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Summary of the 14 February 2021 Parliament of Catalonia election results. Credit: Generalitat de Catalunya

By Joaquín Roy
MIAMI, Feb 18 2021 (IPS)

The recent result of the elections for the Parliament of Catalonia has presented a mixture of repetition of certain previous aspects and some spectacular novelties. But the everlasting dimension of any parliamentary confrontation of the proportional variant remains unscathed.

Despite the development of the modern polling systems, plus the interpretation of the data facilitated in recent years, a difficult prediction remains. That involves the decisions that the parties have to make in the cases that they must craft alliances to form a government when virtual ties appear.

“And now, what?”. The central question remains unscathed. But it is not only the one presented by anonymous voters, nor by the experts and the leaders themselves who must make precise decisions. It is the general question presented by Gerard Piqué, the star footballer of FC Barcelona who has only been surpassed in popularity by Messi.

Naturally, Piqué does not dare to offer solutions. Therefore it is convenient to face the possible alternatives to solve the complicated panorama of the results.

Although it is not the exclusive result of these elections, a historical aspect of the parliamentary evolution of Catalonia since the recovery of democracy in 1978 is fully established. The Catalan elections are no longer a kind of democratic exercise peculiar to Catalans, with little connection to the rest of Spain, and Europe as whole.

Catalan parliamentarianism has suffered from a European quality. The elections to form the European Parliament have been seen historically as a kind of “national primaries”. European voters glanced inward and voted sometimes as rendering a punishment, and other times as a reward for the domestic behavior of national parties.

It is true, however, that this behavior has recently improved thanks to the tenacious reform of the European legislation that allows, for example, EU national residents in another states to vote in another country. Another remedy is the inclination to propose Europe-wide candidacies. But the burden of the national weight continues to be felt.

In the theater of the Catalan elections, that European has been noticeable. The elections in Catalonia have been seen for years as the preserve of Catalanism, since the “Castilians” considered the Catalan contests a peculiarity of Catalans.

The result was that the Spanish speakers stayed at home. That is why the Catalan socialist candidates usually won in the elections in Spain, while in Catalonia the party developed by then moderate nationalist Jordi Pujol did. This scheme has practically disappeared.

There are sectors, on the right more than on the left, that have tried to insert arguments that insist on the existence of “ethnic” elements (if not “racist”) in the configuration of the voting ideals of pro-independence alternatives,

Joaquín Roy

But this danger has been generally neutralized. Significantly, the bulk of the different arguments prioritize a “civic” nationalism, of choice.

In the current panorama, it is convenient to highlight, first, the news that stands out. In other words, has a man bit a dog? Obviously some facts are worth taking into account because of their obvious novelty and therefore because of their impact on the consequences of the election.

In this dimension, the details that concern the right-wing parties, both extreme and moderate, stand out. Significantly, the changes in this ideological sector have been suffered both by the parties considered as “constitutionalist” and by those that in some way consider themselves as “disruptive” due to their varying degree of loyalty to the independence creed.

In the first dimension, it is advisable to weigh the spectacular setback suffered by Ciudadanos. This formation was created by the centrist leader Albert Rivera in Catalonia as a dam against the tenacious monopoly of Convergence nationalism, later transformed into independence seeking.

It consisted of expanding its theater of operations to the rest of the Spanish territory, leaving the Catalan stage under the direction of Inés Arrimadas, a young woman born in Andalusia, who impressed with her command of Catalan.

In the elections held under the control of the Spanish government due to the application of article 155 of the Constitution, after the suspension of Catalan autonomy as a sanction for holding the independence referendum on October 1, 2017, Arrimadas managed to capture the largest number of seats in the Catalan Parliament. But she could not sublimate the next step, since the pro-independence parties jointly outperformed Ciudadanos in whatever alliance they presented.

Then, temporarily being a kind of referee on the state stage, Rivera found himself rejected in his attempt to neutralize the leading rightist Popular Party. The failure has now been reflected in the disaster received in the Catalan Parliament. Collateral damage could be its annihilation on the Spanish global scene.

This possible scenario has now been dramatized by the appearance of the far-right VOX in the Spanish theater, breaking through the previously reserved area of ​​the Popular Party, and now by its spectacular entry into the Parliament of Catalonia, becoming its fourth most important formation.

For a long time, the Spanish political fabric prided itself on not suffering from the presence of an extreme right. Now, the myth has collapsed. It is pointless to argue that VOX is not the same as the cases of Germany (Alternative), France (Le Pen), Hungary (Orbán) or Poland (Justice and Peace). It was a novelty, feared and latent, without ever being sublimated. Now it is a stark electoral reality.

The weakening of the remnants of moderate nationalism in Catalonia, represented now by the PDCat, testifies that the impact of the official response (trial, conviction, prison) to the independence attempt of the referendum has only reinforced the influence of the parties that prioritize independence through plebiscite insistence.

Naturally, there remains the solid argument of the constitutionalist left presented by the Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC), which almost doubled the number of seats by presenting Salvador Illa as a candidate, boosted by the solid publicity of his effective role as Minister of Health of the government of Pedro Sánchez. As mentioned in this context, the centrist parties have not only disappeared in Spain, but in Catalonia they have little to do, unless paradoxically that role is reserved precisely for the PSC itself.

Listed to the left are formations that, without identifying with independence, insist on the support of the urgencies of the most needy sectors. As disparate as Comuns-Podem (the Catalan branch of the populist party of Pablo Iglesias, partner of the PSOE in Madrid) and the anti-capitalist CUP can grant the necessary votes to the pro-independence parties for the formation of a government and the appointment of the President of the Generalitat.

All the formations are aware of the economic problems, derived both from the atrocious impact of the pandemic, and from the structural unemployment dramatized by the confinement decreed as a remedy for the virus.

The interrelation between politics and the economy is also detected at the moment of weighing the evident rise of the economic power of Madrid in the last decade, and its banking concentration, apart from the exodus of the social offices of Catalan companies towards Valencia and other capitals, as a refuge from the independence movement.

The electoral results leave other details, confirmation of the past, or corrections of certain dimensions. For example, the dilemma between independence and constitutionalism is reflected in the continuation of the concentration of the former in the interior areas of the Catalan territory, while constitutionalism (from the right or from the left) populates urban areas, especially Barcelona.

If the elections have not revealed the emergence of an undisputed leader, trying to answer Piqué’s question, it is convenient to weigh the result of a solution that emerges as a favorite: the resignation of Illa and the PSC to opt for the vote of Parliament.

That “gift” would later be rewarded by taking a leap towards Madrid: Esquerra would continue supporting the PSOE in the governorship of the Spanish Congress and the approval of the national budgets.

Returning to Barcelona, ​​would the success of ERC produce the reborn leadership of Oriol Junqueras, for whom Aragonés would be holding the position? This detail would lead us to face the urgent outcome of the issue (problem?) of the imprisonment of the leaders of the “procés” and the referendum.

The present status of partial freedom that the condemned have unusually enjoyed during the elections, therefore, takes on an unusual role. The pressure to approve an amnesty becomes the irreplaceable focus for any consideration of the consequences of the elections. In other words, the simple counting of the votes to configure the executive leadership in Parliament is not the end.

 

Joaquín Roy is Jean Monnet Professor and Director of the European Union Center at the University of Miami

The post Elections in Catalonia: What Now? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

People set fire to a big shiny pillar that appeared in Kinshasa sparking fears over its origins.

Frontline workers and President Ramaphosa have been among the first in South Africa to take the vaccine,

A tourist handicraft market in Port Vila, capital of Vanuatu, prior to the pandemic. The price for Pacific countries maintaining strict border closures to protect their small highly vulnerable populations is the decimation of the tourism industry. Credit: Catherine Wilson/IPS

By Catherine Wilson
CANBERRA, Australia, Feb 18 2021 (IPS)

While Pacific Island countries have, so far, been spared a catastrophic spread of COVID-19, their economies have been devastated by the effects of border closures, internal lockdowns and the demise of international tourism and trade. With the global pandemic far from over, Pacific Islanders are looking to their local and regional economies to drive resilience and recovery.

In Fiji, the pandemic has led to one in three people losing their jobs. In Vanuatu, in the southwest Pacific, the combined economic losses of COVID-19 and Tropical Cyclone Harold, which descended on the Melanesian nation in April last year, are predicted to reach 68.7 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Meanwhile, extreme poverty across the region could rise to 40 percent, forecasts the Development Policy Centre at the Australian National University.

“The development and support of existing and new domestic industries and the private sector is critical to help affected families get through the economic downturn and to maintain income,” Mia Rimon, Regional Manager for Melanesia at the regional development organisation, Pacific Community, in Vanuatu told IPS.

The Pacific Islands region, with a total of 27,215 reported cases of coronavirus, as of Feb. 18, represents a fraction of the more than 100 million cases worldwide. However, the price for countries in the region of maintaining strict border closures to protect their small highly vulnerable populations is the decimation of the tourism industry.  The sector is of huge importance to island countries, such as Vanuatu, where it accounts for 46 percent of GDP, and in Fiji 39 percent of GDP. Between April and September last year, the pandemic caused monthly tourist arrivals in the Pacific Islands to plummet by 99-100 percent.

Trade in the region has also been hit. During the first half of 2020, exports from Tonga dropped by 28.3 percent and from Tuvalu by 71 percent.

Pacific Island governments have, accordingly, seen a decline in revenues. Most governments introduced stimulus packages to support households and businesses during the worst of the crisis, but, in the current economic climate, these costs will be unsustainable over a long or indefinite period.

