Countries adopt ‘Kunming Declaration’ to tackle biodiversity loss

The Kunming declaration calls for "urgent and integrated action" to transform all sectors of the global economy.

Danson Cheong
China Correspondent

BEIJING - Some 195 countries have pledged to come up with an “ambitious and transformative” plan to reverse biodiversity loss, saying “strong political momentum” was needed to meet the “defining challenge of this decade”.

The pledge was contained in the “Kunming Declaration” adopted on Wednesday (Oct 13) during the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, also known as COP15. The declaration was named after the Chinese city where COP15 is taking place.

The UN summit, the biggest global meeting on biodiversity, is taking place in two parts. The first is being held largely virtually this week because of Covid-19 pandemic-related restrictions in China. There will be a second in-person round next year when a global biodiversity agreement is expected to be finalised.

The first part of the summit is seen as essential for generating momentum toward reaching such an agreement, which has been compared to the Paris Climate Accords for biodiversity.

Announcing the adoption of the Kunming Declaration, China’s environment minister Huang Runqiu said its main purpose was to reflect “the political will of all parties and to send a strong message to the international community of our strong determination and the consensus in the field of biodiversity”.

He emphasised that it was not a binding international agreement. Tough negotiations lie ahead as countries work towards a framework to guide efforts to safeguard nature and ecosystems.

But WWF International’s director of global policy and advocacy Lin Li noted that it signalled that the aim of a future global biodiversity framework should be reversing biodiversity loss by 2030, and address unsustainable economic practices.

“It is essential for government negotiators to translate these key elements into a strong global biodiversity framework,” she said.

“With the funding gap to reverse the decline in biodiversity by 2030 estimated at more than US$700 billion (S$947 million) per year, the agreement must include adequate financing, as well as a robust implementation mechanism.”

During their virtual discussions this week those attending the summit in Kunming said the key was to ensure that targets or goals reflected in the eventual biodiversity agreement could be implemented.

Moving forward, negotiations will centre on a draft text called the “Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework”.

The current draft text spells out 21 “targets for urgent action” over the next decade.

They include protecting at least 30 per cent of land and sea areas, eliminating plastic waste in oceans and adopting sustainable practices for agriculture, aquaculture and forestry.

It also includes boosting investment in biodiversity protection to US$200 billion a year and reducing subsidies to industries that harm the environment by at least US$500 billion a year.

Countries have already missed the 2020 biodiversity targets set a decade ago in Aichi, Japan.

JPMorgan CEO Doesn’t Like Bitcoin, But Won’t Stop Doing Crypto Business

Cryptocurrency Oct 13, 2021

JPMorgan CEO Doesn’t Like Bitcoin, But Won’t Stop Doing Crypto Business


There seems to be a contradiction between JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s stance on Bitcoin and the bank’s immediate and future plans.

However, the cryptocurrency business within JPMorgan continues from strength to strength, although Dimon doesn’t smell good about bitcoins.

He admits that cryptocurrencies will endure and BTC could increase up to 10 times in the next few years.

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) CEO, Jamie Dimon, reiterated his criticism of Bitcoin, saying it is a worthless currency that will eventually be regulated by governments. The CEO of the world’s largest investment bank has also called cryptocurrencies “fool’s gold” before.

Looking at what is happening in the United States, Dimon predicted that cryptocurrencies will end up being regulated by governments.

"Whatever you think about this, the Government is going to regulate it, be it for anti-laundering [of funds] or for taxes," said the banking executive during a conference at the Institute of International Finance.

Dimon, who has wasted no time criticizing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, said: “Personally, I think that Bitcoin is worthless.” But his anti-crypto thinking hasn’t stopped his bank from increasing crypto-asset business plans.

While commenting on JPMorgan’s recent decision to create a fund for clients with more robust wealth as demand for Bitcoin and other crypto assets continues to grow, Dimon has admitted that the bank’s clients want Bitcoin.

If Customers Want Bitcoins, We Can’t Stop It

On several occasions, Dimon has compared cryptocurrencies to cigarettes. “I don’t think you should smoke cigarettes either,” he said. “Our clients are adults, they don’t agree [with me]. So, if they want to have access to buy or sell Bitcoin, we can’t custody it, but we can give them legitimate, as clean as possible access,” said the bank manager.

