Exposed: How big farm lobbies undermine EU's green agriculture plan

Farmers and lobby groups are split on an EU agricultural reform that may increase farmers' incomes and consumers' prices. A DW joint report reveals a rift between farmers and the groups purporting to represent them.



An EU proposal has called for a more sustainable agriculture policy, but who will benefit from it most?

It is a long way from the farms and fields of Sezze in central Italy to the halls of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. But the decisions made at the European assembly this week can directly impact the lives of farmers like Valentina Pallavicino. Her farm southeast of Rome is the kind that is often cited by policymakers and lobbyists when seeking support for changes to Europe's complex, subsidy-heavy agricultural system.

Pallavicino, like most Europeans, does not follow every twist and turn of farming reform debated by politicians in Brussels and Strasbourg, but she does discern two central aspects of the agricultural landscape with clarity: cheap food has been a boon for big, industrial farms and many farmers support sustainable farming.

"What they ask for we already do," she says when presented with some of the key elements of a new "green" strategy for the future of European farming, known as "Farm to Fork," which aims to slash pesticide and antimicrobial use, set a threshold on food waste, and rely on renewable energy to create a sustainable food system. "We don't use antibiotics, preservatives, or chemicals," she added.


Pallavicino says she is also wary of the organized lobby organizations claiming to speak in her name. It seems obvious, she says, that the big players do not like this kind of policy because it will increase costs and "they win if prices are lower."

Although they have never met, Polish dairy farmer Alina Lis has reached the same conclusions at her 30-hectare (74-acre) farm in western Poland, where she rears 40 cows.

"I believe agriculture in Europe should be sustainable for the sake of nature and food security," Lis says.

Lis has seen the margins on her milk fall as she competes with intensive farms that rely on heavy use of chemical fertilizers and antibiotics.
Who represents EU farmers?

The battle over who represents the true voice and interests of farmers like Pallavicino and Lis, and the millions of Europeans they feed, reaches a climax this week as the European Parliament prepares for a vote on a radical new direction for farming in the EU. Any changes the legislative body introduces require approval from EU member states before taking effect.

Farmers will receive support from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget, the EU's huge farming subsidy program that has paid out more than €50 billion ($58 billion) every year since 2005. Of the funding, 80% goes to 20% of the biggest farms in the EU.

Proponents of the Farm to Fork strategy, including green groups, say it will reduce farming's share of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions while keeping food affordable. An assessment by the Commission's in-house scientists found the strategy could support farmers and cut agriculture-related emissions by 20% across the EU.

Yet, it has come under fire from the powerful agribusiness lobby that says the proposal is not scientifically viable, will push up prices for consumers and goes against the interests of EU farmers.

Documents reviewed by DW showed these groups want to get rid of specific targets for reducing the use of pesticides and fertilizers, references to health risks associated with intensive farming, requirements to increase transparency by labeling products, and the ability of member states to impose higher taxes on unsustainable products.

But the same interest groups have also been accused of abusing science, skewing media coverage and failing the farmers they claim to represent.
Big lobbies, small farmers

In a monthslong joint investigation, investigative newsroom Lighthouse Reports, DW, Follow the Money, Mediapart and Domani spoke to nearly 30 farmers, politicians, scientists, lobby groups and experts and scanned confidential communications to reveal lobbying organizations' scope and influence.

What emerges is a portrait of wealthy industrial pressure groups — from petrochemical companies and multinational meat-packing giants to pharmaceutical businesses — that have a stubborn hold over EU policy as well as critical differences with the family farmers whose welfare they say they aim to defend.

A rift has emerged within the farming community, between those who want to continue expanding an industrial farming model, which experts say is damaging the environment, and others who prefer a smaller-scale, more ecologically friendly form of agriculture.

How is EU agricultural money spent?

Most independent farmers say they welcome the price increases that would result from focusing on the environmental costs of agriculture and fair trade practices. Many also say the big lobby groups do not speak for them.

"I do not feel represented by farmer lobby groups... small farms in Poland are collapsing," said Lis.

Marcin Wojcik, who owns a 270-hectare farm in the Low Beskid mountains in Poland, agreed.

"For two years, I was vice-president of Narodowy Fundusz Promocji Mięsa Wołowego, but I resigned because I didn't relate to those people and what they do," he says. "It was more of politics. It was unclear where the money was going."

Farm to Fork a 'win-win for total society'

Farming lobby groups including Copa-Cogeca, Liaison Centre for the Meat Processing Industry in the European Union (Clitravi), European Livestock Voice, European Dairy Association and CropLife Europe have commissioned studies that attack the Farm to Fork strategy.

A study financed by the Grain Club, an alliance of German grain companies, and carried out by the University of Kiel, shows implementing the Farm to Fork plan would cause Europe's agricultural production to decrease, prices to rise and the EU to become more dependent on imports.

Copa-Cogeca has used the study to criticize the Farm to Fork strategy without mentioning that the report also shows the income and welfare of farmers, especially livestock farmers, could be significantly improved.

The study's author, scientist Christian Henning, pointed this out in an interview with DW: "The green deal is potentially a win-win situation for total society as the benefits more than compensate for losses from reduced conventional farm production."

The green deal Henning refers to is a set of proposals adopted by the European Commission on July 14 to ensure the EU's climate, energy, transport and taxation policies reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. Farm to Fork is "at the heart" of the Green Deal, the Commission has said, adding that farming is responsible for 10% of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions.

