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How will the PM preserve the Keystone XL pipeline?
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In the final part of his interview with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, ‘The West Block’ host Mercedes Stephenson asks how the Prime Minister will preserve the Keystone XL pipeline expansion, when incoming US president Joe Biden has said he will cancel the project.

One Good Thing: 

Hong Kong street refrigerator keeps giving

HONG KONG — Most people who head to Woosung Street in Hong Kong’s old-school neighbourhood of Jordan are visiting its popular restaurants serving everything from curries to seafood. Others may be headed for a lone refrigerator, painted blue, with a sign that reads: “Give what you can give, take what you need to take."

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The door of the fridge sitting outside a hockey academy opens to reveal it is stuffed with packets of instant noodles, biscuits, tins of food and even socks and towels for anyone who may need them.

Ahmen Khan, founder of a sports foundation on the same street, said he was inspired to create a community refrigerator after seeing a film about others doing the same thing. He found the refrigerator at a nearby refuse collection point and painted it blue.

“It’s like a dignity, that when you go home, you open your fridge to get food,” Khan said. “So I want the people to just feel like that. Even if it’s a street, it’s their community, it’s their home, so they can simply just open it and then just put food there, and collect the food.”

Khan’s blue refrigerator project went viral on social media and people have been dropping by to leave food inside.

Janet Yeung stopped by recently with a plastic bag filled with biscuits, instant noodles and snacks. She stacked them carefully inside.

“I think doing good deeds does not need to be on a large scale,” Yeung said. “A small act can already show our kindness, and contribute to this world.”

A resident who would only identify himself as Yeung (no relation to Janet Yeung) is one of the people benefitting from the blue refrigerator, from time to time helping himself to some food or even masks left by donors.

“Those who are really in need can take things from the fridge whenever they want without any worries, as the fridge is here 24 hours a day,” he said.

___

Associated Press writer Zen Soo contributed to this report.

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“One Good Thing” is a series that highlights glimmers of joy in hard times — stories of people who find a way to make a difference, no matter how small. Read the collection at https://apnews.com/hub/one-good-thing

Alice Fung, The Associated Press

China to overtake US as largest global economy

 by 2028 — report

China’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has cleared its path to become the world’s largest economy before the end of the decade, according to a new report by a UK think tank.

China is set to overtake the United States as the largest economy in the world

The coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout will help China rise past the US to become the world’s largest economy, a new report shows. Beijing is now expected to overtake the US by 2028, as opposed to 2033, a UK think tank said in its latest report.

"We expect the United States' share of global GDP to decline from 2021 onwards, and for the country to eventually be overtaken by China as the world's largest economy," the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said in an annual report released on Saturday.

"We now expect this to happen in 2028, five years sooner than in the previous edition of the WELT," referring to the think tank’s World Economic League Table, which measures countries’ economic performance.

Watch video 42:35 China's Gateway to Europe - The New Silk Road

China was 'skillful' with the pandemic

The quickened pace has been attributed to the difference between Beijing and Washington's response to the coronavirus pandemic and the recovery that followed. The report hailed China's "skillful management of the pandemic," where an early lockdown kept the numbers under control.

The report added that the US would also see a strong post-pandemic rebound in the coming year, but its growth would slow down to 1.9% and 1.6% over the years that follow.

China, on the other hand, is headed for an average growth rate of 5.7% a year from 2021 till 2025. Between 2026 and 2030, it is expected to slow down to 4.5% a year.

Japan is expected to remain the third-largest economy until the early 2030s, when India could overtake it, pushing Germany to the fifth spot.

see/dj (Reuters, CEBR annual report)

China to leapfrog U.S. as world's biggest economy by 2028: think tank

LONDON (Reuters) - China will overtake the United States to become the world's biggest economy in 2028, five years earlier than previously estimated due to the contrasting recoveries of the two countries from the COVID-19 pandemic, a think tank said.

© Reuters/THOMAS PETER 

People look at the skyline of the Central Business District in Beijing

"For some time, an overarching theme of global economics has been the economic and soft power struggle between the United States and China," the Centre for Economics and Business Research said in an annual report published on Saturday.

