Low-sodium salt prevents stroke

SSaSS presented in a Hot Line Session today at ESC Congress 2021

Peer-Reviewed Publication

EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CARDIOLOGY

Sophia Antipolis, France – 29 Aug 2021:  Replacing salt with a low-sodium alternative lowers the risk of stroke in people with high blood pressure or prior stroke, according to late breaking research presented in a Hot Line session today at ESC Congress 20211 and published in the New England Journal of Medicine2.

Both elevated sodium intake and low potassium intake are associated with high blood pressure and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and premature death.3,4 Salt substitutes, which replace part of the sodium chloride in regular salt with potassium chloride, have been shown to lower blood pressure5 but their effects on heart disease, stroke, and death had been uncertain. In addition, there had been concerns about causing hyperkalaemia in people with chronic kidney disease leading to cardiac arrhythmias and sudden death.

The Salt Substitute and Stroke Study (SSaSS) compared the effect of reduced sodium salt substitute versus regular salt on stroke, cardiovascular events, mortality and clinical hyperkalaemia.6 SSaSS was an open, cluster-randomised, trial that enrolled participants between April 2014 and January 2015. Participants were adults with either previous stroke or age 60 years and above with poorly controlled blood pressure.7

The trial was conducted in 600 villages in rural areas of five provinces in China. Two counties within each province were chosen that represented the socioeconomic development level of rural counties in that province. Approximately 35 individuals were recruited from each village – for a total of 20,995 participants. Participants were cluster-randomised by village in a 1:1 ratio to provision of salt substitute or continued use of regular salt.

Participants in intervention villages were given free salt substitute (about 75% sodium chloride and 25% potassium chloride) as a replacement for regular salt and advised to use it for all cooking, seasoning and food preservation. They were also encouraged to use the salt replacement more sparingly than they previously used salt to maximise their sodium reduction. Sufficient salt substitute was provided to cover the needs of the entire household (about 20 g per person per day). Participants in control villages continued their usual habits.

The average age of participants was 65.4 years and 49.5% were female. Some 72.6% had a history of stroke and 88.4% had a history of hypertension.

During an average follow up of 4.74 years, more than 3,000 people had a stroke, more than 4,000 died and more than 5,000 had a major cardiovascular event. The risk of stroke was reduced with salt substitute compared to regular salt (29.14 versus 33.65 per 1,000 patient-years; rate ratio [RR] 0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.77–0.96; p=0.006).

Regarding secondary outcomes, major cardiovascular events (non-fatal stroke, non-fatal acute coronary syndrome, vascular death) were reduced with salt substitute (49.09 versus 56.29 per 1,000 patient-years; RR 0.87; 95% CI 0.80–0.94; p<0.001) as was total mortality (39.27 versus 44.61 per 1,000 patient-years; RR 0.88; 95% CI 0.82–0.95; p<0.001). 

Regarding safety, there was no increased risk of serious adverse events attributed to clinical hyperkalaemia with salt substitute compared to regular salt (3.35 versus 3.30 per 1,000 patient years; RR 1.04; 95% CI 0.80–1.37; p=0.76). Neither were any other risks identified.

Principal investigator Professor Bruce Neal of the George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia said: “This study provides clear evidence about an intervention that could be taken up very quickly at very low cost. A recent modelling study done for China projected that 365,000 strokes and 461,000 premature deaths could be avoided each year in China if salt substitute was proved to be effective.8 We have now showed that it is effective, and these are the benefits for China alone. Salt substitution could be used by billions more with even greater benefits.”

He added: “The trial result is particularly exciting because salt substitution is one of the few practical ways of achieving changes in the salt people eat. Other salt reduction interventions have struggled to achieve large and sustained impact.’’

‘’Importantly, salt substitute is very easy to manufacture and it is not expensive. A kilo of regular salt, which lasts for months, costs about US$1.08 in China. The price for a kilo of salt substitute is $1.62/kg,’’ he said. “It is primarily lower-income and more disadvantaged populations that add large amounts of salt during food preparation and cooking.9 This means that salt substitute has the potential to reduce health inequities related to cardiovascular disease.”

 

ENDS

 

Notes to editors

Authors: ESC Press Office
Mobile: +33 (0)7 85 31 20 36
Email: press@escardio.org

Follow us on Twitter @ESCardioNews 

The hashtag for ESC Congress 2021 is #ESCCongress.

This press release accompanies both a presentation and an ESC press conference at ESC Congress 2021. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Society of Cardiology.

Funding: The study was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (APP1164206 and APP1049417) with the study salt substitute purchased from local manufacturers in each province for years 1, 2 and 5 but provided free of charge by Jiangsu Sinokone Technology Company Limited for years 3 to 4.

Disclosures: None.

References and notes

1SSaSS: Salt Substitute and Stroke Study into the effect of salt substitutes on cardiovascular events and death

2Tian M, et al. The effect of salt substitute on cardiovascular events and death (SSaSS). N Engl J Med. 10.1056/NEJMoa2105675

3Cogswell ME, Mugavero K, Bowman BA, Frieden TR. Dietary sodium and cardiovascular disease risk--measurement matters. N Engl J Med. 2016;375:580–586.

4Aburto NJ, Hanson S, Gutierrez H, et al. Effect of increased potassium intake on cardiovascular risk factors and disease: systematic review and meta-analyses. BMJ. 2013;346:f1378.

5Greer RC, Marklund M, Anderson CAM, et al. Potassium-enriched salt substitutes as a means to lower blood pressure. Hypertension. 2020;75:266–274.

6Neal B, Tian M, Li N, et al. Rationale, design, and baseline characteristics of the Salt Substitute and Stroke Study (SSaSS)-A large-scale cluster randomized controlled trial. Am Heart J. 2017;188:109–117.

7Poorly controlled blood pressure was defined as: systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg if on blood pressure lowering medication or systolic blood pressure ≥160 mmHg if not on blood pressure lowering medication.

8Marklund M, Singh G, Greer R, et al. Estimated population wide benefits and risks in China of lowering sodium through potassium enriched salt substitution: modelling study. BMJ. 2020;369:m824.

9Bhat S, Marklund M, Henry ME, et al. A systematic review of the sources of dietary salt around the world. Adv Nutr. 2020;11:677–686.

About the European Society of Cardiology

The European Society of Cardiology brings together health care professionals from more than 150 countries, working to advance cardiovascular medicine and help people lead longer, healthier lives.

About ESC Congress 2021 - The Digital Experience

It is the world’s largest gathering of cardiovascular professionals, disseminating ground-breaking science in a new digital format. Online each day – from 27 to 30 August. Explore the scientific programme. More information is available from the ESC Press Office at press@escardio.org.