With the prospect of a ‘travel bubble’ between Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island countries unlikely to occur soon, the region will struggle to grow by 1.3 percent this year, forecasts the Asian Development Bank. But output levels in highly exposed Pacific Island countries are unlikely to recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2022 or beyond, reports the World Bank.

Pacific leaders are now looking to the economic potential within the region. At a virtual meeting in August last year, Pacific Islands Forum Economic Ministers concluded that the crisis offered ‘the opportunity to assert a regional economy that supports Pacific priorities and to consider investments, policies and partnerships required to secure the region’s economic resilience and the wellbeing of its people now and into the future.’

Dr Neelesh Gounder of the School of Accounting, Finance and Economics at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, told IPS that the private sector will be important to recovery, but added that “governments will need to support the private sector with policies and incentives that will reduce the cost of doing business and provide incentives for expansion and growth.”

Some local entrepreneurs are already manoeuvring to gain new skills and adapt their enterprises for a local, rather than international market.

Workers at South Pacific Mozuku cleaning seaweed in Nuku’alofa, Tonga. Photo credit: South Pacific Mozuku

In the Polynesian Kingdom of Tonga, a local business, South Pacific Mozuku (SPM), specialised in a luxury range of cosmetics and skincare products incorporating a seaweed, known as ‘Mozuku’, which grows in the waters around Tonga. It was a perfect fit for the international tourist market. Before the pandemic, Tonga received up to 5,000 cruise ship visitors per day. The business also exported raw seaweed to international buyers, mostly in Japan. But then the pandemic hit, tourist visitors evaporated and the export market declined.

“We lost 60 percent of our orders during lockdown in March and April 2020,” Managing Director, Masa Kawaguchi, told IPS. After a strategic rethink, he is now pivoting the business to make fresh food products, still using ‘Mozuku’ seaweed, which possesses nutritious and anti-oxidising properties, as an ingredient. They are now sold through local supermarkets and distributors.

It is a sector of natural strength and expertise in the region. “Almost all Pacific people are coastal people and have their lives entwined with the sea. Significant livelihood opportunities are marine-based. Hence, it is important to continue upskilling to meet changing demands and resources,” Avinash Singh, the Pacific Community’s Aquaculture Officer, told IPS.

SPM, which employs 25 local Tongans, is delivering further benefits to local communities. Its partnership with the Tonga Youth Employment Entrepreneurship (TYEE) scheme has led to local youths being involved in promoting public awareness of ‘Mozuku’ seaweed as a health food and organising tasting events in shops and restaurants in the capital, Nuku’alofa. And ‘Mozuku’ is now on the menu for patients, doctors and nurses at the Vaiola Hospital, also situated in the capital.

Further west in Vanuatu, youths, women and islanders with disabilities are being mobilized in a new income generating initiative, called the 300 Coconut Bag Project, in the main city of Port Vila.

“The impacts of COVID-19 on the lives of Ni-Vanuatu is really sad as people get laid off from their jobs, young people who are recruited in tourism sectors and other trades have to go back home due to limited hours of operation as there are no more tourists,” Project Manager, Sethy Melenamu, told IPS.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) reports that ‘the pandemic is inflicting a triple shock on young people: destroying their employment, disrupting education and training and placing major obstacles in the way of those seeking to enter the labour market.’ These issues are of importance in the Pacific Islands, which is experiencing a youth bulge. Currently half the region’s population of about 11.9 million are aged under 23 years.

The making of recycled and reusable coconut bags is generating employment and incomes for youths, women and disabled people affected by the pandemic in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Photo credit: 300 Coconut Bag Project

In Port Vila, about 30 young people are being employed to collect discarded waste plastic, which is then crafted and sewn by local women and disabled people into large reusable carry bags. Each bag, which is designed to hold six heavy coconuts, features an inner lining of recycled plastic and an outer layer of aesthetically woven pandanus leaves.

It is envisaged that, following production, the bags, which are being promoted as waterproof, reversible and fashionable, will be on sale in March in local fresh produce markets, retail shops and online.

The project, which is supported by the Pacific Community in partnership with the Vanuatu Office for Ocean and Maritime Affairs, intends to outlive the pandemic.

“The project is long-term; there will be more prototypes of products to be tested and modified. Also, the beneficiaries will see it as an alternative source of income for the vulnerable. I would like to make it a sustainable social enterprise in the future,” Melenamu said.

The distinctive fashionable and sustainable coconut carry bags will be sold at public venues in Port Vila, such as fresh produce markets, Vanuatu. Credit: Catherine Wilson/IPS

 

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The post Pacific Islanders Turn to Local Economies to Drive Post-pandemic Recovery appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Roderic Grigson was Asia Pacific Vice President for Novell, a global networking company, working in Melbourne Australia until he retired from corporate life to become a full-time writer. He worked at the United Nations Secretariat in New York in the ‘70s and ‘80s as a technology innovations officer, serving in UN peacekeeping forces in the Middle East. He is the author of Sacred Tears, The Sullen Hills and After the Flames, a trilogy of thrillers set in war-torn Sri Lanka, and is currently working on his fourth book.

By Roderic Grigson
MELBOURNE, Australia, Feb 18 2021 (IPS)

The United Nations is an institution mired in politics focusing primarily on military conflicts, civil wars, economic sanctions, peacekeeping, plus sustainable economic development.

But there is also a lighter side to it, which is brilliantly laid out in a new book released last week on Amazon titled “No Comment and Don’t Quote Me on That.”

It takes years to write a good book, and in this insightful memoir, Thalif Deen, a former UN Bureau Chief and Regional Director at Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency, gives us a riveting memoir filled with observations that come from 40-years of stalking the halls and corridors of the ‘glasshouse by the East River’.

Told through a series of news stories, interviews, anecdotes, and personal recollections, No Comment is held together by flashes of surprising humour and an overarching third world focus and point of view. It comes as no surprise that some of his stories were picked up at the Delegates Lounge, a well-known watering hole for UN delegates.

He also describes an incident that took place when he was doing a wrap-up of the 1992, two-week-long international conference in Rio de Janeiro. Deen approached Dr Gamani Corea, a former Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and a member of the Sri Lanka delegation, for a final comment.

“We negotiated”, Dr Corea said with a tinge of sarcasm, “the size of the zero”, as he held out his fingers to indicate the zero, describing the response of Western nations who refused to make any concrete commitments to fund a plan for the protection of the global environment.

In his first year as a student at Columbia University, Deen was terrified of the hazards of crime-ridden subway travel in New York and scared of the impending winter. When he complained about his first-ever brutal winter in New York, a wise-cracking American classmate advised him: “The best remedy is to curl up in bed with a good book — or with someone who has read one”.

Though its scenes are scattered, they are individually memorable, evoking amazement and laughter in the same breath. Deen has always been a raconteur, often entertaining guests at various functions and parties with stories from his vast array of yarns, and this comes through his narrative in abundance.

Deen surprises the reader with an unaffected insider view of international reporting, recounting his stories with freshness and colour. A longstanding columnist for the Sunday Times, UN correspondent for Asiaweek, Hong Kong and Jane’s Defence Weekly, London, his firsthand experiences add importance to his common-sense take on global diplomacy.

The book’s title is taken from an encounter Deen had with a diplomat at the UN building. As a general rule, most ambassadors and diplomats do not tell UN correspondents either to go to hell or heaven – but avoid all comments on politically sensitive issues with the standard non-excuse: “Sorry, we have to get clearance from our capital”.

But often that “clearance” from their respective foreign ministries never came. Still, it was hard to beat a response from a tight-lipped Asian diplomat who told him: “No comment” – and as an after-thought, added: “And Don’t Quote Me on That”.

It is a gift that he has now written his long overdue memoir. Blessed with a robust sense of humour, Deen gives us the real scoop on headline stories with both wit and intelligence, a perspective that comes from mining his dog-eared reporter’s notebooks, of which he assures me, there are over a hundred.

It is also the story of how Deen did it. A former information officer at the UN Secretariat in New York in the mid-1970s, Deen has covered virtually every major UN conference on population, human rights, the environment, sustainable development, food security, humanitarian aid, arms control and nuclear disarmament in the past 40-years.

Working at the UN during the most dramatic events of our time — from the pursuit of war and peace in the Middle East to the humanitarian disasters in Africa and Asia, this book provides an insider’s view on what went on behind the ‘glass curtain’ during a period of extraordinary turbulence.

A Fulbright scholar with a master’s degree (MSc) in Journalism from Columbia University in New York, Deen was born and educated in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). A student of Zahira College, Colombo, he graduated with an Economics degree from the University of Ceylon at Peradeniya. He became the first student from Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) to gain admission to the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia.

At Peradeniya in the 1960s, it was the prevalent trend among most undergrads to fancy themselves either as Trotskyites, Communists or Socialists. When asked about his own political leanings, Deen told one of his professors he was a die-hard Marxist. ”But I followed Groucho, not Karl,” he declared.

Speaking at a corporate dinner, sponsored by the International Institute for Education (IIE), during his student days, he said he had arrived in New York with a degree of trepidation because his colleagues at Lake House, the newspaper office where he worked, cautioned him that Fulbright grants were given only to “half-bright students”. Mercifully, it wasn’t so.

Studying for his master’s in the early seventies in New York City, known then as the ‘murder capital’, was not easy. But having been brought up in the unforgiving northern suburbs of Colombo, he successfully navigated the asphalt jungle that was the Big Apple and has lived to tell the tale.

