NAIROBI, Kenya — The numbers of women and children migrating from the Horn of Africa to Gulf countries through Yemen has significantly increased and is a cause of concern, according to the head of the International Organization for Migration.
The treacherous journey from Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti through Yemen, called the Eastern Migration Route, has seen a 64% increase in the past year of people seeking better livelihoods, with larger numbers of women with children and children travelling alone, IOM Director General Antonio Vitorino told The Associated Press.
Climate change is a driver of the increased migration, he said.
In the past, women and children would often opt out of the dangerous journey through the desert mostly made on foot. Previously men would leave their families behind and make the trek in the hope of finding jobs and sending money back home.
“The pressure is mounting” as the numbers of migrants rise, said Vitorino who was in Kenya for the launch of a $84 million appeal to support more than 1 million migrants using the route through Yemen.
The desperate migrants are vulnerable to criminal gangs along the route and need protection against rape, violence, traffickers and smugglers, he said.
Some of the migrants are unaware of the dangers including the war in Yemen and the U.N.’s migration organization needs to improve awareness of the perils, he said. For migrants who still choose to take the journey, the organization should offer basic healthcare and other services and in some cases return them to their countries of origin, he said.
“Last year, we have returned voluntarily to Ethiopia 2,700 migrants and upon arrival we provided post-arrival assistance to support them to move back to their regions of origin,” Vitorino said.
Also rising is the migration of people from West Africa through Libya to Europe and the plight of those migrants, particularly those detained in Libya, is a global concern, he said.
“We know where the official detention centers are and we have access to them, not permanent, never alone, but under surveillance of security guards. But we have access to provide assistance,” said Vitorino.
But the U.N. organization does not have access to the unofficial detentions centers, which are particularly worrying as there are reports of widespread abuses in them, he said. Libya’s political instability makes it difficult to have the political cooperation needed to dismantle the unofficial detention centers, he said.
The IOM is striving to get more migrants into voluntary return programs in order to reduce those in detention, he said. It’s difficult because the number of migrants who want to return is much higher than available flights from Libya, he said.
Vitorino said he hopes the factors that lead to increased migration, like climate change and conflict, can be addressed to reduce the number of people moving away from their homes.
He stressed the need for migrants to pursue legal migration routes, adding that although the process is complicated and cumbersome, it cannot be compared to the life-threatening conditions along illegal routes.
Opinion by David Ferrari – Sudip Ranjan Basu – Kimberly Roseberry (bangkok, thailand)
Inter Press Service
BANGKOK, Thailand, Feb 09 (IPS) – The last three years have seen the Pacific impacted negatively due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tourism industry, a key source of national revenue and jobs creation, received a severe blow due to closure of borders and reduced travel.
In April 2020, a major cyclone caused widespread destruction in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga. In early 2022, a volcanic eruption in Tonga further caused significant damage to domestic physical infrastructure.
Adding to these existing pressures, the food, fuel and finance crises have had a crippling impact on national economies throughout the Pacific. The vulnerabilities to both manmade and natural disasters are all but obvious. There is a need for an acceleration of transformative energy policy actions and ambitions.
Growing costs of fuel imports
A glance at the data shows that most Pacific countries – particularly the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) – remain highly dependent on imported petroleum fuels and are expected to do so for many years.
Outside of Australia and New Zealand, oil makes up about 80 per cent of the Pacific’s total energy supply, of which 52 per cent is used for transport, 37 per cent for electricity generation and 12 per cent for other applications such as process heating. Renewable energy accounts for only 17 per cent of the total energy supply.
Fuel imports cost the region US$6 billion annually, or around 5 to 15 per cent of GDP for each economy. This is an enormous economic burden. With its vast natural resources, a history and culture of independence and subsistence together with its low energy intensity, the Pacific subregion offers great advantages for energy transition leadership. So, there are solutions to alleviate this cost.
ESCAP’s new report – Pacific Perspectives 2022: Accelerating Climate Action – makes the case for a rapid transition of the Pacific’s energy sector away from fossil fuel imports and to increase access to modern energy services to deliver Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) in harmony with global climate goals.
This strengthens the case for alleviating reliance on imported fossil fuels. A move to locally generated renewable energy sources is supported by both the economic gains and the energy security benefits.
Advancing the implementation of SDG 7
It is widely recognized that the Pacific is not on track to deliver universal access to clean cooking fuels and technology by 2030. In fact, this target may present one of the largest hurdles to achieving SDG 7.
However, experts have recognized that energy access is best achieved through utilization of solar energy, and for many of those who remain without electricity across the Pacific, the best access solution will be the installation of stand-alone solar home systems.
Experts now suggest moving beyond minimum levels of electricity access and employing metrics such as multi-tier frameworks or the “modern energy minimum” of consumption of at least 1,000 kWh per year as a better indicator of access.
On the other hand, the rates of access to clean cooking fuels and technologies are amongst the lowest in the world as depicted in the chart below. In 2020, almost 10 million people across the Pacific lacked access to clean cooking, the bulk of whom (8.1 million people) were in Papua New Guinea. Furthermore, the rate of access to clean cooking in many countries is stagnating and, in some cases, even declining.
Figure 1: Proportion of population with access to clean cooking fuels and technologies (Data source: World Health Organization, via the Asia Pacific Energy Portal. Data was unavailable for New Caledonia, Northern Mariana Is., American Samoa, French Polynesia and Guam.)
Focusing on solution-oriented energy transition policies
A wide range of policy interventions and intergovernmental mechanisms are available to support policymakers to address the issues of over-reliance on fossil fuels and the lack of access to modern energy.
Firstly, renewable energy offers some very low hanging fruit. As imported petroleum accounts for about 72 per cent of the electricity supply and almost 100 per cent of transport energy; renewable sources can in many situations deliver clean energy at a lower cost. Developing infrastructure to support the shift to electric vehicles offers an opportunity to channel renewable energy into the transport sector.
Secondly, the business case for energy efficiency is strong and brings with it the potential to reduce energy demand across multiple sectors. However, a large proportion of these opportunities remain unfulfilled.
Finally, policymakers should collaborate through existing Pacific regional initiatives to support the scaling-up of local capability and capacity through coordinated training and knowledge transfer in the area of energy transition.
By putting people at the center of policymaking, the ESCAP Commission remains the most agile and vibrant anchor to accelerate energy transition and promote regional solidarity.
While it raises some complex questions, researchers have analysed the relationship between energy efficiency and demand response in various situations and determined that a high degree of complementarity is possible.
David Ferrari is ESCAP Consultant, Sudip Ranjan Basu is Deputy Head and Senior Economic Affairs Officer and Kimberly Roseberry is Economic Affairs Officer
Yasmine Sherif, the Director of Education Cannot Wait, sees the ECW High-Level Financing Conference as crucial to turning the agreements from the Transforming Education Summit into action. Credit: ECW
by Joyce Chimbi (nairobi)
Inter Press Service
NAIROBI, Feb 03 (IPS) – The world is in the throng of a monumental, damaging, and unprecedented global education crisis. Wars, protracted conflict, extreme climate changes, hunger, COVID-19, and economic uncertainties are pushing children out of the education system.
In 2016, an estimated 75 million children in crisis needed educational support. Today, the number has tripled to 222 million. From Afghanistan, Moldova, Colombia, Libya, Iraq, Somalia, and South Sudan, as life as they knew it crumbles around them, education is their last hope.
“The dreams of 222 million girls and boys are being crushed by conflicts, displacement, and climate chaos. Nobody knows this better than Education Cannot Wait — an education lifeline for children across 40 countries in crisis,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres says children’s dreams cannot be defeated by conflict, displacement, and climate chaos. Credit: UN
“At February’s financing conference, I urge leaders to commit to investing in education systems that can support those being left behind. Let’s keep dreams alive. Let’s keep hope alive. Let’s keep pushing for the brighter future every child deserves.”
Not only are affected children furthest left behind the education system missing out on lifelong learning and earning opportunities, but they are also the most vulnerable to sexual and economic exploitation, human trafficking, and recruitment into militia groups.
Yet funding is insufficient to push back against multiple challenges so that children can access a safe, inclusive, quality education. For this reason, leaders across the globe will come together at the Education Cannot Wait High-Level Financing Conference on February 16-17, 2023, in Geneva, Switzerland, to make good on commitments to ensure every child, everywhere, is offered quality education.
Yasmine Sherif, the Director of Education Cannot Wait, explains that the ECW High-Level Financing Conference is a “crucial opportunity to turn commitments from the Transforming Education Summit (TES) into action. By providing substantive funding contributions to ECW, strategic donor partners can ensure quality education for girls and boys in the toughest crisis contexts around the globe.”
She further stressed that “now is the time to redouble our collective efforts if we want to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Education – SDG4 – must be at the center of these efforts, as it is the foundation for all other goals to be achieved.”
With support, ECW High-Level Financing Conference can offer hope of quality education to all children. Credit: UNHCR Ghislaine Nentobo
Co-hosted by ECW and Switzerland and co-convened by the Governments of Colombia, Germany, Niger, Norway, and South Sudan, the Geneva event will be open to the public as a live-streamed virtual event.
The heart of the conference agenda is a concerted global push to mobilize much-needed resources from donors, foundations, and high-net-worth individuals to deliver on ECW’s four-year strategic plan, which will mobilize US$1.5 billion in additional resources to reach 20 million children and adolescents caught in some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Keynote speakers include the UN Special Envoy for Global Education and Chair of ECW’s High-Level Steering Group, Gordon Brown; Federal Councillor of the Swiss Confederation, Ignazio Cassis; Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany, Svenja Schulze; Minister of Education, Niger, Ibrahim Natatou; Minister of International Development, Norway, Anne Beathe Tvinnereim; Minister of General Education and Instruction, South Sudan, Awut Deng Acuil; and Minister of Education, Colombia, Alejandro Gaviria.
Top-level representatives from UN agencies, civil society, governments, and global youth representatives will also participate in the two-day event, which expects over 400 delegates in-person and many more joining online globally.
The significance of this conference cannot be over-emphasized, for 78 million out of an estimated 222 million children and adolescents impacted by conflict, and other emergencies are out of school altogether.
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai says without financing, young people in countries affected by crises may have to wait for generations to have their right to education. Credit: UN
“At this pace of progress,” the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai cautions, “Girls in crisis-affected countries may not be able to complete their education until 2063. Young people in countries affected by crises will have to wait for generations to have their right to education.
“I urge leaders to ensure a safer and fairer future to all children by fully funding Education Cannot Wait. Please make sure that 222 million children are not left behind. Please ensure that all children can access safe, quality, and free education.”
To accelerate progress, the event will kick off with a high-level segment on February 16, 2023, inviting global leaders to position the education needs of crisis-impacted children at the top of the international agenda.
On the first day of the conference, leaders will announce substantial new financial support to Education Cannot Wait to deliver on the Fund’s goal to reach 20 million girls and boys over the next four years.
A notable spotlight on Afghanistan – headlined by “I Am Malala” co-author Christina Lamb and Somaya Faruqi, captain of the Afghan Girl’s Robotic Team – will provide a key advocacy moment on the first day of the conference, along with important sessions on A New Way of Working, Delivering with Humanitarian Speed and Development Depth, and Leaving No One Behind in Forced Displacement Situations.
On the second day, February 17, 2023, a series of roundtable discussions to share ideas, experiences, and stories to transform education delivery in emergencies worldwide will be featured.
Founded in 2016, Education Cannot Wait has already reached close to 7 million children and adolescents with holistic education support, including upgrading learning spaces and ensuring children have quality learning materials, training and financially supporting teachers, and providing mental health services, school feeding, and other whole-of-child solutions. The Fund has already raised over US$1.1 billion from donors, the private sector, and philanthropic foundations.
The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management on Wednesday advancedthe controversial Willow oil drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope, releasing the final environmental impact statement before the project can be approved.
The ConocoPhillips proposed Willow drilling plan is a massive and decadeslong project that the state’s bipartisan Congressional delegation says will create much-needed jobs for Alaskans and boost domestic energy production in the US.
But environmental groups fear the impact of the planet-warming carbon pollution from the hundreds of millions of barrels of oil it would produce – and say it will deal a significant blow to President Joe Biden’s ambitious climate agenda.
The final environmental report from the Bureau of Land Management recommends a slightly smaller version of what ConocoPhillips originally proposed, putting the number of drilling sites at three instead of five. The Department of Interior is also recommending other measures to try to lower the pollution of the project, and recommending a smaller footprint of gravel roads and pipelines.
In a statement, the Interior Department said it “has substantial concerns about the Willow project and the preferred alternative as presented in the final SEIS, including direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions and impacts to wildlife and Alaska Native subsistence.”
The Biden administration now has 30 days to issue a final decision on the project, after which drilling could begin. In its statement, Interior said it could select a different alternative on the project, including taking no action or further reducing the number of drill sites.
ConocoPhillips and members of the Alaska Congressional delegation have been pushing the administration to finalize the project by the end of February to take advantage of cold and icy conditions needed to drill in the Arctic. If the company misses that window, it could push the project’s start date to next year.