---

JOURNAL

New England Journal of Medicine

DOI

10.1056/NEJMoa2105675 

ARTICLE TITLE

Tian M, et al. The effect of salt substitute on cardiovascular events and death (SSaSS)

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

28-Aug-2021

 

Robot-assisted therapy can help treat stroke survivors, study finds

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER AT HOUSTON

 

IMAGE: RESEARCH LED BY UTHEALTH SHOWED POTENTIAL FOR THE EKSO 1.1TM EXOSKELETON TO CORRECT IMPAIRED WALKING PATTERNS ON A WEAK OR PARALYZED LEG, AND INCREASE ITS MOTOR COORDINATION. view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO COURTESY OF FANGSHI ZHU, PHD/UTHEALTH

Exoskeleton-assisted rehabilitation can be beneficial in treating stroke survivors, according to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

The study was published in the Journal of Neural Engineering.

“Stroke is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and is a major cause of serious, long-term disability worldwide,” said Fangshi Zhu, PhD, postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. “Post-stroke survivors suffer from neurological deficits and impairments that may cause several disabilities, like diminished mobility and basic activities of daily living.”

A critical step in post-stroke rehabilitation is the recovery of the gait-related motor functions caused by hemiparesis – mild or partial weakness on one side of the body – or hemiplegia – severe or complete loss of strength of paralysis. The conditions can include asymmetric step times and step length, slowed gait velocity, impaired joint and posture control, muscle weakness, abnormal muscle tone, and abnormal muscle activation patterns.

The current accepted methods of therapy can be taxing on both the patient and the therapists. According to Zhu, conventional gait rehabilitation therapies can be very labor intensive, and involve two to three therapists to guide affected limbs.

Researchers found the Ekso 1.1TM exoskeleton showed the potential to correct impaired walking patterns on a weak or paralyzed leg, and increase its motor coordination.

“We found that assistance from direct robot usage had a significant immediate impact on the stroke subjects’ lower-limb muscle synergy pattern. This demonstrated the possibility of using a powered exoskeleton to augment impaired gait and the potential for helping stroke survivors regain their normal walking ability in a long-term exoskeleton-assisted rehabilitation program,” Zhu said. “Recent advances in robot-assisted rehabilitation allow precise and automated training. Compared to conventional therapy, the use of a robot enables longer training time, more precisely controlled forces delivery in repetitive exercises, and kinematics and kinetics monitoring during training.”

Zhu and his team collected data from 11 able-bodied subjects and 10 individuals with chronic post-stroke hemiplegia or hemiparesis.

In the first phase of the study, each subject walked continuously for 3-5 minutes on a treadmill at a self-selected, comfortable speed determined in a practice walk prior to data collection. During the walk, subjects wore gravity-compensating harnesses connected to an over-head body weight suspension frame to ensure safety and eliminate a potential loss of balance.

The second stage of the study consisted of 10 to 15 sessions of exoskeleton-assisted walk training over a course of three to four weeks. In each session, patients walked over-ground with an Ekso 1.1TM exoskeleton for up to 50 minutes while guided by a physical therapist. The subjects were encouraged to walk continuously as much as possible, but short breaks were allowed.

“This study gave us some critical insight into how a powered exoskeleton affects the stroke subjects’ neuromuscular coordination during gait and demonstrated the potential to use muscle synergy as a method to evaluate the effect of the exoskeleton training,” Zhu said. “Acute and chronic hemiplegic and hemiparesis patients who suffer from severe asymmetric gait coordination, serious foot drop, and reduced joint range of movement could benefit from the Ekso assistance.”

Contributing authors from the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth include Taimoor Afzal, PhD, postdoctoral research fellow; Shuo-Hsiu Chang, PhD, PT, assistant professor; and Gerard E. Francisco, MD, professor and Wulfe Family Chair in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and chief medical officer at TIRR Memorial Hermann. Contributors from the Center for Wearable Exoskeletons, NeuroRecovery Research Center at TIRR Memorial Hermann are Marcie Kern, PT; and Erin Fowkes, PT. Jose-Luis Contreras-Vidal, PhD, from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Houston also contributed.

---

JOURNAL

Journal of Neural Engineering

ARTICLE TITLE

Effects of an exoskeleton-assisted gait training on post-stroke lower-limb muscle coordination

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

4-Jun-2021

Flu jab after heart attack should become standard care

IAMI trial presented in a Hot Line Session today at ESC Congress 2021

Reports and Proceedings

EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CARDIOLOGY

Sophia Antipolis, France – 30 Aug 2021:  Influenza vaccination reduces the risk of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, or stent thrombosis at 12 months in hospitalised patients with myocardial infarction or high-risk coronary disease, according to late breaking research presented in a Hot Line session today at ESC Congress 2021.1

During influenza epidemics more people die from cardiovascular causes than during non-epidemic periods.2 Observational studies have suggested a protective effect from influenza vaccination on cardiovascular events, and single-centre randomised trials have supported these findings.3-5 Influenza vaccination is recommended for patients with heart disease6,7 but is not part of standard hospital care following an acute myocardial infarction.

The IAMI trial was the largest randomised trial to date to evaluate whether influenza vaccination improves outcomes following myocardial infarction or percutaneous coronary intervention in high-risk patients with coronary artery disease. The trial was conducted at 30 hospitals in eight countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Latvia, the UK, Czech Republic, Bangladesh and Australia) over four influenza seasons spanning October 2016 through February 2020.

Participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either the influenza vaccine or placebo within 72 hours of an invasive coronary procedure or hospitalisation. The primary endpoint was a composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, or stent thrombosis at 12 months. A hierarchical testing strategy was used for the key secondary outcomes of all-cause death, cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and stent thrombosis.

The trial was halted prematurely on 7 April 2020 by the data safety and monitoring board due to the COVID-19 pandemic after the enrolment of 2,571 patients (58% of the target). The average age of participants was 60 years and 18% were women.

The primary composite endpoint occurred in 67 patients (5.3%) in the vaccine group and 91 (7.2%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio [HR] 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.52–0.99; p=0.040). Regarding secondary endpoints, death from any cause occurred in 37 patients (2.9%) in the vaccine group and 61 (4.9%) in the placebo group (HR 0.59; 95% CI 0.39–0.89, p=0.010). Rates of cardiovascular death were 2.7% and 4.5%, respectively (HR 0.59; 95% CI 0.39–0.90, p=0.014). There was no difference between groups in the rate of myocardial infarction, which occurred in 25 (2.0%) and 29 (2.4%) patients in the vaccine and placebo groups, respectively (HR 0.86; 95% CI 0.50–1.46; p=0.57).

Serious adverse events were rare and of similar type and incidence in both groups. injection site reactions like pain, redness, swelling, and hardening were reported significantly more often in patients assigned to influenza vaccine.