When he was in Iraq’s battle zone in Baghdad during the 1990 Gulf War, he was armed with a military flak jacket with a cautious warning inscribed on the back: “United Nations. Press. Don’t Shoot.” Perhaps it helped. Now, he says, with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, he occasionally wears it in the mean streets of New York, a city where he has lived for over 45 years, and where a bank robber can get mugged as he flees to a get-a-way car.

He completed his studies before embarking on his remarkable career ‘reporting from the United Nations’, first as a UN Information officer, a UN correspondent for Janes Defence Weekly and finally as a UN correspondent and bureau chief at IPS.

Possessed with the curiosity, nimbleness of mind and openness to change, Deen stands out among veteran correspondents for the range of his experience and his gift as a storyteller. An eyewitness to history being made at the highest levels, with this unique perspective, Deen brings to life scenes from the past and present.

A story he recounts often is after a band of mercenaries tried to oust the Maldives’ government, he asked a Maldivian diplomat about the strength of his country’s standing army. “Standing army?”, the diplomat asked with mock surprise, “We don’t even have a sitting army.”

Ambassador H.M.G.S. Palihakkara, a sharply-witty, former Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary and a one-time Permanent Representative to the UN, once paid him an ultimate compliment, when he said in an email message: “Permanent representatives are never permanent. Sri Lanka’s only Permanent Representative at the UN is the IPS UN Bureau Chief Thalif Deen.”

He said Deen had survived about 20 Sri Lankan Permanent Representatives (PRUNs) – some of them transiting through New York.

He is a splendid companion as I can personally attest to after working with him in New York in the ‘70s and ‘80s. One thing I most admire about him is that he has always remained true to himself, his principles, career, and origins. He is someone with genuine bona fides as a journalist and an unassailable commitment to the profession’s enduring values.

“No Comment” is a dizzying text, part memoir, part discourse on international reporting reality from a third-world perspective.

The book is available on Amazon. The link follows:
https://www.rodericgrigson.com/no-comment-by-thalif-deen/

 

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The post The UN: From the Sublime to the Hilarious appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Roderic Grigson was Asia Pacific Vice President for Novell, a global networking company, working in Melbourne Australia until he retired from corporate life to become a full-time writer. He worked at the United Nations Secretariat in New York in the ‘70s and ‘80s as a technology innovations officer, serving in UN peacekeeping forces in the Middle East. He is the author of Sacred Tears, The Sullen Hills and After the Flames, a trilogy of thrillers set in war-torn Sri Lanka, and is currently working on his fourth book.

The post The UN: From the Sublime to the Hilarious appeared first on Inter Press Service.

‘Conflict trap’ a growing obstacle to sustainable development - UN chief 6 January 2021. Credit: UN Photo/Tobin Jones

By Camila Corradi Bracco
AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands, Feb 18 2021 (IPS)

Since the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2016, the role of the private sector in fulfilling the 2030 Agenda has been widely acknowledged, as set out under SDG 12. Yet to assess how companies are actually contributing towards these Global Goals, we need greater transparency on their impacts.

Over the past four years, GRI has championed the participation of companies in measuring their performance on the SDGs. As we look ahead to the Decade of Action needed to achieve the SDGs, it is clear that further progress will be needed, including doing more to increase private sector contributions.

Progress so far

At the end of 2020, a four-year Action Platform for Reporting on the SDGs, from GRI and UN Global Compact, concluded. This included a Corporate Action Group (CAG) that connected business representatives in a peer learning platform, which successfully helped companies define and improve their SDGs reporting.

Research on CAG participants revealed:

1. Increased clarity on how to engage with the SDGs from a business perspective
2. Improvements in how they measured SDGs performance
3. Better prioritization of the most relevant SDGs
4. More integration of the SDGs into business decision-making processes

However, the findings also indicate that many companies continue to face challenges with understanding and disclosing their SDGs contributions, with opportunities to make corporate reporting more relevant and effective.

Improving data quality and addressing gaps

Reporting on priorities at the SDG target level, within each of the overarching Goals, and linking them to the business strategy, is often missing. Overall, deeper connections between material topics with SDG targets and corporate priorities are needed.

We also see there are opportunities to further explore the links between SDG priorities and the contributions of companies in the countries and jurisdictions where they operate.

Most importantly, corporate reporting on the SDGs often focuses on positive contributions that companies make to the SDGs, with a lack of transparency and accountability for negative impacts. This issue was also highlighted by KPMG research in December.

Reporting that has impact

Identifying SDG priorities throughout the value chain is a complex undertaking, as is demonstrating the cause-and-effect relationship between SDG contributions and business performance.

Moreover, because of the interconnected and interdependent nature of the SDGs, companies need to identify and take account of synergies and trade-offs between positive and negative impacts.

Efforts to quantify impacts on the SDGs and contextualize them (for example, considering the social thresholds and planetary boundaries) needs strengthened. That is why it is necessary to move beyond assessing activities and outputs and focus on how to disclose outcomes and impacts.

This is crucial as it enables businesses to manage their performance and demonstrate accountability for their impacts.

Making SDG reporting relevant to stakeholders

There is increasing interest from a wide range of stakeholders in business contribution to the SDGs, including how companies are aligning products, services and business strategy with the SDGs.

Policy makers, investors, consumers, labor organizations and civil society all increasingly demand that companies show transparency through providing quality data and balanced reporting.

However, different stakeholders have different expectations and data requests. Steps business can take to provide more strategic and relevant information include:

• Providing aggregated or disaggregated information that allows stakeholders to assess their performance and contribution to the SDGs
• Setting long-term SDG-related performance targets, and regularly reporting on progress
• Clearly demonstrating how the business strategy aligns with the SDGs

Proactive communications on the issues that matter most – to both the company and stakeholders – is crucial. Not only does it provide the necessary information to assess corporate sustainability performance and impact, it also allows stakeholders to make decisions that contribute to the SDGs.

Driving business action through reporting

Inspired by the progress to date and the opportunities still to come, GRI is launching a Business Leadership Forum on corporate reporting as a driver for achieving the SDGs. This forum, to commence in March, will offer participating companies with practical insights on sustainability reporting, focusing on how to raise the quality and strategic relevance of their reporting.

The forum is built around a series of online sessions that will bring together corporate reporters and representatives from key stakeholder groups – including the investment community, governments, regulators, members of the supply chain, civil society and academia.

The experiences of the past four years have shown that both businesses and stakeholders benefit from strategic and relevant SDG-related information. Sustainability reporting is an essential driver of the transformational change that is required to achieve the SDGs.

As we look ahead to the Decade of Action and the pandemic recovery phase, the case for meaningful corporate reporting on the SDGs is more compelling than ever before.

*The Global Reporting Initiative is an international independent standards organization that helps businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate their impacts on issues such as climate change, human rights and corruption. With more than 10,000 reporters in over 100 countries, GRI is advancing the practice of sustainability reporting and enabling businesses, investors, policymakers, and civil society to use this information to engage in dialogue and make decisions that support sustainable development.

 

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The post Corporate Reporting on SDGs: Challenges and Opportunities appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Camila Corradi Bracco handles Content Development & Program Delivery at Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)*

The post Corporate Reporting on SDGs: Challenges and Opportunities appeared first on Inter Press Service.

No official reason has been given for the death of Seif Sharif Hamad at the age of 77.

Paul Rusesabagina says he was abducted in Dubai and brought to Rwanda to stand trial.

Obinwanne Okeke used Nigerian-based companies to defraud people in the US.

Protesters demand the release of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The protestors remain defiant in the face of the security forces tightening the screw. They are facing daily intimidation, threats and harassment at the hands of the police and soldiers strategically station to discourage and disperse the protests. CC BY-SA 4.0

By Larry Jagan
BANGKOK, Feb 17 2021 (IPS)

Myanmar’s top generals have begun the process to prevent Aung San Suu Kyi – the country’s popular civilian leader – from ever holding political power. Both she and president Win Myint were arraigned in a closed-door court session via video link Tuesday, Feb. 16. This is the beginning of a trial that is expected to take about six months to conclude. If convicted, it will prevent Suu Kyi from standing in future elections.

Suu Kyi is charged with violating import restrictions after walkie-talkies and other foreign equipment that were found in her villa compound. They were discovered during a search of her premises on Feb. 1, the day the military launched a coup, seizing all judicial, executive and legislative power, placing it in the hands of the commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

The Nobel laureate has also been charged with contravening a natural disaster management law by interacting with a crowd at an election rally during the coronavirus pandemic. A charge that was added after her original arrest and only publicly disclosed at her hearing. Win Myint is  charged with breaking COVID-19 restrictions. They reportedly appeared without legal representation.

The coup leaders have promised elections sometime next year after the state of emergency they have imposed is lifted. The authorities are still investigation more serious accusations related to receiving foreign funds – which could amount to charges of treason.

The military commanders also seem intent on preparing a case against her party – the National League for Democracy (NLD) — in order to ban it from politics and declare it an illegal organisation. The NLD, which overwhelmingly won last November’s poll, remains a thorn in the military’s side as for the past three weeks protestors have hit the street in their hundreds of thousands, to defend democracy and reject the coup.

“The civil disobedience movement is a non-violent campaign which was started by young doctors across the country: it was a spontaneous grassroots response to the coup,” Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a prominent activist involved with the protest in Yangon, told IPS. “It has grown daily as the civil servants have inspired others to defend our democracy,” she added.   