Erec Isaacson, president of ConocoPhillips Alaska, said in a statement that nearly five years of regulatory review should conclude “without delay.” Isaacson added the project is “ready to begin construction immediately” after Interior’s final decision is issued.
According to the Interior Department’s own estimation, the project would produce 629 million barrels of oil over the course of 30 years and would release around 278 million metric tons of planet-warming carbon emissions. Climate groups say that’s equivalent to what 76 coal-fired power plants produce every year.
“The world and the country can’t afford to develop that oil,” said Jeremy Lieb, a senior attorney for environmental law firm Earthjustice. Lieb and other advocates are concerned that Willow may be the start of a future drilling boom in the area.
“Willow is just the start based on what industry has planned,” Lieb said. “The total estimate for the amount of oil that could be accessible in the region around Willow is 7 or 8 billion barrels.”
For the Willow project, ConocoPhillips is proposing five drilling sites on federal land in Alaska’s North Slope, and the project would include a processing facility, pipelines to transport oil, gravel roads, at least one airstrip and a gravel mine site.
The project – and the public comment process leading up to it – has also received heavy criticism from the nearby Alaska Native village of Nuiqsut, which some villagers evacuated last year during a gas leak in a ConocoPhillips project in the area. Nuiqsut officials recently released a letter calling the Bureau of Land Management’s public input process “disappointing and inadequate,” criticizing both the Trump and Biden administration’s timeline.
The bureau’s “engagement with us is consistently focused on how to allow projects to go forward; how to permit the continuous expansion and concentration of oil and gas activity on our traditional lands,” Nuiqsut officials wrote in their letter.
Alaska’s entire Congressional delegation – including newly elected Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat – have urged the White House and Interior to approve the project, saying it would be a huge boost to state’s economy.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, in particular, has been urging the White House and Biden personally to greenlight Willow, she told CNN.
“I’ve been pretty persistent on this,” she told CNN in an interview this summer. “Let’s just say, any conversation I’ve ever had with the White House, anyone close to the White House, I’ve brought up the subject of Willow.”
As gas prices spiked last summer, Murkowski, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a Democrat, and other Senate Republicans tightened the pressure on Biden to approve a major domestic oil drilling project. Environmental advocates, meanwhile, argued the project will not bring US gas prices down any time soon, as the infrastructure will take years to build.
“When you think about those things that should be teed up and ready to go, this is one where in my view there’s really no excuse for why we should see further delay,” Murkowski said. “This is something that’s been in the works that’s gone through so much process, across multiple administrations.”
This story has been updated with more information.
SAN FRANCISCO, February 1, 2023 (Newswire.com)
– KlimaDAO has ratified 250,000 USDC in funding to support the development of the Improved Cookstoves project in Bangladesh in collaboration with SCB Group. The funding will enable the issuance of 31,250 Gold Standard certified carbon credits between 2023 and 2025, with the goal of providing liquidity for consumers within the Digital Carbon Market (DCM) on the Polygon blockchain.
By rolling out energy-efficient, improved smokeless cook stoves known locally as ‘Chula’ to the community, the project helps address environmental and health issues that stem from the use of inefficient cookstoves and polluting open flames within homes.
The partnership demonstrates how decentralized mechanisms can be used to transparently allocate resources towards high-impact carbon projects globally, and how community-wide governance can enable greater stakeholder engagement and scrutiny around the type and quality of carbon credits that are bridged into the DCM.
The partnership announcement comes after three months of discussion on KlimaDAO’s Community Forum and a token vote via the Snapshot platform.
Drew Bonneau of KlimaDAO said, “This collaboration represents a significant milestone for KlimaDAO and the wider DCM, as the community’s first DAO-wide token vote to allocate funding towards a project financing initiative. The carbon markets are becoming an increasingly important mechanism for directing capital to projects across the globe, and increased community involvement can help raise the scrutiny, scale and profile of project financing. The Improved Cookstoves for Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh project, with its strong environmental and social co-benefits, now serves as a blueprint for future decentralized carbon project initiatives.”
Kevin McGeeney, CEO of SCB Group, said, “The on-chain community, always at the forefront of shaping emerging best practice in voluntary carbon markets, has once again demonstrated how forward-thinking and agile it is by agreeing to support this project. I congratulate KlimaDAO for their collaborative approach and am especially pleased I’ve had the honor to visit this project firsthand. The people we’re supporting left everything behind in their homeland of Myanmar, and although they are now safe in Bangladesh, their situation is beyond what most of us can imagine. Your support allows these people to cook their rations and boil their water, saving time that can be more productive and sparing the scarce resources of the surrounding environment in the world’s most densely populated country.”
About KlimaDAO
KlimaDAO’s mission is to accelerate the delivery of climate finance globally by building the transparent, neutral, and public infrastructure needed to scale the Digital Carbon Market. Contact KlimaDAO.
About SCB Group
SCB has more than 17 years’ experience in the global renewables and commodity markets. With an industry-leading team and more than 100 employees across offices in Chicago, London, Singapore and Geneva, SCB is a world-leading low-carbon commodity company. It provides market-based carbon trading solutions to assist clients in achieving their sustainability goals and supports the financing of high-integrity and quality emission reduction and removal projects. Contact SCB Group.
These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Friday.
How climate change has affected shopping habits Forecasting shopping trends has never been harder, due to the unpredictable weather the world has been experiencing in the face of climate change. And it’s made merchandising seasonally and managing inventory more difficult for retailers, as Sarah Kent writes in Business of Fashion. These shifts are leading to retailers seeking out seasonless products, to help navigate the unforeseeable future — and, naturally, that’s had an impact on consumers. {Business of Fashion}
Getting to know Twitter’s “Menswear Guy” Since Twitter rolled out its “For You” tab, many people’s feeds have been flooded with content by someone who has become known as “Menswear Guy.” Whether you’re looking for commentary on the latest menswear collections or jokes about the hype of Aimé Leon Dore, @dieworkwear is the account to go to. But… who is he? GQ‘s Gabriella Paiellatalked to Derek Guy, the writer behind @dieworkwear. {GQ}
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Are we entering an age of “deinfluence”? For Beauty Independent, Claire McCormack writes about a potential age of “deinfluence,” where consumers are, frankly, over listening to online influencers. With influencer-led beauty brands being pulled from Sephora shelves and going bankrupt, plus an air of distrust surrounding beauty reviews on TikTok, the age of the influencer seems to be on the decline. Sonia Elyss, a beauty marketing strategist, told the publication: “The consumer is also getting smarter now and saying, ‘I can only listen to so many people, I can only follow so many people. Who are those people going to be?’ And choices will be made.” {Beauty Independent}
In a tourism-dependent economy, sustainable finance will promote sustainable fisheries, maritime transport, and tourism. Credit: UNDP
Opinion by Christopher Marc Lilyblad (mindelo, cabo verde)
Inter Press Service
MINDELO, Cabo Verde, Jan 26 (IPS) – On 20 January, the world’s best sailors arrived in Mindelo, Cabo Verde, completing the initial leg of the 2023 edition of The Ocean Race. Coinciding with this stop was the launch of Cabo Verde’s first blue bond at the Ocean Summit, an event jointly organized by The Ocean Race and the Government of Cabo Verde on the sidelines of the grueling round-the-world race. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was in attendance as this year’s keynote speaker.
The bond was launched on Cabo Verde’s Blu-X sustainable finance platform, a regional platform for listing and trading sustainable and inclusive financial instruments.
The issuance will raise domestic, regional, and global investment in Cabo Verde’s rising ocean economy while divesting capital from industries responsible for sea-level rise, pollution, and other transgressions against ocean rights.
In brief, the winds of sustainable finance are filling the sails of a local blue economy heeling towards global Ocean Rights.
Consistent with its blue seal, up to US$1 million in proceeds (minimum US$500,000) will supply affordable loans to microentrepreneurs and startups in coastal communities, emphasizing financial inclusion to ensure widespread access to the new value generated from the growing blue economy.
The remaining US$1.5 million foresees structural investments in small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the maritime and fisheries sectors.
Notably, this is the first initial public offering, or IPO, listed on the Blu-X sustainable finance platform. This means anyone, anywhere with access to the digital Blu-X platform can invest via their computer or phone, including foreign investors and members of Cabo Verde’s sizable diaspora.
Furthermore, this marks the first private issuance that does not rely on a public guarantee but is solely backed by market demand. With a ‘greenshoe’ (or ‘blue aquasocks’, rather?) option of an additional US$ 1 million triggered if demand for bond subscriptions exceeds the initial US$2.5 million, the blue bond could ultimately generate US$3.5 million in private and market-driven finance for a sustainable blue economy.
In a race against time during the UN’s Ocean Decade, this initial blue bond listing offers a potentially game-changing test case for Cabo Verde’s blue finance ambitions.
The strategic partnership between the Cabo Verde Stock Exchange (Bolsa de Valores de Cabo Verde – BVC) and UNDP under Cabo Verde’s integrated national financing framework (INFF) has already led to four sustainable bond issuances totaling USD32.5 million.
Building on this momentum, the blue bond’s proceeds are exclusively destined for sustainable marine- and ocean-based projects generating returns for the economy, society, and environment – the triple bottom line.
With funding from the UN’s Joint SDG Fund and UNDP’s strategic and technical support, the Blu-X team at the BVC guided the Cabo-Verdean International Investment Bank through the process of issuing the bond framework, following an external review process that ensures adherence to blue principles.
What actually ‘counts as’ blue has recently been established through a new blue bond regulation in November 2022, enacted under the authority of Cabo Verde’s capital market regulatory agency.
The regulation draws on the Atlantic Technical University’s blue taxonomy, derived from a scientific study of existing blue economy activities and the potential of Cabo Verde’s shores.
The first of its kind in Africa, the regulation reflects the country’s pioneering role in defining blue finance norms, standards, and principles, which closely aligns with the Ocean Race’s Sustainability Charter and corresponding calls for a Universal Declaration of Ocean Rights anchored at the United Nations.
By hoisting the blue flag, Cabo Verde is again signaling its emergence as a global front-runner. Indeed, since the first blue bond issuance by Seychelles in 2018, these financial instruments have mostly been treated as a subsidiary category of green bonds in financial markets. However, what was once seen as a ‘shade of green’ is now emerging as a primary colour of its own.
Building on this initial proof of concept, the proliferation of blue bonds has the potential to transform financing for Cabo Verde’s strategic sustainable development agenda: Ambition 2030.
In a tourism-dependent economy vulnerable to external shocks, the growth of sustainable finance and the blue economy will accelerate socio-economic decentralization and sectorial diversification, from fisheries and maritime transport to nautical sports and ocean-based technology.
As a small island developing state that is “99 percent ocean,” this stands to benefit the local communities that depend on marine environments and maritime spaces for their livelihoods.
Blue economy impact investing poignantly illustrates why marine environments and biodiversity should be preserved not only as ends in themselves but also as catalysts for value creation.
As more and more people subscribe to the idea that protecting ocean resources is vital for maintaining and growing economies, we will see an upsurge in innovative businesses, initiatives and transactions that advance marine conservation.
The growth of blue entrepreneurship and investment paves the way for greater collaboration spurring collective action capable of avoiding a tragedy of the ocean commons.
In other words, by reshaping economic incentive structures along these lines and leveraging their effects in local coastal communities, sustainable finance enhances cognizance of global ocean sustainability principles and incentivizes corresponding human action.
The Ocean Race Cabo Verde presented by Blu-X marks a growing interest in Cabo Verde’s emerging blue standard. Inspired by these blue finance bearings, perhaps others will soon chart a similar course, with the prospect of collectively raising an entire fleet racing towards the UN Ocean Decade finish.
Christopher Marc Lilyblad is Head of Strategy and Policy Unit, a.i. UNDP Cabo Verde; Development Economist & Head of Strategy and Economic Cluster, a.i. UNDP Guinea-Bissau
Plantd’s proprietary low carbon-emissions production technology transforms fast-growing perennial grass into durable home construction products.
Press Release –
Jan 26, 2023
DURHAM, N.C., January 26, 2023 (Newswire.com)
– Revolutionary sustainable building materials company Plantd is making waves in the construction industry with the announcement of its $10 million Series A funding round. Led by American Family Ventures, the funding solidifies Plantd’s position as a pioneer in carbon-negative building materials.
“We are thrilled to back this exceptional and visionary team,” said Kyle Beatty, Managing Director at American Family Ventures. “Plantd is creating fundamentally better construction materials that are cost-effective and truly carbon negative. We have been impressed by how they have reinvented every step of the production process from first principles, all the way from input material to logistics.”
Plantd’s production team is led by co-founders and engineers Huade Tan and Nathan Silvernail, who worked together for years at SpaceX designing and building key systems and components of the Dragon cargo and crew spacecraft. Together with co-founder and CEO Josh Dorfman, a serial entrepreneur and longtime sustainability leader, Plantd is redefining the value chain for engineered building materials.