In contrast to Dimon’s sentiment, the price of Bitcoin on Tuesday at 9:00 AM EST stood at $57,179, which reaffirms the view that the cryptocurrency seems to have stabilized around $50,000.

While Bitcoin still remains below its April all-time high, when it hit $64,000, Bitcoin has posted its five-month high this week. It has also managed to slightly reduce the volatility seen in previous months.

Dimon Says Price of Bitcoin Could Multiply by 10

The JPMorgan CEO’s criticism of BTC has not stopped him from admitting that the price of the cryptocurrency could go up 10 times in the next five years.

Speaking to The Times of India last month, Dimon said that the rise in the price of Bitcoin would not be due to the intrinsic value of the currency but because of “speculation (which) occurs in all markets of the world, including communist countries.”

During that same interview he also said: “I am not a buyer of Bitcoins. I think if you borrow money to buy Bitcoins, you are a fool.”

He added, “I’ve always believed it’ll be made illegal someplace,” which happened recently in China. The Chinese government declared all commercial activities related to cryptocurrencies illegal.

At the same time, China is making efforts to consolidate its digital yuan project to compete with the dollar and dominate international trade. China’s regime, which sees private cryptocurrencies as a dangerous competitor to its own currency, has declared that they constitute a highly volatile and speculative form of investment.

On The Flipside


JPMorgan Chase announced in 2019 the launch of a digital currency called JPM Coin.
Then in October 2020, the bank created a new unit for blockchain projects.
In August of this year, the company decided to give its wealth management clients access to crypto-asset funds.

Why You Should Care?


China’s war on BTC and fears over its regulation affected the price of all cryptocurrencies. From May to June, the price of BTC plummeted from $59,000 to $29,000.

But, after the White House, the Federal Reserve, and the US SEC said they would not ban BTC, its price went up again.The Biden administration, however, is studying cryptocurrencies more closely and monitoring the flows of dirty money obtained through the network. The US federal government is offering up to $10,000 in reward money to those who provide information on ransomware attacks.

Despite viewing cryptocurrencies as useless assets, JPMorgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon, is of the opinion that cryptocurrencies will continue to exist.

 

Binance to halt Chinese yuan-crypto trading and restrict mainland China customers to withdrawals only

Shalini NagarajanOct. 13, 2021

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Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi

• Binance will discontinue Chinese yuan trading on December 31, it said on Wednesday.
• The crypto exchange said it would run checks to ensure users in mainland China can only make withdrawals.
• Binance says it has been blocked in China since 2017, and doesn’t engage in local exchange business.
• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.

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Binance will end the use of the Chinese yuan on its peer-to-peer platform, in the crypto exchange’s latest move to cooperate with regulators in China.

The company, which is one of the world’s largest exchanges, is set to discontinue support for the Chinese currency on December 31 this year, it said in a statement Wednesday.

Binance added that people in mainland China will be allowed to only make withdrawals, redeem, or close positions.

“At the same time, Binance will conduct an inventory of platform users,” the crypto exchange said. “If the platform finds users in mainland China, their corresponding accounts will be switched to the ‘withdrawal only’ mode.”

Relevant users will be notified of the restriction to withdrawals via email seven days before the transition.

In late September, Chinese authorities declared all crypto-related transactions illegal and banned foreign exchanges from providing services to the country’s residents. Almost immediately, Binance said it would no longer accept registrations linked to Chinese mobile phone numbers.

Chinese crypto exchange Huobi said too it would stop new user registrations by mainland customers, and retire existing accounts by the end of this year. Two other Asia-focused crypto exchanges, Matrixport and Mexc, are also following by cutting off existing users.

Beijing’s recent hostile stance against towards crypto didn’t come as a surprise, after authorities imposed their first related “ban” in 2013.

Since then, China has been attempting to choke off the digital asset sector via various restrictions that target a range of market segments. In 2017, local crypto exchanges were ordered to end operations.

A Binance spokesperson told Insider that the crypto exchange has been blocked in China since 2017 and local users haven’t been able to access its website.

“Binance does not currently hold exchange operations in China,” the spokesperson said, and added that the company takes its compliance obligations “very seriously.”