Watch video04:51 Farming in Italy is at a crossroads

Another publication commissioned by CropLife, which lobbies on behalf of pesticide manufacturers and other players in the agri-food industry, and used by Copa-Cogeca, comes from the Netherlands' Wageningen University. It concludes that if Farm to Fork is implemented, prices will rise and meat production will fall by 10% to 15% and crop production by 10% to 20%.

Jean-Baptiste Boucher, Copa-Cogeca's communications director, told DW such studies showed "many blind spots" of Farm to Fork and accused NGOs of "a deliberate attempt to trigger a media backlash" for speaking out against the strategy.

However, the research did not address "the positive impact of the Farm to Fork strategy on climate change," the proposal's main objective, admitted Johan Bremmer, an author of the Wageningen report.
Paid for Farm to Fork disinformation?

In the span of two days, the Wageningen report was presented at a conference on the media platform Euractiv, which produced sponsored content articles critical of the Farm to Fork initiative, and at a special event organized by pro-meat group European Livestock Voice.

CropLife paid for the Euractiv event. A scan of the platform's website showed that of the seven events organized by Euractiv with "Farm to Fork" in the title over the past two years, six were sponsored by the agri-food industry.

Chris Powers, communications director of Euractiv, says that while the organization was paid to host the events, Euractiv values impartial, inclusive and constructive debates.

Watch video42:36 Farming policies for sale?

Small-scale farmers left in the dark

The sustained campaign against Farm to Fork has confused small-scale farmers who were already struggling to stay profitable and are unsure whether to welcome all the proposed measures.

Dutch dairy farmer Peter Gille says low margins have made it difficult for many farmers like himself to secure their future. He has set up side businesses, including a nursery, a camping site and a restaurant, to supplement his income.

Susan Malhieu, a 29-year-old dairy farmer in Ypres, Belgium, said while some of the strategy's policies will work, environmentally friendly farming will cost money.

"I am a bit concerned this has not been addressed very well in Farm to Fork," she said. "I am fine with having environmental targets ... but to meet the targets, will the monetary help be delivered?"

Italian farmer Emanuele Pullano thinks raising awareness amongst consumers is crucial.

"We need to make people understand that they might be spending those extra two euros but buying a product that is healthy for themselves and for the environment. In this way, the price increase can be digested."

Celine VanKerschaver, 29, international representative for Grone King, the organization for young farmers in Belgium, said Farm to Fork could help the EU achieve more coherence within the food chain and improve the social and environmental aspects of farming. But politicians should listen to farmers, not just lobbies, she says.

"We want more recognition for young farmers because they are the next generation," she says. "There is a lot of talking about farmers but not with farmers."

Ahead of COP26, focus turns to climate finance

Amid dire warnings that time is quickly running out, delegates in Glasgow are set to make further binding pledges to radically reduce emissions. But without the funds to help countries adapt, they won't be much use.

Climate protesters have not let up in their demands for change

Climate experts have stressed that the upcoming UN climate conference, COP26, is the "last, best chance" for the world to come through with a plan to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) and help countries move to net-zero emissions.

Managing the green transition and heading off the worst effects of climate change won't be an easy task, neither in terms of policy, nor coming up with the necessary funds to make sure these promises have a chance of success.

"Finance is essential to accelerating the transition to net-zero and achieving the full ambition of the Paris Agreement," said Mark Carney, the COP26 finance adviser to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in the lead-up to the pivotal summit. The COP26 website lays it out in stark terms: "To achieve our climate goals, every company, every financial firm, every bank, insurer and investor will need to change."

Watch video01:43 Climate campaigners push for bolder action

How much money is needed?

Developing nations trying to transform their carbon-based economies and find ways to adapt will be looking for the world's richest nations, which are responsible for most of the global carbon dioxide emissions, to make good on an overdue promise of $100 billion (roughly €86.2 billion) a year to help them fund climate finance. And that's just the tip of the rapidly melting iceberg.

Negotiations at COP26 will be focusing on raising even more money after 2025 because $100 billion isn't nearly enough, according to Pablo Vieira, global director of the NDC Partnership, which helps countries achieve their national climate commitments.

"It needs to be considerably more. How are we going to get there if we can't deliver on the easier pledge that has been around for a long time?"

But as of 2019, the last year for which data is available, wealthy nations had yet to even meet their original goal, contributing just under $80 billion according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Estimates from the UN, World Bank and the OECD have shown it will take $6.9 trillion every year until 2030 to meet the world's climate and development objectives. And that was published in 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vieira said even though the original $100 billion isn't enough, it's still crucial that it be met because it will help developing countries unlock additional funds from other sources like international climate funds, development banks and the private sector.

"The $100 billion is almost symbolic, and even being symbolic, it's not being met," said Maria Laura Rojas, executive director of the Bogota-based environment nonprofit Transforma and part of ACT2025, a global group aiming to inform the UN climate talks. "So, you start to see how that gets really frustrating for developing countries."
Not meeting funding pledge would 'undermine trust'

"Climate finance is going to be one of the big issues [at COP26], because it's about confidence building," said Simon Wilson, head spokesperson for the Green Climate Fund (GCF). He said a failure to come through with the funding pledges would "undermine trust" in the rest of the negotiations.

"The whole idea of the Paris Agreement was to have this mutual agreement that everyone would make these commitments and ramp up their ambition over time. But to get developing countries to do that, they need to have the confidence that there will be support for them."