The protestors remain defiant in the face of the security forces tightening the screw. They are facing daily intimidation, threats and harassment at the hands of the police and soldiers strategically station to discourage and disperse the protests. But troops, tanks and water cannons have not deterred the protests, which are growing daily. But the strength of the movement is that it encompasses all generations, all walks of life, civil servant and workers. All of whom support democracy, though a large proportion also support the NLD.

“This is very different from the 1988 pro-democracy demonstrations when the student movement aspired to democracy but didn’t really know what it meant,” Nyein Chan Aung an 88-year-old veteran told IPS. “This time they know what they want, they know what they are losing, and they are very, very angry.”   

Meanwhile, the military are clearly on a mission to overhaul and restructure the country’s fledgling democracy, turning the clock back to the dark days of direct military rule.

For the past three weeks the new junta has rolled out a new administration: from national, provisional to district and wards. Removing the previous elected incumbents and putting in people close to the military.

The Supreme Court has been transformed, with the previous NLD appointments routed out and replaced with judges loyal to their military masters. The Union Election Commission has also been dismissed and swapped with military loyalists. Key ministries have also been targeted and military officers and personnel infiltrated, often at the highest level. This was the common practice during the previous military regime. But the public service has been largely transformed in the last ten years with comprehensive public reform.

“The militarisation of the bureaucracy is under way again I fear,” a former diplomat told IPS on condition of anonymity. “In the past it destroyed civil servant moral, civil service efficiency and expertise, and made the bureaucracy another arm of the military — stripped of initiative and think independently – making it powerless to do anything else but follow orders and recreating a truly authoritarian state.”

But the military junta has also dealt a death blow to developing democratic ideals and practices, with the worst being the wholesale changes in the laws and new edicts. Activists and human rights groups in Myanmar have condemned these measures as unacceptable and a gross erosion of basic civil and human rights, especially the changes to citizens protection and security laws.

These include prisoner’s right to a lawyer – Suu Kyi has been denied access to her lawyer since she was detained at the beginning of February.

It also includes the right to detain prisoners for an unlimited the right to arrest people without a warrant and search homes unimpeded by local administrators, carry out surveillance unconstrained, intercept any form of communications, and ask for users’ information from operators.

The government has also enacted a draconian Cyber Law which essentially allows them full access to digital information and all social media – with the right to prosecute anyone they deem has crossed the line.

“The changes in the laws amount to the removal of all rights of freedom of speech, association and liberty as well as the rights associated the rule of law and fair trial,” Stephen McNamara, a UK lawyer who has worked with lawyers in Myanmar since 2007, told IPS.

“These changes in the basic laws of Myanmar are wider than any amendments since the nineteenth century. It reflects a military that intends to stay in power for a very long time,” he told IPS.

The fact that the military launched the coup when it could not get its own way clearly reflects the army’s mentality and priorities. They could not accept the NLD’s crushing victory in the elections – and the second time in five years.

They were shocked by the extent of their electoral triumph victory and had been counting on being able to form some sort of coalition government with various parties, including their pro-military partners, ethnic political parties and even the NLD if they did not have an overwhelming victory. 

The military foresee a political future where the army is an integral part of the political setup — integrated into the power structure and administration much like the way they see Thailand.  In fact the Commander in Chief is very fond of what he sees as the model – an important role for the army, where their economic interests are protected, a self sufficient economy and ‘democratic’ outlook – which resists leftist, socialist or communist leanings. It is a concept of pluralist democracy with no interest group having the dominant role or power.

Of course the coup leaders also see former Senior General Than Shwe’s ‘roadmap to democracy’ — developed in 2003 by the then intelligence chief and prime minister — as the model to be followed. This projected the final stage before a more liberal form of democracy as a coalition government of national unity. But always the emphasis was on a ‘guided democracy’. So while they are trying to turn back the clock to when the first elections were held – they have in fact wound it back into the dark ages.

“The soldiers, police and their hired thugs come out at night and wage a war of terror against the people – targeting prominent leaders of the protest movement – and conducting their campaign of intimidation, harassment and arrests,” Nyein Chan Aung told IPS.

“But this is different from 1988, and the new generational tactics have armed the protestors with weapons that will help defeat the military in the long run. With mobile phones, the internet and social media the civil disobedience movement has a voice that’s being heard across the world. The military’s tactics are doomed to fail this time round.”

Suu Kyi’s trial is expected to proceed on Mar. 1.

 

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Butterfly farming along the Kenyan coast is a source of income and a way of conserving the local forest.

A headcount is being done to see how many were abducted in the attack on the boarding school.

The US announcement revoking the previous administration's terrorist designation of Yemen’s Houthi movement, formally known as Ansar Allah, will provide “profound relief” to millions in the country, who depend on international assistance and imports for their survival, the UN Spokesperson said on February 7, 2021. Credit: WFP/Reem Nada

By Alon Ben-Meir
NEW YORK, Feb 17 2021 (IPS)

The bombing continues unabated. The explosions are heard in the distance. A family with seven children is cowering in fear in a corner of their shack, not daring to step out, dreading instant death from shrapnel or a sniper’s bullet.

They occasionally look up to the sky through a hole in the roof, hoping still for some rain drops collected in a bucket underneath. Drinking water is nowhere to be found, and only the rain drops keep the family alive.

The mother is careworn; she tries to breast-feed her baby boy, Mahmood, but her milk runs dry. The baby’s eyes are open still, gazing at nothing, perhaps wondering what’s happening to him and why.

Slowly he tries to raise his weakened hand to touch his mother’s breast, as if pleading for just one more drop of milk. His arm falls back, hanging; he can’t move, he can’t cry, his eyes run dry, he has no tears left to shed to ease his agonizing pain!

If you bent to ask him how he is feeling, and if he could only talk, he would say “why, why was I ever born?” Weeks of starvation finally took their turn. His body surrenders, and he dies in his mother’s arms.

How correct was James Baldwin when he said “A child cannot, thank Heaven, know how vast and how merciless is the nature of power, with what unbelievable cruelty people treat each other.”

Countless Yemeni children are dying from starvation and disease while the world shamelessly watches in silence, as if this was just a horror story from a different time and a distant place, where a country is ravaged by a senseless, unwinnable war while a whole generation perishes in front our eyes.

Those at the top who are fighting the war are destroying the very people they want to govern; they are the evil that flourishes on apathy and cannot endure without it.

What’s there left for them to rule? Twenty million Yemenis are famished, one million children are infected with cholera, and hundreds of thousands of little boys and girls are ravenous—dying, leaving no trace and no mark behind to tell the world they were ever here.

And the poorest country on this planet earth lies yet in ruin and utter despair.

The civilian casualties became a weapon of choice, and the victor will be the one who inflicts the heaviest fatalities. And as the higher the death toll of civilians continues to rise, climbing ever higher, the closer they believe they come to triumph. “People speak sometimes about the “bestial” cruelty of man,” Dostoyevsky said, “but that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts, no animal could ever be so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel.”

When will the international community wake up? Evil humans can do much horrific harm, but those who watch them with deafening silence cause a greater disaster for failing to act. When will they try to bring the Yemeni calamity to a close? What will it take to bring the combatants to what’s left of their sanity?

There is nothing left to fight for, though however hopeless the conditions are, we can still be determined to change course. And if we succeed in saving even a single life, as the Abrahamic religions teach us, it is as though we have saved the whole world.

Cognizant of the Yemeni tragedy, President Biden – unlike Trump – took the first step by suspending the shipment of the killing machines. He could not allow himself to watch this human catastrophe to continue to take such a toll on the Yemeni people while degrading our morals and numbing our conscience.

It is time to warn Iran to end its support of the Houthis, as Tehran will never be permitted to establish a permanent foothold in the Arabian Peninsula. As an ally, Saudi Arabia should be encouraged to maintain the ceasefire and sue for a peace agreement.

The Houthis must remember that there will be no victors, only losers—losers, for they have already lost the country. The country they are fighting for is no longer there. They must now start at the beginning, and only together with the beleaguered government put an end to these unspeakable atrocities.

And maybe, just maybe, the community of nations will come together with the United States to right the wrong, not only for the sake of the Yemeni people but for the sake of humanity.

We are facing the test of time, and we will never be forgiven for failing to rise up and answer the silent call of that little boy, Mahmood, who died so cruelly so much before his prime.

 

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Excerpt:

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He teaches courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

The post “Why Was I Ever Born”– Righting the Wrong appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A woman farmer in Mozambique with DT maize harvest. Credit: CIMMYT / IITA

By Martin Kropff and Nteranya Sanginga
IBADAN and MEXICO CITY, Feb 17 2021 (IPS)

17 February – African smallholder farmers have no choice but to adapt to climate change: 2020 was the second hottest year on record, while prolonged droughts and explosive floods are directly threatening the livelihoods of millions. By the 2030s, lack of rainfall and rising temperatures could render 40 percent of Africa’s maize-growing area unsuitable for climate-vulnerable varieties grown by farmers, while maize remains the preferred and affordable staple food for millions of Africans who survive on less than a few dollars of income a day.

Farmers across the continent understand that the climate crisis is affecting their harvests and their “daily bread”. In sub-Saharan Africa, growing numbers of people are chronically undernourished, with over 21 percent of the population suffering from severe food insecurity.

The global battle against climate change and all its interconnected impacts requires a multisectoral approach to formulate comprehensive responses. For farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, especially smallholders, this involves producing improved crop varieties that are not only high-yielding but also tolerant to drought and heat, resistant to diseases and insect pests, and can contribute to minimizing the risk of farming under rainfed conditions.