News of crypto-related bans from China has not impacted the adoption rate of cryptocurrencies, according to Freddie Williams, a sales trader at UK-based digital asset broker GlobalBlock.

“It has not prevented adoption of bitcoin and digital assets from continuing their upward trend,” Williams said.

PENTACOSTAL COLONIALISM
‘It’s not Satanism’: Zimbabwe church leaders preach vaccines
By FARAI MUTSAKAan hour ago


1 of 8

Members of an Apostolic Christian Church group gather for a prayer meeting on the outskirts of the capital Harare, Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. The Apostolic church is one of Zimbabwe's most skeptical groups when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines. Many of these Christian churches, which combine traditional beliefs with a Pentecostal doctrine, preach against modern medicine and demand followers seek healing or protection against disease through spiritual means like prayer and the use of holy water. To combat that, authorities have formed teams of campaigners who are also churchgoers to dispel misconceptions about the vaccines in their own churches.

(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

PHOTO ESSAY CLICK ABOVE

SEKE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Yvonne Binda stands in front of a church congregation, all in pristine white robes, and tells them not to believe what they’ve heard about COVID-19 vaccines.

“The vaccine is not linked to Satanism,” she says. The congregants, members of a Christian Apostolic church in the southern African nation of Zimbabwe, are unmoved. But when Binda, a vaccine campaigner and member of an Apostolic church herself, promises them soap, buckets and masks, there are enthusiastic shouts of “Amen!”

Apostolic groups that infuse traditional beliefs into a Pentecostal doctrine are among the most skeptical in Zimbabwe when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines, with an already strong mistrust of modern medicine. Many followers put faith in prayer, holy water and anointed stones to ward off disease or cure illnesses.

The congregants Binda addressed in the rural area of Seke sang about being protected by the holy spirit, but have at least acknowledged soap and masks as a defense against the coronavirus. Binda is trying to convince them to also get vaccinated — and that’s a tough sell.

Congregation leader Kudzanayi Mudzoki had to work hard to persuade his flock just to stay and listen to Binda speak about vaccines.

AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM

US archbishop says Catholic soldiers shouldn't have to get the COVID-19 vaccine, defying Pope Francis' advice
Bill Bostock

A member of the US Armed Forces administers a shot of the Pfizer vaccine at a FEMA community vaccination center in Philadelphia.

Mark Makela/Getty Images


US soldiers don't need to get vaccinated if it burdens their conscience, a US archbishop has said.

The US military said in August that all troops must be vaccinated, or apply for an exemption.

Many Catholics object to the vaccines as cells originally from an abortion were used in the development.

A US archbishop said Catholic soldiers don't have to get vaccinated against COVID-19, defying the wishes of Pope Francis.

On August 24, the Department of Defense announced that all 2.1 million US troops must be vaccinated. A number of personnel applied for exemptions on religious grounds, but several quit in protest.

Active-duty US Air Force personnel must be vaccinated by November 2, active-duty US Navy and Marine personnel by November 28, and active duty US Army personnel by December 15.

But in a statement released Tuesday, Timothy P. Broglio, the Archbishop for the Military Services, said that Catholic soldiers should not have to get vaccinated.

"No one should be forced to receive a COVID-19 vaccine if it would violate the sanctity of his or her conscience," Broglio wrote

As of October 10, hundreds of thousands of US troops remain unvaccinated, according to The Washington Post.

Opposition to the vaccine in the Catholic faith, as Broglio wrote, stems from the fact that a number used cells derived from aborted fetuses as part of their development.

No tissue related to fetal cells are present in any of the finished vaccines, and the use of cells in the development and production of medicines, including vaccines, is common in medicine.


Manufacturers and scientists use fetal cell lines — which is not the same as fetal tissue — from fetuses that were aborted decades ago and replicate for decades in laboratories.

Catholic leaders said they viewed the Pfizer and Moderna as acceptable, because the vaccines used the fetal cell lines in their development but not production.

But the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said in March that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is considered ethically questionable as the cells are used in its production.

"The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was developed, tested, and is produced, with abortion-derived cell lines. That vaccine is, therefore, more problematic," Broglio wrote.

Reuters reported that Johnson & Johnson used cells that originally came from an 18-week-old fetus that was aborted in 1985.