Plantd’s proprietary low carbon-emissions production technology transforms fast-growing perennial grass into durable, carbon-negative building materials that outperform competitive products on key attributes, including strength and moisture resistance.
Starting with structural panel products for walls and roofs, Plantd will fabricate building materials that are a direct substitute for traditional home construction products and require no alternative installation techniques. By cultivating fast-growing perennial grass instead of cutting down trees and pioneering novel production technology to minimize carbon emissions, Plantd Structural Panels™ retain 80% of the atmospheric carbon dioxide captured in the field, which is then locked away inside the walls and roofs of new homes.
“We can’t move quickly enough to solve climate change unless we develop profitable methods to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere,” said Dorfman. “We’re going to change an industry by offering builders a better product at the same price and, in the process, scale a business that can help save the planet.”
Building with Plantd materials enables home builders to offer their customers homes that are affordable, durable, and sustainable. And by sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide within structural frames, homes built with Plantd materials will play a key role in solving climate change.
Plantd will use this round of funding to establish their agriculture supply chain and build the first-of-its-kind, modular automated continuous press for engineered building materials. The company is currently working with the nation’s largest builders and architects to integrate these materials into their projects and quickly make them a standard in the industry.
Plantd’s ultimate vision is to build the factory of the future, ensuring that new homes and buildings contribute to reversing the effects of climate change.
Learn more about Plantd by visiting https://www.plantdmaterials.com/ and discover how they are shaping the future of the construction industry and the planet.
Solar panels with a capacity to generate 30 kilowatts no longer work in the Darora Community of the Macuxi people, an indigenous group from Roraima, a state in the far north of Brazil. The batteries only worked for a month before they were damaged because they could not withstand the charge. CREDIT: Boa Vista City Hall
by Mario Osava (boa vista, brazil)
Inter Press Service
BOA VISTA, Brazil, Jan 25 (IPS) – “Our electric power is of bad quality, it ruins electrical appliances,” complained Jesus Mota, 63. “In other places it works well, not here. Just because we are indigenous,” protested his wife, Adélia Augusto da Silva, of the same age.
The Darora Community of the Macuxi indigenous people illustrates the struggle for electricity by towns and isolated villages in the Amazon rainforest. Most get it from generators that run on diesel, a fuel that is polluting and expensive since it is transported from far away, by boats that travel on rivers for days.
Located 88 kilometers from the city of Boa Vista, capital of the state of Roraima, in the far north of Brazil, Darora celebrated the inauguration of its solar power plant, installed by the municipal government, in March 2017. It represented modernity in the form of a clean, stable source of energy.
A 600-meter network of poles and cables made it possible to light up the “center” of the community and to distribute electricity to its 48 families.
But “it only lasted a month, the batteries broke down,” Tuxaua (chief) Lindomar da Silva Homero, 43, a school bus driver, told IPS during a visit to the community. The village had to go back to the noisy and unreliable diesel generator, which only supplies a few hours of electricity a day.
Fortunately, about four months later, the Boa Vista electricity distribution company laid its cables to Darora, making it part of its grid.
“The solar panels were left here, useless. We want to reactivate them, it would be really good. We need more powerful batteries, like the ones they put in the bus terminal in Boa Vista,” said Homero, referring to one of the many solar plants that the city government installed in the capital.
Tuxaua (chief) Lindomar Homero of the Darora Community is calling for new adequate batteries to reactivate the solar power plant, because the electricity they receive from the national grid is too expensive for the local indigenous people. Behind him stands his predecessor, former tuxaua Jesus Mota. CREDIT: Mario Osava/IPS
Expensive energy
But indigenous people can’t afford the electricity from the distributor Roraima Energía, he said. On average, each family pays between 100 and 150 reais (20 to 30 dollars) a month, he estimated.
Besides, there are unpleasant surprises. “My November bill climbed to 649 reais” (130 dollars), without any explanation,” Homero complained. The solar energy was free.
“If you don’t pay, they cut off your power,” said Mota, who was tuxaua from 1990 to 2020.”In addition, the electricity from the grid fails a lot,” which is why the equipment is damaged.
Apart from the unreliable supply and frequent blackouts, there is not enough energy for the irrigation of agriculture, the community’s main source of income. “We can do it with diesel pumps, but it’s expensive; selling watermelons at the current price does not cover the cost,” he said.
“In 2022, it rained a lot, but there are dry summers that require irrigation for our corn, bean, squash, potato, and cassava crops. The energy we receive is not enough to operate the pump,” said Mota.
A photo of the three water tanks in the village of Darora, one of which holds water that is made potable by chemical treatment. The largest and longest building is the secondary school that serves the Macuxi indigenous community that lives in Roraima, in northern Brazil. CREDIT: Mario Osava/IPS
Achilles’ heel
Batteries still apparently limit the efficiency of solar energy in isolated or autonomous off-grid systems, with which the government and various private initiatives are attempting to make the supply of electricity universal and replace diesel generators.
Homero said that some of the Darora families who live outside the “center” of the village and have solar panels also had problems with the batteries.
Besides the 48 families in the village “center” there are 18 rural families, bringing the community’s total population to 265.
A solar plant was also installed in another community made up of 22 indigenous families of the Warao people, immigrants from Venezuela, called Warao a Janoko, 30 kilometers from Boa Vista.
But of the plant’s eight batteries, two have already stopped working after only a few months of use. And electricity is only guaranteed until 8:00 p.m.
“Batteries have gotten a lot better in the last decade, but they are still the weak link in solar power,” Aurelio Souza, a consultant who specializes in this question, told IPS from the city of São Paulo. “Poor sizing and the low quality of electronic charging control equipment aggravate this situation and reduce the useful life of the batteries.”
The low quality of the electricity supplied to Darora is due to the discrimination suffered by indigenous people, according to Adélia Augusto da Silva. The water they used to drink was also dirty and caused illnesses, especially in children, until the indigenous health service began to chemically treat their drinking water. CREDIT: Mario Osava/IPS
In Brazil’s Amazon jungle, close to a million people live without electricity, according to the Institute of Energy and the Environment, a non-governmental organization based in São Paulo. More precisely, its 2019 study identified 990,103 people in that situation.
Another three million inhabitants of the region, including the 650,000 people in Roraima, are outside the National Interconnected Electricity System. Their energy therefore depends mostly on diesel fuel transported from other regions, at a cost that affects all Brazilians.
The government decided to subsidize this fossil fuel so that the cost of electricity is not prohibitive in the Amazon region.
This subsidy is paid by other consumers, which contributes to making Brazilian electricity one of the most expensive in the world, despite the low cost of its main source, hydropower, which accounts for about 60 of the country’s electricity.
Solar energy became a viable alternative as the parts became cheaper. Initiatives to bring electricity to remote communities and reduce diesel consumption mushroomed.
But in remote plants outside the reach of the grid, good batteries are needed to store energy for the nighttime hours.
Part of the so-called “downtown” in Darora, which has lamp posts, houses, a soccer field and a shed where the community meets. A larger community center is needed, says the leader of the Macuxi village located near Boa Vista, the capital of the northern Brazilian state of Roraima. CREDIT: Mario Osava/IPS
A unique case
Darora is not a typical case. It is part of the municipality of Boa Vista, which has a population of 437,000 inhabitants and good resources, it is close to a paved road and is within a savannah ecosystem called “lavrado”.
It is at the southern end of the São Marcos indigenous territory, where many Macuxi indigenous people live but fewer than in Raposa Serra do Sol, Roraima’s other large native reserve. According to the Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health (Sesai), there were 33,603 Macuxi Indians living in Roraima in 2014.
The Macuxi people also live in the neighboring country of Guyana, where there are a similar number to that of Roraima. Their language is part of the Karib family.
Although there are no large forests in the surrounding area, Darora takes its name from a tree, which offers “very resistant wood that is good for building houses,” Homero explained.
The community emerged in 1944, founded by a patriarch who lived to be 93 years old and attracted other Macuxi people to the area.
The progress they have made especially stands out in the secondary school in the village “center”, which currently has 89 students and 32 employees, “all from Darora, except for three teachers from outside,” Homero said proudly.
A new, larger elementary and middle school for students in the first to ninth grades was built a few years ago about 500 meters from the community.
Water used to be a serious problem. “We drank dirty, red water, children died of diarrhea. But now we have good, treated water,” said Adélia da Silva.
“We dug three artesian wells, but the water was useless, it was salty. The solution was brought by a Sesai technician, who used a chemical substance to make the water from the lagoon drinkable,” Homero said.
The community has three elevated water tanks, two for water used for bathing and cleaning and one for drinking water. There are no more health problems caused by water, the tuxaua said.
His current concern is to find new sources of income for the community. Tourism is one alternative. “We have the Tacutu river beach 300 meters away, great fruit production, handicrafts and typical local gastronomy based on corn and cassava,” he said, listing attractions for visitors.
Over the past week, my breakfast routine has been scrambled. I have had overnight oats, beans on sourdough, corned-beef hash and fried rice, and, on a particularly weird morning, leftover cream-of-broccoli soup. Under normal circumstances, I would be eating eggs. But right now, I’m in hoarding mode, jealously guarding the four that remain from a carton purchased indignantly for six dollars. For that price—50 damn cents each!—my daily sunny-side-up eggs will have to wait. The perfect moment beckons: Maybe a toasted slab of brioche will call for a luxurious soft scramble, or maybe I will cave to a powerful craving for an egg-salad sandwich.
Eggs, that quintessential cheap food, have gotten very, very expensive in the United States. In December, the average price for a dozen eggs in U.S. cities hit an all-time high of $4.25, up from $1.78 a year earlier. Though the worst now seems to be behind us, there’s still a way to go before consumer prices hit reasonable levels, and now Americans are starting to crack. Online, the shortage has recently hatched endless memes: In some posts, people pretend to portion out eggs in plastic baggies, like drug dealers (Pablo Eggscobar, anyone?); another recurring bit suggests painting potatoes to hunt at Easter. The high prices have even led to egg smuggling, and raised the profile of “rent-a-chicken” services where customers can borrow hens, chicken feed, and a coop for a couple hundred bucks.
Surging egg prices are partly a familiar story of pandemic-era inflation. Producing eggs costs more because fuel, transportation, feed, and packaging are more expensive now, Jada Thompson, an agricultural economist at the University of Arkansas, told me. And it doesn’t help that there are no great substitutes for eggs. But a big reason that prices are so high right now is because of the avian flu—a virus that infects many types of birds and is deadly for some. Right now, we’re facing the worst-ever wave in the U.S., which has decimated chicken flocks and dented America’s egg inventory. Just over the past year, more than 57 million birds have died from the flu. Some much-needed relief from sky-high egg prices is likely coming, but don’t break out the soufflé pans yet. All signs suggest that avian flu is here to stay. If such rampant spread of the virus continues, “these costs are not going to come down to pre-2022 levels,” Thompson told me. Cheap eggs may soon become a thing of the past.
This isn’t the first time American egg producers have encountered the avian flu, but dealing with it is still a challenge. For one thing, the virus keeps changing. It has long infected but not killed waterfowl and shorebirds, such as ducks and geese, but by 1996, it had mutated into the “highly pathogenic” H5N1, a poultry-killing strain that is named for the nasty versions of its “H” and “N” proteins. (They form spikes on the virus’s surface—sound familiar?) In 2014 and 2015, H5N1 ignited a terrible outbreak of avian flu, which gave U.S. poultry farmers their first taste of just how bad egg shortages could get.
But this outbreak is like nothing we’ve seen before. The strain of avian flu that’s behind this wave is indeed new, and in the U.S. the virus has been circulating for a full year now—far longer than during the last big outbreak. The virus has become “host-adapted,” meaning that it can infect its natural hosts without killing them, so wild waterfowl are ruthlessly efficient at spreading the virus to chickens, Richard Webby, the director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds, told me.
Many of these wild birds are migratory, and during their long journeys between Canada and South America, they descend on waterways and poop virus from the sky over poultry farms. Chickens stand no chance: The fleshy flaps on their heads may turn blue, their eyes and neck may swell, and, in rare instances, paralysis occurs. An entire poultry flock can be wiped out in 48 hours. Death is swift and vicious.
Everything about this current wave has aligned to put a serious dent in our egg supply. Most eggs in the United States are hatched in jam-packed industrial egg farms, where transmission is next to impossible to stop, so the go-to move when the flu is detected is to “depopulate,” the preferred industry term for killing all of the birds. Without such a brutal tactic, Bryan Richards, the emerging-disease coordinator at the U.S. Geological Survey, told me, the current wave would be much worse.
But this strategy also means fewer eggs, at least until new chicks grow into hens. That takes about six months, so there just haven’t been enough hens lately—especially for all the holiday baking people wanted to do, Thompson said. By the end of 2022, U.S. egg inventory was 29 percent lower than it had been at the beginning of the year. The chicken supply, in contrast, is robust because avian flu tends to affect older birds, like egg layers, Thompson said; at six to eight weeks old, the birds we eat, known as broilers, are not as susceptible. Also, she added, wild-bird migration pathways are not as concentrated in the Southeast, where most broiler production happens.