"The COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding economic fallout have certainly tipped this rivalry in China's favour."

The CEBR said China's "skilful management of the pandemic", with its strict early lockdown, and hits to long-term growth in the West meant China's relative economic performance had improved.

China looked set for average economic growth of 5.7% a year from 2021-25 before slowing to 4.5% a year from 2026-30.

While the United States was likely to have a strong post-pandemic rebound in 2021, its growth would slow to 1.9% a year between 2022 and 2024, and then to 1.6% after that.

Japan would remain the world's third-biggest economy, in dollar terms, until the early 2030s when it would be overtaken by India, pushing Germany down from fourth to fifth.

The United Kingdom, currently the fifth-biggest economy by the CEBR's measure, would slip to sixth place from 2024.

However, despite a hit in 2021 from its exit from the European Union's single market, British GDP in dollars was forecast to be 23% higher than France's by 2035, helped by Britain's lead in the increasingly important digital economy.

Europe accounted for 19% of output in the top 10 global economies in 2020 but that will fall to 12% by 2035, or lower if there is an acrimonious split between the EU and Britain, the CEBR said.

It also said the pandemic's impact on the global economy was likely to show up in higher inflation, not slower growth.

"We see an economic cycle with rising interest rates in the mid-2020s," it said, posing a challenge for governments which have borrowed massively to fund their response to the COVID-19 crisis.

"But the underlying trends that have been accelerated by this point to a greener and more tech-based world as we move into the 2030s."

(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Toby Chopra)

Nepal in political turmoil after PM calls for new elections

Nepal is staring at a constitutional crisis after PM KP Sharma Oli dissolved parliament in a bid to counter discord within the ruling party.

A protester burns an effigy of PM KP Sharma Oli outside the parliament in Kathmandu

Nepal has plunged into a political crisis and renewed instability after President Bidhya Devi Bhandari dissolved parliament on Sunday at the request of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and announced general elections would be held in April and May next year, more than a year ahead of schedule.

The PM's decision has triggered unrest in his party and protests on the streets of the capital Kathmandu. It comes after months of clashes with Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a former insurgent leader who helped Oli come to power when their political parties merged in 2018. The pair had previously clashed over their power-sharing agreement and a lack of consultation.

Oli also lost support within his own Nepal Communist Party (NCP), with some members accusing him of sidelining senior party members in decision-making and key appointments. They called for him to step down.

Ninety parliamentarians from the ruling party rushed to register a vote of no-confidence after Oli sent his request to the president. Seven ministers have stepped down to challenge the dissolution and stated that it was a violation of the "popular mandate" given to them in the 2017 general election.

President Bhandari, who hails from the ruling party and is considered close to Oli, was also criticized for agreeing to Oli's dissolution recommendation quickly.

Lawyers opposed to Oli's decision argue that the PM had no prerogative to dissolve parliament under the constitution

An unconstitutional step?

Observers say Oli's move has triggered a constitutional crisis as the prime minister cannot recommend dissolution of parliament until there are chances of forming an alternative government. They fear that recent developments could lead to a phase of renewed political instability in the Himalayan nation.

"This is an unconstitutional move, which has put the new political order and Nepali democracy at risk," Tikaram Bhattarai, a senior lawyer practicing in the nation's Supreme Court, told DW.

Nepal's Supreme Court on Wednesday started hearing petitions challenging Oli's sudden dissolution of parliament. "Hearing on 12 petitions against the dissolution of parliament has begun," said Bhadrakali Pokharel, a Supreme Court spokesman.

Constitutional law expert Bhimarjun Acharya told DW that the move could end up destroying the federal, republican setup that was institutionalized through the adoption of the new constitution in September 2015. "Only way now to correct the constitutional step is by reinstating the parliament through the court of law," he said.

Fresh elections are scheduled for April 30 and May 10, but PM Oli's former press adviser Kundan Aryal has cast doubt on the likelihood of holding elections on the announced dates due to political uncertainties and the coronavirus pandemic.