Broglio said it is acceptable for Catholic soldiers to pass on all vaccines, due to the issue of fetal cells.

Broglio's statement stands in stark contrast to Pope Francis' decision to urge all Catholics to get vaccinated in August. The Pope was first vaccinated in January.

Broglio said in his statement that it was important that troops who decline the vaccine embrace all "means to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 through wearing face coverings, social distancing, undergoing routine testing, [and] quarantining."

Tooth analysis suggests earliest Native Americans came from Siberia, not Japan


A new analysis of ancient teeth reveals links between early Native American populations and those of ancient Siberia and Beringia, the land bridge that once connected Russia and Alaska. Image courtesy of U.S. National Park Service

Oct. 13 (UPI) -- While theories that Indigenous Americans are descended from people who migrated north from Japan, new research suggests that the earliest inhabitants of the Americas were descended from people in Siberia and Beringia.

Stone tools at several of the earliest known archaeological sites inhabited by North America's first peoples look a lot like those used 15,000 years ago by the Jomon people, early inhabitants of Japan.

Parallels between archaeological materials on both sides of the Pacific have inspired a few archaeologists to claim at least some of North America's earliest inhabitants migrated from Japan.

New research, however, has splashed cold water on the out-of-Japan hypothesis. According to the study, the earliest Native Americans and the Jomon people were biologically and genetically dissimilar.

RELATED Scientists discover oldest link between Native Americans, ancient Siberians

The new findings, published Wednesday in the journal PaleoAmerica, relied on biological distance analysis, the study of similarities and differences between biological traits among various groups of people, ancient and modern.

Comparing ancient teeth

For the new findings, scientists measured the form and structure -- called morphology -- of thousands of teeth collected from archaeological sites in the Americas, Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands.

RELATED Ancient Polynesians, Native Americans made contact before Europeans arrived

The measurements used for the study had been collected and organized, amassed over decades, but the survey utilized a new algorithm.

"It's a program that was developed by a doctoral student in Portugal," study lead author Richard Scott told UPI.

"It is basically a Bayesian algorithm designed to calculate the probability that an individual demonstrates the morphological characteristics of one of the five geno-geographic groups -- East Asian, American Arctic, non-Arctic American, Southeast Asian and Austral-Melanesian," said Scott, a professor of anthropology at the University of Nevada-Reno.

RELATED Humans arrived in Americas earlier than thought, new Idaho artifacts suggest

The analysis showed the teeth of ancient Jomon people and those of the earliest known inhabitants of North America were not very alike. Instead, the data revealed affinities between the teeth of ancient Siberian populations and those of the Indigenous Americans

"Our work pretty much falls in line with the Beringian Standstill hypothesis," Scott said.

The Beringian Standstill theory posits that a group of people from Siberian Asia arrived in Beringia about 25,000 years ago.

Beringia is the name for the massive land bridge that connected what now is Alaska and Russia during the Last Glacial Maximum, when sea levels were significantly lower than they are today.

As the theory goes, the people of Beringia began to migrate south, populating the Americas, about 15,000 years ago.

But while the latest analysis reinforced the links between the ancient peoples of Siberia, Beringia and North America, Scott's findings also showed that the earliest Native Americans were a lot more like one another than people of Asia.

2,000 years of isolation

"The Native American samples stood alone. What seems to have happened is these populations got isolated up in Beringia and differentiated from each other for 8,000 to 10,000 years," Scott said. "All of the Americans shared a common ancestor."

Of course, the Beringian Standstill isn't the only explanation for the peopling the Americas, and teeth aren't the only biological materials available for analysis.

Supporters of the out-of-Japan hypothesis and other alternative explanations for the peopling of the Americas have sometimes used craniometric analyses, the study of skull morphologies, to support their theories. However, craniometric surveys have also produced divergent conclusions.

"Fundamentally, cranial morphology is a very complex, multifactorial character with many sources of variation, e.g., underlying genetic variation, multiple environmental sources of variation, different developmental patterns, etc.," study co-author Dennis O'Rourke, professor of anthropology at the University of Kansas, told UPI in an email.

Scott prefers the insights provided by teeth.