CGIAR, a global partnership involving numerous organizations engaged in food systems transformation, has been at the forefront of technological innovation and deployment for many decades. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) are the two CGIAR research centers undertaking innovative maize research and development work in the stress-prone environments of Africa. Successful development of improved climate-adaptive maize varieties for sub-Saharan Africa has been spearheaded by these two CGIAR centers that implemented joint projects such as the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) and Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) in partnership with an array of national and private sector partners in the major maize-producing countries in Eastern, Southern, and West Africa. Under the 10-year DTMA initiative, about 160 affordable and scalable maize varieties were released.

High-yielding, multiple stress-tolerant, maize varieties using CIMMYT/IITA maize germplasm released after 2007 (the year the DTMA project was started) are estimated to be grown on 5 million hectares in 2020 in sub-Saharan Africa. The adoption of drought-tolerant (DT) maize varieties helped lift millions of people above the poverty line across the continent. For example, in drought-prone southern Zimbabwe, farmers using DT varieties in dry years were able to harvest up to 600 kilograms more maize per hectare—enough for nine months for an average family of six—than farmers who sowed conventional varieties.

A smallholder woman farmer in northern Uganda with DT maize on her farm. Credit: CIMMYT / IITA

The STMA project that followed DTMA also operated in sub-Saharan Africa, where 176 million people depend on maize for nutrition and economic well-being. The project, which ended in 2020, and followed by a new project called Accelerating Genetic Gains for Maize and Wheat Improvement (AGG), developed new maize varieties that can be successfully grown under drought, sub-optimal soil fertility, heat stress, and diseases and pests. In 2020, CGIAR-related stress-tolerant maize varieties were estimated to be grown on over 5 million hectares, benefiting over 8.6 million smallholder farmers in 13 countries across sub-Saharan Africa.

In Kenya, farmers with the new maize varieties are harvesting 20 to 30 percent more grain than farmers without drought-tolerant seeds. Prasanna Boddupalli, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on maize, says this has a cascading effect on livelihoods—improving the nutritional intake of the community, helping children return to school, and reducing poverty.

Martin Kropff, Director General, CIMMYT

In an interview with Gates Notes, Kenyan farmer Veronica Nduku, who has been growing CIMMYT’s drought-tolerant maize for 10 years, had said that she always harvests even when there is no rainfall.

In Zambia, a study by CIMMYT and the Center for Development Research has shown that adopting drought-tolerant maize can increase yields by 38 percent and reduce the risks of crop failure by 36 percent, even though three-quarters of the farmers in the study had experienced drought during the survey.

Besides climate-adaptive improved maize varieties, both CIMMYT and IITA have developed maize varieties biofortified with provitamin A; vitamin A deficiency is highly prevalent in populations across sub-Saharan Africa. These biofortified maize varieties, developed in partnership with HarvestPlus, are being deployed in targeted countries in sub-Saharan Africa in partnership with national programs and seed company partners.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding this year, CGIAR unveiled its roadmap for a new 10-year strategy at the online 2021 Climate Adaptation Summit, hosted by the Netherlands in January.

The new sustainable research strategy puts climate change at the heart of its mission, with an emphasis on the realignment of food systems worldwide, targeting five impact areas: nutrition, poverty, inclusivity, climate adaptation and mitigation, and environmental health.

Nteranya Sanginga, Director General, IITA

Through food system transformation, resilient agri-food systems, and genetic innovations CGIAR’s ambition is to meet and go beyond the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for a concerted global effort to radically realign food systems to achieve the 17 SDGs by 2030.

CGIAR warns that without more science-based interventions to align agriculture with climate targets, the number of undernourished people around the world could exceed 840 million by 2030.

To shift its focus and investment into agricultural research that responds to the climate crisis, CGIAR is undergoing an institutional reform. Now named ‘One CGIAR’ the dynamic reformulation of CGIAR’s partnerships, knowledge, assets, and global presence, aims for greater integration and impact in the face of the interdependent challenges facing today’s world.

Scientific innovations in food, land, and water systems will be deployed faster, at a larger scale, and at reduced cost, having greater impact where they are needed the most.

Ground-breaking progress to date would not have been possible without the generous funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Yet Bill Gates, who recognizes the essential role of CGIAR in “feeding our future”, also acknowledges that current levels of investment do not even amount to half of what is needed.

Investments in maize breeding and seed system innovations must expand to keep up with the capacity to withstand climate variability in sub-Saharan Africa, the world’s most chronically undernourished region, and provide food and nutritional security to millions of maize-dependent and resource-constrained smallholders and consumers.

At CIMMYT and IITA, we have invested on long-term breeding to increase genetic gains using many new tools and technologies. These efforts need to be further intensified.

More funding is also needed to reach out to smallholders with quality seed of climate-resilient maize varieties. While 77 percent of Zambian households interviewed said they experienced drought in 2015, only 44 percent knew about drought-tolerant maize.

Mindful that adopting new technologies and practices can be risky for resource-poor farmers who do not enjoy the protection of social welfare safety nets in rich countries, CIMMYT encourages farmers, seed companies, and other end users to be involved in the development process.

It is not enough to lower carbon emissions. African farmers need to adapt quickly to rising temperatures, drawn-out droughts and sharp, devastating floods. With higher-yielding, multiple stress tolerant maize varieties, smallholder farmers have the opportunity to not only combat climatic variabilities, diseases and pests, but can also effectively diversify their farms. This will enable them in turn to have better adaptation to the changing climates and access to well-balanced and affordable diets. As climate change intensifies, so should agricultural innovations. It is time for a “business unusual” approach.

 

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Excerpt:

Martin Kropff, Director General, CIMMYT and Nteranya Sanginga, Director General, IITA

The post Successful Crop Innovation Is Mitigating Climate Crisis Impact in Africa appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Experts say artificial intelligence (AI) and big data are critical to combat climate change. One project uses AI to visualise the consequences of a changing climate by ‘bringing the future closer.’ It visually projects how houses and streets will look following the impact of climate related events. A file photo of Haiti shows impact on the country after Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. Credit: Kenton X. Chance/IPS

By Alison Kentish
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 17 2021 (IPS)

International organisations, researchers and data scientists say artificial intelligence (AI) and big data are critical to combat years of promises but inadequate action on the climate, biodiversity and pollution crises.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the UN Environment Programme, Microsoft and StartUp inside, a corporation which works with Fortune 500 companies in digital transformation held the virtual ‘AI for the Planet’ conference this week.

As vaccines bring hope of an end to a brutal pandemic, the partners warn that digital technologies and machine learning can no longer be left out of the conversation on building a more sustainable and equitable planet. They say the technology can be used to assist the public in embracing more sustainable practices and making better consumption choices.

Postdoctoral Researcher in AI for humanity at the Mila Institute Sasha Luccioni is working on a project that uses AI to visualise the consequences of a changing climate by ‘bringing the future closer.’ It visually projects how houses and streets will look following the impact of climate related events, hoping that the images will move people into action to protect the planet.

“We are creating a website where someone can enter an address, find their house, school or workplace and we provide them with AI generated images of what it would look like if climate change had an impact on this location, whether it be through flooding, smog or wildfires,” said Luccioni.

The images are accompanied by information on climate change, extreme weather events, local and global changes, as well as personal and collective action to save the planet and prevent the virtual images from becoming reality.

While Luccioni’s project uses AI to impact behaviour change, Weathernews Incorporated of Japan is using the technology in a UNESCO-supported disaster prevention programme. The chatbot system will be rolled out in East Africa this year. Used by local governments in Japan, it uses AI technology over a messaging app to send information such river swells to citizens before a disaster and communicate with them during and post-disaster. The project underscores the need for technology to save lives in an area beset with flooding, landslides, droughts and earthquakes.

“We would like to contribute to the creation of a society and a planet where many lives can be saved through information, by consolidating our knowledge of disaster prevention, together with AI technology for the planet,” said Shoichi Tateno, Private Public Partnership Section Leader at Weathernews.

UNEP officials say the world has 10 years to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals but cannot adequately measure its progress against 68 percent of their environmental indicators. Executive Director Inger Anderson says AI, big data and technology can help to fill that gap.

“How do we use digital solutions to drive sustainability and to create a world that is circulator, regenerative and inclusive and where we know how we are tracking and measuring where we are falling behind?” asked Anderson, adding that, “UNEP is just beginning to support and scale environmental change through the digital architecture.”

The summit partners say that applying big data, AI and digital technology in areas like mobility, manufacturing, agriculture, energy and buildings can result in a 10 to 20 percent reduction in global carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.

Watt Time, an environmental non-profit founded by UC Berkley researchers and Silicon Valley software engineers, has been developing technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Executive Director Gavin McCormick says the process starts by using AI to produce high quality data on greenhouse gas emissions.

“We teamed up with other tech savvy non-profits including Carbon Tracker and the World Resources Institute to AI to begin continuously monitoring the emissions from every power plant in the world and to make those data available to the general public the way the United States government makes its own data available to the public,” he said.

The virtual summit explored the role of AI in helping nations achieve the goal of limiting the increase in global average temperatures to well below 2°C pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. From providing real-time, reliable data on emissions to focusing on disaster prevention, the partners say AI is a critical yet underused tool in protecting the planet and securing a more sustainable future.

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The post Leveraging AI to Fight Climate Change appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Partners of the 2021 ‘AI for the Planet’ summit say big data, artificial intelligence and digital technology can bring a 10-20 percent reduction in global carbon dioxide emissions by 2030

The post Leveraging AI to Fight Climate Change appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Zimbabwe has 200,000 Sinopharm doses, although the efficacy level against the variant is unclear.