Principal investigator Professor Ole Fröbert of Örebro University, Sweden said: “The IAMI trial found that in patients with myocardial infarction or high-risk coronary disease, early influenza vaccination resulted in a lower risk of the composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction or stent thrombosis at 12 months compared with placebo. Our findings suggest that influenza vaccination should be considered as part of in-hospital treatment after myocardial infarction.”

 

ENDS

 

Notes to editors

Authors: ESC Press Office
Mobile: +33 (0)7 85 31 20 36
Email: press@escardio.org

Follow us on Twitter @ESCardioNews 

The hashtag for ESC Congress 2021 is #ESCCongress.

This press release accompanies both a presentation and an ESC press conference at ESC Congress 2021. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Society of Cardiology.

Funding: Funded by a grant from the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation (project number 20150284), the Danish Heart Foundation (grant number 16-R107-A6596–22958), ALF Grants, and Nyckelfonden, Region Örebro, Sweden and by an unrestricted grant from Sanofi Pasteur, Lyon, France, who also provided the study vaccine. The authors are solely responsible for the design and implementation of this study, all study analyses, the drafting and editing of the paper, and its final content.

Disclosures: OF received an unrestricted grant from Sanofi Pasteur to conduct the study.

References and notes

1IAMI: Influenza Vaccination after Myocardial Infarction randomised trial.

2Collins SD. Excess mortality from causes other than influenza and pneumonia during influenza epidemic. Public Health Rep. 1932;47:2159–2179.

3Gurfinkel EP, Leon de la Fuente R, Mendiz O, et al. Flu vaccination in acute coronary syndromes and planned percutaneous coronary interventions (FLUVACS) Study. Eur Heart J. 2004;25:25–31.

4Ciszewski A, Bilinska ZT, Brydak LB, et al. Influenza vaccination in secondary prevention from coronary ischaemic events in coronary artery disease: FLUCAD study. Eur Heart J. 2008;29:1350–1358.

5Phrommintikul A, Kuanprasert S, Wongcharoen W, et al. Influenza vaccination reduces cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndrome. Eur Heart J. 2011;32:1730–1735.

6Knuuti J, Wijns W, Saraste A, et al. 2019 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of chronic coronary syndromes. Eur Heart J. 2020;41:407–477.

7Davis MM, Taubert K, Benin AL, et al. Influenza vaccination as secondary prevention for cardiovascular disease: a science advisory from the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2006;48:1498–1502.

About the European Society of Cardiology

The European Society of Cardiology brings together health care professionals from more than 150 countries, working to advance cardiovascular medicine and help people lead longer, healthier lives.

About ESC Congress 2021 - The Digital Experience

It is the world’s largest gathering of cardiovascular professionals, disseminating ground-breaking science in a new digital format. Online each day – from 27 to 30 August. Explore the scientific programme. More information is available from the ESC Press Office at press@escardio.org.

IndustriALL Global Union NEWS

BANGLADESH


International Accord: tentative agreement on expanded worker safety programmes

25 August, 2021Negotiations between IndustriALL, UNI and leading textile and garment brands signatories to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh have yielded a tentative agreement that continues the parties’ legally binding commitments to workplace safety in Bangladesh and expands the programme to other countries.

The renewed agreement preserves and advances the fundamental elements that made the Accord successful, including: respect for freedom of association; shared governance between labour and brands; a high level of transparency; safety committee training and worker awareness program; and a credible, independent complaints mechanism.

Key new features of the International Accord include:
Broadening the coverage to general health and safety, rather than only fire and building safety.
A commitment to expand the work of the International Accord to at least one other country within the first two years. Feasibility studies will start immediately after signing.
A commitment to continue the health and safety programme in Bangladesh through a strong cooperation with the RMG Sustainability Council (RSC) that remains as a tripartite body with participation of unions in its board.
Expansion of the scope of the agreement to address human rights due diligence along the brands’ global supply chains.
A commitment to jointly seek to include more signatory brands.
An optional streamlined arbitration process to enforce the Accord’s terms.

Valter Sanches, IndustriALL Global Union general secretary, says:

“This International Accord is an important victory towards making the textile and garment industry safe and sustainable. The agreement maintains the legally binding provision for companies and most importantly the scope has been expanded to other countries and other provisions, encompassing general health and safety .

“Now, the textile and garment companies must show their commitment and sign the renewed International Accord. We congratulate our affiliates in the sector, especially those from Bangladesh, that have campaigned for binding commitments for health and safety in the industry.”

The new agreement, called the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry (International Accord), takes effect on 1 September 2021. The current agreement, a three-month extension of the Transition Accord, expires 31 August.

The Accord was first signed in 2013 following the industrial homicide that killed over 1’100 workers with the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Workers at General Motors' Silao plant secure historic win

23 August, 2021On 17 and 18 August, workers at the General Motors (GM) plant in Silao, Mexico, voted against the current collective bargaining agreement, which since 2008 has been controlled by Tereso Medina, general secretary of the Miguel Trujillo López union, affiliated to the business-friendly Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM).

A total of 6,480 workers cast their ballot. There were 2,623 votes in favour of the agreement, 3,214 against, and 39 spoiled ballots. As a result, the current collective agreement will be scrapped.

Workers will not lose any of their rights, and their benefits and working conditions will remain the same until new representatives are elected.

"The union should now get to sign a new collective employment agreement,”

explained Héctor de la Cueva, general coordinator for Mexico’s centre for employment and labour relations research (CILAS), at a press conference.

The victory is unprecedented for the workers at the GM plant, which employs close to 7,000 people. The workers had reported serious irregularities in the voting process during the initial ballot in April this year and lodged the first-ever complaint under the rapid response mechanism, provided for in the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA).

To ensure a free, safe and transparent voting process, free from harassment and intimidation, the Mexican and US governments agreed to repeat the vote in the presence of independent observers from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Mexico's National Electoral Institute (INE), alongside federal work inspectors from the country's labour ministry.

Many of Mexico's democratically run unions – including the federation of independent unions in the automobile, automotive parts, aerospace and tyre industries (FESIIAAAN), the “Generando Movimiento” union, the new central union of workers (NCT) and the Los Mineros union – set up camp outside the plant to show their support for the GM workers during the voting process.

At the international level, IndustriALL Global Union affiliates in the United States and Canada, as well as the regional network of GM workers, followed this key vote closely and were very happy with the outcome.

IndustriALL Global Union's general secretary, Valter Sanches, says:

"We congratulate the brave workers at GM's Silao plant for their determination and for their victorious struggle for freedom of association. It's clear that we still have much work to do, but the workers can count on IndustriALL Global Union and our affiliates around the world. We will be by their side, helping them to secure full union freedom and dignified working conditions. The outcome of this ballot brings great hope and new prospects for workers in Mexico."