The Philippines, for example, is aiming for a 75% emissions cut by 2030 — but its national climate plan has said the country can only achieve about 3 percentage points of that commitment on its own. And at a meeting with international climate envoys in Johannesburg at the end of September, South Africa said it would need billions of dollars to replace its polluting coal power plants — which produce 80% of the country's power — with clean energy.

"While South Africa is committed to a just transition, we need certainty and predictability [of financing] … to accelerate this transition," said the environment department. "We do need an irrevocable agreement that we can sign at COP26 where our commitments, as all parties, are clear." As Mining and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe pointed out at a mining conference a few days later, "We are not a developed economy: We don't have all alternative sources."

Coal power plants still account for 80% of South Africa's power

"It's difficult to make those long-term plans unless you have some idea of what's going to be available to you in terms of in terms of finance," said Wilson. He said the GCF has also increasingly focused on making sure adaptation efforts in the least-developed regions in Africa, or island nations in the Pacific and Caribbean, are getting their fair share of cash. For its part, the GCF has allocated over half its funding for adaptation projects, among them sustainable agriculture in Thailand and water security for communities in Kenya.

Adaptation vs. mitigation

At an emergency summit in Milan, Italy, at the end of September, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed the need for predictable funding for developing nations, 50% of which would be earmarked for "adaptation and resilience" to the climate crisis.

"Adaptation needs are increasing every year," he said. "Developing countries already need $70 billion for adaptation, and that figure could more than quadruple to $300 billion a year by the end of this decade."

For the most part, he said, those funds should come from grants, which do not have to be paid back.

Recent data from the OECD showed that just a quarter of the nearly $80 billion committed in 2019 was for adaptation, with Asia and Africa benefiting from more than two-thirds of the funds. Most of the remaining funds went toward mitigation efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

"Adaptation activities will require grant funding because they will not generate revenue," said GCF spokesperson Wilson. "They're about protecting people from the devastating impacts of extreme weather, or climate change leading to sea level rise, or flooding and drought. And it will always be difficult to do that."

7 WAYS AFRICA IS ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Feeding frenzy

Locusts, boosted by drought, heavy rains and warm temperatures, have devastated crops in East Africa. Pesticides can help, though they're not exactly environmentally friendly. Scientists in Nairobi have experimented with fungi and other microbes to make safer poisons. They've also used the locusts' unique smell, which changes as they mature, to break up swarms and even drive them to cannibalism.

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Ahead of COP26, NDC Partnership, with the support of the German government, has helped 67 countries update their long-term goals to reduce emissions known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Global director Vieira said they've noticed a substantial shift in the focus on adaptation. He added, however, that funding adaptation projects was more challenging, as it wasn't so easy for potential investors to see the end goal, as compared with lowering emissions.

"It's clear that the majority of [global] funding is going to renewables projects rather than going to adaptation," said Wilson, pointing out that it's easier to attract investors with single large-scale projects like solar plants, for example, which can guarantee a profit, rather than efforts to plan for the wide-ranging health impacts of a climate change.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund has proposed a Resilience and Sustainability Trust that will offer up to $50 billion in funding to help low-income countries "build economic resilience and sustainability" in the face of both climate change and pandemics. The goal is to "help countries transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient, smart, inclusive economies," said IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, adding that climate will be more fully integrated into IMF lending programs.
Still 'a lot of work' ahead

Wilson, Vieira and Rojas were cautiously optimistic about recent moves by the Biden administration and other world leaders to increase their funding pledges. But they stressed that much more needed to be done — including bringing in the private sector and making funds easier to access for smaller players on the regional and local level.

Rojas said there was still "a lot of work" ahead, not just in terms of providing climate finance but also in making sure governments and investors move away from supporting fossil fuel.

"When you look at how much money is flowing into climate action, you might get a little bit hopeful. But then when you look at what's still flowing to fossil fuels and exploration and extraction, that really needs to change or else we're not doing what needs to be done."

Who are Germany's extreme-right group 'the Third Path'?

Members of the neo-Nazi party the Third Path were stopped over the weekend attempting to turn themselves into an anti-migrant border patrol. Who is the small but very active extremist group?


The Third Path extremists are strong in Germany's far eastern regions

FORMER STALINIST EAST GERMANY

The small German neo-Nazi party the Third Path, which numbers just a few hundred members, attracted international attention this weekend when it rallied people to the German-Polish border in the state of Brandenburg in an attempt to stop migrants entering the country.

Police seized a number of weapons from the more than 50 people it stopped — including pepper spray, batons, a machete and a bayonet — and ordered them to clear the border area.

Foundation and membership

The Third Path was founded in the southwestern German city of Heidelberg in September 2013 as a splinter of the far-right nationalist National Democratic Party (NPD).The party's founder and national leader is Klaus Armstroff, a former NPD official who fell out with the party over its ideological direction.

Armstroff is reported to have actively recruited members from a neo-Nazi group known as Freies Netz Süd (Free Network South), which was active in Bavaria before being banned in 2014. Armstroff is considered well-connected, with ties to neo-Nazi groups outside the political system.

Counter-demonstration: Antifa protesters held a vigil against the ultra-right Third Path vigilantes in Guben this weekend

In its latest report, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), says the party has only 600 members across Germany, but this is deliberate: the Third Path considers itself a small hardcore unit that has less interest in expanding membership than engaging in political activism.
Nazi ideology

The Third Path derives its name from the so-called "Third Way" in German politics. As the party's first point on its ten-point program puts it: "The aim of the party Der Dritte Weg is the creation of a German socialism far away from exploitative capitalism as well as egalitarian communism."