Studies show that glaciers in India are permanently losing ice, not only owing to higher temperatures from global warming but also in response to “deprived precipitation conditions” High siltation as the Teesta, a Himalayan glacier-sourced river which rises from the Eastern Himalayas, is dammed at the Teesta barrage at Siliguri, West Bengal. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS

By Manipadma Jena
BHUBANESWAR, India, Feb 16 2021 (IPS)

On Sunday morning, Feb. 7, as most of the working-class in India’s Himalayan State of Uttarakhand went about their chores, the glacier-fed Rishi Ganga river started rising. Two hours later, swollen with rock debris and snowmelt, its waters rose 53 feet — the height equivalent of a five-storey building.

The Dehradun-based Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), part of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), estimates that approximately 2 to 3 million cubic metres of water was released in the surrounding rivers.

As the brown-grey, monstrous body of water crashed down the steep river path, hilltop residents first to see it lost no time. Mothers called their sons working on the construction of the 480 MW Tapovan-Vishnugad hydro-power project and dam and urged them to flee.

“Flee for your mother’s sake”, they pleaded. Several people on high ground recorded the disaster, posting it immediately as an alert on social media. Frantic shouts from brothers and friends to those in harm’s way to “climb up somewhere, anywhere,” echoed down into the valley and saved lives.

But not everyone’s.

Even before the echoes of their calls had died down the water mass had smashed through the construction of the Tapovan-Vishnugad hydro-power project and the functional 13.2 MW Rishiganga project as if they were Legos.

It swept 30 workers into the dam’s 1,500-metre tunnel and carried others downstream.

Rescue workers entered the muddy waters, waded in knee-deep muck and searched for bodies stuck in boulders and tree roots downstream. Bodies, rescuers said, were found 150 kilometres downstream from the Tapovan dam site, many mutilated beyond recognition.

The missing people include around 120 workers from the dam construction and villagers whose homes were washed away. Even those out in the grazing pastures and working on farms got caught up in what appeared to be a glacial lake outburst flood. These floods are characterised by a sudden release of a huge amount of lake water that rushes along the channel downstream in the form of dangerous flood waves.

As of today, Feb. 16, 20 bodies and 12 human limbs have been cremated after DNA sampling; 58 bodies have been recovered and 164 are still missing.

What really triggered the flash-floods?

The day after the disaster the government’s IIRS put out a notice on its website stating, “it is observed from the satellite data of Feb. 7, 2021 in the catchment of Rishi Ganga river at the terminus of the glacier at an altitude of 5,600m a landslide triggered a snow avalanche covering approximately 14 sq.km area and causing a flash flood in the downstream of Rishi Ganga river.”

But the story of what generated the flood is the story of a warming climate.

“Satellite images do not show the presence of a lake,” Mauri Pelto, a glaciologist and Professor of Environmental Science at Nichols College in Massachusetts, told IPS via a Skype call.

It raised the question of why there had been such a large flood of water.  

“The likely explanation is that the landslide blocked a glacial stream and subsequently the stream burst through after being dammed. This is what I would look for — a temporary blockage of maybe for an hour. Even a 15-minute blockage could pile up a lot of water (from large glaciers streams),” Pelto said.

An ISRO satellite image taken on Feb. 6 shows a crack developing on the Trishul rock glacier. On the morning of Feb. 7, the mountain face shows the block of rock, with some ice, had dropped from about 5,600 m to about 3,800 m, crashing almost two kilometres and fragmenting to generate a huge rock and ice avalanche. It barrelled down the steep glacier with huge speed generating heat and gathering more ice, water and rocks into itself each every millisecond.

A study by the Divecha Centre for Climate Change (DCCC) of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, using modelling studies, said that when the stone and snow avalanche came crashing from 5,600m down the mountain side, the impact could have breached subglacial lakes. Subglacial lakes are bodies of water that form beneath ice masses when meltwater is generated evading satellite capture.

This, they said, was the bulk water source of the flash floods.

Scattered settlements at the foothills of the Himalayas with a glacier-fed river meandering close in Nepal. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS

How much was climate change responsible?

“This event occurred after a post-monsoon season featuring high snowlines (Glacier snowlines are indicators for the elevation where melting predominates) on Trishul and adjacent glaciers and the warmest January in the last six decades in Uttarakhand,” said Pelto, who since 1984 has directed the North Cascade Glacier Climate Project that monitors the mass balance and behaviour of glaciers in North America.

“By mid-October 2020, the snowline had risen to 5,800 – 6,000 metres above sea level on Trishul and an adjacent seven glaciers as seen in Landsat and Sentinel satellite imagery. This rising snowline indicates warmer temperature and a height above which the freezing line rose frequently in 2020. This also indicates that the freezing line rose frequently above the Trishul landslip/ collapse point at 5,600m frequently enough in 2020. Here melting exceeded snowfall,” he explained.

“After the October 2020 warmth, by Jan.11, snow blanketed the glaciers down to 4,400 m, but again a subsequent warm period led to widespread melting and snow cover loss climbed up to at least 5,000 m on the Trishul Glacier,” Pelto explained.

“Three coincidences are aligned here: Right at this very warm year, right at the elevation where unusual melting occurred, you have a landslide. Why would it happen now? There is an answer in the alignment,” he told IPS, explaining that the answer was climate change.

Supporting this explanation is research published in Science Direct in July 2020, which assessed the impact of climate change on glaciers in the same region – the upper Rishi Ganga catchment, Nanda Devi region in Central Himalaya from 1980 to 2017. It found 10 percent of glaciated areas had been lost – from 243 square kilometres in 1980  down to 217 in 2017.

Another significant finding from this research is that glaciers here are permanently losing ice, not only owing to higher temperatures from global warming but also in response to “deprived precipitation conditions” since 1980. Deficient winter rains, which glaciers largely grow on, is in fact starving them.

Pelto said glaciers here are more thinning than retreating, particularly in the glacial area between the snowline and someplace below the top region, which is debris covered.

This would eventually lead to an increased number of glacial lakes spread over more area. The potential for a glacial lake outburst disaster thus spreads and endangers more places and more communities.

Worse could happen. According to a study published this January in The Cryosphere, meltwater from ice avalanches in the Himalayan western Tibetan Plateau have been filling downstream lakes in a way that may cause previously-separated lakes to merge within the next decade.

As the glacier retreats it leaves a large void behind. Ponds occupy the depression earlier occupied by glacial ice. The moraine walls composed of large rocks, sediment (glacier debris) that were in the glacier act as a dam but are structurally weak and unstable and undergo constant changes and there exists the danger of catastrophic failure, causing glacial lake outburst floods.

The propagation of these flood surges trigger landslides and bank erosion that temporarily block the surge waves and result in a series of surges as the landslide dam breach.

Earthquakes may also be one of the triggering factors depending upon its magnitude, location and other characteristics. Discharge rates of such floods are typically several thousand cubic meters per second.

“In the recent event we see snowlines lines rising higher and on the other hand there was no retained snow on glaciers. If this happens the glaciers cannot survive,” Pelto said.

Of the Trishul rock face that cracked and collapsed, Pelto said, “All mountain faces are living with lot of cracks. Over time they may widen. Ordinarily the cracks are held together by the ice covering. Take the ice away and they are not held together anymore, vulnerable to rock slips.

“These are preconditions to the disaster. I expect to see more of such (Chamoli tragedy) events,” he told IPS.

A glacier, in Uttarakhand state, India. On Feb. 7, a block of rock with some ice had dropped from the Trishul rock glacier from about 5,600 m to about 3,800 m, crashing almost two kilometres and fragmenting to generate a huge rock and ice avalanche. It barrelled down the steep glacier with huge speed generating heat and gathering more ice, water and rocks into itself each every millisecond. Courtesy: Yann Forget / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA.

Too many hydropower projects, too many lost lives

With steep slopes that make river electricity generation possible, government sources said Uttarakhand is being developed as an ‘energy state’ to tap an estimated hydropower electric potential of over 25,000 MW.

About 77 percent of the capacity owned by state utilities is based on hydropower. According to sources, while Uttarakhand’s hydropower installed capacity is 3,177 MW from about 40 operational projects, a total 87 more projects are being developed by the Uttarakhand government, government of India and private power producers.

But in a sensitive, somewhat unstable river bed region, even if it is clean energy production, the risk of avalanche, flash floods, loss of life and costly infrastructure is to be carefully weighed against development gains, activists have been saying. 

After the massive 2013 floods in Uttarakhand caused by high-intensity rainfall over days and seen as the worst extreme climatic disaster in 100 years in the Himalayan region, India’s highest court banned further hydropower installation in the state. The court had stated in its ruling that no proper disaster management plan was in place. But the Indian and state governments have found ways to circumvent the ban, aiming to export electricity beyond the state.

Over 2013 to 2015, Uttarakhand lost an astounding 268 sq. km of forest cover as documented by the bi-annual India State of Forest Report. Much of the cleared land was for development projects, including roads, hydropower projects and distribution lines, hotels, and mining. In 2019 some forest cover was regained.

“When you need to produce a lot of electricity locally and hydropower is the easiest available method, run-of-the-river where pipes or weirs extract water at a height and drop it over a turbine would get sufficient output even while returning the water back to the river,” Pelto said. This echoes the majority voices advising small and micro hydro projects that can power several villages clusters, instead of large or medium projects.

“When you invest in a structure all across a river’s width you spend a lot, what are the chances it will last 50 years?” Pelto cautioned.