Covid-19 spreads in Myanmar’s factories

25 August, 2021Two members of Industrial Workers’ Federation of Myanmar (IWFM) have died from Covid-19 and more than 100 of factory-level union leaders have been infected, as the health protocols on handling the Covid pandemic are being largely ignored.

Since the military coup, many garment manufacturers have ignored the health protocols implemented by the previous democratically-elected government. When Covid-19 cases skyrocketed in July this year, the lack of implementation of the health protocols have led to an increasing number lot of workplace infections.

Until today, 14,499 Myanmar people have died from Covid-19 and 375,871 have been infected.

Khaing Zar, the president of IWFM, says:

“There is no concrete action to remedy the worsening situation, and we have raised this with employers and brands several times. Some employers have even collaborated with the military to identify and persecute local union leaders.

“There are no workers’ rights, no justice and no remedy. That’s why we are calling all investors to isolate the regime, cut off their resources and drive them out.”

According to the unions, Myanmar’s labour office has been largely dysfunctional since the coup in February. Many garment employers have unilaterally dismissed workers who have been absent from work over safety concerns.

There are reports of employers violating labour laws and collective agreement, with reports of workers not receiving severance pay after dismissal, and employers closing down factories without properly consulting unions and workers.

Valter Sanches, IndustriALL Global Union general secretary, says:

“We offer our sincerest condolences to the families of the two IWFM members who died from Covid-19 and condemn the junta and employers for mismanaging workers’ health and safety. We support IWFM’s call for comprehensive economic sanctions against the military junta.”

At 11.30 CET on 27 August, IndustriALL is hosting a webinar on the campaign to call for comprehensive economic sanction against the military junta in Myanmar. 

You can watch it on Facebook live.

Factory fire in Tunisia shows lack of safety measures

24 August, 2021A fire in Valeo car component factory, employing more than 1,500 workers, on 10 August, ruined the entire plant. But thanks to union intervention, half of the workforce is already back at work.

Although there were no casualties, the fire highlights the lack of safety measures and security at the worksite. The fire quickly escalated and spread to the whole factory, indicating an absence of a firefighting system and protective equipment, as well as a lack of early warning devices.

Since the fire, the factory has resumed partial activity at another site and around 700 workers have been able to go back to work.

Tahar Berberi, general secretary of IndustriALL affiliate Fédération Générale de la Métallurgie et de l'Electronique, FGME-UGTT, says:


“The Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail (UGTT) played an important role in the process as the general secretary Noureddine Taboubi met with a delegation representing Valeo’s mother company. During the meeting, management committed to pay wages and transfer workers to a temporary worksite until the factory has been rebuilt. UGTT committed to support the resumed activity and accelerate some of the procedures.”

The fire is believed to have started in an adjacent factory and spread to the Valeo after a palm tree caught fire.

Union blames employer negligence for worker’s death at Liberian rubber factory

26 August, 2021

The death of Emmanuel Joe while repairing a rubber processing machine has exposed the appalling health and safety standards in the rubber factories, says Agricultural, Agro-Processing and Industrial Workers Union of Liberia (AAIWUL) which is affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union.


Joe, a mechanic in his thirties, and an active union member for over ten years, was crushed to death on 21 August at Liberia Agriculture Company (LAC) rubber processing factory in Grand Bassa County. LAC is owned and managed by Socfin SA – a Belgian based company that is involved in commercial rubber.

According to the union, he died when the machine he was fixing was accidentally switched on.

Emmanuel Joe, the Liberian rubber factory worker who died in the accident.

AAIWUL and other unions say the LAC management’s negligence and poor health and safety standards are largely to blame for the accident that resulted in the “gruesome death.”

“The accident has caused a sense of fear and distrust among the workers. The company’s lack of safety protocols, procedures and regulations is a serious impediment to workers’ health and safety. We are calling on the ministry of labour to conduct a speedy investigation in consultation with the unions to ascertain the facts and circumstances surrounding the horrific accident. The union will not relent but do all it can to ensure a just, fair and immediate investigation is conducted, and those held responsible be made accountable,”

says Edwin Cisco, AAIWUL secretary general.

The unions say the recent accident is not an isolated case as four workers from LAC were killed in 2017 when a condensation tank exploded again due to negligence as confirmed by ministry of labour investigations.

“We received the news of the accident with shock, and urgently call for urgent meetings between the LAC, unions and government to save the lives of workers at the company. Health and safety protocols must always be followed to protect workers from injuries and death. Liberian labour laws and international labour standards state that employers have a duty to create safer workplaces,”

says Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa.

However, to improve health and safety in the rubber industry, AAIWUL is carrying out joint activities with the national federation, the Liberia Labour Congress, with support from IndustriALL. The activities include training in health and safety protocols and regulations.

Employing over 4 200 workers, and with a planted area more than 12 800 hectares, LAC’s Grand Bassa plantation is one of the oldest and largest rubber plantations. LAC operations include rubber tree tapping, latex collection and processing, and packaging of 25 000 tonnes of raw rubber which is exported. Rubber is Liberia’s main export product.

Afghanistan: the Afghan tragedy between inhuman Taliban nationalist and the barbarities of American imperialism (ICT)

We reproduce below the August 15th position of the Internationalist Communist Tendency, the same day the Taliban entered Kabul. We also invite our readers to read the second statement – in English – adopted by the ICT [1] which completes the first one. The US defeat in Afghanistan makes Biden’s America is back slogan even more urgent for US imperialism. Far from a moment towards peace, the catastrophic US and NATO military withdrawal is just another moment in the dynamic towards generalized imperialist war that the crisis of capital is accelerating each time more. The denunciation of imperialism and the conclusion that in the absence of a response of the international proletariat to the crisis of capital, imperialist rivalries and wars can only increase more and more – and with them massacres and tragedies for millions of human beings – make this document a class position that we take over. Wherever possible, and especially when it comes to defending proletarian internationalism, it is of the utmost importance that communist groups speak with one voice, if not with a united one.