The party is considered affiliated with the "left-wing" branch of historical Nazi ideology and is in favor of nationalizing all of Germany's key industries, as well as its public services and social welfare, banks, and major companies. 

But its brand of socialism is decidedly nationalist and racist in tone, close to the aims of Adolf Hitler's original Nazi party: Its program includes "the rigorous funding of families with many children to prevent an imminent extinction of the German people," and "the preservation and development of the biological substance of the German people."

Moreover, the Third Path openly questions the legitimacy of Germany's post-war borders, demanding "the peaceful restoration of Greater Germany with its original borders."

Strategy and methods

In its latest report, the BfV has noted an increasing professionalization in the Third Path over the last few years. In 2019, the party realigned its structures to suit German electoral rules, helping to make it eligible to run in both national and regional elections. The BfV says the party has around 20 bases across Germany and is most politically active in seven of Germany's 16 states, including Brandenburg — where the vigilante activities were stopped — Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia.

During Germany's recent 2021 federal election campaign, the Third Path was prosecuted for putting up posters emblazoned with the slogan "Hang the Greens" in Munich and Saxony. German courts eventually decided the posters did in fact break the law and had to be taken down.

The party says it has divided its activities into three "struggles": The "political struggle," "the cultural struggle" and the "struggle for the community." The political struggle includes electioneering and the cultural struggle is defined as "the preservation of customs."

The struggle for the community involves a number of charitable efforts, including help for the homeless (though only those considered German) and organizing local sports activities, especially martial arts.

The Third Path also took part in a number of demonstrations against the German government's coronavirus lockdown measures and spread theories downplaying the pandemic on its website. In one article posted on its website in 2020, the Third Path claimed the pandemic was being exploited by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)and the European Central Bank (ECB) to accelerate the abolition of cash, and claiming that ECB head Christine Lagarde had Jewish roots. The BfV describes the Third Path as antisemitic and racist.

Not unlike its calls to vigilante groups in Brandenburg, the BfV also noted that in 2020 the Third Path assembled "national patrols" in German towns, supposedly to protect German people from foreign criminals, on the grounds that "the German people have been declared free game."

While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society, with an eye toward understanding this year's elections and beyond. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing, to stay on top of developments as Germany enters the post-Merkel era.

Migrant encounters at US-Mexico border are at a 21-year high

Issued on: 25/10/2021 - 

The Border Patrol made about 1.66 million arrests of migrants crossing the US-Mexico border illegally since the begining of 2021, the highest annual number ever recorded in 20 years, according to figures released Friday by US Customs and Border Protection. FRANCE 24's Fanny Allard and Kethevane Gorjestani reports from the Rio Grande Region.

UK climate protesters restart traffic-blocking tactics

Climate activists from Insulate Britain are pulled from the 

street during a demonstration in central London D

ANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS AF


Issued on: 25/10/2021 

London (AFP)

Insulate Britain, a new group whose campaigners have repeatedly blocked roads and motorways in and around the capital, targeted three locations including the Canary Wharf and City of London financial districts.

The activists, who want the government to insulate all British homes starting with social housing, began their disruptive demonstrations last month but temporarily suspended them in mid-October to give themselves and the public "a break".

The restart of their protests, which have infuriated drivers and led to some confrontations, comes as the UK prepares to host the UN COP26 climate summit in the Scottish city Glasgow later this week.

"3 locations across the city of London are currently blocked by #InsulateBritain," the group said on Twitter.

  

Insulate Britain is a new group whose campaigners have repeatedly blocked roads and motorways in and around London 

DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS AFP

"We demand a meaningful statement that the government shall insulate the UK housing stock," it added.

"Why should we wait until millions have lost their homes, are fighting for water or starving to death?"

Police, which responded to Monday's renewed protests, have arrested hundreds of Insulate Britain activists -- with some people detained several times -- since they began the demonstrations on September 13.

The government has meanwhile secured court injunctions leaving activists facing court summons and possible imprisonment or an unlimited fine if they block some motorways.

But the group, which has demanded ministers produce within four months a legally-binding and funded national plan to retrofit all homes by 2030, has vowed to continue its campaign.

The government last week outlined more detailed plans to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, but was accused by climate campaigners of lacking the necessary ambition in many areas -- including home insulation.

© 2021 AFP

Climate change now worse than war for Afghan farmers

Desperate to feed their families, people in a remote Afghan district have been forced to sell their livestock, flee their villages and even sell their daughters into marriage Hoshang Hashimi AFP


Bala Murghab (Afghanistan) (AFP)

As the world watched the Taliban wage a stunning offensive that ended in the rapid collapse of the country's western-backed government, a longer-term crisis was building.

In desperate attempts to feed their families, herders have been forced to sell their livestock, farmers to flee their villages and parents to sell their daughters into marriage at ever younger ages.

"The last time I saw rain was last year, and there wasn't much," Mullah Fateh, head of the Haji Rashid Khan village in Bala Murghab.

Communities cling to life in small clusters of mud-brick homes among an endless ocean of rolling brown hills in this corner of Badghis province -- where 90 percent of the 600,000-strong population live off livestock or fields, according to humanitarian agency ACTED.

"We sold sheep to buy food, others died of thirst," Fateh told AFP.

When the first of two recent droughts hit in 2018, he had 300 sheep, but as the latest dry spell bites, he's down to 20.