Egg eaters should be able to return to their normal breakfast routines soon enough. New hens are now replenishing the U.S. egg supply—while waterfowl are wintering in the warmer climes of South America rather than lingering in the U.S. Since the holidays, “the price paid to the farmers for eggs has been decreasing rapidly, and usually, in time, the consumer price follows,” Maro Ibarburu, a business analyst at Iowa State University’s Egg Industry Center, told me.
Still, going forward, it may be worth rethinking our relationship with eggs. There’s no guarantee that eggs will go back to being one the cheapest and most nutritious foods. When the weather warms, the birds will return, and “it’s highly likely that upon spring migration, we could see yet another wave,” said Richards. Europe, which experienced the H5N1 wave about six months before the Americas did, offers a glimpse of the future. “They went from being in a situation where the virus would come and go to a position where essentially it came and stayed,” Webby told me. If we’re lucky, though, birds will develop natural immunity to the virus, making it harder to spread, or the U.S. could start vaccinating poultry against the flu, which the country has so far been reluctant to do.
Omelets aside, curbing the spread of avian flu is in our best interest, not just to help prevent $6 egg cartons, but also to avoid a much scarier possibility—the virus spilling over and infecting people. All viruses from the influenza-A family have an avian origin, noted Webby; a chilling example is the H1N1 strain behind the 1918 flu pandemic. Fortunately, though some people have been infected with H5N1, very few cases of human-to-human spread have been documented. But continued transmission, over a long enough period, could change that. The fact that the virus has recently jumped from birds into mammals, such as seals and bears, and has spread among mink, is troubling because that means that it is evolving to infect species that are more closely related to us. “The risk of this particular virus [spreading among humans] as it is now is low, but the consequences are potentially high,” said Webby. “If there is a flu virus that I don’t want to catch, this one would be it.”
More than anything, the egg shortage is a reminder that the availability of food is not something we can take for granted going forward. Shortages of staple goods seem to be striking with more regularity, not only due to pandemic-related broken supply chains and inflation but also to animal and plant disease. In 2019, swine fever decimated China’s pork supply; the ongoing lettuce shortage, which rapper Cardi B bemoaned earlier this month, is due to both a plant virus and a soil disease. Last September, California citrus growers detected a virus known to reduce crop yields. By creating cozier conditions for some diseases, climate change is expected to raise risk of infection for both animals and plants. And as COVID has illustrated, any situation in which different species are forced into abnormally close quarters with one another is likely to encourage the spread of disease.
Getting used to intermittent shortages of staple foods such as eggs and lettuce will in all likelihood become a normal part of meal planning, barring some sort of huge shift away from industrial farming and its propensity for fostering disease. These farms are a major reason that these foods are so inexpensive and widely available in the first place; if cheap eggs seemed too good to be true, it’s because they were. Besides, there are always alternatives: May I suggest cream-of-broccoli soup?
Yasmine Sherif pictured in Lebanon speaking to a young child at an ECW-supported facility. Credit: Education Cannot Wait (ECW)
Opinion by Yasmine Sherif, Stephen Omollo (new york)
Inter Press Service
NEW YORK, Jan 24 (IPS) – “Is it a sin to be a girl? We don’t want to be at home and illiterate. We want to go to school, study and be intelligent.”
In just a few words, this plea for education from a young Afghan girl has captured the world’s attention. Her heartbreaking question shows how the Taliban’s recent ban on girls attending secondary school and university – effectively ending education opportunities for all Afghan girls and women – is not only violating their fundamental human right to education but shattering countless hopes and dreams in an instant.
Elsewhere in the world, millions of other girls living through humanitarian crises are also being deprived of the right to go to school. In their case, it isn’t necessarily a proclamation that bars them from learning, but hunger, conflict or the consequences of extreme weather induced by the climate crisis, sometimes a combination of all of these. And underpinning this, gender inequality means that the sheer fact they are girls means their education and rights often aren’t prioritized.
For example, at present, hunger is causing huge damage to girls’ education opportunities in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Haiti and other hotspots around the word.
Yasmine Sherif and Stephen Omollo. Credit: Education Cannot Wait (ECW)
The reasons for this are many and interconnected. When food is scarce, it is often girls who shoulder the responsibility of travelling long distances to find sustenance, or caring for siblings while their parents do so, leaving little time for their studies. When small quantities of food are shared amongst a family, evidence shows girls often eat least and last, making it difficult for them to focus and truly benefit when they do go to school.
Elsewhere, from Ukraine to South Sudan, conflict is disrupting girls’ education as families are forced to flee for their safety – indeed, half of all refugee children are out of school.
Whatever the reason, when girls are forced to drop out of school, it isn’t just their education and life opportunities that suffer. Adolescent girls in particular then become even more vulnerable to violence, exploitation, early pregnancy and harmful practices, from child marriage to female genital mutilation. Indeed, the chances of a girl marrying as a child reduce by six percent with each year she remains in secondary education.
Inclusive, quality education is a lifeline which has a profound effect on girls’ rights. But more needs to be done to make this a reality.
Girls in crisis settings are nearly 2.5 times more likely to be out of school than those living in countries not in crisis. One reason for this is that in emergencies and protracted crises, education responses are severely underfunded. The total annual funding for education in emergencies as a percentage of global sector-specific humanitarian funding in 2021 was just 2.9%.
Yasmine Sherif pictured in Lebanon speaking to a young child at an ECW-supported facility. Credit: Education Cannot Wait (ECW)
Together with partners, Plan International and Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, are calling for this proportion to be increased to at least 10% of humanitarian financing. This must include increased multi-year investments in the institutional capacities of local and national actors.
Today, on International Day of Education, we stand in solidarity with girls in Afghanistan and in all other crisis affected countries to say “education cannot wait.” Education is not only a fundamental human right, but a lifesaving and life-sustaining investment for girls affected by crisis. We must stand with girls as they defend this right.
Next month, when world leaders will gather in Geneva at the Education Cannot Wait High-Level Financing Conference, we urge donor governments to immediately increase humanitarian aid to education. We must translate our promises into action through bold, courageous and substantive financing.
This funding is essential if we are to build resilience in the most climate-exposed nations, where the consequences of extreme weather will all but certainly pose a threat to girls’ education in the years to come. Education budgets – which declined by two-thirds of low- and lower-middle-income countries after the onset of COVID-19 – must be protected and increased, especially in crisis-affected countries.
Investments should be geared towards building stronger education systems and tackling gender inequality and exclusion, with girls’ needs prioritized at every stage of programming. Governments should also ensure that refugee and internally displaced children aren’t overlooked, and make concrete commitments towards inclusive quality education for displaced children and youth at the Global Refugee Forum in December of this year.
Right now, 222 million crisis-affected children and adolescents are in need of urgent education support and more than half of those are girls. It is critical that Education Cannot Wait is fully funded with a minimum of US$1.5 billion in additional resources over the next four years, so that partners such as Plan International and others can deliver the critical programmes needed.
Too often, girls’ voices are silenced during emergencies, leaving their experiences invisible and their needs ignored and overlooked. It’s up to us to change this, for a more just, equal and peaceful world.
About the AuthorsYasmine Sherif is the Director of Education Cannot Wait, the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises.
Stephen Omollo is Chief Executive Officer of Plan International, a child rights and humanitarian organisation active in more than 80 countries globally.
A gas flare at installations of the state-owned Pemex oil company in the town of Reforma Escolín, Papantla municipality in the southeastern Mexican state of Veracruz, on Jan. 11, 2023. More than 100 gas wells operate in the area, several of which release gas without controls and put the local population and their property at risk. CREDIT: Emilio Godoy/IPS
by Emilio Godoy (papantla, mexico)
Inter Press Service
A dark mole dots the brown earth, among the green scrub at this spot in southeastern Mexico. A repetitive “glug, glug,” a noise sounding like a thirsty animal, and an intense stench lead to this site, hidden in the undergrowth, where a broken pipe has created a pool of dense oil.
The smell of fuel overpowers the usual aroma of the surrounding vegetation.
The oil and natural gas leak runs freely in a well belonging to the state-run oil giant Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) in Reforma Escolín, part of Papantla, a municipality in the southeastern state of Veracruz, in the vicinity of a natural gas flare that illuminates the semi-cloudy environment and warms the already high temperature.
Far from the gaze of Mexico’s Agency for Security, Energy and Environment (ASEA), responsible for monitoring the fossil fuel industry in the country, and Pemex, the gas flares in an area dotted with oil and gas wells.
“The infrastructure is old, they don’t maintain it. When there are leaks, you hear a ‘ssssss’ and the smell is unbearable, you can’t stay in your house,” Omar Lázaro, a delegate to the municipality of the non-governmental National Indigenous Congress, which brings together native peoples and organizations, told IPS.
The local community all too vividly recalls the Jun. 4, 2022 explosion of a Pemex gas pipeline that put residents on edge and confirmed, for the umpteenth time, the potentially catastrophic impacts of fossil fuels.
Lázaro, a local musician, recalled that the leak flowed for two days, there were four fires in the affected area and the fire lasted two weeks, some 300 kilometers from Mexico City, in Papantla, (which means “place of abundant papán” – a local bird – in the Nahuatl language), home to just under 160,000 inhabitants in its extensive rural and semi-urban territory.
“In some places there was a smell of gas before the explosion. The problem was that the scrubland began to burn and there was no water to put it out. Pemex threatened that it would not take responsibility if people went in to put out the fire and something happened to them,” said Lázaro, who is also a member of the Assembly for the Defense of the Territory, which represents some 20 communities and five municipal organizations.
In essence, the gas is methane, 86 times more powerful at trapping heat than carbon dioxide (CO2) over 20 years, even though it spends less time in the atmosphere.
That means it is important to control it to curb the rise in the planet’s temperature to no more than 1.5 degrees C, according to the commitments made by the international community.
In the municipality of Papantla, in the southeastern Mexican state of Veracruz, oil and gas wells abound, emiting polluting gases, such as methane, a major contributor to global warming. The photo shows the “Escolín 238” well in operation. CREDIT: Emilio Godoy/IPS
Massive
The incident in the town of Reforma Escolín is part of a pattern of gas leaks from the extraction and transportation of oil and gas by Pemex and private companies in Mexico, without enforcement by the environmental authorities of the existing regulations.
IPS reviewed Pemex databases on leaks and its prevention plans, obtained through public information requests, which point to underreporting of gas emissions – composed mainly of methane – and confirmed the evidence that leaks devastate an area where gas wells abound.
Historically, Pemex has been the biggest culprit in the gas leaks, due to the size of its infrastructure in Mexico.
After a drop between 2017 and 2019, gas explosions have been on the rise since 2020. Most of the incidents occur at hydrocarbon facilities in the states of Campeche, Tabasco and Veracruz in southeastern Mexico.
In 2020, 78 gas leaks by Pemex and its subsidiaries were registered, 85 by private companies, and 32 by the National Center for Natural Gas Control (CENAGAS), which manages the gas pipelines that belonged to the state oil company, without estimates of the resulting methane emissions, according to ASEA figures.
A year later, Pemex reported 91 leaks, private companies 74, and CENAGAS 28.
These leaks come from gas pipelines, compressor stations and other facilities that transport, store and distribute gas, infrastructure that adds up to some 30,000 facilities and 50,000 kilometers of gas pipelines.
The face of Pastora García, one of the 11 members of the Municipal Council of Papantla, reflects concern about the leaks.
“Things are bad here, there are a lot of risks. This is how Pemex works and we’re screwed. It is worrisome, because people live here,” she told IPS while she was working in Reforma Escolín, a town of some 1,000 people.
García was a municipal councillor in the small town and submitted three requests for pipeline repairs in 2011 and 2020, obtaining no response, and the leaks continued.
In and around the town, local residents grow citrus fruit, beans and corn, and raise cattle, and the pollution harms their activities. In the area, the ground looks like Swiss cheese from which gas frequently emanates, as during the great leak of 2013.
Although ASEA does not record the volumes of leaks, Mexico ranked tenth in the world in methane emissions in 2021, a list led by China, India and the United States, and which also includes Brazil, according to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), an intergovernmental grouping of large oil consumers.
In addition, since 2019 oil and gas infrastructure has released methane into the atmosphere in Mexico, according to satellite images.
In June 2022, a group of European scientists revealed that Pemex released 40,000 tons of methane in December 2021 from an offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico.
In the case of Pemex, one of the aggravating factors is the deliberate venting or release and flaring of gas, which has been on the rise since 2017 due to the lack of capture technology and economic incentives for its use, since it is more convenient for the oil company to simply release and burn it off.
This practice grew from 3,800 cubic meters (m3) of gas in 2017 to 6,600 in 2021, according to the World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction Initiative (GGFR), made up of 20 governments, 12 oil companies and three multilateral organizations. Mexico forms part of the alliance, but Pemex does not.