Afghanistan: the Afghan tragedy between inhuman Taliban nationalism and the barbarities of American imperialism (Internationalist Communist Tendency)

The recurring popular story about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan says that Washington is tired of being the world’s policeman, having its soldiers killed in the four corners of the globe and spending trillions of dollars to finance NATO operations. Nothing could be further from the truth. The US is withdrawing, not because it has achieved its goals, as Biden says, but because they have been defeated. After 20 years of war, 2,000 deaths and $2,000 billion of military spending without obtaining the slightest imperialist advantage, they have withdrawn, leaving the field free to the Taliban on the domestic front and to China, Russia and Turkey on the international stage. Those who argue that a ’justified’ American disengagement, including the ’exit strategy’ plan from Afghanistan, is a tactical solution against China are grossly mistaken. It is true that China represents strategic objective No. 1, both for the immediate and for the future, but the Pentagon no longer has the strength it had only a few decades ago. The US economy no longer dominates the world market as it once did, its balance of payments on trade is deep into the red. The crisis of low profit rates, or the valorisation of capital invested in production, has encouraged financial speculation, and depressed the real economy, so the costs of being the world’s gendarme, or the cost of continuing to be the prime imperialist country in the universe, are starting to become unsustainable. Therefore, it is better to withdraw from dangerous areas where defeat can be the only outcome (Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan) to focus on more limited, but strategically more important, objectives such as China. This is quite different from the previous folktale. But even as the US departs, the American withdrawal from Afghanistan allows Beijing to make agreements with the Taliban: In exchange for political recognition and ’generous’ funding to rebuild Afghanistan after thirty years of war they will no longer interfere in the fight against the Uighur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang province. In addition Russian energy products now have easier access to China and India and Turkey can present itself as a negotiating power in the Central Asian area by setting up a meeting of the Taliban and their opponents in Istanbul. What will happen to the Afghan people, especially women is of no interest to Biden. Having failed to support an allied and puppet government, the American president gave the order to flee, mobilizing thousands of soldiers for this last, shameful, Afghan campaign. Even imperialisms, when they are in economic difficulty and defeated, make mistakes in their strategies or are forced to make mistakes. On the field of a proletarian class response, unfortunately there is nothing, everything is missing. That is why the Afghan tragedy oscillates between the inhuman Taliban nationalism and the barbarism of American imperialism.

Battaglia Comunista (ICT), August 15th 2021

Note[1]  http://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2021-08-24/afghanistan-the-usa-and-its-allies-retreat

 

Afghanistan: The USA and its Allies Retreat

It is almost twenty years since George W. Bush announced the invasion of Afghanistan on 7 October 2001, after the Taliban refused to hand over Osama Bin Laden, architect of the 9/11 attacks on the USA. His “address to the nation” finished with the following words:

The battle is now joined on many fronts. We will not waver; we will not tire; we will not falter; and we will not fail. Peace and freedom will prevail.

How hollow that rhetoric looks today. And how hollow the attempts to explain away this significant defeat for US imperialism…

The recurring popular story about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan says that Washington is tired of being the world’s policeman, having its soldiers killed in the four corners of the globe and spending trillions of dollars to finance NATO operations. Nothing could be further from the truth. The US is withdrawing, not because it has achieved its goals, as Biden says, but because they have been defeated. After 20 years of war, 2,000 deaths and $2,000 billion of military spending without obtaining the slightest imperialist advantage, they have withdrawn, leaving the field free to the Taliban on the domestic front and to China, Russia and Turkey on the international stage. Those who argue that a "justified" American disengagement, including the "exit strategy" plan from Afghanistan, is a tactical solution against China are grossly mistaken. It is true that China represents strategic objective No. 1, both for the immediate and for the future, but the Pentagon no longer has the strength it had only a few decades ago. The US economy no longer dominates the world market as it once did, its balance of payments on trade is deep into the red. The crisis of low profit rates, or the valorisation of capital invested in production, has encouraged financial speculation, and depressed the real economy, so the costs of being the world's gendarme, or the cost of continuing to be the prime imperialist country in the universe, are starting to become unsustainable. Therefore, it is better to withdraw from dangerous areas where defeat can be the only outcome (Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan) to focus on more limited, but strategically more important, objectives such as China. This is quite different from the previous folktale. But even as the US departs, the American withdrawal from Afghanistan allows Beijing to make agreements with the Taliban: In exchange for political recognition and "generous" funding to rebuild Afghanistan after thirty years of war they will no longer interfere in the fight against the Uighur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang province. In addition Russian energy products now have easier access to China and India and Turkey can present itself as a negotiating power in the Central Asian area by setting up a meeting of the Taliban and their opponents in Istanbul. What will happen to the Afghan people, especially women is of no interest to Biden. Having failed to support an allied and puppet government, the American president gave the order to flee, mobilising thousands of soldiers for this last, shameful, Afghan campaign.

Afghanistan - La Tragedia Afgana Tra L’inumano Nazionalismo Talebano E La Barbarie Dell’imperialismo Americano

So wrote our Italian comrades of Battaglia Comunista just before the fall of Kabul. Needless to say we are in complete agreement. Our aim here is to give an update amidst all the commentary and propaganda that has floated about since. The media, especially in the US, have been emphasising Biden’s role. Trump has not been slow to make propaganda over the chaos at Kabul airport to attack Biden’s competence, but this is a diversion from the main story. As we indicated over ten years ago in our article Afghanistan – Graveyard of Imperialist Ambition, the project “Operation Enduring Freedom” was already finished (Obama announced it was over in 2014 because it was clearly failing). By then it was already clear that the US invasion had only given birth to a series of corrupt governments made up of stitched together tribal factions. They have been busily enriching themselves on the money that is supposed to have been going to Afghanistan to build up its army to resist the Taliban. The Taliban is now having a fine old time posting videos of the interiors of their luxury houses (the owners having fled) on the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif, Kabul, and other cities. Of more material significance is the fact that this corruption grossly overstated the size of the Afghan army, as officials claimed the pay for around 100,000 so-called “ghost soldiers” who did not exist.

This is not a repeat of the exit from Saigon in 1975. At that time the US military had already left the country two years earlier. This retreat is far more desperate and historically significant. The US military were not due to completely exit the country until the end of this month, yet they have been overwhelmed and surprised by the speed of the Taliban takeover. However, for all his current diversionary bluster, the road to this second ignominious failure of the US to prop up an ailing puppet regime began with Trump. Not only did the Trump administration release many Taliban prisoners in 2018 (like Abdul Ghani Baradur, one of the four founding members of the Taliban who had been held since 2010) but they did so precisely to facilitate a “deal” with them. This came in the form of the Doha (Qatar) accord signed between the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (aka the Taliban) headed by Mullah Abdul Hakeem and Abdul Ghani Baradur in February 2020. It had three essential terms. We reproduce them verbatim below:

1. The United States is committed to withdraw from Afghanistan all military forces of the United States, its allies, and Coalition partners, including all non-diplomatic civilian personnel, private security contractors, trainers, advisors, and supporting services personnel within fourteen months following announcement of this agreement.
2. The United States and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban seek positive relations with each other and expect that the relations between the United States and the new post-settlement Afghan Islamic government as determined by the intra-Afghan dialogue and negotiations will be positive.
3. The United States will seek economic cooperation for reconstruction with the new post-settlement Afghan Islamic government as determined by the intra-Afghan dialogue and negotiations, and will not intervene in its internal affairs.