The crisis comes at a time when Nepal is facing a raft of political and security challenges, including an intensification of protests by former royalist forces demanding the restoration of monarchy — overthrown in 2008 — and the resurgence of violence by sprinter factions of ex-Maoist rebels.

The latest developments plunge Nepal into months of fresh political uncertainty after years of instability and short-lived governments that followed a decade-long civil war.

Oli came to power promising a stable and good government as well as swift economic development. But his administration's failure to deliver and allegations of corruption and political scandals have eroded faith in Oli's leadership. The authorities' handling of the coronavirus pandemic has also drawn criticism, and calls grew louder from within and outside the ruling party for the PM to step down.

#ReleaseNicholasOpiyo

Nicholas Opiyo: Uganda's rebellious rights lawyer

Ugandan human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo has campaigned for civil rights and political freedoms. For this, he has paid a high price. His clients have included Ugandan presidential candidate Bobi Wine.


Nicholas Opiyo is a leading human rights lawyer and founder of the rights organization Chapter Four Uganda. Since 2005, Opiyo has worked to promote civil liberties in Uganda, often pro bono.

Amongst others, Opiyo has been representing Stella Nyanzi, a Ugandan academic charged with "cyber-harassment" and "offensive communication" for her comments about Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, and presidential hopeful Bobi Wine, Museveni's strongest challenger in next month's elections.

Wine has been arrested multiple times, including for "annoying" the president. Rights activists say Museveni — who is seeking a sixth term — has successfully transformed himself into an autocratic and despotic supreme leader.

Read more: Opinion: Ugandans are tired of Museveni but can't vote him out

Child soldiers and sex slaves

Opiyo, 37, grew up on the outskirts of Gulu, Nothern Uganda. The region was a center of fighting between Museveni's government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group that is notorious for using child soldiers and terror.

Opiyo had to walk long distances in order to avoid abduction by the LRA. His sister was kidnapped and spent several years with the rebels before escaping.

Opiyo represents presidential hopeful Bobi Wine

It was a fate that befell many children and young people in the north of Uganda at the time. Countless were kidnapped to serve the rebel group as soldiers, laborers or sex slaves.

Opiyo channeled these difficult childhood experiences into his advocacy for human rights, according to the US-based Human Rights Watch.
Critical role in political freedoms

Opiyo is known as a lawyer who is willing to handle the sensitive topics of which many of his colleagues are afraid. Under Chapter Four Uganda, he progressed to civil leadership in his country.

"It has been a difficult journey in a country which you have a leader in power for the last 30 years and has no intention of leaving," Opiyo noted.

Opiyo expresses his opinion on the state of democracy in his country, and has a leading role in prominent courts dealing with the defense of civil rights and political participation — a position that has turned him into one of Uganda's most influential voices.

He is committed to observing constitutional order and the rule of law in an increasingly autocratic environment. He has been outspoken about electoral law, the restriction of freedom of assembly, and the clampdown on freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Read more: German Africa prize winner: 'There are grave rights violations in Uganda'

Opiyo: Ugandan Human Rights lawyer and winner of the German Africa Prize 2017

German Africa Prize winner

In 2017, Opiyo won the German Africa Prize — and award from the German Africa Foundation which honors "outstanding individuals for their long-standing endeavors to foster democracy, peace, human rights, art, culture, the social market economy and social concerns."

"This award will give us more impetus to carry on the work we've been doing," Opiyo said. "Despite the challenges we have on the continent, if we work hard with the support of friends — there's a better tomorrow."

As a lawyer, Opiyo successfully pushed that parliamentarians should also lose their parliamentary seats after their political parties lose elections. He campaigned against Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2013, a law which provided life imprisonment for certain cases. He eventually convinced the Uganda's Constitutional Court to declare the law null and void.

Watch video 01:41 Uganda: A brave lawyer stands up against injustice

Detained

In December 2020, Opiyo was detained over money laundering allegations. According to Bobi Wine, he was arrested along with three other lawyers and a member of his party. Chapter Four Uganda in a statement expressed its deep concern "about the abduction and incommunicado detention." The hashtag #ReleaseNicholasOpiyo began trending on social media platforms.