Families of the 58 dead shudder to imagine their loved ones taken over by the ferocious sludge-waters, choking them deep inside the 1,500-metre Tapovan-Vishnugad dam tunnel, carrying others like straw dashed against rocks. And the families of the 164 missing wait with hope dimming. They have every right to ask the governments “is there really no less-lethal way to generate electricity for development?”

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The post India Glacier Disaster: In a Warming World is there no Less Lethal Way to Power Development? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Residents say they have seen bodies floating in the water after the overcrowded boat crashed.

By Abdul Muheet Chowdhary
GENEVA, Feb 16 2021 (IPS)

The United Nations Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters (UN Tax Committee) is an important and influential subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) that shapes standards and guidelines on international taxation. These are the rules through which Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) are taxed.

Its role post-COVID has become even more important as countries struggle to raise revenue. Despite being under-resourced, it has produced valuable guidance, especially on the crucial question of the digital economy. As a new Membership of the Committee is about to be selected, this brief provides practical recommendations on how the Committee can be reformed to be made more effective, especially for the interests of developing countries.

If foreign MNEs do not pay the rightful taxes due, owing to tax evasion or avoidance, then it results in a higher burden on domestic firms, leading to competition concerns. Foreign firms end up with more funds at their disposal through which they can carry out predatory pricing or buyout rivals

The United Nations is the foremost international organization, setup in the aftermath of the Second World War to help build a new world. One of its six principal organs is the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), tasked with advancing the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental. In that sense it plays a major role in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which the world has committed to.

Nestled within ECOSOC is a little-known but vitally important subsidiary body with the somewhat archaic and lengthy title of “Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters”, popularly known as the UN Tax Committee (UNTC).

The UNTC is responsible for nothing less than reviewing and recommending standards on international taxation, notably the rules through which non-residents, particularly Multinational Enterprises (MNEs), may be taxed.

As is well known, in today’s world there is a growing concentration of wealth and corporate consolidation, with one company even reaching a staggering market valuation of USD 2 trillion. This is juxtaposed with an estimated $427 billion in tax revenue lost each year to international corporate tax abuse and private tax evasion. This makes the taxation of these MNEs (and non-residents more generally) an important source of revenue for the countries where they operate. 

There is also the aspect of a level playing field, because if these foreign MNEs do not pay the rightful taxes due, owing to tax evasion or avoidance, then it results in a higher burden on domestic firms, leading to competition concerns. Foreign firms end up with more funds at their disposal through which they can carry out predatory pricing or buyout rivals.

The disruption of local businesses has many negative effects, with one of them being reduced consumer demand owing to job losses. This is harmful even for the foreign MNE as it means less demand for their goods and services. Thus, non-payment of taxes leads to a vicious cycle of economic slowdown, while tax compliance means fairer competition, higher consumer demand and more capacity of governments to provide public goods, leading to a virtuous cycle of prosperity.

Thus, international tax standards are of critical importance, as they enable countries to effectively tax MNEs and raise the revenue needed for providing public goods and financing the SDGs. Improved capacity for tax collection is in fact target 17.1 of the SDGs.

The UN Tax Committee, housed within ECOSOC, hence has a crucial role to play for the world at large. It is also the only standard shaping body on tax that is within a genuinely universal organization, the UN. The other major body, the OECD, remains to this day an organization ultimately controlled by 37 of the world’s richest countries. Hence the UNTC is the only body where developing countries have something close to a level playing field and the Committee’s membership is almost evenly divided between developed and developing countries.

Though far less resourced than the OECD, the UNTC has performed admirably, producing standards such as the UN Model Double Taxation Convention between Developed and Developing Countries, Manual for the Negotiation of Bilateral Tax Treaties between Developed and Developing Countries, Practical Manual on Transfer Pricing and Handbook on Selected Issues for Taxation of the Extractive Industries by Developing Countries. These documents provide much-needed guidance to countries, particularly developing countries, in strengthening their international tax policy frameworks.

The recent sessions of the Committee have seen a spurt of activity as some of the more active Members, all from developing countries, have taken the lead in finding solutions to some of the burning issues of the day. Nowhere has this been more apparent than in the taxation of the digitalized economy, arguably the single most important issue in international tax today.

The digitalized economy can no longer be hived off into a sector; it is increasingly a part of the ‘real’ economy and as such calls for major changes to international tax rules. The OECD has been trying for years to find a solution through its “Inclusive” Framework on BEPS, but there is no end in sight as discussions continue endlessly. Meanwhile developing countries are ever more stressed for funds, particularly in these times of recession and COVID-19.

While the OECD, with its enormous resources and Secretariat, continues to struggle to find a practical and acceptable solution, the more modest UNTC, in its 20th and 21st Session has come out with a simple and realistic proposal for taxing income from Automated Digital Services, one that has been prepared entirely by developing country members. That the Committee could provide such a solution in a relatively short period of time with all its constraints is a testament to its relevance, but more importantly unfulfilled potential.

These outcomes have happened not because of the UNTC’s structure but rather despite it and can be attributed to the individual drive and initiative of some Members. However it is unwise to rely on such individuals and what is needed is a system that facilitates and encourages such outcomes as a matter of course. Hence, this article seeks to examine how the structure of the UNTC can be improved so it does precisely this and is better able to fulfil its mandate.

 

Issues Relating to Committee Members

Appointment

The first and most important aspect of the UNTC’s functioning is the selection of Members, especially those from developing countries. Having passive Members who do not or cannot perform their duties effectively means that their engagement is reduced to simply approving Committee  documents on various issues without substantively contributing to them.

This is an unfortunate outcome because even though the Members are individuals serving in their expert capacity, they are nevertheless nominated by countries and the reality is that they to an extent reflect national experiences. Further, the UNTC is meant to be a Committee-driven body and the Members must have as much control as possible and should be able to drive the Committee’s work. For this, members must be selected who are capable, committed and supported.

 

Capability

The Members must have the capacity to perform their duties. For this domain knowledge is essential; candidates must have expertise in international tax matters such as exchange of information or transfer pricing. Practical experience in tax treaties should also be a necessary qualification. This will ensure that at minimum they have the capacity to substantively contribute to the Committee’s work.

 

Commitment

The Members must also have a track record which proves their commitment to the issue. This is especially important in the case of Members hailing from developing countries.

 

Support

Members of the UNTC are tax officials working with their governments but are nominated in their expert and individual capacity, hence their work is not counted as “official” in the eyes of their governments. Working for the UNTC is seen as a personal responsibility and something that eats into their official duties. Several times this trade-off means that they are unable to devote adequate time to their obligations as UNTC Members.

The way out of this is to ensure that the Committee Members have support from their governments in their work as UNTC Members and the time spent in this is important work is given due recognition and support by their governments.

It would be good if the domestic tax administrations can provide additional resources and staff to their Members. This will enable them to provide better inputs and manage their Committee work along with their official responsibilities.

Thus, it is recommended that Member States, especially those from developing countries, take these criteria into account when making nominations, so that they are putting forth the best candidates possible. They must also assess whether their respective tax administrations will be able to provide them with the requisite support so that they are able to do their best. The UN can issue guidelines encouraging countries to follow this approach.

 

Re-appointment

Sometimes Committee Members are re-appointed for the next term. All the aforementioned points are equally applicable when it comes to such reappointments. At present however the process is not transparent. Given the importance of being on the Committee, some criteria and procedures should be developed in this regard.

Only those Members should be reappointed who have demonstrated their contributions to the Committee’s functioning. A feedback mechanism can be devised which also takes into account the opinion of Observers, civil society and the UNTC Secretariat itself. The UN can share this assessment with countries when requesting them to nominate or re-nominate candidates.

 

Induction

New members should be given an introduction to the committee and how it works. They have no time to learn the ‘rules of the game’ and as a result cannot function with full efficiency. Often times they join to find that many things have been already pre-decided, such as the agenda and composition of sub-committees. To prevent this and to ensure that they are informed of how things work, it is recommended that outgoing members do some handholding for them and share their experiences. This is especially important for Members from developing countries.

 

Issues Relating to Committee functioning

 

Agenda 

The agenda should be decided by the Members. It is recommended that the inputs of UN Member States should be solicited in preparing the UNTC agenda.

 

Number of Meetings

One of the compromise outcomes of the 2015 Addis Ababa conference on Financing for Development was to increase the number of Committee meetings from two per year instead of just one. However this is not at all enough for the work to get done. As a result decisions on many pending issues tend to get delayed and their resolution is dragged out. Hence, the number of Committee meetings need to be increased, with the flexibility to have additional Sessions if the work so requires.

 

Staffing of the Secretariat

The composition of the Secretariat is very important as it works full-time and continuously on the Committee’s work, unlike the Members who also have official responsibilities. So far, the Secretariat staff, especially for the core work of the Committee, comprises largely former OECD officials or officials from developed countries. The reality of this means it is easier for OECD standards proposed by developed country Committee Members to find their way into the UN Committee. To balance this, the Secretariat staff should have much larger representation from developing countries. There is no dearth of talent. 

 

Another measure in this regard is to lower the emphasis given to knowledge of multiple UN languages when hiring candidates. It should be enough for eligible candidates to know only one language. Many nationals of the developing world do not have the luxury of learning multiple UN languages, which those in the developed world do. The hiring policy should be therefore rational and flexible in this regard with a focus on subject knowledge to prevent over-representation of nationals of former colonial powers.

 

Conclusion

 

These are some concrete recommendations for improving the structure of the UNTC so it is better able to discharge its responsibilities. The reforms required are not major but nevertheless have the potential to greatly improve the Committee’s functioning, which in turn means more balanced and efficient international tax standards for a world in dire need of funds to combat COVID-19 and finance the recovery.