"Teeth are much more conservative, they don't change much over time," Scott said. "They change some, but not a lot.""The skull is getting shorter and rounder, we don't see that in teeth," he said. "I can't help but think that changes in subsistence, changes in food preparation, changes in economy have inspired significant changes in cranial morphology."

In other words, the teeth of ancestral populations are a lot more like those of their descendants than their skulls.

Scott, who calls himself a specialist -- "I'm a tooth guy" -- said that the best theories are those supported by multiple lines of evidence.

Questions remain

In the newly published paper, genomic surveys showing strong genetic links between the ancient populations of Siberia and Indigenous Americans corroborate Scott's findings.

O'Rourke and his fellow geneticists found no overlap between the maternal and paternal lineages of early Jomon and American populations.

Though the Beringian Standstill hypothesis continues to gain momentum, the theory isn't ironclad. Just last month, scientists published an analysis of ancient footprints found in New Mexico that suggested humans were in North America at least 23,000 years ago.

"There are many unresolved questions, including: When did people first arrive in the Western Hemisphere? What route did the first people take to move south beyond the ice sheets of the Last Glacial Maximum and how rapidly did they disperse into the continents?" O'Rourke said.

"None of these are particularly new and have been the focus of research for some time. New discoveries in archaeology and genomic analyses refine the way in which we continue to address such questions," he said.

Native Americans are where they are

While questions about the peopling of the Americas continue to befuddle and inspire both archaeologists and anthropologists, Scott said leaders and scholars among Native American groups are uninterested in pursuing questions about where Indigenous Americans came from.

"They all have their own origin stories," Scott said.

As far as most Native Americans are concerned, they've always been where they are.

"The peopling of the Americas is a white person's problem, because indigenous people already understand it," Charles Riggs, an anthropologist at Fort Lewis College in Colorado, told UPI.

"That's not suggest that indigenous peoples are anti-science. They appreciate being brought into the process, but they don't appreciate being told things about their past by people that have oppressed them for hundreds of years," Riggs said.

Riggs, who wasn't involved in the newly published research, said it's not correct that indigenous people are uninterested in archaeology. In fact, native groups and scholars are increasingly involved in archaeological investigations.

"But it's a very different kind of community-based archaeology, asserting their rights to land and water -- reinforcing that connection to place," Riggs said.

"I think at some point we just have to accept that questions about the peopling of the Americas are our questions and our questions alone, and you just aren't going to get buy-in."

WHAT HAPPENS TO HAIR IMPLANTS IN SPACE
Capt. Kirk’s William Shatner on cusp of blasting into space

This undated photo made available by Blue Origin in October 2021 shows, from left, Chris Boshuizen, William Shatner, Audrey Powers and Glen de Vries. Their launch scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021 will be Blue Origin’s second passenger flight, using the same capsule and rocket that Jeff Bezos used for his own trup three months earlier. (Blue Origin via AP)

VAN HORN, Texas (AP) — Actor William Shatner counted down Wednesday to his wildest role yet: riding a rocket into space, courtesy of “Star Trek” fan Jeff Bezos.

Best known for his role as Captain Kirk, the 90-year-old Shatner joined three other passengers for the planned launch from West Texas.

Bezos’ space travel company, Blue Origin, invited Shatner on the brief jaunt to the fringes of the final frontier, which will make him the oldest person in space.

It will be Blue Origin’s second passenger flight, using the same capsule and rocket that Bezos used for his own launch three months ago. The trip should last just 10 minutes, with the fully automated capsule reacing a maximum altitude of about 66 miles (106 kilometers) before parachuting back into the desert.

Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson kicked off the U.S.-based space tourism boom on July 11, riding his own rocketship to space. Bezos followed nine days later aboard his own capsule. Elon Musk stayed behind as his SpaceX company launched its first private flight last month, sending a billionaire, cancer survivor and two ticket winners into orbit.

And last week, the Russians sent an actor and film director to the International Space Station for movie-making.

“We’re just at the beginning, but how miraculous that beginning is. How extraordinary it is to be part of that beginning,” Shatner said in a Blue Origin video posted on the eve of his flight. “It looks like there’s a great deal of curiosity about this fictional character, Captain Kirk, going into space. So let’s go along with it and enjoy the ride.”