Human rights activists charge that the government's legal action against Opiyo is politically motivated. Opiyo had previously condemned attempts by the Museveni regime to make it harder for the opposition to access social media. Ugandan authorities had written to Google, owner of YouTube, asking it to block 14 video channels allegedly linked to the pre-election unrest in which more than 50 people died.

Human rights activists call for Nicholas Opiyo's release

COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS

Opinion:

 Protecting press freedom needs to be priority for U.S. and EU

CPJ's Tom Gibson and Kerry Paterson reflect on how 2020 has shown the need for governments to collaborate in order to strengthen press freedom.


Alaa Abdelfattah is still waiting. For a brief window in 2019, there was hope for the smiley, curly-haired Egyptian blogger, celebrated for his work on human rights and politics, as he was released from prison. This hope vanished when he was arrested again shortly after without charges. Like dozens of journalists jailed in Egypt, Alaa is in prison simply for speaking out against those in power. And like so many other jailed journalists, there is no end in sight.

For global leaders on press freedom, coordinated diplomacy is not without limitations. However, at a time when COVID-19 has already claimed the life of at least one imprisoned journalist in Egypt, for others like Alaa, it may be their only hope.

For the four years of the Trump Presidency, the EU has been isolated as an international force looking to defend press freedom. To strengthen its hand, it should seek the support of a renewed US foreign policy and make press freedom a priority for discussions when President-elect Joe Biden visits Brussels in early 2021.

Alaa Abdelfattah was imprisoned in Egypt for allegedly organising  political unrest

The global situation facing journalists is bleak. Last week, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued our prison census. This year saw 274 journalists languishing in prisons around the world: a record number for CPJ and the fifth consecutive year with at least 250 journalists behind bars.

Countries like Egypt, China, or Turkey have shown the EU’s limits for holding autocrats to account. The EU’s policy of silent diplomacy with President al-Sisi in Egypt has shown little impact in reversing the repression of critical journalists in the country. EU calls for the freeing of Turkish journalists have been dwarfed by the drilling crisis in the Eastern Meditarrean and the need to cooperate with President Erdogan on migration. And the bloc routinely fails to hold China to account for its rights record, as it seeks to build trade relations with the repressive superpower.

In 2015, a CPJ special report noted how the EU’s international diplomacy lacked consistency and was open to accusations of double standards, for being too soft on repressive governments who are at the same time trade partners or strategic allies. Five years on and it seems not much has changed.

Human rights advocates in Egypt face severe repression for their work

Finding fresh support from the U.S. could help unblock the path for more robust international diplomacy. This year, as social unrest erupted around the globe, EU leaders struggled to deal with fresh clampdowns. 

Protests following the presidential election in Belarus underscored that EU statements and sanctions must be accompanied by a further, long-term support strategy for journalists on the ground. In Ethiopia, the emergence of inter-ethnic violence raises the question of how to balance conflict resolution with the need to protect large numbers of journalists at risk. EU advocacy is being forced to be at once flexible in complex environments, and sustainable over the long term. U.S. diplomacy can help to shoulder this weight.

In order for renewed cooperation to bear fruit however, the U.S. must first contend with its own recent record on press freedom. The conspicuous lack of U.S. leadership and the open attacks on the press by President Trump have significantly increased the vulnerability of journalists. The U.S. press freedom tracker, of which CPJ is a founding member, reports a total of 311 journalists attacked and 110 journalists arrested or criminally charged so far in 2020 (although none are in prison, some still face charges).


The Press Freedom Tracker has counted more than 900 press freedom violations this year in the United States

The worsening environment for US journalists in part explains the neglect of U.S. foreign policy: Trump has allowed autocrats to hide from traditional U.S. scrutiny of press freedom. The President has turned a blind eye to the inflamed rhetoric of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, and to the ongoing impunity enjoyed by the Saudi authorities for the gruesome 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

But in a year like no other, one where a devastating global pandemic underscored the essential role of the press, the promise of a new administration brings with it a new opportunity for engagement.