On Monday, UN agencies said more than 22 million Afghans will suffer "acute food insecurity" this winter, warning the unstable country faces one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

The UN has said more than 22 million Afghans will suffer 'acute food insecurity' this winter, warning the country faces one of the world's worst humanitarian crises 

Hoshang Hashimi AFP

Aid-dependent Afghanistan, which has spent decades trapped in cycles of war, has borne the sixth hardest blow from climate change, driven by greenhouse emissions such as CO2, according to a study by environmental group Germanwatch.

An Afghan lifestyle causes 0.2 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, compared to 15 from the average American, World Bank figures show.

As predicted, one of the devastating effects has been a drop in rainfall in northern Afghanistan.

Rise in child marriage

When Mullah Fateh needs to fetch water, he sends young boys and men on a day-long trip with a donkey. This year, he said, two young shepherds died of thirst in the hills.

The thirst attacks not just the body, but family bonds.

This year 20 families in Haji Rashid Khan village, which has no school and no clinic, sold their very young daughters into marriage, to raise money for food.

"The rest of the children were hungry and thirsty," explained Bibi Yeleh, a mother of seven whose 15-year-old daughter is already married and whose seven-year-old will soon follow.

If the drought continues, she said, a two and a five-year-old will be next, to be handed over to the groom's family when they are older.

Around 45 of roughly 165 families in the village and tens of thousands across the province have been displaced this year into miserable camps on the outskirts of larger towns.

Even there, food is hard to come by, and some take desperate risks.

"Families stay, but the men need to go to look for work in Iran or beyond, some die on the road," says Musanmill Abdullah, 28, who lives with his family in another Badghis village.

The community is named after his father, Haji Jamal, and Abdullah is a member of the Taliban, the movement which should be celebrating its victory in the civil war.

But military and political success in Kabul has done little to help Badghis.

Communities cling to life in small clusters of mud-brick homes among an endless ocean of rolling brown hills in this corner of Badghis province

 Hoshang Hashimi AFP

"The fields are ruined, the animals have nothing. Over the past two years, six people died of hunger," the elder man, Haji Jamal, said.

"The jerry cans we use to gather water have worn through and we can't afford to replace them."

Neighbour Lal Bibi said as desperation grows, the "women and children are alone, and in danger".

Aid flow disrupted

Few of the local people have heard of climate change, but the UN report warned that annual droughts in several Afghan regions will "probably become the norm" by 2030.

The Taliban has not yet been recognised by foreign governments and has been frozen out of Afghanistan's financial reserves, held mainly in the US, with the flow of aid also disrupted.

Regional representatives of the new Taliban government said there is little they can do.

"The Emirate hasn't got a lot of money. Our plans are linked to the international community," admitted Abdul Hakim Haghyar of the Badghis province refugees office.

Some international NGOs are still operating and foreign governments have promised humanitarian aid if it can be routed to the people -- but the Taliban remain under sanctions.

In the camps for displaced farmers, matters have become desperate. When nine-year-old Bashir Ahmad's father sold his last livestock, the young boy got a job scavenging for discarded cans and bottles.

Among the rubbish, he found an unexploded munition. It detonated and he lost two fingers on one hand, three on another. Now he lies by his dad, his hands in bandages, a new burden to bear.

© 2021 AFP

Climate change: Italian beekeepers' heavy losses in Sicily

This year’s UN climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, marks the 26th time since 1995 that world leaders have gathered to confront global warming. On this occasion FRANCE 24 will broadcast a series of special reports on global warming. For the first episode, we head to the Italian island of Sicily where increasingly hot summers are wreaking havoc on the agricultural sector. Beekeepers have been particularly hard hit this summer, as our correspondent in Italy, Natalia Mendoza, explains in this report.

Industrial explosion left fire crews battling blaze at crude oil tank farm northeast of Edmonton

An industrial explosion at a crude oil tank farm took place Saturday afternoon at SECURE Energy's Elk Point facility northeast of Edmonton.

© Courtesy: Lakeland Connect/Arthur Craig Green Tank farm fire northeast of Edmonton.

Chris Chacon 17 hr

"Talking to some of the local people, they heard the percussion. Some of them felt the percussion when it happened," Two Hills County Reeve Don Gulayec said.

Gulayec said more than 35 firefighters from several departments along with RCMP and EMS initially responded.

The county also cut off the natural gas and electricity to the site.

"Basically, you're dealing with a tank farm that holds hydrocarbon material, and they are all on fire. It's huge. The thing is you don't know what the potential for an explosion or things like that are," Gulayec said.

Gulayec said experts in industrial explosions were brought in to suppress and control the fire. The Alberta Energy Regulator and an agency to monitor the air quality were also on site. As a precaution, people living nearby were evacuated from their homes.

"There were no fatalities. Some people were hurt from what I gather, but the extent of their injuries is unknown at this time," Gulayec said.

In a statement to Global News, Secure Energy said: "At appropriately 2:35 p.m. MST on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021, a fire started at SECURE Energy's Elk Point facility. Our emergency response plan was immediately initiated, which included contacting local emergency authorities."

"All employees are safe and accounted for. The fire is out, and we are working with all appropriate authorities to investigate the cause. The safety of our employees, the public and the environment remain our top priority."

Gulayec said in the end, he is proud of the many men and women who volunteered to help battle this blaze.

"It was a big fire for our area," Gulayec said.