The IEA measured Mexico’s emissions at 6.33 million tons of methane in 2021, equivalent to 1.8 percent of the world total, to which agriculture contributed 2.53 million, waste 2.28 million, and production and energy consumption 1.47 million. In this segment, venting and flaring represent the main factors, and in gas pipelines, leaks.
Itziar Irakulis, a researcher at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, told IPS from that Spanish city that “from the satellite we see that every time the gas flaring stops (the torch goes out), about 100 tons of methane per hour are vented. This turns the oil platform into what in the literature we call an ultra-emitter.”
The expert, co-author of a study on the release of gas from Pemex platforms, stressed that, in the face of the climate crisis, “the last thing we need is more ultra-emission events of this type.”
Pemex resorts to the practice of flaring gas due to the lack of technology for its retention and economic incentives for its use. The photo shows a pipeline in Reforma Escolín, Papantla municipality in the southeastern Mexican state of Veracruz, on Jan. 11, 2023. CREDIT: Emilio Godoy/IPS
Anaid Velasco, research coordinator at the non-governmental Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA), described the “important challenges” in accounting for and curbing methane emissions.
“There is more talk about methane, but there is still no public policy. This disconnect between what is said and what is done has to do with not creating more responsibilities that could be binding, in order to apply an energy policy based on fossil fuel sources. They don’t want to generate a greater regulatory burden” for the oil industry, especially Pemex, she told IPS.
ASEA partially applies the regulation to control methane emissions, which is why Mexico faces hurdles to meet its Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The regulation was supposed to enter into force in December 2019, after it was drafted in 2018. But in July 2020, under the pretext of the COVID-19 pandemic, ASEA postponed its application for 19 months, until the end of January 2022.
As of August 2022, 18 companies, including the subsidiaries Pemex Exploración y Producción (PEP) and Pemex Logística, had presented to ASEA their program for the prevention and comprehensive control of methane emissions from the hydrocarbons sector, the fundamental component of the regulation.
The state Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) had not delivered its plan.
Between 2017 and October 2022, ASEA imposed 26 fines on state-run and private companies totaling 3.83 million dollars, of which they have paid 3.29 million, without specifying the reason, which means it is not clear if the fines targeted methane emissions.
From 2017 to 2021, it fined Pemex Transformación Industrial three times for undisclosed reasons, which the company appealed.
But ASEA did not investigate the two fires on the surface of the ocean in the Gulf of Mexico, caused by methane leaks in July and August 2021, according to its own records. After the explosion in Reforma Escolín, a group of residents filed a complaint with ASEA, to no avail.
Pemex abandoned its plan to reduce gas flaring in its fields and the ministry of energy blocked the application of regulations in this regard, as reported by the British news agency Reuters throughout 2022.
In August, the state-run National Hydrocarbons Commission, the regulator of the oil industry, fined Pemex about two million dollars for excessive gas flaring at the Ixachi oil and gas field in Veracruz.
Gas deals
In 2021 Mexico signed the Global Methane Pledge, aimed at cutting emissions by 30 percent in 2030, from 2020 levels. But the country has not yet set a specific goal.
Along these lines, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who supports fossil fuel energy over renewables and promotes Pemex, announced in June 2022 that the oil giant would invest two billion dollars, with international aid, to cut methane emissions by 98 percent.
But there is no detailed plan to reach that target, beyond Pemex’s previous program to curb them.
In its methane control plan, obtained by IPS through Mexico’s freedom of information act, the oil company set an annual reduction goal in the Cantarell field, the country’s biggest, in the Gulf of Mexico, of four percent between 2017 and 2022. and calculated that emissions totaled 27,175 tons per year. But it is not known how much progress has been made towards this target.
However, the oil company uses an emission factor – the average amount of a pollutant coming from a specific process, fuel, equipment or source – instead of a measurement at the source site.
For the Ku Maloob Zaap field, the country’s second-largest, there are no measurements. The highest estimate comes from the Macuspana-Muspac deposit, located between the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, which emit 199,222 tons, followed by the Poza Rica Altamira Reynosa deposit – between Veracruz and Tamaulipas – with 73,352 tons; the Nejo Olmos field in Tamaulipas (53,395 tons); and Samaria-Luna in Tabasco (52,669 tons).
These emissions come from equipment, gas pipelines, compressors, leaks and venting. Pemex, which did not include infrastructure in other areas of the country, estimates decreases between four percent and 25 percent over a period of six years.
Throughout 2023, public and private companies must submit their annual reports to ASEA.
For the Cantarell deposit, the oil company ordered a halt to the flaring of 80 million Bcf/d, equivalent to 72.74 tons of methane. In addition, PEP applied measures to reduce flaring by 291 billion Bcf/d.
As natural gas for consumption in Mexico continues to be imported via pipelines and burned in combined-cycle power plants that also use steam, methane emissions will also continue, as occurred in the United States.
In places like Reforma Escolín, people have not gotten used to living among time bombs and are only asking that the leaks be repaired, although opposition by the local community is waning.
Lázaro lamented that “After the accident, some community assemblies were held, but the social mobilization dwindled, undermined by the local authorities.”
Without fighting methane emissions, Mexico will have a hard time reaching its Nationally determined contributions, presented to comply with the Paris Agreement on climate change, signed in 2015.
Velasco the environmentalist doubts that Mexico will meet its commitments. “They set goals because there is a lot of international interest. It is good that they make commitments, because it gives us tools to monitor the situation and demand compliance. If Pemex receives financing, we don’t know how it will execute it. Transparency and traceability are needed,” she said.
Spanish researcher Irakulis said maintenance and continuous flaring prevent ultra-emissions.
“It is true that the flares already have other types of emissions associated with them, and there are more environmentally friendly ways than flaring to treat the excess gas obtained from oil extraction. A significant reduction in emissions can be realistic as long as they invest in improving the maintenance of the facilities,” she stated.
In Reforma Escolín, the only option seems to be the dismantling of the gas infrastructure, which is impossible. “Pemex says there is no money. We have not seen machinery to replace the pipeline, they are not doing anything. Where are we going to go? We live here, and we’re staying here,” said García the town councillor.
For hours, António Guterres’ car had moved along a sinuous road, which opened against an arid landscape, but then one last curve, and a few hundred feet up a hill, the view outside his window bursts into myriad shades of green, as small terraces supported by stone walls filled with banana trees, palms and sugar cane, came into view, with silvery water streams flickering in the distance.
The lush Paúl Valley can be found in the mountainous island of Santo Antão, the westernmost island of Cabo Verde, and represents an oasis in an archipelago where only 10 per cent of the land is arable. Of that already small area, close to 18 per cent was lost between the years 2000 and 2020.
As Mr. Guterres visited one of the terraces, on the second day of his visit to the country, he was welcomed by a group of farmers. With them, an expert from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Katya Neves, explained that they were in the middle of an experimental garden, where men and women are trying out new plant varieties and learning about sustainable techniques.
“Muitos Parabéns,” or “great work”, the Secretary-General congratulated the group in Portuguese, pointing to a colorful table overflowing with coffee beans, cabbage, tomatoes, yams, cassava and other products. The locally grown bounty is a rarity in a country that needs to import 80 per cent of the food it needs to feed its population.
The UN chief was told how some of the plants growing in the garden are a new type of cassava, that experts are hoping will prove to be more resilient to the drought that has affected the country for the last five years. He also heard about how the farmers have learned new ways to irrigate or fertilize their land.
The initiative is benefiting around 285 farmers and is part of a large number of projects led by UN agencies and other partners that hope to transform agriculture in the country to feed more people and be more sustainable for the planet as a whole.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
Managing water amidst drought
‘Gota a gota’ is one of the initiatives, and it has been making drip irrigation more accessible to hundreds of farmers. “Only 3,000 hectares spread across the 10 islands are irrigated, but studies show that this number could increase to 5,000,” explained Mrs. Neves, Assistant Representative at FAO.
Angela Silva, who lives nearby, also met the Secretary-General. She is one of the beneficiaries that hopes to start installing the drip system soon.
“I was born in a family of farmers, my parents, my grandparents, my great-grandparents. But until I got separated from my husband he took care of the land,” she explained.
Two years ago, the full-time teacher decided to start working the plots of land she had inherited.
“I’m still learning, but I want to learn more and be able to turn this into a way to earn money,” she said. “My dream is to transform it into a forest of food, that can be enjoyed by my kids and grandkids.”
Her land was mostly taken over by sugar cane production, a crop that is not very profitable or sustainable, so she has started to replace it with banana and papaya trees and a variety of other vegetables. This was one of the lessons she learned in a training course supported by the UN.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
With the new irrigation system, she hopes to avoid some of the worst consequences of the drought and make better use of the water during an average year. Studies show that, even when it rains in Cabo Verde, approximately 20 per cent of the water is lost through surface runoff, 13 per cent infiltrates, while 67 per cent evaporates.
This is one of the challenges for Dairson da Cruz Duarte, the young local farmer that brought the coffee that surprised the Secretary-General – he didn’t know the island produced it.
Pointing towards the bottom of the valley, near a creek filled with yams, the farmer explained that the beans are grown all the way up in Santa Isabel, a locality at the top of the highest mountain the eye can see, a ragged edge where the green of the land meets the blue of the sky.
You can only access this 100-person town on foot, and all agriculture is rainfed. That has made the last five years of drought especially hard on the population.
When the rains stopped, the young people were the first to leave.
“I don’t know if 10 young people live there right now,” Mr. Cruz Duarte explained. “The other ones all left for other places, because of the lack of jobs, rain, drought. Sometimes, even if you have livestock, you don’t have enough forage to feed them. There is no other livelihood, so they left to look for a better life.”
UN Photo/Mark Garten
Spike in food insecurity
After years of unrelenting drought, the production was zero for the farming season of 2021-2022. By then, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and socio-economic fallout from the war in Ukraine had all combined to create a perfect storm for the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and the Cabo Verde Government was forced to make a difficult decision. In June of last year, the executive authorities declared a social and economic national emergency.
Until very recently, the archipelago, which sits in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa, could have been considered a champion in poverty reduction efforts among Sub-Saharan countries. Estimates from the World Bank show that poverty rates declined by six percentage points between 2015 and 2019, from 41 per cent to 35 per cent.
But by last June, the number of people affected by food insecurity was set to spike, according to data from UN World Food Programme (WFP). More than 46,000 women, men and children – almost 10 per cent of the overall population of Cabo Verde – were facing an acute deterioration in food security between June and August.
This represents a threat to the country’s hard-won development gains in recent years. Cabo Verde has committed to eliminating extreme poverty until 2026, and on Saturday, the Prime Minister of the country reassured the Secretary-General that the country is sticking to that goal. But, he admitted, the last few years have made it much more difficult.
Echoing that sentiment, the Secretary-General said at the same event: “I know that for Cabo Verde – just like other Small Island Developing States – which are a priority in the partnership and action of the United Nations – faces major challenges, such as the consequences of the pandemic and, above all, the increase in the cost of living, which always has a devastating impact on the population.”
The UN chief added, that “sea level rise and biodiversity and ecosystem loss pose existential threats to this archipelago, like to many other archipelagos.”
Katya Neves, the expert from FAO, tells UN News that last year’s crisis has given a new sense of urgency to the efforts by the UN and its agencies. “We can achieve these goals, and we can do this by improving the way agriculture is done.”
Back in the valley, Mr. Cruz Duarte is also not giving up. Even after seeing most of his friends leave his little town, he did the opposite – after years in a neighboring island, São Vicente, the farmer returned to work the land of his ancestors. “Agriculture is my calling,” he says.
He has two kids, who had to stay on the other island, because the remote locality closed its school a few years, but he’s been able to provide for them since then. He’s proud to list all the crops he grows – sweet potatoes, beans, pumpkins, the coffee that is sold in other islands for a high price – and how they change with the seasons. “I now know how to do it. I can keep it up,” he says.
That is no easy task in these islands. But even after a successful crop, there is still a long road ahead.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
From farm to school cafeteria
For Amilcar Vera Cruz, “the biggest difficulty is to sell it,” he says of the crops se grows.
Sara Estrela, a Sustainable Development Assistant at the UN Development Programme (UNDP), explains that, historically, farmers are not usually organized in associations or cooperatives in Cabo Verde.
“With the rule being subsistence farming or small family businesses, it becomes hard when the moment to sell for a fair price comes,” she said.
One of the projects the UN system has supported is the formation of an Association of Producers in this valley. The agencies have also supported the construction of two commercial warehouses where the crops can be gathered, washed and prepared for sale.
For Mrs. Estrela, the “bigger goal is targeting the whole sector and trying to organize the whole chain, from putting the seed on the floor to putting the food on the plate.”
“We are empowering the producers with knowledge and equipment,” she added.
Mr. Vera Cruz has received this support and, after decades of struggling with the sale of his crops, he hopes “the association is a way to open new horizons in terms of markets.”
“We have other difficulties, but that’s what has delayed the agricultural development, the selling of the products, the changes in prices. Sometimes you don’t make enough to cover the production costs,” he said.
