the nearly one billion people without access to clean cooking concentrated in five countries such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda.

Indoor air pollution from biomass is one of the top 10 risks for the global burden of diseases, according to the World Health Organization. Household air pollution is responsible for an estimated 3.8 million premature deaths globally.

“This is a problem in Asia and Latin America, but the numbers are particularly concerning in Africa. Four of the five families in Africa use primitive cooking stoves made of wood. A woman spends up to four hours a day collecting firewood, and she is robbed of her time. WHO says half a million women die prematurely due to respiratory diseases caused by primitive cooking. The women cook while pregnant, which affects health in the womb, and they cook with babies on their backs, causing lung problems for the babies,” said Dr Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency.

“Europe is a neighbor of Africa; in my culture and in many of our cultures, neighbors help each other in times of trouble. I cannot believe that these numbers are unfolding in front of our eyes. This, to me, is the most important gender issue, a big injustice that can easily be solved.”

“Not only are half a million women dying prematurely in Africa alone from biomass pollution as they walk long distances in search of firewood, but they also have to cross borders and contested territories, placing them in harm’s way.

“If half a million people were dying per year in war, we know what we would do, and this is happening every single year. For me, coming from the global south and being an African woman, it is even more depressing because it is as if the world is saying that because they are dying in Africa, it is not as important as if they were dying in another part of the world. There are all these social aspects that determine how we move forward.”

Nigeria’s Damilola Ogunbiyi, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General Chief Executive Officer for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair UN-Energy, Sustainable Energy for All, said that “if half a million people were dying in a war, we would know what to do, and this is happening every single year.”

Observing that coming from the global south and being “an African woman, it is even more depressing because it is as if the world is saying that it is not as important as if they were dying in another part of the world. There are all these social aspects that determine how we move forward.”

She spoke about prevailing misconceptions about the source of harmful emissions. An analysis of Nigeria shows that despite the 45 gigawatts of diesel and petrol generated, the biggest emissions are actually from the cooking sector. Stressing that clean cooking is as important, if not more important than electrification, as it buys women time to engage productively in society, lifts people out of poverty, and accelerates the growth of a country’s GDP.

PS UN Bureau Report

 

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