Fury as Tory MPs vote to allow water companies to dump raw sewage into Britain's rivers and seas

MPs voted to allow water companies to dump raw sewage into rivers and seas

Just 22 Conservatives rebelled against the Government on Wednesday

Amendment to bill sought to stop companies pumping raw sewage in waterways

Last year, raw sewage was discharged into waters more than 400,000 times

By JACK WRIGHT FOR MAILONLINE
 UPDATED: 04:25 EDT, 25 October 2021

MPs are facing a backlash after voting against amending a bill to stop water companies dumping raw sewage into Britain's rivers and seas.

Just 22 Conservatives rebelled against the Government last week by voting for an amendment to the Environment Bill which sought to place a legal duty on water companies not to pump sewage into rivers.

Sewage pollution is a key component of what MPs have heard is a chemical cocktail of pollutants going into rivers, with raw sewage being discharged into waters more than 400,000 times last year.

It coes seven weeks after wastewater plants were told by the government they may dispose of sewage not fully treated due to a shortage of chemicals caused by the lorry driver crisis.

The amendment, introduced in the House of Lords by the Duke of Wellington, would have also forced water companies and the Government to 'take all reasonable steps' to avoid using the combined sewer overflows, which regularly release untreated waste into rivers and seas.

Campaign groups including Surfers Against Sewage said it was crucial to ensure action to tackle sewage pollution started now.

But Environment Secretary George Eustice recommended MPs reject amendments to the bill, just days before Boris Johnson hosts world leaders at the Cop26 climate change summit in Glasgow.

The vote caused a huge backlash on social media, with Twitter users posting images of the MPs who shot down the amendment.


MPs have voted against amending a bill to stop water companies dumping raw sewage into Britain's rivers and seas (stock image)


This map from The Rivers Trust shows where sewage enters local rivers. The trust advises people to avoid entering the water immediately downstream of these discharges and avoid the overflows (brown circles), especially after it has been raining


This map from Surfers Against Sewage, part of its Safer Seas and Rivers Service, tracks real-time combined sewage overflows and pollution risk forecasts, and monitors the water quality at over 400 locations around UK rivers and coastlines



A close-up of the Surfers Against Sewage map shows where swimming is advised against on a stretch of the south coast

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a visit to the Covid vaccine centre at the Little Venice Sports Centre in west London, on October 22, 2021















The vote caused a huge backlash on social media, with Twitter users posting images of the MPs who shot down the amendment

One person questioned: 'What sort of person votes to allow water companies to pump raw sewage into our water?'

Supply chain issues affect levels of sewage treatment chemicals

Wastewater plants were told by the government last month that they may dispose of sewage not fully treated due to a shortage of chemicals caused by the lorry driver crisis.

Some of the chemicals used in the sewage treatment process became one of the products left in short supply by the driver shortage, caused by a combination of Brexit and the Covid pandemic.

Plants were told they may dispose of effluent not fully treated because of disruption caused by 'supply chain failure' in a regulatory position statement issued at the start of September.

The statement came from the Environment Agency, which introduced a waiver that would allow some companies to bypass the third stage in the treatment process if they are not in possession of the right chemicals.

Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) said the waiver specifically related to a shortage of ferric sulphate, an acidic solution used to suppress the growth of algae.

The government agency said the regulatory position statement (RPS) would apply until the end of the year, after which companies would required a permit in order to continue the practice.

Another wrote: 'I just emailed me MP asking her to outline the benefits of raw sewage being dumped into our waterways.'

A government source told MailOnline: 'Tory MPs have categorically not voted to allow water companies to dump raw sewage into our rivers and seas. The provisions in the Environment Bill will deliver progressive reductions in the harm caused by storm overflows. The Environment Bill requires us to set a target to drive progress on water quality, and we are already taking significant action to address water quality more widely. Claims to the contrary are simply wrong.'

The measure is now set to return to the Lords on Tuesday, where peers are expected to send it back to the Commons later next week - possibly on Thursday - and force another vote among MPs.

The Duke of Wellington, a crossbench peer, said he believed the amendment would stimulate investment in improving the systems, which date back decades and are in severe need of upgrades.

It comes as figures collected by charity the Rivers Trust show that all of England's rivers are currently failing to pass cleanliness tests, with 53 per cent of them in a poor state at least partly because of water companies releasing raw and partially-treated sewage.

In England, just 14 per cent of rivers have good ecological status and none have good chemical status because water companies are currently allowed to release raw sewage into rivers and seas as part of a 'combined sewer overflow', a legacy of Britain's Victorian drainage system, The Telegraph reported.

This means rainwater and liquid waste are combined in the same tanks and overflows into waterways as an escape valve, rather than backing up into homes and streets.

Among those campaigning to clean up British waterways is former Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey, who last year announced plans to start legal action over the Environment Agency's management of England's rivers.

Last year, raw sewage was discharged into waters more than 400,000 times. Pictured: Pollution in the Jubilee River at Eton Wick, Berkshire last year

He previously said: 'As a nation, we're going to have to face a very simple situation. Do we want our rivers full of our own human waste?

Hertfordshire's River Mimram turns PURPLE with pollution, just hours after environment ministers posed in front of it to announce plans to protect and restore England's rare chalk streams

River Mimram in Hertfordshire turned purple with pollution, just hours after environment ministers posed in front of it over plans to restore rare chalk streams.

When environment Minister, Rebecca Pow and members of the Chalk Stream Restoration Group visited the river, it was a clear looking stream.