It is clear that this is not only a surrender of any US right to have a say in the affairs of Afghanistan, but even abandons any idea that the then Kabul government of President Ghani would play much, if any part, in the post-US Afghan settlement. It was a blank cheque for the Taliban to take over, since all the other terms are just based on wishful thinking. Biden and Trump actually agreed that the US should stop fighting “forever wars”, and thus Biden happily followed the policy of the previous administration. He actually hung on in Afghanistan two months longer than this agreement specified, but the manner of the departure has been almost predictably incompetent. US forces held their Afghan allies in such contempt that they abandoned Bagram airbase without a word of warning. By the time Afghan government forces arrived there, the place had already been looted, and the Taliban inherited some powerful and sophisticated weaponry there and elsewhere.

The Taliban, on the other hand, had used the last eighteen months since the deal was signed in Qatar to prepare the ground for a takeover which would be done by local negotiation, with as little fighting as possible. An Afghan army, deserted by its main ally, was left to fight, and die, for a corrupt regime (which made little attempt to draw in the various tribal warlords who had held off the Taliban in the past but who President Ghani held in contempt). They were being asked to uphold an agreement which gave them no future, and thus simply melted away. There was nothing to fight for.

As far as Afghanistan itself is concerned, the main speculation is over the fate of those who oppose Taliban rule and the future of women and “minorities” like the Shia Hazara, whose leading citizens have been regularly murdered in both Afghanistan and Pakistan for two decades by the Taliban and other Salafists. The Taliban are dominated by Pashtun-speakers but Pashtun is spoken by just under half of the population, and before 2001 the Taliban never had full control of the whole country (as if anyone in Afghan history ever had). It seems they have been taking a more astute PR stance than they did the last time they ruled in Kabul. They claim that amnesties will be on offer for former foes, call on government officials to resume their posts and declare that women will have rights (ominously qualified as “those which comply with Islamic law and local customs”). Facts on the ground suggest that these are just empty words intended only for the world’s press. Taliban leaders have ordered the arrest of known opponents in the media and government, and Taliban fighters have been going door to door to find them. When they find they have escaped they kill their relatives. Village girls have already been forced into “marriage” with Taliban fighters and some women have already been lashed for simply being outdoors.

However, before we lament this impending humanitarian disaster, we should also remember what has gone on over the last 20 years. In the name of “democracy and freedom” (aka the imperialist interests of the US and its NATO allies):

About 241,000 people have been killed in the Afghanistan and Pakistan war zone since 2001. More than 71,000 of those killed have been civilians.⁽¹⁾

42,000 civilians died in 2019 alone⁽²⁾ making Afghanistan the deadliest conflict in the world. The report just quoted from the Watson Institute at Brown University in the US concluded that the massive increase in civilian casualties was mainly due to a relaxation of US rules of engagement for airstrikes in Afghanistan in 2017 (although Improvised Explosive Devices planted by the Taliban and other Salafists also played their part). At the same time they found that:

The CIA has armed and funded Afghan militia groups who have been implicated in grave human rights abuses and killings of civilians.

This included the Afghan Local Police:

a 30,000-strong pro-government militia mobilised by the US – [which] murdered civilians, committed fraud and engaged in theft, rape, kidnapping, drug trafficking and extortion.⁽³⁾

Amnesty International details an even grimmer picture in its Afghanistan 2020 report. Whilst about half of civilian deaths can be attributed to the Taliban and others Islamic extremist groups life for most Afghans has deteriorated over the last two decades:

Children continued to be recruited for combat, particularly by armed groups and the Afghan security forces – pro-government militias and local police – and faced multiple abuses, including sexual abuse. Afghanistan continued to be ...“one of the deadliest countries in the world for children”, with both pro-government and anti-government forces responsible for more than 700 child casualties each. In October, First Vice-President Amrullah Saleh announced ordering the arrest of an individual who reported civilian casualties in an Afghan government air strike on a school, which had killed 12 children. Later, the Takhar provincial governor’s spokesperson reported that he was removed from his position for reporting on child civilian causalities caused by the Afghan security forces.⁽⁴⁾

The Report goes on:

Despite the sexual abuse of children being well-publicized, and the abusive practice of “bacha bazi” (male children being sexually abused by older men) being criminalized in 2018, the authorities made little effort to end impunity and hold perpetrators accountable.

And it is not just the Taliban who repress women. Whilst the “progressive” international face of the Afghan Government is based on the 60 or so seats reserved for women in parliament in practice, "the few women in government faced intimidation, harassment and discrimination. They were not able to access office resources on equitable terms with male colleagues and were often denied overtime work and payment."

2 million girls still do not go to school, whilst the Taliban is not the only force attacking those fighting for women’s rights:

Human rights defenders continued to come under attack, facing intimidation, violence and killings. In March, government officials in Helmand province physically assaulted human rights defenders who had alleged corruption. They needed hospital treatment for their injuries. In May, Mohammad Ibrahim Ebrat, a facilitator of the Civil Society Joint Working Group, was attacked and wounded by unknown gunmen in Zabul province. He subsequently died of his injuries. In June, two staff members of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Fatima Khalil and Jawad Folad, were killed in an attack on their car in Kabul.

Overall the war has left Afghanistan "contaminated with unexploded ordnance, which kills and injures tens of thousands of Afghans, especially children, as they travel and go about their daily chores." And it has also "exacerbated the effects of poverty, malnutrition, poor sanitation, lack of access to health care, and environmental degradation on Afghans’ health."⁽⁵⁾

So much for the benefits of “freedom” the West promised. With the Taliban now calling the shots this situation won’t change for the better, and most of those clinging on to the undercarriages of US transport planes at Kabul Airport know that, and more. The fact that the US and NATO states cannot even guarantee the safety of those they employed is perhaps the most shameful coda to a disastrous imperialist adventure. They are not the first imperialists to discover that Afghanistan is the graveyard of their ambitions.

As long ago as 1857 Engels wrote about the difficulties the British had in establishing control in the First Afghan War (1839-42).⁽⁶⁾ Leonid Brezhnev should have read his work before committing to the Red Army occupation of the country (1979-89), an event which both underlined and accelerated the decline of the USSR as an imperialist force. The irony is that it was US financial and military assistance via Pakistan’s military intelligence, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), to the mujihadeen to destroy Russian control that eventually paved the way for the rise of the Taliban (just as the overthrow of Saddam Hussein led to the birth of the Sunni resistance which came to be the backbone of Daesh or ISIS). The added contradiction was that the Taliban arose from the madrassas of Pakistan which by that time were also under the influence of Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabist version of Islam. Saudi Arabia armed, and even supplied reinforcements, to the Taliban in the civil war that followed the Soviet Union’s departure. Most of the 9/11 suicide bombers were (like Osama bin Laden himself) Saudi citizens, but the US had signed a Faustian pact with Saudi Arabia in 1945 (oil for US security) and so their part was downplayed. Despite this, and many other tensions, this alliance of convenience survives. Oil is less important to the US than it was as once again it is self-sufficient if it needs to be. The cement of the Saudi-US relationship is now the common fight against Iran.