The farmer has thought about this day for a long time. He has big dreams, that see his produce travelling well beyond the big town on the island, Porto Novo, to far countries, when the word about the quality of these products gets out. A combination of government and UN sponsored projects, he says, might help turn this into a reality.
For many years after the country’s independence, in 1975, WFP was responsible for the meals for all students in Cabo Verde. But the country graduated out of the UN’s Least Developed Country category to a lower middle-income country in 2007 and, a few years later, the government took over that task. One of the decisions it made was that 25 per cent of all food in schools used should be bought locally.
With that decision came the first big test for the recently formed Association of Producers of Vale do Paúl. For the whole school year of 2021-2022, these producers sold all the bananas that were consumed in the schools of the islands of Santo Antão and São Vicente. The initiative reached 20,000 students.
Now, the association is gearing up and, later this month, will hold its first assembly. Later in March, a final test will arrive.
The food grown by these farmers, the same as the Secretary-General tried today, will be washed and packaged in the new warehouses, loaded into boats, and eventually reach children in other islands. At the same time, the project will be replicated in other municipalities. Soon, the example of Paúl will help feed around 90,000 students, almost 20 per cent of the country’s population.
Shortly after Benjamin Cuevas and his family moved into their new home three years ago in Tooleville, California, he realized something was horribly wrong.
In the middle of the day, the water pressure would drop completely. Cranking up both hot and cold could only coax a little drip out of the faucet.
Then there was the water itself, contaminated with chemicals from agriculture runoff and treated with so much chlorine that it turned his family’s black clothing gray in the wash. His daughter and her baby live in the house, and Cuevas’s wife only bathes her granddaughter in the bottled water they receive from the county for drinking.
Cuevas is not alone; the entire town of under 300 people faces the same water crisis. In many rural parts of the state, faucets and community wells are running dry after years of drought and heavy agriculture use pulls more water from the same groundwater residents use.
One local nonprofit told CNN that about 8,000 people in the San Joaquin Valley need thousands of gallons of hauled water just to keep their taps flowing – and that number is growing.
Newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has represented Tooleville for the past decade – though the small town is just outside his newly redrawn congressional district. The Republican lawmaker has long represented Kern and Tulare counties, and his redrawn seat adds portions of Fresno County.
Throughout his tenure, this region of California has spent more time than any other part of the country in exceptional drought – the US Drought Monitor’s most severe category – a drought scientists say has been made more intense by human-caused climate change. Recent rainfall has put a dent in the region’s surface drought, though experts have told CNN it will do little to solve the ongoing groundwater shortage.
Tulare, Kern and Fresno counties have endured more than 200 weeks in exceptional drought over the past decade, according to Drought Monitor data.
Multiple people CNN spoke to for this story said McCarthy and his office don’t often engage on this issue in the district, especially compared with neighboring members of Congress. And they wish he would do more with his power in Washington – especially now that he holds the speaker’s gavel.
McCarthy proposed an amendment this past summer to set up a grant program to help connect small towns like Tooleville with larger cities that have better water systems. The measure passed the House but died in the Senate. But as more and more wells go dry, McCarthy has made a point to vote against other bills addressing climate change and drought, including the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law.
“In my experience, he has never engaged with us on any of these kinds of emergencies,” said Jessi Snyder, the director of community development at local nonprofit Self-Help Enterprises, who focuses on getting hauled water to entire communities that have gone dry.
In a statement to CNN, McCarthy’s office said he has been “a staunch advocate on water issues in the Central Valley and California” since he was first elected to the House. McCarthy has joined his colleagues to “introduce broad legislative solutions every Congress related to this topic since our water situation continues to worsen,” his spokesperson Brittany Martinez said.
But McCarthy does not mention climate change when talking about his district’s drought, and his office did not respond to questions from CNN about whether he believes climate change is playing a role. Instead, he often blames the drought on state mismanagement of water and has called for new and larger dams and reservoirs to be built to capture rainwater during wet years.
Water experts in California say that’s missing the new reality.
“Part of what’s happening now is the reality that there is no more new water,” said Peter Gleick, co-founder and senior fellow of California-based water nonprofit Pacific Institute. “The knee-jerk response of politicians has always been build another dam; find more water. There is no new reservoir that’s going to magically solve these problems. It’s now a question of managing demand.”
When a call comes in from yet another community whose well has run dry, it’s a race against time for the staff at Self-Help Enterprises.
The Visalia, California-based nonprofit has a self-imposed deadline of just 24 hours to drive out to the impacted community with emergency tanks to keep water flowing for showers, laundry and cleaning, as well as with five-gallon jugs of higher-quality water for drinking.
“The team goes all hands-on deck,” Tami McVay, Self-Help’s director of emergency services, told CNN. “Everybody knows what their role is, and they just go get it done. And we move forward to the next one.”
These days, there’s always a next one. Snyder said the summer of 2022 marked “a new level of crisis” as entire small communities of 80 to 100 homes started running out of water, in addition to individual homes.
“It’s been a real struggle because it’s hard to provide a backup source of water to a whole community instead of one household,” she said.
More than 1,400 wells were reported dry last year, according to the state of California, a 40% increase over the same period in 2021. Self-Help staff see this in person on the ground. New families are flowing into their hauled water program, but none are leaving. During the dry, warm-weather months, McVay estimates her nonprofit fields around 100 calls a day, dropping down to about 30 per week in the winter months.
The punishing multi-year drought is what Brad Rippey, a meteorologist at the US Department of Agriculture, calls California’s “latest misery.” California has spent eight of the last 11 years in drought, with the last three years being the driest such period on record, state officials said in October. Human-caused climate change – which is raising global temperatures and making much-needed rain and snow less frequent in the West – is contributing to the severity, Rippey said.
“The impacts are multiplying. You have these droughts piling on top of droughts with cumulative impacts,” including wildfires, he added.
To supplement the dwindling groundwater supply in Tooleville, officials in Tulare County and nonprofits like Self-Help deliver five-gallon water jugs to the residents for drinking and 16,000 gallons of hauled water into tanks for washing their clothes, doing dishes and taking showers.
There’s so much demand in the warm months for the hauled water that a 16,000-gallon delivery lasted some communities just a few hours before needing to be refilled, Snyder said.
“We literally cannot pump the water out of the tanker trucks fast enough to fill the storage tanks,” she added. “We can’t ever get ahead of it; physics is against us. It’s nuts and really stressful.”
California’s extreme heat wave this summer pushed water usage even higher as residents watered grass and farms pumped more for crops. In Tooleville, Cuevas watched as the orange and lemon trees in his yard withered and died. Outdoor watering restrictions meant he couldn’t save his trees, even as some of his neighbors flouted the restrictions with noticeably green lawns.
“Everything just perished,” Cuevas said. “It’s not a good feeling to see other people enjoying [the water], while you’re doing your part.”
Seeing the nearby Friant-Kern Canal every day – which carries melted snowpack water from Northern California to Central Valley farms – is a nagging reminder of what his family doesn’t have.
“It’s terrible,” Cuevas told CNN. “Just joking, I’d say I’ll go out there and put a hose [in it] running right back to my house.”
Tooleville resident Maria Olivera has lived in town since 1974.
Olivera cooks with bottled water.
As Cuevas’s own trees died, commercial farms in the area were still producing – although their future is also uncertain. Farms are also having to drill deeper wells to irrigate orange groves and acres of thirsty pecan and pistachio trees.
With this rush on groundwater, shallow residential wells don’t stand a chance. In West Goshen, a small town that sits outside McCarthy’s district in Tulare County, resident Jesus Benitez told CNN he burned through three well pumps – costing $1,200 a piece – during the warmer months when his neighbor, a farmer who grows alfalfa and corn, started irrigating his crops.
“They’ve got the money to go every time deeper and deeper in the ground; we don’t have that luxury,” Benitez said.
Two town wells in nearby Seville nearly ran dry this summer, said Linda Gutierrez, a lifelong resident who sits on the town’s water board. Across the street from the town’s wells is a pistachio farm, and when they start irrigating, the groundwater level plummets, she said.
But she doesn’t blame the farmers. Like many who live in the area, her husband is a farm worker. There’s a lot of pride in the region’s far-reaching agriculture, and many feel it should be sustained.
“You can’t not have farmers because you need food, but we have to have water in order to survive,” Gutierrez said. “There’s a very tricky balance to establish. Right now, if they don’t irrigate, we have water, but also a year from now we have no food.”
As big of a societal problem as drought and water shortages are, they are also intensely personal. Self-Help’s McVay gets emotional when talking about school children in the area getting beat up because they don’t have clean clothes or ready access to a shower.
“They don’t have water in their homes to take baths, or brush their teeth, or have clean laundry, and they’re getting bullied,” she said. “Being made fun of because they’re taking baths at the local gas station bathroom. It’s not fair – the stress that it causes the parents because [they] start to feel like they’re failing as a parent.”
Multiple local and state elected officials and leaders of nonprofits focusing on water delivery in the San Joaquin Valley said McCarthy isn’t engaged enough on what they consider one of his district’s most dire crises.
McVay said outreach from McCarthy’s office on dry residential wells is “slim to none, and I am not saying that to discredit them at all.”
“I have had more conversations, more engagement and just more wanting to know how they can assist from Congressman Valadao and his office than probably any other on the federal side,” McVay added.
Snyder said Rep. David Valadao, a Republican representing neighboring Kings County as well as portions of Tulare and Kern, and his staff “will show up in a community at the time of a crisis” and are actively engaged on how they can support efforts to get people water.
Other members of Congress, including Democratic Rep. Jim Costa and Republican Connie Conway, who left office earlier this month, have also been more accessible and engaged on the issue, Snyder said.
“Kevin McCarthy, no,” Snyder added.
While McCarthy is popular in his district and influential among California and Central Valley Republicans, California state Sen. Melissa Hurtado, a Democrat who represents parts of the San Joaquin Valley plagued by drought, told CNN there are concerns that McCarthy’s ambition for House speaker has superseded his district’s needs.
“He’s focused on that leadership position instead of actually working on issues to address the impacts of his district,” Hurtado told CNN. “Quietly, the word out there is it’s been a while that he’s actually delivered something for the region, given his focus on the leadership position. Maybe that’s part of his greater vision for helping this region out.”
McCarthy’s office did not respond to questions about how he’ll use his position as House speaker to address climate change-fueled droughts in California and around the nation. Nor did it respond to the critiques about his lack of engagement.
“The Leader has consistently worked in a bipartisan, bicameral fashion to deliver this life-giving resource for the families, agriculture producers and workers, and communities in the Central Valley and throughout California, and our Republican congressional delegation heavily relies on his steadfast leadership and decades of expertise when crafting their own pieces of water legislation,” McCarthy’s spokesperson Martinez told CNN in a statement. “When Democrats have held the majority, they time and time again blocked the progress and innovation of their House GOP colleagues.”
In July, McCarthy spoke on the House floor about Tooleville’s plight, seeking to set up a federal grant program to help connect it and other small towns to larger cities’ water supply.
“In our district, the community of Tooleville has run out of water as the groundwater table drops and aging infrastructure fails or becomes obsolete,” McCarthy said at the time. “Tulare County advises me that if California’s droughts continue, more small and rural communities in our district with older infrastructure could meet the exact same fate.”
McCarthy’s measure authorized a grant program but didn’t contain any funding. And even though the bill passed the House, it died in the Senate, and it’s unclear whether it will come up again in the new Congress.
Connecting Tooleville’s water infrastructure with that of nearby Exeter has been a decadeslong pursuit that is finally close to happening thanks to a state mandate and funding. The project will mean more reliable and cleaner water for residents like Cuevas. But it’s expected to take eight years for the two systems to fully merge.
McCarthy is also co-sponsoring a bill with Valadao that would enlarge certain reservoirs and kickstart construction on a new reservoir in the Sacramento Valley. But some nonprofit leaders and local officials say these solutions would prioritize agriculture over residents.
“We need more solutions beyond storage and dams,” said Susana De Anda, executive director of the San Joaquin Valley-based environmental justice nonprofit Community Water Center. “[McCarthy] lacks understanding of the real critical problems we’re experiencing around the drought and our communities.”
Seeking to attract younger voters concerned about climate change to the Republican Party, McCarthy last year convened a Climate, Energy and Conservation Task Force to develop the party’s messaging and policies around the issue. And House Republican delegations have attended the last two United Nations climate summits.
But all indications suggest that addressing human-caused climate change is not going to be a focal point of McCarthy’s now that he has the speaker’s gavel. McCarthy and House Republicans have shown they don’t want to move away from planet-warming fossil fuels, and few in the party are willing to connect global temperature rise to worsening droughts and extreme weather.
McCarthy dissolved Democrats’ Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, and he has vowed to investigate Department of Energy grants for electric vehicle components, as well as alleged “collusion” between environmental groups and China and Russia to “hurt American Energy,” according to a recent statement.