Both the U.S. and the EU should now examine where international coordination can yield the greatest impact, including by pressuring some of the world’s most intransigent autocrats. CPJ’s recent recommendations to the incoming Biden administration include establishing a Special Presidential Envoy for press freedom and strengthening the State Department’s support for press freedom.

Biden’s entry to the international scene should spell a new beginning and allow both sides of the Atlantic to prioritize press freedom in their international diplomacy- together. Journalists like Alaa Abdelfattah may not be able to wait much longer.

Kerry Paterson, CPJ Deputy Advocacy Director

Tom Gibson, CPJ EU representative

Journalists under threat: December's 10 most urgent cases

Every month, the One Free Press Coalition draws attention to unresolved cases of crimes against journalists. This month, the list focuses on violations of press freedom and freedom of expression relating to COVID-19.

'2020 has brought home the reality that there has never been a more dangerous time to be a journalist.'

"There have been a number of concerning developments in recent months." In a DW interview, Courtney Radsch of the Committee to Protect Journalists talked about press freedom violations around the world.

Violence against women journalists: ‘It is about silencing women’

Female journalists worldwide are experiencing violence and harassment, impacting them physically and psychologically. Online abuse and hate speech increasingly influence their work. How can they protect themselves?

UN Special Rapporteur Šimonovic: 'Gender-based violence forms part of women journalists' daily routine'

Dubravka Šimonovic spoke to DW about the reality and implications of gender-based violence against female journalists.

Norway rejects Greenpeace appeal over Arctic oil exploration

In a landmark case, Norway's top court has approved oil exploration in the Barents Sea. Greenpeace had argued that oil licenses violated the Norwegian constitution, which guarantees the right to a healthy environment.



The environmental groups argued that oil licenses violated an article in the Norwegian constitution

Norway's supreme court on Tuesday approved government plans for oil exploration in the Barents Sea off the country's northern coast, rejecting a lawsuit by environmental groups.

The groups, including Greenpeace, had claimed the oil licenses breached an article in the Norwegian constitution which guarantees the right to a healthy and viable environment.

"The supreme court is rejecting the appeal," Chief Justice Toril Marie Oeie said as she announced the verdict on Tuesday.

The Nature and Youth advocacy group denounced the ruling in a tweet: "This means today's youth lacks fundamental legal protection from environmental damage jeopardizing our future... This is shocking and we are furious."

Norway 'must be held accountable'

The verdict upheld rulings made by two lower courts, dismissing the arguments by Greenpeace and the Nature and Youth group that a 2015-2016 oil licensing round giving awards to Equinor and others had violated the constitution.

The environmental groups sued the Norwegian state in 2016, saying the "Norwegian government must be held accountable." The Grandparents Climate Campaign and Friends of the Earth Norway subsequently joined the case

Watch video 26:06  Beneath the waves

The groups also argued that new oil activities in the region would be contrary to the 2015 Paris climate accord, which seeks to limit average global warming to under 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Curbing emissions

Norway is western Europe's top oil and gas producer with a daily output of around 4 million barrels of oil equivalent. That has enabled the country to amass the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund valued at more than $1 trillion.

The oil and gas industry is also the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2), which has been linked to dangerous climate warming.

The environmental groups launched the lawsuit as part of an emerging branch of environmental law around the world, where plaintiffs seek to use a country's founding principles to make the case for cutting emissions.

In the Netherlands last year, the Dutch supreme court supported a case led by environmental group Urgenda aimed at forcing the Dutch government to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

mvb/rt (dpa, Reuters, AFP)

Doggerland: How did the Atlantis of the North Sea sink?

For a long time, scientists believed that a powerful tsunami destroyed Doggerland 8,200 years ago. Sediment analysis now suggests that the land once connecting Great Britain with the rest of Europe had a later demise.

Latest research indicates that Doggerland did not completely vanish in one tsunami

Around 10,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, the sea level in northern Europe was still about 60 meters (197 feet) below what it is today. The British Isles and the European mainland formed a continuous landmass.

Relatively large rivers crossed this landmass, but in a different way than we know today. The Elbe, for example, flowed into a large inland lake. The Rhine flowed from east to west over long distances. Before it reached the sea at the latitude of Brittany, the Thames flowed into it.