Which brings us to the significance of the latest imperialist débacle of the US and its NATO allies. Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, has made no secret of his glee at events in Afghanistan. Afghans, he said, had “broken the shackles of slavery”. Imran Khan is a puppet of the Pakistan army and it is no secret that not only did the Taliban find shelter and could do business in Pakistan but its ISI has been channeling money to the Taliban (that they originally got from the CIA). Hamid Gul, a former ISI chief, even announced on television in 2014: "When history is written, it will be stated that the ISI defeated the Soviet Union in Afghanistan with the help of America, Then there will be another sentence. The ISI, with the help of America, defeated America."⁽⁷⁾ More significantly for the future imperialist line up, Khan openly declared that Pakistan’s affiliation with China was stronger since the USA was now so allied to Modi’s India (which had grown in influence in Kabul during the Ghani government). The struggle in Central Asia thus looks more likely to spread, given India’s ongoing border disputes in Kashmir and the Himalayas with both Pakistan and China. And all of these states are nuclear powers.

Iran’s position is more ambiguous. Its leaders delight in the latest humiliation of the USA, but the Taliban’s intolerance of Shia Muslims has led to thousands fleeing to Iran, thus putting pressure on an already desperate economic crisis. Last year Iran returned 700,000 refugees to Afghanistan, but as it is now part of the Chinese Belt and Road strategy, given the 25 years treaty it recently signed with China⁽⁸⁾ it may have some cards to play with the Taliban. This is all the more likely since the Afghan Central Bank’s funds are lodged in New York. These (and the possibility of withholding IMF finance) remain the last levers for the US with the Taliban. The latter therefore, at least in the short term, will need financial support from somewhere, and the most likely place is China. As our comrades state above, the quid pro quo will be that the Taliban remain silent about the treatment of their Uyghur co-religionists in Xinjiang. China has been eyeing the lithium, copper and other mineral resources like rare earths in Afghanistan for nearly two decades and have the means to extract them. These are said to exist in abundance and would boost both their military and industrial capacity, but for the Taliban the returns on these are likely to take a while to arrive. However the development of a Chinese axis across Eurasia is now more likely than ever before. One indication of this is that Pakistan, China and Russia are the only states to retain embassies in Kabul since the Taliban took over.

For the US the disaster is compounded by the fact that they barely consulted their NATO allies before announcing the date of their departure from Afghanistan. The other powers, like Britain and Germany, were thus exposed as being entirely dependent on the USA, and had no choice but to go with them. After four years of Trump, in which “America First” meant their allies were last, a great deal of damage was done to the “Western alliance”. Biden arrived in the Oval office announcing an end to this, and that “America is back”, but his actions in Afghanistan have done little to convince allies that this is the case. In the light of the way the imperialist line-ups are developing the last thing the US needs are dissensions on its own side.

Meanwhile China has used the pandemic to build up its missile technology and, during the week the Taliban took over, deliberately flew fighter jets into Taiwan’s air space: just the latest in a series of provocative actions, but one boosted by the perception of US weakness. The world, which is already full of barbaric conflicts, has thus become a more dangerous place. The working class everywhere will be its victims as long as they are divided, and disorganised. Workers, as Marx pointed out, have no country. They have no property to fight for, and certainly no imperialist power to support. We leave it to the various factions of the capitalist left and right to declare their support for a non-existent “anti-imperialism”. The only real anti-imperialist struggle is the working class fight to end capitalism in all its forms. Until this takes shape capitalism will carry on taking us down the long slow course to even greater conflicts. No war but the class war!

Jock

22 August 2021

Photo from: youtube.com

Notes

(1) See watson.brown.edu

(2) sipri.org

(3) theguardian.com

(4) amnesty.org

(5) This and the preceding quote also from: watson.brown.edu

(6) See marxists.org. What is striking about Engels' account is the number of similarities between that invasion and later ones. Writing in 1857 he noted that “the Afghans are divided into clans, over which the various chiefs exercise a sort of feudal supremacy. Their indomitable hatred of rule, and their love of individual independence, alone prevents their becoming a powerful nation; but this very irregularity and uncertainty of action makes them dangerous neighbours, liable to be blown about by the wind of caprice, or to be stirred up by political intriguers, who artfully excite their passions”. After a Second Afghan War the British managed to get the Afghans to the Durand line, or what would become famous in history as the North West Frontier (of the British Raj), beyond which the Afghans were left to fight each other.

(7) washingtonpost.com

(8) See our recent article “China-Iran Accords, the Silk Road and Some Other Imperialist Manoeuvres” in Revolutionary Perspectives #18, Series 4. leftcom.org

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Breaking ammonia: A new catalyst to generate hydrogen from ammonia at low temperatures

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TOKYO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: - view more 

CREDIT: TOKYO TECH

The current global climate emergency and our rapidly receding energy resources have people looking out for cleaner alternatives like hydrogen fuel. When burnt in the presence of oxygen, hydrogen gas generates huge amounts of energy but none of the harmful greenhouse gases, unlike fossil fuels. Unfortunately, most of the hydrogen fuel produced today comes from natural gas or fossil fuels, which ultimately increases its carbon footprint.

Ammonia (NH3), a carbon-neutral hydrogen compound has recently garnered a lot of attention owing to its high energy density and high hydrogen storage capacity. It can be decomposed to release nitrogen and hydrogen gases. Ammonia can be easily liquified, stored, and transported, and converted into hydrogen fuel when required. However, the production of hydrogen from ammonia is a slow reaction with very high energy demands. To speed up production, metal catalysts are often used, which help reduce the overall energy consumption during hydrogen production as well.

Recent studies have found that Nickel (Ni) is a promising catalyst for splitting ammonia. Ammonia gets adsorbed on the surface of Ni catalysts, following which the bonds between nitrogen and hydrogen in ammonia are broken and they are released as individual gases. However, obtaining a good conversion of ammonia using a Ni catalyst often involves very high operating temperatures.

In a recent study published in ACS Catalysis, a team of researchers from Tokyo Tech led by Associate Professor Masaaki Kitano described a solution to overcome the issues faced by Ni-based catalysts. They developed a state-of-the-art calcium imide (CaNH)-supported Ni-catalyst that can achieve good ammonia conversion at lower operating temperatures. Dr. Kitano explains, “Our aim was to develop a highly active catalyst that would be energy efficient. Our addition of the metal imide to the catalyst system not only improved its catalytic activity but also helped us unravel the elusive working mechanism of such systems.”