Rounding out the crew: a Blue Origin vice president and two entrepreneurs who bid unsuccessfully for a seat on the previous flight with Bezos, the founder of Amazon. Blue Origin did not divulge their ticket prices.

Bezos was at the expansive launch and landing site near Van Horn, Texas, to see the four off.

A RATEPAYERS FANTASTY COME TRUE

Bulgarian police, special agents storm energy commission over electricity price hike


By Krassen Nikolov 

| EURACTIV.bg


The energy regulator said it was fully cooperating with the investigation, which focused on electricity trading. 

Bulgarian police officers and employees of the special services (SANS) made a surprise inspection in the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC), trying to understand the reason for the high electricity prices on the energy exchange.

The energy regulator said it was fully cooperating with the investigation, which focused on electricity trading. EWRC licenses electricity and gas traders on the Bulgarian energy exchange and should investigate any signs of manipulation.

The four largest employers’ organisations in Bulgaria filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office in August over the two-fold increase in the price of electricity on the free market.

Although authorities did not take immediate action at the time, the country is now in the midst of an election campaign, and inflation is emerging as one of the primary debates in the EU’s poorest country.

On Tuesday, caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Yanev announced that the government was preparing a package of urgent measures to counter inflation, which is also due to high electricity and fuel prices. The measures are expected to be announced by the end of this week or the beginning of next week.

The PM recalled that the problem of rising fuel and electricity prices exists everywhere throughout the EU.

“We will make decisions, but this is a problem that exists all over Europe. All European politicians are worried about high electricity and are looking for non-standard solutions,” said the caretaker prime minister.

Earlier, former Prime Minister and current GERB leader Boyko Borissov attacked the caretaker cabinet for raising electricity prices. However, he resigned in February 2013 following large-scale protests across the country, which began over high electricity prices for households. In March 2013, SANS raided electricity distribution companies, but GERB was also accused of high prices.

Sep 24, 2021
(Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg)

HOW DO YOU DO THAT!

Greek state to lose majority of public electricity company

By Kostas Argyros | EURACTIV.gr

The capital share increase decided by PPC’s Board of Directors is evolving into informal privatisation, as the State, which currently holds 51% of the company’s shares, will not participate in the increase. [shutterstock/Rolf G Wackenberg]

In a surprise statement on Thursday, Greece’s Public Power Corporation (PPC) announced that it is proceeding with a €750 million capital share increase which will see the state lose its majority.

The state, which currently owns 51% of the company’s shares, will reduce its stake in a minority percentage (blocking minority), with the ultimate goal of “increasing the free dispersion in the share capital of the Company and placing individual institutional investors”.

The state’s share in the company is expected to amount to just 33%. The final approval will be given at the Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders scheduled for 19 October, which is also expected to decide on the separation of the distribution network of PPC.

According to PPC Governor G. Stassis, “the Share Capital Increase will give PCC the opportunity to complete the ambitious transformation plan launched in 2019.”

“It will also accelerate its transformation into an economically and environmentally sustainable, modern digital electricity company. With this move, PEC will be able to accelerate its investment plan in Renewable Energy Sources with the aim of significantly increasing the operating profitability of the Group,” he added.

The main opposition Syriza party reacted strongly, saying the only goal of the conservative New Democracy government is to privatise everything. “In this way, Greek society and the economy remain unprotected in the midst of an energy crisis,” Syriza said.

Sep 24, 2021
(Kostas Argyros | EURACTIV.gr)

NGOs concerned about role of big business in preparations of French EU presidency

By Mathieu Pollet | EURACTIV.fr
Oct 12, 2021

"The only debate that we are opening, and which will be conducted in a transparent manner, is to know if, on specific issues, there can be material support," the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, told Mediapart last March. [OLIVIER HOSLET/EPA]

The Observatoire des multinationales and Corporate Europe Observatory published a new report on Tuesday 12 October. They criticised the French government for working too “closely” with big business in the run-up to its rotating presidency of the EU Council.

Once again, the issue of the intrusion of private interests in the exercise of a rotating presidency of the EU Council has entered the debate as France prepares to take on this responsibility in January.

In a new report, the Observatoire des multinationales and Corporate Europe Observatory have expressed their “growing concerns” about possible conflicts of interest between public authorities and industry.