Where the North Sea is today, there were fertile meadows and forests through which hunter-gatherers roamed. The coast ran about 300 kilometers (186 miles) further north along an area of about 30,000 square kilometers (11,580 square miles) that received the name of "Doggerland" in the 1990s, called after a sandbank now located in the region.
First finds in nets

We do not yet know much about life on this sunken tract of land. Every now and then, fishermen have found mammoth teeth and bones of now-extinct land animals, such as aurochs, in their nets.

In 1931, fishermen discovered a 21.6-centimeter-long (8.5-inch-long) prehistoric harpoon made of bone with ornate decorations in their trawl nets, which has been dated to 11,740 BC. In 1988, a stone disc ax from the Mesolithic was recovered. For a long time, however, Doggerland remained a seeming myth.

Systematic mapping of the seafloor

It is only in the last 20 years that researchers from the UK in particular have been using special ships to systematically examine the seabed for traces. Most of the investigations focus on the area of Brown Bank, also known as Brown Ridge, a shoal about 30 kilometers long between the UK and the Netherlands. Today, the sea there is between 18 and 20 meters deep.

The scientists are compiling geophysical data and analyzing cores from the sediment layers there. Using artificially generated seismic waves, archaeologists at the University of Bradford have been able to map the geological makeup of the seabed fairly accurately.
Paradisiacal conditions

In the sedimentary layers, they have found the genetic material of animals and plants, which suggests there were extensive mixed forests and sprawling hilly landscapes with wild cattle and pigs, reindeer and other mammals — ideal conditions for the Stone Age hunter-gatherers.

Many of today's Halligen, or small islands without protective dikes, in the North Sea also barely peek out of the water

However, this fertile land became smaller and smaller over time, because with the end of the ice age, the sea level rose — by 35 meters in two millennia, or almost 2 centimeters per year. Gradually, only the higher parts of Doggerland still rose out of the sea. But the remaining island was still about as large as today's Wales, with an area of some 23,000 square kilometers.

Deadly monster waves

An apocalyptic catastrophe far off the Norwegian coast put an end to the shrinking island. About 8,200 years ago, huge parts of the continental slope broke off in the sea far below the surface in several phases during the so-called "Storegga Slides". Over a stretch of about 290 kilometers, an estimated 3,500 cubic kilometers of rock and debris plunged into the water's depths.
The resulting tsunami, at least 10 to 12 meters high, raced across the sea. On the Shetland Islands north of Scotland, sediment data have indicated a tidal wave that was more than 20 meters high. Even in England, the effects of this wave can still be traced 40 kilometers from the present-day coast.

Destroyed, but not sunk

For a long time, scientists assumed that a tsunami of this kind also caused the Dogger Bank, which was still protruding from the sea, to sink completely. According to a study by researchers at the University of Bradford, however, there was no single, all-destroying tsunami.



Rather, by examining sediments, the researchers were able to prove that only the northern part of Doggerland was submerged after the tsunami and that the destructive force of its floods was probably slowed down by hills or forests on the island.

New life after the flood

It is true that large parts of the forests were destroyed, that people and animals perished in the floods, that the seawater salinized the soils and that, in many places, only marshlands were left behind.

However, after the water receded, the flooded area recovered over the years, as is demonstrated by the fact that evidence of plants and animals can be found again in the sediment layers above the disrupted tsunami layer.

The rocks of Helgoland may be the last visible remains of the former Doggerland

So life probably continued on the Dogger Bank for some centuries after the tsunami,.

It was not until 700 years after the Storegga landslides — around 5500 BC — that the sea level rose so much that the North Sea engulfed the rest of the Dogger Bank. At that point, the island was completely submerged, and all traces of it vanished into the waves of the rough North Sea.

Does Haaland pick show Biden commitment to public lands fracking ban?

While Joe Biden was certainly not the climate movement's first pick during the Democratic primary, his position on ending fossil fuel drilling on public lands was crystal clear: "No more drilling on federal lands, period. Period, period, period." Biden has the power to act on this as soon as he takes office in January, and now that he has chosen an Interior secretary who supports this goal, it will be the first test of his climate commitment.