The team discovered that the presence of CaNH resulted in the formation of NH2- vacancies (VNH) on the surface of the catalyst. These active species resulted in the improved catalytic performance of the Ni/CaNH at reaction temperatures that were 100°C lower than those necessary for the functioning of Ni-based catalysts. The researchers also developed computational models and conducted isotope-labeling to understand what is happening on the catalyst surface. The calculations proposed a Mars−van Krevelen mechanism that involved adsorption of ammonia onto the CaNH surface, its activation at the NH2- vacancy sites, formation of nitrogen and hydrogen gas, and finally regeneration of vacancy sites promoted by Ni nanoparticles.

The highly active and durable Ni/CaNH catalyst can be successfully deployed for the generation of hydrogen gas from ammonia. Also, the insight into the mechanism of catalysis provided by this study can be utilized to develop a new generation of catalysts. “As the whole world is working together to build a sustainable future, our research is aimed at resolving the hiccups faced on our way to a cleaner hydrogen fuel economy,” concludes Dr. Kitano.

This is a ray of hope for the world’s low carbon-emission mission!

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JOURNAL

ACS Catalysis

DOI

10.1021/acscatal.1c01934 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

ARTICLE TITLE

Ammonia Decomposition over CaNH-Supported Ni Catalysts via an NH2−-Vacancy-Mediated Mars−van Krevelen Mechanism

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

18-Aug-2021

Research reveals location and intensity of global threats to biodiversity

Peer-Reviewed Publication

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED SYSTEMS ANALYSIS

 

IMAGE: PROBABILITY OF IMPACT FOR MAMMALS view more 

CREDIT: HARFOOT ET AL., (2021) USING THE IUCN RED LIST TO MAP THREATS TO TERRESTRIAL VERTEBRATES AT GLOBAL SCALE, NATURE ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION. HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.1038/S41559-021- 01542-9

Using a novel modelling approach, new research published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution reveals the location and intensity of key threats to biodiversity on land and identifies priority areas across the world to help inform conservation decision making at national and local levels.

A team of leading researchers have produced global maps for the six main threats affecting terrestrial amphibians, birds and mammals: agriculture, hunting and trapping, logging, pollution, invasive species, and climate change. Results show that agriculture and logging are pervasive in the tropics and that hunting and trapping is the most geographically widespread threat to mammals and birds. There are sizeable continental areas in which there is more than a 50% chance that any particular amphibian, mammal or bird species is threatened by logging, hunting and trapping, agriculture, invasive species or climate change.

The world is facing a global nature crisis, yet information about the location and intensity of the threats responsible for biodiversity loss remains limited. Information on the spatial intensity of threats and how they affect species on the ground is critically important to improving and targeting conservation responses. This study presents both a first attempt to map this information and a research track to improve our understanding of how threats to biodiversity vary across the world.

Using the IUCN Red List to map threats to terrestrial vertebrates on a global scale identifies the most prevalent threat for each taxa. It finds that agriculture is the greatest threat to amphibians, being the most prevalent threat to these species across 44% of global lands. For birds and mammals, hunting and trapping is most prevalent, ranking as the highest threat across 50% of land for birds and 73% of land for mammals. Agriculture is the most prevalent threat for amphibians, mammals, and birds combined.

The research also identifies locations where threats are particularly prevalent. In Southeast Asia, particularly the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, as well as Madagascar, there is a high risk of impact from all six threats to amphibians, birds, and mammals. For amphibians, Europe stood out as a region of high threat impact due to a combination of agriculture, invasive species and pollution. Polar regions, the east coast of Australia and South Africa are mostly likely to be impacted by climate change, affecting birds in particular.

Dr. Mike Harfoot, one of the two lead authors of the paper, UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), says: “We are facing a global nature crisis, and the next ten years is a crucial window for taking decisive action to tackle biodiversity loss. Our results reveal the location and intensity of human-caused threats to nature. This information can support decision-makers at a range of levels in identifying where action to reduce these threats could yield the best results for people and planet. With further work, we will improve this information in terms of accuracy and the breadth of nature considered.”

To help guide conservation action, the authors also combined threat impact data with spatial information on biodiversity importance to create conservation risk maps that identify high priority areas for threat mitigation. These maps are one tool that can support and inform decision-making on national and other levels as appropriate. The areas identified include the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, the east coast of Australia, the dry forest of Madagascar, the Albertine Rift and East Arc Mountains in eastern Africa, the Guinean forests of West Africa, the Atlantic Forest, the Amazon basin and the Northern Andes into Panama and Costa Rica in South and Central America.

Dr. Jonas Geldmann, Assistant Professor, Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, University of Copenhagen, and co-lead author of this paper says: “These maps also reveal that priority areas for one threat rarely overlap with that of other threats, meaning that to effectively respond to the current human impact on biodiversity we need a global response.”

Dr. Piero Visconti, a study co-author who leads the Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation Research Group at IIASA, says: "Despite ubiquitous sensors and advanced technology, we still know so little

about  the exact location and intensity of some of the most important threats to species such as hunting and trapping and the presence of invasive species. On-the-ground surveys are irreplaceable to have an accurate local picture of the distribution and impacts of these threats, but they are challenging and resource-intensive, therefore difficult to do at the scale at which some conservation decisions are made. This analysis is an important first step that can help efficiently direct local assessments of specific threats to terrestrial biodiversity, and start identifying the most appropriate local solutions."

In 2022, the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity will meet in Kunming, China, and is expected to adopt a post-2020 global biodiversity framework, a new global plan for nature. The research released today helps to demonstrate the various types and geographic breadth of the threats to terrestrial species, and so the scale of the challenge for transformation that the framework must deliver if we are to conserve life on Earth.

###

Contacts:

Researcher contact

Piero Visconti
Research Group Leader
Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation Research Group
IIASA Biodiversity and natural Resources Program
visconti@iiasa.ac.at

About IIASA:

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental, economic, technological, and social change that we face in the twenty-first century. Our findings provide valuable options to policymakers to shape the future of our changing world. IIASA is independent and funded by prestigious research funding agencies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. www.iiasa.ac.at

About UNEP-WCMC:

The UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre is a world leader in biodiversity knowledge. It works with scientists and policymakers worldwide to place biodiversity at the heart of environment and development decision-making to enable enlightened choices for people and the planet. https://www.unep-wcmc.org/

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JOURNAL

Nature Ecology & Evolution

DOI

10.1038/s41559-021-01542-9 

ARTICLE TITLE

Using the IUCN Red List to map threats to terrestrial vertebrates on a global scale

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

29-Aug-2021