“Our representatives don’t talk about climate change; it’s a real problem,” De Anda said. “Climate change is real. Our communities are the canaries in the coal mine. We get hit first.”
It’s part of the reason Cuevas is hoping to move away in a couple years. He’s hopeful the water situation will improve by connecting Tooleville to a larger town’s water system; otherwise, he’s afraid he won’t be able to entice another buyer due to the water issues.
“I’m happy I had a chance to buy it, but we are planning to move,” Cuevas told CNN. “Right now, if I try, I ain’t going to get nothing, not even what I paid for the home.”
The answer goes back to 2015, when the national Government detailed a strategic plan on how the blue economy would be a central part of the island nation’s future, as well as to a series of investments that have been made since then.
But this evening, looking out at nearly a dozen boats participating in the Ocean Race docked in the port of Mindelo, their 10-storey high masts slicing the sky above the island of São Vicente, Mr. Guterres was witness to one of the most visible payoffs of this bet.
The Secretary-General called the blue economy “a fundamental opportunity to promote sustainable development in the archipelago” and said the UN looks forward to working with its government and people to “translate this ambition into reality.”
The Prime Minister of Cape Verde, José Ulisses Correia e Silva, said that his country wants to be “better known and have more relevance” in the international arena, and the Ocean is the sector where they want their voice to be heard.
“It makes sense to position ourselves in this specific area and to do it with relevance. It makes sense that this message is coming from here,” he said.
In the past five years, as part of this effort, the country has held an ‘Ocean Week’ every year and, on this coming Monday, Cabo Verde is partnering with the Ocean Race to hold a summit that will feature speakers from all over the world, including the Secretary-General.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
An existential threat
Cabo Verde’s commitment might not be enough. As Mr. Guterres warned, the country is “on the frontline of an existential crisis” – climate change.
“Sea level rise and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystems pose existential threats to the archipelago,” he explained. “I am deeply frustrated that world leaders are not giving this life-and-death emergency the necessary action and investment.”
Some of these consequences can already be felt at the port hosting the Race, one of the best in all of Africa’s west coast, the reason it attracted merchants and pirates centuries ago and now welcomes sailing’s greatest around-the-world challenge.
In the last few years, Cabo Verde fishermen have noted a drop in the capture of black mackerel, one of the most popular fish among the locals. In 2022, the packaging industry reported a reduction in the capture of tuna and absence of black mackerel, raw material for the industry.
According to the preliminary results of a UN-led assessment that should be presented and discussed with key national stakeholders early this year, by 2100, the biomass of large pelagic fish – those that live in the pelagic zone of ocean or lake waters, being neither close to the bottom nor near the shore – such as albacora, a species of tuna, is expected to decrease by up to 45 per cent. In the neighboring Senegalo-Mauritanian basin, the reduction will be even greater.
Changes like this can have a profound impact on the islands’ economy. In 2018, the fishing sector provided employment to 6,283 people, and was a touchstone in the diet of the 588,00 population. These products also accounted for almost 80 percent of the country’s exports.
“Climate change is an obvious threat to the future of fishing, but also all biodiversity,” said the Secretary-General later in the evening, as he participated in the Speaker Series promoted by the Prime Minister, at the Cabo Verde National Center for Art, Crafts and Design.
“The fact is, there is a very clear connection between the fishing industry and climate protection. Experience has shown that when you protect a certain region, it has a multiplying effect in other areas, and everyone benefits,” added the Secretary-General.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
Fighting back
The two men sat against an extension of the National Center, its facade covered in the circular shapes of lids from oil barrels painted in primary colors.
The installation is a statement on the country’s commitment to sustainability, but also a nod to its large diaspora of over one million people; these barrels are often used by immigrants to send gifts to their families.
“The climate challenges are getting stronger and more frequent, but we have always faced difficulties and always found a way to overcome them,” said the Prime Minister.
According to Mr. Correia e Silva, the loss of species can affect Cabo Verde in yet another way.
The archipelago has been considered one of the top 10 marine biodiversity hotspots in the world and, for decades, the 24 species of whales and dolphins recorded in these waters – almost 30 per cent of all the cetacean species – have attracted many of the visitors that make tourism a stronghold of the country’s economy.
In 2022 alone, after a couple of years dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the islands received close to 700 thousand tourists, raising the sector contribution to around 25 per cent of its GDP.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
Climate justice for Cabo Verde
Cabo Verde has started fighting back against these changes.
The Secretary-General said the country “has shown climate leadership in words and in actions” and has highlighted the “efforts to convert debt into climate projects, including in the blue economy.”
Up to 20 per cent of Cabo Verde’s energy production now comes from renewable sources – one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa – and the goal is to increase renewable energy use by up to 50 per cent by 2030.
The Prime Minister said his country needs to “reconcile the needs of the economy, the environment, the communities” because it needs “these resources producing wealth to the country.”
Mr. Correia e Silva shared an example of how this can be done. In the community of São Pedro, in São Vicente Island, a part of the population has transitioned in recent years from fishing to providing a service where tourists can safely swim with turtles.
He went on to highlight a series of initiatives to fight plastic pollution and promote the circular economy. He also recalled how the country approved a “demanding” new law governing fishing and is working to extend the protected area from six to 30 per cent.
“We do want to go further, but we need resources to do that,” he said.
“We need justice for those who – like Cabo Verde – did little to cause this crisis, but who are paying a heavy price,” agreed the Secretary-General.
As the conversation came to an end, a few blocks away, at the port, the crews from the Ocean Race were taking a break. In just a few days, they start the second leg of the competition, which will take them out of Cabo Verde, across the Equator, down the coast of South America, and into Cape Town on the southern tip of South Africa.
A couple hours earlier, as the sailors had met Mr. Guterres, who shared how his son, just a few years ago, had joined three friends on a sailing trip crossing the Atlantic.
This story prompted one of the skippers, Kevin Schofield, to ask him: “Would you ever do something like that?”
While much of the country has experienced some wild winter weather in recent months, parts of the Northeast have gone without snow this season. That’s made some people unhappy, and left businesses that depend on ice and snow feeling the heat. Nancy Chen reports.
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Desert storms that have sent massive plumes of dust across the oceans may have a small but significant effect on global temperatures, scientists say. New research found the microscopic particles circulating through the atmosphere had a “slight overall cooling effect on the planet” that masked just how much the planet has truly warmed over recent decades.
The UCLA research, published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment on Tuesday, found that the amount of atmospheric dust has increased by about 55% since pre-industrial times, with many ups and downs along the way. According to lead study author Jasper Kok, that increase is likely due to changes in global climate, such as wind speeds in some deserts, as well as land-use changes, such as transforming land into agriculture and diverting water for irrigation.
But the researchers say the impact of that dust has not been adequately factored into studies of global temperature trends. The overall increase in dust, according to Kok, “could have masked up to 8% of the greenhouse warming” that’s taken place since the Industrial Revolution.
We show that dust probably net cools the climate, that dust has increased by ~50% since the 1850s. This dust increase and the resulting cooling is not included in climate models. pic.twitter.com/F3yiuMmleg
“By adding the increase in desert dust, which accounts for over half of the atmosphere’s mass of particulate matter, we can increase the accuracy of climate model predictions,” he said in a press release. “This is of tremendous importance because better predictions can inform better decisions of how to mitigate or adapt to climate change.”
The increase in atmospheric dust largely stems from Asia and North Africa, the study says. It’s estimated that 100 million tons of dust are picked up from Africa’s Sahara Desert, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory, which said that the Sahara is “by far” the largest source of atmospheric dust on the planet. The particles from these plumes serve a complex role. While they are known to trigger respiratory issues, degrade air quality and obscure visibility, they also absorb and reflect light from the sun and are filled with minerals that help feed plants and phytoplankton, according to NASA.
And when it comes to its impact on the climate specifically, the researchers found that dust particles only increase the complexity. In some ways, the dust contributes to warming, such as when it darkens snow and ice surfaces. But in others, it counteracts that warming, like when the dust helps reflect sunlight from the Earth and helps the ocean absorb more carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that largely contributes to planetary warming.
Stuart Evans, an assistant professor at the University of Buffalo who studies atmospheric dust, told CBS News that the study, which he was not involved in, helps provide a “benchmark” for how much change we have seen regarding atmospheric dust and climate change.
“It provides a starting point for further studies of the human impacts on this piece of the climate system,” he said.
e, Dust indirect effects on cirrus clouds, separated by the dominant ice crystal formation mechanism in the absence of dust, occurring through dust changing the number and size of ice crystals. f, Dust semi-direct effect (SDE) on low clouds, separated by location of dust relative to clouds, owing to local heating generated by dust absorption. g, Radiative effects of dust deposited on snow and ice through changes in reflectivity and absorption. h, Effect of dust on CO2 drawdown via interactions with ocean biogeochemistry. Dust affects climate through a wide range of mechanisms that alternately cool and warm the climate, making the magnitude and sign of the net radiative effect of dust on climate uncertain.
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment
Overall, the study says “it is more likely that dust cools the climate than warms.” But that information, according to Kok, is lacking from current climate models. His team looked at a dozen climate models, and he told CBS News that “not a single” one came close to capturing the increase they found.
“We show desert dust has increased, and most likely slightly counteracted greenhouse warming, which is missing from current climate models,” he said. “The increased dust hasn’t caused a whole lot of cooling — the climate models are still close — but our findings imply that greenhouses gases alone could cause even more climate warming than models currently predict.”
Evans said he’s seen dust in most models, but that it’s “typically not well-represented.”
“Most models don’t capture the long-term trend at all,” he said. “…If you want to use a climate model to predict the future, you’d want to know that it has correctly represented the past. And when it comes to dust, models aren’t there yet.”
That doesn’t mean current models are wrong, both researchers said — just that there’s now more information that can improve on our understanding. Evans said it could also help researchers understand more about climate sensitivity, or how sensitive Earth is to a variety of factors in the climate.
If the rise in atmospheric dust eventually slows down or begins to decline, “the previously hidden additional warming potential from greenhouse gases could cause somewhat more rapid climate warming than models predict,” a press release from the University of California says.
But right now, it’s unclear how the dust levels will change in the future. Kok explained that dust storms are “very complicated” and depend on a variety of factors, including wind speed, precipitation, evaporation and land-use.
“Although some areas, like the southwestern part of the United States, are predicted to get drier, possibly increasing dust there in the future, other areas like the Sahara desert might actually get wetter, possibly decreasing dust there,” he told CBS News. “So what the future brings in terms of total dustiness is not known and models disagree on this, with some predicting more dust and others less dust.”
Evans offered a similar assessment, saying “the future of dust is uncertain.”
“The models can’t agree … and none of them have really distinguished themselves as being the single superior model that you should trust over others,” he said. “…Predicting dust is hard because simulating dust is a very difficult challenge that is still being actively worked on.”
But what we do know is that the planet has already warmed by about 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) since the mid-1800s, with the past eight years, from 2013 to 2022, the hottest in recorded history. And Kok says if the dust had not increased, global temperatures would likely be another 0.1 degrees Fahrenheit higher.
As scientists have repeatedly stressed, every fraction of a degree matters when it comes to climate change.
“This is valuable in helping us improve our precision with our predictions because it is doing an accounting of a frequently overlooked aspect of the climate system,” Evans said. “I think in terms of action, the only thing anybody needs to know is that greenhouse gases are making the world hotter and the only solution is to reduce their concentration in the atmosphere.”
Farmers in the southern state of Karnataka, India, during training sessions for multi-crop farming. The techniques have meant survival in the face of uncertain weather caused by climate change. Credit: Umar Manzoor Shah/IPS
by Umar Manzoor Shah (karnataka, india)
Inter Press Service
KARNATAKA, INDIA, Jan 19 (IPS) – The South Indian State of Karnataka has been reeling for the past three years—the late arrival of monsoons, the surging temperatures, and drastic changes in the weather patterns are putting the state’s farmers in dire straits.
Sugarcane and rice crops have died, causing considerable losses to the already perturbed farming community.
As per the government reports, climate change is affecting Karnataka’s water cycle and rainfall patterns, resulting in heavy rainfall and flooding in some areas and drought in others. Extreme weather events have been more frequent and intense in Karnataka over the past few years. The average annual rainfall in the state is 1,153 mm, with 74 percent falling during the Southwest monsoon, 16 percent during the Northeast monsoon, and 10 per cent during the pre-monsoon.
Between 2001 and 2020, the state was hit by a 15-year drought of variable intensity. Some areas have been drought-stricken for more than five years in a row. In addition to 2005, 2009, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, Karnataka witnessed severe floods in 2005, 2009, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. Flooding and landslides have been a problem for the fourth year since 2018. Flooding and landslides have become the new normal during the monsoon seasons in the southwest and northeast, which were previously the most vulnerable to drought, reflecting the impact of shifting climatological circumstances.
Farmers are concerned about the looming climate change menace.
A year ago, Kondaji Reddy deemed farming an “absolutely unfit” profession for survival.