 

Abdul Muheet Chowdhary is Senior Programme Officer with the South Centre Tax Initiative (SCTI), part of the South Centre, a Geneva-based intergovernmental organization of developing countries.

 

This article was originally published by the South Centre.

The post Making the UN Tax Committee More Effective for Developing Countries appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Rural woman farmer Chandra Kala Thapa works in the fields near Chatiune Village, Nepal. Over $39 million has been earmarked by a UN-backed fund to combat effects of climate change in Nepal. Credit: UN Women/Narendra Shrestha

By Simone Galimberti
KATHMANDU, Nepal, Feb 16 2021 (IPS)

Raju Pandit Chhetri is one of the most acclaimed climate change policy experts in Nepal and South Asia. As Director of the Prakiriti Resource Centre, an action focused think tank based in Kathmandu, Pandit Cheetri shares his opinion on the latest climate focused policies being undertaken by the Government of Nepal, especially the 2nd Nationally Determined Contribution NDC that was recently submitted by the Government.

Q: Before discussing the second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) released by the Government in December, what is your assessment of the first one published in October 2016?

Raju: The first NDC was much more inclusive as it tried to balance between the adaptation, mitigations and means of implementation. It was done it a short period of time and no proper format existed then. It was prepared to demonstrate Nepal’s commitment to the Paris Agreement.

Q: Coming now to the second NDC, it states that “Nepal is formulating a long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategy by 2021 with the aim to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emission by 2050”. Given the fact that Nepal’s emissions are minimal, were you expected such goal?

Raju: Given the emission scenario and context of Nepal, achieving net-zero GHG by 2050 is doable, if there is political commitment and actions, we can achieve this even earlier. It’s great that Nepal has this vision and wants to implement it via a strategy. Given Nepal’s forest coverage, potential for renewable energy and low per capita emission this is a realistic target. Nationally we need to do more.

Q: Shouldn’t the NDC be already providing a roadmap to achieve this goal? Do we need another strategy just because the NDC document is fairly a generic one?

Raju: I guess for now, the NDC is more of a visioning paper for next five to 10 years. It would have been good if the details were presented but, in any case, for a least developed country (LDC) country with insignificant amount of carbon emission, it isn’t a bad thing. The current version does give the vision if not every detail of the targets. However, it is true that Nepal just loves preparing policies, plans and strategies rather than focusing on implementation. We have great policies not actions, unfortunately.

Q: There has been skepticism about net-zero greenhouse gas emission by 2050, especially in relation to the financial contributions that Nepal is committing itself (we are talking only of mitigation measures here) through what are called the unconditional commitment that will amount to $ 3.4 billion, resources that Nepal is pledging to mobilize on its own. Is it feasible?

Raju: The total cost gives at US$ 25 billion for mitigation and Nepal’s own share is arbitrary (don’t know where this is coming from). There is no basis for accounting and detail analysis. Principally, it would have been better if the numbers with commitments from Nepal were not there, after all Nepal’s emission is very low and with no historical responsibility.

However, there is no harm in submitting the second NDCs, it’s great to demonstrate that even a country like Nepal is serious on climate actions and would pressurize the rich responsible countries to come forward. But I do agree that this rush did not help in making the NDC preparation process inclusive and participatory. This is a fundamental drawback. This process would have avoided many of the shortcomings such as finance targets and making it mitigation centric.

Q: Do you think that Nepal’s proposed graduation from the group of LDCs (to the status of a middle income country) in 2024 can have a negative impact for the country’s efforts to find the needed external resources to implement the 2nd NDC?

Raju: When Nepal graduates, it will lose some of the privileges which it enjoyed as a LDC country. However, this may not matter in the short term because there is also transitional period, which it can enjoy for a few more years. Having said that if development process advances to making it a developing country from LDC then it also comes with responsibility and enhanced ability, which it must embrace. It must find other avenues and create opportunities for itself. The good thing is Nepal is often one of the favorites to donors hence, the politics must work on this favorable condition in the short and long run.

Q: Between adaptation and mitigation, how to strike the right balance? In a recent interview, you highlighted that this second NDC should have been more focused on adaptation. Why not being ambitious developing a greener economy as well?

Raju: I am always for developing a greener economy, I would even go further to say that we need much more concrete actions to reduce air pollution, import less fossil fuel and adopt a green development pathway. However, given the global scenario, Nepal is one of the lowest carbon emitting countries but highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This is being clearly seen in the areas of climate induced disasters like landslide and floods. Nepal suffers from food insecurity, poverty, water issues and many other development issues hence in this context- adaptation should not be less prioritize. Nepal’s NDC fails to realize this current reality. NDC is an international document that we submit to international organization (UNFCCC) hence in that context adaptation is always Nepal’s priority. My comment was not that we should not do mitigation but rather give due weightage to adaptation actions reflecting the reality of the county.

Q: What should we expect from the upcoming National Adaptation Plan, NAP?

Raju: There is also a huge adaptation gap in Nepal and we are way behind in fulfilling this gap. NAP should clearly state the current situation of country’s adaptation need and areas of vulnerability. In this context, provide adequate information and focus areas where adaptation is a dire need. It should help prioritize the areas of intervention, partners, identify issues, and ways to address them. Currently, NAP is in the process of making in Nepal, hope this is soon completed and this can be a basis for adaptation actions in the country.

Q: In terms of mitigation in the NDC, there are ambitious forestry targets like maintaining 45% of total area of the country under forest cover in addition to bold announcements on reducing pollution in the transportation sector. Do you remain hopeful the targets will be met?

Raju: It is good that Nepal is having some bold targets but this is not easy for Nepal to meet with the current priorities and enabling environment. There are lots of conflicting aspects when it comes to what is in the policy and what is done in practice. For sure, there is need to maintain our forest cover, address pollution in the cities, manage growing waste and significantly replace the imported fossil fuel by renewable energy. However, this is not possible merely putting it in NDC without actions. Political commitment should ensure partnership between the government, private sectors, financers and other partners to achieve these targets.

Q: Prakriti Resources Centre was one of the leading forces behind the Climate and Development Dialogue in 2019. How useful are such stakeholders ‘meetings?

Raju: We do regular meetings and gathering to share ideas and experiences from the policy to the implementation level. There are about 12 members in the dialogue who regularly exchange information on climate and development issues. We also make policy suggestions and inputs to the government. Many of our inputs have been incorporated into the policy documents. We continue to advocate for the affective implementation of these plans and policies.

Q: With the 2nd NDC being published, what should the government do now? What is the civil society planning to do? Are you going to play a role in shaping the formation of the numerous new “climate” institutions, including the Inter-Ministerial Climate Change Coordination Committee (IMCCCC) and the Climate Change Resource Center? In addition, the NDC says that by 2030, all 753 local governments will prepare and implement climate-resilient and gender-responsive adaptation plans. Is this realistic?

Raju: We will continue to be vigilant on what government does on climate actions – both in terms of policy implementation and raising new issues. We will support where needed but also push on what needs to be done.

There are a lot of things that the government needs to do both in terms of climate adaptation and mitigation. We have not even entered into the debate of loss and damage. A few months back ICIMOD and UNDP produced a report that 25 glacial lake in the Himalayas are at the risk of out-bursting. This is a huge issue for a country like, imagine one lake out bursting and it causing harm in the downstream. This is a case of loss and damage.

Government cannot just make policies and promise, it needs to acts through appropriate institutions, allocating finance and ensuring that the actions are taking place at the local level. Government has promised to make adaptation plans in all the 753 local governments and this cannot merely be an empty promise. It needs to fulfil the promise to meet the expectation of the climate vulnerable communities. But for this high degree of political commitment is a must. It needs to start from awareness building of the local governments and supporting them with technical inputs.

Q: What do you hope Glasgow 2021 will achieve? The Prakriti Resources Centre together with its peers within the Climate Finance Advisory Service, extensively analyzed the disbursement pledge of USD 100 billion goal in annual commitments from the developed countries. Where are we?

Raju: COP26 should help raise the climate ambitions so that the world is in track to achieve 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. Currently, we are heading to 3 degree world or beyond. By COP26 every country should submit an ambitious NDCs. In order to achieve this, climate finance will play a major role. Developed countries are falling short in fulfilling their promise of meeting the climate finance targets of US$100 billion per year by 2020. This gap should be filled in only then the developing countries will be able to take climate actions. The money should be balance both for mitigation and adaptation, while also prioritizing loss and damage. Developed countries have been double counting their ODA as climate finance, this should not be the case but sincere effort must be made to support climate vulnerable countries like Nepal.

Q: Last but not the least, what are your suggestions to a young graduate in Nepal that would embrace the work you are doing?

Raju: Working in the area of climate change looks appealing but without perseverance it does not last long. This is a wide open and multisectoral area hence focus is imperative. It is not easy as it sounds otherwise, we would have long back solved the problem, in fact we are nowhere near it. No doubt, more young people should join the movement and work on climate change because this is the issue about their future. However, the work must be backed by keen interest to build one’s knowledge, motivation and dedication.

To have more information about Prakiriti Resource Centre, please visit www.prc.org.np
To have more information about Climate Finance Advisory Service, please visit https://www.cfas.info/en
E-mail: simone_engage@yahoo.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simone-galimberti-4b899a3/

 

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The post Climate Change & Policy Making in Nepal appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

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

The post Climate Change & Policy Making in Nepal appeared first on Inter Press Service.