© Getty Does Haaland pick show Biden commitment to public lands fracking ban?

While much of his domestic policy agenda rests on Congress, Biden does not need to corral the slim Democratic majority to pass a bill that would please the Senate. He has the executive power to require the federal agencies that manage our public lands to prioritize protecting our air and water and slashing greenhouse gas emissions that are creating climate catastrophe.

This would be a substantial and necessary shift from the profoundly destructive practices of the Trump era. On his way out of his town, Trump has been conducting a federal lands fire sale, handing the fossil fuel industry land that belongs to all of us - including a frantic, legally dubious scheme to auction drilling rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge right before Biden is inaugurated. This was shocking, the Trump years have seen a massive rush to lease public land for oil and gas drilling.

That's one reason why a halt to new oil and gas leases on public lands would be a substantial first step for Biden. Another reason is simple climate math: Almost a quarter of our country's total greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel activities occur on public lands. Any serious plan to slash emissions must start on public land.

While there will be pressure to get Biden to keep his word, some lawmakers will likely push a less ambitious approach. Last year, Democrats pitched a 'net zero' public lands bill. That benchmark is suddenly popular with major corporations too; even oil companies are patting themselves on the back for setting 'net zero' goals. The problem is that it is mostly an illusion; net zero creates loopholes for fracking companies to continue business-as-usual, while claiming that climate-destroying emissions from new drilling are 'offset' by improved land use practices, carbon capture technologies or unrelated renewable energy projects.

This is a familiar type of climate accounting scheme, where the existence of beneficial and necessary projects are used as cover for continued fossil fuel extraction. Drilling companies are more than happy to find creative ways to portray new fracking wells as a win for the climate simply because a solar array is being built somewhere else.

The policy choice is Biden's to make, but his choice of Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) as his next Interior secretary sends an unmistakably strong signal. As she put it recently, "If I had my way, it'd be great to stop all gas and oil leasing on federal and public lands because those lands belong to all of us."

When it comes to creating climate policies that actually make a difference, our guiding principle should be simple: We must do everything we can to immediately and substantially restrict the supply of fossil fuels. That means no more drilling, no more pipelines, and no more fossil fuel power plants. Anything less than that represents a failure of ambition.

We can - and must - commit to this strategy everywhere, sooner rather than later. There is no easier place to start than on public lands. This policy shift must be combined with a federal government commitment to provide financial support for states like New Mexico, whose budget is heavily dependent on fossil fuel revenue. Relying on dirty energy development to pay for public schools creates terrible incentives to continue oil and gas drilling forever. It is time to end these fossil fuel Faustian bargains.

Navigating the path to meaningful climate action will be treacherous, and at all points there will be pressure to accept less-than-ideal policies for the sake of politically expediency. But bipartisan compromise will not deliver climate justice. The Biden administration has the opportunity to deliver on a key promise with an ironclad ban on fracking and fossil fuel development on public lands.

Wenonah Hauter is the executive diretor of the national advocacy group Food & Water Watch.

BACKGROUNDER

Kashmir elections: A rebuff to Narendra Modi's government?

The victory in local elections of a coalition of parties opposed to New Delhi's policies in Kashmir is being seen in the region as a wakeup call for the Indian government.

Activists of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference party listen to their party chief during a meeting held a day after the local elections in the region


The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an amalgam of seven political parties that is pro-India but favors self-governance in Kashmir, won 112 out of a total of 280 seats in District Development Council elections, which were held in a staggered eight-phase process from November 28 through December 19.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 74 seats. Independent candidates won 49 seats.

The BJP has a very small base in the Kashmir Valley, the heart of the decades-old anti-India insurgency, where it got only three seats. Most of the other BJP seats come from four Hindu-majority districts in the Jammu area where it has significant support.

Over 51% of nearly 6 million eligible voters across the region's 20 districts cast their ballots, the Election Commission said, calling the vote "the biggest festival of democracy." Results for a few remaining seats will be announced later.