Not long after they left, the chalk stream, that runs through North Hertfordshire from Hertford, turned a shade of purple, according to pop star and clean river campaigner Feargal Sharkey, who shared an image of the stream on Twitter.

Campaigners said this highlights the dire state of Britain's rivers, where 53 per cent are in a poor state, and only 14 per cent are in 'good ecological condition.'

The Environment Agency said the river had already returned to normal when it returned to investigate, and found no evidence of any harm to fish from the incident.

They can't say what caused it to turn purple, but campaigners speculate it could be anything from an algae bloom to dyes seeping into water from industry.

'The truth is, unfortunately, there's been a long term issue about failure of regulatory oversight, lack of political leadership, most of that, driven by concerns about the price of water, and now we've reached the situation through incompetence that every river is now basically full of sewage.'

In April this year, MPs were told that water companies poured raw sewage into rivers for three million hours last year, while paying shareholders billions in dividend payments.

The environmental audit committee heard that the huge Mogden treatment plant sent the equivalent of 400 Olympic swimming pools worth of raw effluent into the Thames over two days last autumn.

Sewage is allowed to be discharged only during periods of heavy rain, but Mr Sharkey told MPs the River Chess and Chesham plant in Buckinghamshire 'was discharging sewage for 35 days, one continuous discharge'.

Peter Hammond, retired former professor of computational biology at University College London, said his analysis of sewage treatment works had found 160 breaches of permits granted by the EA to allow sewage discharges.

He said the watchdog has only prosecuted 174 cases of illegal discharges in the last decade.

'My research has found that many of the treatment works do not continue to treat a minimum rate of sewage when they are spilling and many of these illegal spills are not identified by the EA,' Hammond told MPs on the environmental audit committee.

'My research found 160 breaches of permits in 2020. I believe they are in order of magnitude that I think is 10 times more … than the agency have identified.'

The EA revealed there were 403,171 spills of sewage leaked into England's rivers and seas in 2020 due to 'storm overflows'. It also said that there were more than 3.1 million hours of spillages in 2020.

The data was published 'proactively' for the first time as part of a pledge to increase transparency around the issue.

US Pacific Northwest deluged with rain, snow due to ‘Bomb Cyclone’

Two people killed in greater Seattle; heavy rain and snow pound alil major cities of California, Washington and Oregon, recently plagued with wildfire

 By DTE Staff

Published: Monday 25 October 20

 The 'Bomb Cyclone' off the US Pacific Northwest. Photo: @NWSWPC / Twitte

The United States Pacific Northwest, consisting of the states of Washington, Oregon and California, has been deluged with rain and snow as a ‘bomb cyclone’ took effect and unleashed a storm October 24, 2021.

The USA Today daily reported that over 160,000 homes and businesses in California, more than 170,000 in Washington and over 28,000 in Oregon had been left without power October 24 due to the extreme weather.

USA Today further reported that the storm had been most severe in the northern and central portions of California and parts of southern Oregon. Two people were killed when a tree fell on a vehicle in the greater Seattle area.

Almost all the big cities of the US west coast including Seattle, those in the San Francisco Bay Area, including San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland and San Rafael as well as the capital of California, Sacramento, received heavy rain. In fact, Sacramento was well on its way to breaking a precipitation record.

USA Today quoted Jon Porter, a meteorologist, as saying that a bomb cyclone forms when air pressure rapidly drops as the storm explosively strengthens. The bomb cyclone has been pulling deep tropical moisture from the Pacific, creating an “atmospheric river”, according to Porter.

He described the river as a “firehose of moisture in the sky” capable of unleashing intense rain and mountain snow.

American climate scientist Daniel Swain expressed amazement at the bomb cyclone as seen in satellite photographs.

California and the Pacific Northwest of North America are witnessing the rain after having been through a brutal heatwave this summer.

The rain and snow are expected to extinguish the various wildfires that have been burning in California since the summer. These include the Caldor fire that started August 14 in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, east of Sacramento and had burned 221,775 acres till October 24. The fire has now been contained, according to reports

However, the fires created another problem in the lead-up to the bomb cyclone. They had stripped a large part of the landscape of foliage, stripping the ground naked. Experts had predicted that such burnt areas would be more prone to mudlsides.

Several parts of California, including the Santa Cruz mountains and parts of western Santa Barbara county, had instated evacuation orders because of their proximity to burnt areas.

In photos: Drought-ravaged 

California lashed by major storm

Rebecca Falconer


Workers try to divert water into drains as rain pours down on Oct. 24 in Marin City, California. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A major storm system was pummeling Northern California and parts of the Pacific Northwest with heavy rains overnight.

The big picture: The "atmospheric river" storms, associated with a record-strong "bomb cyclone" offshore from the Pacific Northwest, have brought flooding and mudslides to parts of California that were razed by recent wildfires and in severe drought. It's also caused widespread power outages in California and Washington state.

A pedestrian walks on a flooded street on October 24, 2021, in Kentfield, California. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Tree workers cut up a tree that fell across a road in Ross, California, on Oct. 24. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The swollen San Anselmo creek touches the bottom of businesses on October 24, 2021, in San Anselmo, California. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images  

A truck driving through a flooded street in Mill Valley, California, on Oct. 24. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Image

"Atmospheric river" swings Northern California from drought to flood

Rebecca Falconer, Andrew Freedman


Satellite view of the bomb cyclone swirling off the coast of the Pacific Northwest and the atmospheric river affecting California on Oct. 24.