“For months together, I toiled hard in the field growing sugar cane and rice. However, the late arrival of monsoons devastated everything. The hard work didn’t yield any outcome, and my family was on the verge of starvation,” Kondaji told IPS.
He added that for months together, his family survived on the little savings it had made over the years.
“Then I thought I should quit farming forever and go to the city and work as a laborer. At least my family wouldn’t starve,” lamented the farmer.
Another farmer, M. Rachappa, shared a similar predicament. He says he extensively used chemical fertilizers, hoping to improve his harvest.
“However, things didn’t turn out the way I had hoped. The land turned barren… The crops I had sowed for months were destroyed. All I could stare at was the dead leaves and the barren soil,” says Rachappa.
The farmer adds that he was on the brink of selling his ancestral land—spread across three acres—and buying some grocery stores in the town. “I had lost all hope in farming. I had cultivated a firm belief in my mind that farming would no longer provide me with a decent living. But at the same time, I was ridiculing myself for planning to sell the land where my forefathers have toiled for decades together.”
To end the crisis, the farmers of this small hamlet recently developed a unique strategy. They are adopting techniques that could help them deal with the climate change crises.
Multi-cropping is one method that these otherwise crisis-stricken farmers are now relying upon. It is a common land management method that aims to increase agricultural production while diversifying the crop mix for economic and environmental reasons. It lowers the cost of inputs, irrigation, and labor, among other things.
Umesh Kalolli, a farmer leading the practice and imparting the training of this technique to other farmers in the village, says he got to know about this farming method from a research institute.
“I was uncertain about my future due to frequent losses. I was about to shun farming forever, but a friend of mine encouraged me to seek help from the experts. He took me to an agricultural university, where I shared my predicament with the researchers. For about three weeks, I was trained for multi-crop farming. Upon my return to my village, I began encouraging other farmers to use this farming method,” Kalolli said.
He adds that besides multi-cropping, the farmers were encouraged to do away with using chemical fertilizers. Instead, they are asked to adopt an organic farming method that not only makes the produce profitable but also of high quality.
“There is a dire need to revolutionize farming practices with a natural system. This is going to be the greatest service for humankind. We need to focus on marginal and downtrodden farmers so that they can be empowered, and this way, we are going to build a prosperous world for ourselves and our future generations,” Kalolli added.
Rachappa, the farmer, says that soon after acquiring the training, he began adopting the multi-crop method on his land. He began cultivating various vegetables, fruits, sugarcane, and rice paddies at the same time. This, he says, not only saved him time, but it also didn’t need extensive irrigation facilities.
“I then subtly moved to the organic method of farming. I stopped the use of chemical fertilizers in the field. I got the cow dung from the livestock I had in my home. Today, I earn more than fifty thousand rupees (700 US dollars) every month. I did not even think once about selling off my land. I am content with the profit it is producing for me now,” M. Rachappa said.
Kondaji was also trained to grow organic vegetables and produce manure.
“My fellow farmers even helped me dig the pit in the backyard for the manure to decompose. It is a natural fertilizer. The vegetables I produce now require the least amount of water, so the late arrival of monsoons no longer bothers me. My produce is sold at higher prices because it is organic,” Reddy says with a smile.
The Gabura union, a small island adjacent to the Sundarbans forest, is expected to be submerged in seawater by 2050. Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan
by Mohammad Rakibul Hasan – and AI Artificial Intelligence (dhaka, bangladesh)
Inter Press Service
DHAKA, Bangladesh, Jan 18 (IPS) – Climate change is a global problem that requires a global solution. However, negotiating a solution has been challenging due to several factors. One of the main reasons that recent COP Climate summits and other international climate talks have not been able to resolve climate change is that there is a lack of consensus among countries on how to address the issue. Developed countries, which have historically been the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, are often unwilling to take on significant emissions reductions or to provide financial assistance to developing countries to help them adapt to the effects of climate change.
The Gabura union, a small island adjacent to the Sundarbans forest, is expected to be submerged in seawater by 2050. Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan
Another significant barrier to progress on climate change is the need for more political will among leaders of countries. In some cases, leaders may not see climate change as a priority or may be reluctant to take on the economic and political costs of reducing emissions or investing in clean energy due to political reasons. Some countries may be influenced by powerful fossil fuel lobbies that push against climate action. Developed countries must be willing to take on more significant emissions reductions and provide financial assistance to developing countries to help them adapt to the effects of climate change. Developing countries, in turn, need to be willing to take on emissions reduction measures and invest in clean energy and other climate mitigation measures.This can happen through more effective multilateral negotiations such as United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where all countries agree to set emissions reduction targets and support developing countries.
Bangladesh is located in the low-lying delta region of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers, making the country particularly susceptible to flooding and rising sea levels. Bangladesh is also prone to cyclones and other extreme weather events, which are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change. The country has a long coastline, much of which is low-lying and vulnerable to flooding. As sea levels continue to rise, the risk of coastal flooding is increasing, devastatingly impacting the lives and livelihoods of the people in these areas. These events are causing widespread damage to homes and infrastructure and affecting the country’s agricultural sector, a significant source of income for many people in Bangladesh. Many people in the coastal areas have lost their homes and livelihoods due to sea level rise and coastal flooding. They face food and water insecurity due to increased soil and water salinity.
Globally, rich countries can assist Bangladesh cope with climate change in several ways. One crucial way is by providing financial assistance to help the country adapt to the impacts of climate change. This may include funding for building sea walls and other flood protection infrastructure and programs to help people in coastal areas relocate to higher ground. Another way rich countries can help is by providing technical assistance to Bangladesh to develop and implement clean energy and other climate mitigation measures. This could include funding and expertise to help the country develop renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power, as well as to improve energy efficiency and to reduce emissions from the industrial and transportation sectors.
The Sundarbans forests, located in the coastal belt of Bangladesh, is one of the most vulnerable areas in the country to the impacts of climate change. The forests span over 10,000 square kilometres and is home to various plant and animal species, including the Royal Bengal tiger. Sea level rise is one of the most significant threats to the Sundarbans forest making it particularly susceptible to flooding and rising sea levels. According to a study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, sea levels in the Bay of Bengal are projected to increase by up to 1 meter by the end of the century. This would devastate the Sundarban forests, as seawater would submerge large areas.
The impacts of climate change on the Sundarban forests are also likely to have knock-on effects on the people living in the surrounding areas. The forests are a significant source of livelihood for many people in the region, who rely on it for fishing, agriculture, and other activities. As the forests are damaged by sea level rise and extreme weather events, these people will also be affected by food and water insecurity and the loss of their homes and livelihoods. Many people who lost their homes and land to flooding, were forced to relocate to higher grounds.
The health impacts of climate change on people living around the Sundarban are also significant. As a result of sea level rise and increased flooding, many are at risk of waterborne diseases such as cholera and diarrhea. Extreme weather events are accelerating salinity across the coastal belt of Bangladesh. Women are experiencing uterus cancers, infertility, and skin diseases, and men, too, are experiencing fertility problems and other health issues. Due to the loss of livelihoods and displacement, many people face food insecurity and malnutrition. In addition to these immediate impacts, climate change exacerbates the region’s existing social and economic inequalities. People living in poverty and marginalized communities are disproportionately affected by climate change, as they have fewer resources to cope with the impacts and less access to services and support.
Climate change has led to a growing number of people migrating from these areas, searching for better opportunities and escaping the impacts of climate change. Most climate migrants from coastal belt areas of Bangladesh are moving to urban areas, such as the capital city of Dhaka and other major cities. These migrants often seek better job opportunities and access to services and support. However, many migrants face challenges in their new locations, such as a lack of affordable housing, discrimination, and limited access to services and support. The future is uncertain for those still living in coastal areas of Bangladesh and fighting the climate crisis. Many of the people living in these areas are among the country’s most vulnerable and marginalized communities, making them particularly susceptible to the impacts of climate change. Climate conversations worldwide by world leaders and major organizations have been occurring every year. But they must see the severity of the situation for the people suffering and take concrete actions beyond being in a room to converse about the effects of climate change.
Climate conversations by world leaders are occurring worldwide but how much is changing ? Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan Many indigenous communities across the Sundarbans forest have been experiencing extreme weather conditions. Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan Fishing communities face extreme poverty due to the lack of fish available in the rivers. Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan Women around coastline areas of Bangladesh face increased salinity, a major cause of uterus cancer. Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan Due to climate change, extreme heat and salinity are declining birth rates across the coastal belt in Bangladesh. Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan Climate change is accelerating the displacement of inhabitants across the coastal belt of Bangladesh. Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan Four families are sitting with what remains in their food storage. Due to high salinity, agricultural products cannot grow well anymore. Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan
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New York CNN
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The largest six banks in the United States have been given until July to show the Federal Reserve what effects disastrous climate change scenarios couldhave on their bottom lines.
Noting the risks could be “material,” the Fed said the banks will have to show how their finances fare under a number of climate stress tests, including heat waves, wildfires, floods and droughts, according to details of a new Fed pilot program released on Tuesday.
“The pilot exercise includes physical risk scenarios with different levels of severity affecting residential and commercial real estate portfolios in the Northeastern United States and directs each bank to consider the impact of additional physical risk shocks for their real estate portfolios in another region of the country,” wrote the Fed.
The Federal Reserve first announced the pilot program in September, noting that Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo would participate.
Climate activists said that the project was long overdue (Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has been questioned about it multiple times over the last year), and that other central banks are far ahead of the Fed on climate risk assessments. The Bank of England ran a similar exercise in 2021.
They also said the proposal lacked any real teeth. In its announcement the Federal Reserve stressed that the exercise “is exploratory in nature and does not have capital consequences.” It also said that it would not publish individual banks’ results.
San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly told CNN in October Thursday that this was a learning and exploratory exercise for the Federal Reserve. It would be “incredibly premature to jump to the conclusion that any new policies or programs would come out of it,” she said.
The other side: Critics of the pilot program have argued that the Federal Reserve was overstepping its boundaries and that they might soon begin to enforce financial penalties.
“The Fed’s new ‘pilot’ program is the first step toward pressuring banks into limiting loans to and investments in traditional energy companies and other disfavored carbon-emitting sectors,” wrote former Republican Senator Pat Toomey, then a ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee. “The real purpose of this program is to ultimately produce new regulatory requirements.”
Powell said last week that the central bank would not become a “climate policymaker.”
“Today, some analysts ask whether incorporating into bank supervision the perceived risks associated with climate change is appropriate, wise, and consistent with our existing mandates,” Powell said last Tuesday. “In my view, the Fed does have narrow, but important, responsibilities regarding climate-related financial risks. These responsibilities are tightly linked to our responsibilities for bank supervision. The public reasonably expects supervisors to require that banks understand, and appropriately manage, their material risks, including the financial risks of climate change.”
The discovery, movement and use of oil has played an outsized role in shaping geopolitics over the past century and a half. But over the next 50 years, global interaction and wealth are more likely to be influenced by microchips, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told CNN Tuesday.
“Where the technology supply chains are, and where semiconductors are built, is more important for the next five decades,” Gelsinger said in an interview with CNN’s Julia Chatterley at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Intel (INTC) is betting those predictions prove true. The company announcedin 2021 it would invest $20 billion to build two new US chipmaking facilities, as well as up to $90 billion in new European factories, aimed at reasserting its position as the leader of the semiconductor industry, reports my colleague Clare Duffy.
Gelsinger said the company’s investment in new manufacturing facilities in the United States, Europe and elsewhere is important not only for the company’s future, but for the “globalization of the most critical resource to the future of the world.”
“We need this geographically balanced, resilient supply chain,” he said.
The announcements also came amid concerns about the concentration of manufacturing for chips, in Asia, particularly China and Taiwan, during the Covid-19 pandemic and as geopolitical tensions grew. Issues in the chip supply chain in recent years have caused shortages and shipping delays of everything from desktop computers and iPhones to cars.
“If we’ve learned one thing from the Covid crisis and this multi-year journey that we’ve been on it’s we need resilience in our supply chains,” Gelsinger said, adding that Intel’s manufacturing investments are aimed at “leveling that playing field so that good investment decisions can be made.”
The years following the peak of the Covid pandemic have not been good for wealth equality.
The world’s wealthiest residents have been getting far richer, far faster than everyone else over the past two years, reports my colleague Tami Luhby.
The fortune of the 1% soared by $26 trillion during that period, while the bottom 99% only saw their net worth rise by $16 trillion, according to Oxfam’s annual inequality report released Sunday.
And the wealth accumulation of the super-rich accelerated during the pandemic. Looking over the past decade, they netted just half of all the new wealth created, compared to two-thirds during the last few years.
Meanwhile, many of the less fortunate are struggling. Some 1.7 billion workers live in countries where inflation is outpacing wages. And poverty reduction likely stalled last year after the number of global poor skyrocketed in 2020.
“While ordinary people are making daily sacrifices on essentials like food, the super-rich have outdone even their wildest dreams,” said Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam International.
“Just two years in, this decade is shaping up to be the best yet for billionaires — a roaring ’20s boom for the world’s richest,” she said.