"This election was dominated by an ideological battle rather than local issues. It is a resounding rejection of all that New Delhi has purportedly done in Jammu and Kashmir this time," Nissar Ahmad Sheikh, an independent candidate, told DW.

Watch video 11:28  How India reshaped Kashmir by revoking Article 370

First vote after contentious status change

The vote was the first democratic political exercise in the region after Modi's administration revoked its special constitutional status in August 2019 and split the area into two union territories directly governed by the federal government in New Delhi. The government also removed protections for locals when it comes to land acquisition and jobs in Kashmir.

The election for local bodies is part of a process in which residents directly elect their village representatives, who then vote to form development councils for clusters of villages. Members for the larger District Development Councils are also directly elected but they have no legislative powers and are only responsible for economic development and public welfare.

Many of the BJP opponents in the alliance accused the government of preventing them from campaigning and detaining some of them. Officials have denied the allegations.

Modi's party flew some of its top national leaders and cabinet ministers to the troubled region and organized dozens of rallies to bolster its campaigning and broaden its base mainly in the Kashmir Valley. The BJP declared the results as a referendum in favor of its August 2019 changes.

A rejection of Delhi's move

Some regional politicians and observers say the results of the vote signaled rejection of New Delhi's constitutional changes in Kashmir and a rebuff to the Modi government, which has labeled the PAGD alliance a "gang" and its leaders "anti-nationals" and "looters."

"The verdict is an important development. We are fighting a democratic battle to undo New Delhi's August 5, 2019, measures. The people have now spoken and it's for those who believe in democracy to pay heed to these voices," Omar Abdullah, Kashmir's former top elected official and an alliance leader, told DW. Abdullah's National Conference party managed to secure 67 seats.

Mehbooba Mufti, the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, said the results made it clear that the people have voted for the Gupkar alliance and rejected New Delhi's "unconstitutional" decision to revoke the region's special status.

Calling the victory "hard earned," Mufti tweeted: "I was illegally detained thrice over the course of a fortnight. PAGD candidates were locked up in a government building while others barred from canvassing. Despite all these obstacles PAGD emerged as winner."

Srinagar-based political analyst Sheikh Hussain shared a similar view. "The PAGD alliance stood firm against the strong-arm tactics of the ruling BJP. The message sent out is loud and clear and the people have spoken," he told DW.

A win for democracy?

For its part, the BJP described the election outcome as a win for democracy and said that it had managed to significantly increase its share of the vote.

"The people of Jammu and Kashmir have spoken out against terrorism and separatism and voted in favor of democracy and nationalism," federal minister Anurag Thakur, who was actively involved in the BJP campaign, told reporters in Jammu.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and both rivals claim the region in its entirety. Rebels have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989. New Delhi accuses Pakistan of sponsoring Kashmiri militants, a charge Pakistan denies. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.


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On February 27, Pakistan's military said that it had shot down two Indian fighter jets over disputed Kashmir. A Pakistani military spokesman said the jets were shot down after they'd entered Pakistani airspace. It is the first time in history that two nuclear-armed powers have conducted air strikes against each other.
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The scrapping of the region's special status last year sparked widespread unrest, prompting Indian security forces to enforce strict curfews and curtail public movement.

PM Modi insisted that the decision was needed to halt conflict and boost economic development in Kashmir. However, many Kashmiris consider the policy to be part of a systematic campaign of minority oppression by India's Hindu nationalist government.

According to a government report, incidents of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir have declined by over 35% since the special status was scrapped.

Officials say the discriminatory and unjust state laws have either been repealed or modified and the administration listed its achievements for its concept of a "New Kashmir" to ensure social development, economic revival and employment generation.

Despite the election, locals remain pessimistic about the region's future and expect little change on the ground. They argue that surveillance and repression have increased over the past year. And the feeling of being disenfranchised by New Delhi's moves to alter the region's status without consulting them and subsequently to deny basic rights to justice, freedom of speech, access to education and the internet, has left them in despair.

It's uncertain how things will pan out in India-administered Kashmir in the coming months, but many say the outcome of the recent elections was an expression of the popular will of the people.