 Photo: CIRA/RAMMB

A series of powerful "atmospheric river" storms are delivering historic amounts of rainfall across parts of drought-stricken California and the Pacific Northwest.

Why it matters: The atmospheric river, packing large amounts of moisture, was causing Northern California to whiplash from drought to flood, as it slowly moved south overnight. It's triggered widespread power outages, flooding and mudslides.

The storm system claimed the lives of two people in Washington state after a tree fell on a vehicle amid powerful winds Sunday.

Threat level: The storm is associated with a record-strong "bomb cyclone" off the Pacific Northwest, which was forecast to remain at sea. But it's bringing wind gusts of up to 60-70 mph and greater than 40-foot waves off the coasts of northern California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.
A bomb cyclone refers to a non-tropical storm whose pressure drops at least 24mb in 24 hrs. This one more than doubled that rate, and is likely to become the strongest low-pressure area on record off the coast of the Pacific Northwest.

Widespread flooding was reported in the San Francisco Bay area amid potentially record rainfall.
The atmospheric river in this region was elevated to a Category 5 — the highest level on a scale based on strength and duration, per the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

By the numbers: Over 116,000 customers had lost power in California and 72,000 others in Washington state were also without electricity early Monday, according to utility tracking site poweroutage.us.

The big picture: The storm was hitting with historic intensity, dumping 8-10 inches of rain across the region Sunday — and has already triggered potentially life-threatening flash floods and mudslides near the Dixie Fire and Calder Fire burn scars, per the National Weather Service.
Other burn areas during the devastating fire seasons from 2018 to 2021 were also under flash flood warning.

Evacuation orders were announced for the Santa Cruz Mountains ahead of the storm's expected arrival early Monday amid concerns the rain could cause debris flows in the CZU Lightning Complex Fire burn scar.

Tho NWS warned residents near burn scars in Sacramento to be prepared to evacuate if ordered to do so, noting that in some areas it may be too late for evacuation and residents should shelter in the highest parts of their homes.

California's Department of Transportation said mudslides in Colusa and Yolo counties caused state highways 16 and 20 to close.

Of note: Sacramento, which just experienced its longest dry spell ever recorded, after breaking a record set in 1880, saw 5.44 inches of rainfall by Sunday evening.

This broke the all-time record for the city's highest 24-hour rainfall total, the NWS Sacramento office noted in a statement.

Reno, Nev., meanwhile, set a new October rainfall record, with 2.82 inches of rainfall by 5 a.m. PDT Monday. That includes 2.59 inches of rain that fell in the past 24 hours, according to NWS Reno.
The previous October record was set in 2010 when 2.65 inches of rain fell in the city.
"The rain hasn't ended!" NWS Reno tweeted Monday.

Between the lines: That turnaround marks an example of the extremes that are known to buffet California, with precipitation going from "feast to famine" and back again — except the odds are stacked even further in favor of extremes now with climate change.

Yes, but: The extreme rainfall won't be enough to end the drought for most places, though it will help.
Not all of California was forecast to be hit by this rainfall, and fire season was set to continue in the south part of the state.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

Strongest Storm In a Quarter Century, In a Century? Bomb Cyclone Surpasses Bay Area Predictions, Causes Havoc All Over

While meteorologists on Sunday morning were still predicting large, but not record-breaking rain totals, a storm system rolled in off the Pacific and pummeled the Bay Area with way more rain than most of us were expecting, causing flooded roads, neighborhoods, and more.

It seems to be a story that fits with the climate-change narratives about extreme weather that defies historical precedent. And Sunday's "bomb cyclone" and atmospheric river event, centered off the Pacific around the Alaska and and Pacific Northwestern coast, looked a lot more like the Category 3 and 4 hurricanes that we've watched from afar drenching the South and the eastern seaboard.

While meteorologists had predicted that the North Bay and San Francisco would see the heaviest rains earlier in the day Sunday, the weather system actually moved slower toward the south than predicted, leading to more steady rainfall accumulation and a somewhat different storm trajectory Sunday than originally predicted.

This resulted in flooding across most Bay Area counties — and flooding that was not relegated to just extremely low-lying areas. Also, parts of San Francisco, including I-280 where it crosses Mission Street, experienced flooding.

The storm that came to drench Northern California on Sunday continues to break records, and we'll likely still be tallying the numbers well into Monday and Tuesday. But here are are a few:

The San Francisco-based Golden Gate Weather Services, which maintains the Bay Area Storm Index, said Sunday that this was the strongest storm to hit the Bay Area in 26 years.

The area of low pressure on the Pacific Coast that helped create the atmospheric river is being called the deepest in decades.

Just after noon on Sunday, a wind gust was recorded at SFO at 60 miles per hour.

The Russian River in Sonoma County, running at extremely low levels all summer, went from a level of less than 6 feet to over 12 feet at 2 p.m. on Sunday, per the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

Meteorologist Daniel Swain pointed back to his own 2018 article that predicted that more extreme precipitation events like this one were likely to hit the California coast due to climate change — and here, in October, well ahead of the traditional "rainy season", we have one.

In San Francisco, small floods formed throughout the city, including this one in the Outer Richmond that was being battled by residents with brooms.

Climate scientists have continued to try to tell the globe that extreme, unseasonable events likes these are likely to become the norm, even if we still see them as new and abnormal. And parts of the Bay Area are now going through the whiplash of a very tense fire season that gave way to record-setting rain, flooding, mudslides, and a historic and fire-season-ending storm.

It's a lot to take. But welcome to the 2020s

.