They point to the list of lobbying appointments (the “Transparency Register”) of the French Permanent Representative in Brussels and his deputy, which has been kept up to date since 1 July in accordance with EU rules.

Beyond the interlocutors as such (which include notably EDF, “active in nuclear and fossil fuels” or “the arms and aeronautics company Dassault”, the report notes), the associations are concerned about a “worrying culture of secrecy and lack of transparency”. According to them, these exchanges should be made public.

“Within the European Council, the French government has systematically resisted efforts to strengthen the transparency of lobbying. Its presence is likely to further align European policy with the interests of big business, increase collusion between governments and the private sector, and reduce the democratic responsibilities of European decision-makers,” the NGOs said.

Contacted by EURACTIV, France’s Permanent Representation to the EU denied privileging its relations with big business and said it respects Brussels’s existing rules on transparency.

“These exchanges are part of the dialogue that the French Permanent Representation maintains with all stakeholders. They are in addition to the regular contacts the French Permanent Representation has with representatives of civil society, the student world, research and think tanks,” they told EURACTIV.

The Observatoire des multinationales and Corporate Europe Observatory also accuse France of giving pride of place to think tanks that “tend to present themselves as objective and impartial” while “many” of them “are funded by big companies […] or have corporate executives” running them.

Sponsorship vs patronage

The report does not ignore the issue of “sponsorship” either, which is much debated during each rotating presidency.

NGOs blame the government for not having completely closed the door on this practice, saying that Paris favours patronage over sponsorship. “The only debate that we are opening, and which will be conducted transparently, is to know if, on specific issues, there can be material support,” the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, told Mediapart last March.

He added: “I’ll take a very concrete example: a French car manufacturer lending electric cars for an event because this is also in line with our priorities for the climate. This is the maximum we would allow ourselves, in terms of involvement of the business world.”

When contacted by EURACTIV, the secretariat general of the French EU Presidency confirmed this commitment. France will allow itself to have recourse to sponsorship, in the form of material support, on condition that this is in line with the objective of limiting or reducing the EU presidency’s carbon footprint.

A public charter should also be drawn up to regulate the practice.

“We are still the French state. You’re going to make me believe that we are not capable of organising events without corporate support. If that’s the case, it means we’re bankrupt,” MEP Manon Aubry (GUE/NGL) had told EURACTIV at the time of a previous call by the same NGOs to refuse all sponsorship for the French presidency of the EU, as Germany did in 2020.

#ECOCIDE
Bulgaria announced the sinking of the ship with toxic urea cargo


By Krassen Nikolov |

  EURACTIV.bg
Oct 12, 2021

The Turkish ship Vera Su, which hit the shore near the protected area ‘Yailata’ in the northern part of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, has been declared sunk.

 [EPA-EFE / KRASIMIR DELCHEV]

The Turkish ship Vera Su, which hit the shore near the protected area ‘Yailata’ in the northern part of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, has sunk. It has 3,000 tons of urea on board, which could cause an ecological catastrophe in the Kaliakra Nature Reserve, home to many protected seabirds and endangered marine species.

“The engine compartment of the cargo ship is flooded. There are holes in the hull of the vessel. The ship can no longer be saved, but only to take action to remove the sunken property,” said Captain Ventsislav Ivanov, executive director of the Bulgarian Maritime Administration.

Earlier in the day, the ship was inspected by divers. They found it lodged in the seabed with little chance of being able to move it.

The Bulgarian authorities hope to enter the cargo hold to remove the urea, but the operation is complicated by bad weather. Authorities expect the shipowner to announce whether he is abandoning it or will continue to operate.

The government says there is no delay in the rescue operation. Vera Su got stuck on the rocky shore on 20 September in good weather. The prosecution’s version of the accident is that the watchman fell asleep. For six days, institutions did not make any rescue attempts despite risks to the environment.

Greenpeace expressed its anger at the negligence of the Bulgarian authorities and warned about the possible irreversible consequences for the environment.

When released into the sea in high concentration, urea causes a rapid flowering of phytoplankton, which produces a toxin hazardous to marine life, including seabirds. When it accumulates, it can also endanger human life when consuming fish or seafood.

(Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg)