UN envoy suggests that US lift sanctions against Zimbabwe

Thu, October 28, 2021, 

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — A United Nations special envoy on Thursday urged the United States to end sanctions that she says have worsened Zimbabwe’s humanitarian crisis, while urging dialogue to end the impasse between the two countries.

The U.N envoy on unilateral coercive measures, Alena Douhan, has been in Zimbabwe for nearly two weeks investigating the impact of sanctions on the southern African country.

The U.S imposed travel and financial sanctions on Zimbabwe’s political, military and economic elite as well as companies linked to the state about two decades ago. This followed violent mass seizures of white-owned land and alleged vote-rigging and human rights violations by the late authoritarian President Robert Mugabe.

In her preliminary findings, Douhan said the U.S should “cease the state of national emergency regarding Zimbabwe.” She said the sanctions have “exacerbated the pre-existing economic and humanitarian crisis, inhibiting the building of essential infrastructure and international and inter-institutional cooperation.”

The United States embassy this week said that Washington “can lift sanctions once it determines sanctioned individuals have stopped undermining democracy, violating human rights, or facilitating corruption.”

The U.N. envoy met President Emmerson Mnangagwa as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations and opposition parties during her visit.

Zimbabwe has slid from being one of Africa’s most promising economies at independence from white minority rule in 1980 to a situation where many of the country's 15 million people reliant on informal trade and food handouts from international donors.

The country's once-robust public health system has also deteriorated while water, transport and other public infrastructure are in shambles. Mnangagwa blames these bad services on sanctions.

The main opposition and the U.S say corruption and human rights abuses are at the root of Zimbabwe’s woes.

The sanctions “do not target the Zimbabwean people,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price earlier this month. “Zimbabwe’s economic ills, we know, are caused by leaders, those leaders abusing power, not U.S. sanctions. Our sanctions target only 83 individuals and 37 entities.”

The sanctions seem to have neither loosened the ruling ZANU-PF party’s grip on power nor improved the human rights situation, some analysts say.

Instead, they have had a “reverse effect” and “have come as manna” for the ruling party, which has used them as a scapegoat for the country’s economic decline and also to gain political mileage by labeling the opposition as lackeys of the U.S, said Harare-based economic commentator Alexander Rusero.

Mnangagwa promised reform after taking power from Mugabe in 2017 and urged Zimbabweans to “stop mourning” about sanctions. But with political pressure rising and resentment seemingly growing, he has returned to Mugabe’s anti-sanctions mantra.

Mnangagwa successfully lobbied the 15-nation regional bloc, the Southern African Development Community, to declare Oct.25 an annual anti-sanctions day. In Zimbabwe, the day was this year marked by pro-government marches, speeches and a televised anti-sanctions musical gala.

COP26: Pope calls for ‘radical’ climate response from world leaders ahead of Glasgow summit

Pope Francis called for “a renewed sense of shared responsibility for our world”, adding that current crises presented the opportunity to make “radical decisions”

P

ope Francis will meet with US President Joe Biden later today to discuss issues including climate change and abortion

 (Photo by Franco Origlia/Vatican Pool – Corbis/Getty Images)

By Poppy Wood
October 29, 2021 10:10 am(Updated 10:16 am)

The Pope has called on global leaders to urgently tackle the climate crisis to give “concrete hope to future generations”, as politicians from around the world head to the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow this weekend.

Pope Francis called for “a renewed sense of shared responsibility for our world”, adding that “each of us — whoever and wherever we may be — can play our own part in changing our collective response to the unprecedented threat of climate change and the degradation of our common home”.

In a special Thought for the Day message for BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the leader of the Catholic world warned against countries taking an isolationist approach in tackling a “succession of crises” in healthcare, the environment, food supplies and the economy.

“Climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic have exposed our deep vulnerability and raised numerous doubts and concerns about our economic systems and the way we organise our societies,” he said.

“We can confront these crises by retreating into isolationism, protectionism and exploitation,” the pontiff said, “or we can see in them a real chance for change.”

His comments come as world leaders prepare to head to Glasgow this weekend for the Cop26 climate summit, where countries are under pressure to tighten their commitments to reducing carbon emissions.

Action already pledged by nations to curb CO2 output over the next decade will fall short of plans to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial times, beyond which increasingly severe impacts will be felt.

The Pope told Today: “We have lost our sense of security and are experiencing a sense of powerlessness and loss of control over our lives.”

But in a tone of optimism, the Pontiff added that current crises presented unmissable opportunities to make “radical decisions”.

“The political decision makers who will meet at Cop26 in Glasgow are urgently summoned to provide effective responses to the present ecological crisis and in this way to offer concrete hope to future generations,” he said, in a recording from the Vatican spoken in Italian.

Earlier this month, the Pontiff gathered almost 40 faith leaders from across the world at the Vatican to sign a joint appeal calling on Cop26 to commit to pledges on global warming, carbon neutrality and support for poorer nations to transition to clean energy.

The two-week climate conference set to kick off in Glasgow this weekend will prove vital to deliver on the pledges laid out in the global Paris Agreement in 2015 to limit temperature rises to “well below” 2C — and to try for the safer goal of 1.5C.

Leaders of major economies will head to Scotland following a G20 meeting in Rome this week, where climate is set to dominate the agenda.

The Pope is due to meet US President Joe Biden at the Vatican later. Mr Biden’s domestic climate policies remain on hold after his party postponed a vote on his spending plans yesterday, though the President is expected to discuss the Covid pandemic, climate change, the global energy crisis and other major challenges with other world leaders in Italy.



Read More
What does COP26 stand for? Meaning of Glasgow climate change summit’s name explained and what to expect

Key heads of state including China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are set to miss both summits, with many warning that significant action on climate change will be limited in the absence of two of the world’s largest carbon-emitting countries.

A draft G20 communique revealed that leaders will pledge to take urgent steps to reach the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C, following calls from UN chiefs, religious leaders and campaigners, to avoid catastrophic climate impacts.

Delegates will also face pressure to phase out coal power, boost electric vehicles and protect forests, while developed countries will be pushed to deliver finance for poorer nations to help transition to clean economies.

CCS IS GREENWASHING
Unlocking Canada's carbon capture potential

MONTREAL, Oct. 28, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - With the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) set to begin in a few short days, governments are expected to double down on GHG emission reduction targets. A recent MEI publication described how carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies can allow governments to reach their targets without compromising our standard of living. A follow-up publication launched today by the MEI offers tangible solutions to encourage uptake of this new technology by entrepreneurs.

"CCUS technologies can trap carbon from GHG emissions at the source and prevent its release into the atmosphere, or capture carbon already emitted and reduce overall atmospheric accumulation. Overall, these technologies present a huge opportunity to reach the government's goal of net-zero by 2050," says Krystle Wittevrongel, co-author of the publication.

"The federal government has committed to introducing a tax credit next year for investments in CCUS technologies, although some aspects of the proposed measure need further consideration. For instance, the exclusion of enhanced oil recovery projects should be eliminated, as these projects not only sequester 90% to 95% of the carbon dioxide injected, they are revenue-generating and more likely to be deployed in the short term. In addition, the tax credit should be refundable, levelling the playing field and making it easier for smaller companies to enter the market," adds the Public Policy Analyst.

"Most importantly, the measure should decouple investment from performance. A performance-based tax credit, such as exists in the United States, would see eligible facilities and projects awarded a credit for each metric ton of carbon captured, which means the carbon tax would be levied on their net emissions. This would really push entrepreneurs to find new and more efficient ways to capture and store (or use) GHG emissions. It really is a win-win," says Miguel Ouellette, Director of Operations and Economist at the MEI.

"The intensity of Canada's GHG emissions has fallen substantially in recent years, and the further innovation of emerging CCUS technologies promises to help the government meet its environmental goals, while also favouring economic growth. We know that CCUS is a viable tool in Canada's climate strategy, so the federal government should ensure that the policies to encourage these technologies are carefully crafted to make them as efficient as possible," concludes Mr. Ouellette.

The publication entitled "Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage: Concrete Market-Based Recommendations to Reduce GHG Emissions" is available on our website.

FRASER INSTITUTE EAST

The Montreal Economic Institute is an independent public policy think tank. Through its publications, media appearances and advisory services to policy makers, MEI stimulates debate and public policy reform based on established principles of market economics and entrepreneurship.

SOURCE Montreal Economic Institute

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2021/28/c2748.html

NOT A WORD ABOUT CARBON NEUTRAL CONCRETE
SNC-Lavalin joins the United Nations' Race to Zero global campaign and The Climate Pledge, committing to halve global emissions by 2030

MONTREAL, Oct. 28, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - SNC-Lavalin (TSX: SNC), a fully integrated professional services and project management company with offices around the world, is pleased to announce it has joined the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Race to Zero global campaign and has signed the Business Ambition for 1.5°C commitment. SNC-Lavalin also today announced it has signed The Climate Pledge, a commitment to achieve the Paris Agreement 10 years early, and be net-zero carbon by 2040 or sooner.

"Our commitment to climate action goes beyond setting our own net zero targets. In line with our purpose to engineer a better future for our planet and its people, we want to leverage the work we do with our clients and continue to play an active role in combatting climate change," said Ian L. Edwards, President and Chief Executive Officer, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. "Implementing long-term sustainable climate solutions requires close collaboration between industries, governments, non-governmental organizations, and multilateral agencies. We welcome and encourage others to join us in this important mission."

The Race to Zero Campaign was launched to mobilize a coalition of cities, businesses, investors and other stakeholders to achieve net-zero commitments ahead of the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties in November 2021 ("COP26"). Coalition members pledged to reach net zero emissions by 2050, at the latest, in line with global efforts in limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Similarly, the Business Ambition for 1.5°C is a campaign led by the Science Based Targets initiative in partnership with the UN Global Compact and the We Mean Business coalition. It was launched in 2019 by a global coalition of UN agencies, business and industry leaders. The Climate Pledge is a commitment to reach the Paris Agreement 10 years early and be net-zero carbon by 2040.


SNC-Lavalin has taken significant steps in its sustainability journey this year. As signatories to the United Nations Global Compact, we have set high-level goals, including pledging to become net zero carbon by 2030. As part of Race to Zero, the Company will:


rationalize its real estate portfolio to minimize the carbon footprint of buildings and facilities,


adopt digital communication tools to reduce business travel and initiate behavioral change to lower energy usage, and


design buildings and infrastructure that is energy efficient through their life cycle in collaboration with client Companies that sign The Climate Pledge agree to three principles:


Measure and report greenhouse gas emissions on a regular basis;

Implement decarbonization strategies in line with the Paris Agreement through real business changes and innovations, including efficiency improvements, renewable energy, materials reductions, and other carbon emission elimination strategies;

Neutralize any remaining emissions with additional, quantifiable, real, permanent, and socially-beneficial offsets to achieve net-zero annual carbon emissions by 2040.

The We Mean Business coalition is a group of non-profit organizations working to act on climate change. The global coalition brings together seven organizations: BSR, CDP, Ceres, The B Team, The Climate Group, The Prince of Wales's Corporate Leaders Group and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

SNC-Lavalin's Engineering Net Zero
Earlier this year, SNC-Lavalin launched its Vision for Engineering a Sustainable Society with enhanced Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) targets, including a Routemap to achieving Net Zero Carbon emissions by 2030. The Company's progress to Net Zero Carbon Emissions is outlined in the CDP reports. For more information visit the Engineering Net Zero website

The Company's Engineering Net Zero approach has significant impact and reach; the organization helps guide clients in reducing their own carbon emissions. SNC-Lavalin has published two Engineering Net Zero reports, which examine the blueprint to achieve net zero carbon targets by 2050:

Engineering Net Zero Technical Report (Canada)

Engineering Net Zero Summary Report (UK)

About SNC-Lavalin
Founded in 1911, SNC-Lavalin is a fully integrated professional services and project management company with offices around the world dedicated to engineering a better future for our planet and its people. We create sustainable solutions that connect people, technology and data to design, deliver and operate the most complex projects. We deploy global capabilities locally to our clients and deliver unique end-to-end services across the whole life cycle of an asset including consulting, advisory & environmental services, intelligent networks & cybersecurity, design & engineering, procurement, project & construction management, operations & maintenance, decommissioning and capital. – and delivered to clients in key strategic sectors such as Engineering Services, Nuclear, Operations & Maintenance and Capital. News and information are available at snclavalin.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter .

SOURCE SNC-Lavalin

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2021/28/c6712.html

Education Solutions Gain Steam on Eve of UN Climate Conference

Marianna McMurdock
Thu, October 28, 2021


An “unprecedented” level of interest in girls’ education as a climate solution is growing worldwide, advocates say, as youth empowerment and gender are set to take center stage at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference.

From Oct. 31 through Nov. 12, roughly 20,000 international leaders and climate advocates will gather in Glasgow, Scotland for the conference known as COP26. The next annual meeting is an opportunity to shape global climate priorities — during COP21, which took place in 2015, the landmark Paris Agreement was adopted to limit global warming.

This year’s conference is hosted by the United Kingdom, where climate and girls’ education has been prioritized over the last year. In 2021 the country led both the G7 and Global Partnership for Education Summit. In May, G7 countries reinforced political commitments for girls’ education, reaffirming that it’s a human right and setting two goals for the global community by 2026: 40 million more girls in school and 20 million more girls reading by age 10 or the end of primary school.

“There’s a lot of pressure on this COP to accelerate progress on the Paris Agreement and there will be some progress. However, I think the question will be: ‘is it enough?’” Naomi Nyamweya, a lead researcher with the Malala Fund, told The 74 by email. “Leaving girls behind undermines gender equality and governments’ ability to deliver on global climate priorities, including net zero.”

Climate crises will prevent an estimated 4 million girls in lower- and middle- income countries from accessing education in 2021, according to the Malala Fund. With current policy and emission trends, weather-related disruptions will prevent 12.5 million girls from finishing their education by 2025.

“We need leaders to see that climate change, girls’ education and gender equality aren’t separate issues,” Nyamweya added.

Quality, compulsory education for girls may equip more of the younger generation with tools to facilitate climate action, like literacy and critical thinking. And if climate curricula is prioritized alongside access to schools, young leaders can understand value in solutions that move beyond one-off, technical swaps to renewable energy, for example. Millions more can learn to assess climate threats and their root causes and support policies to curb poverty and environmental racism.

An analysis of countries with female political representation found that they are more likely to adopt stricter climate policies and have fewer carbon emissions. The findings further solidify arguments that investing in girls’ education and their pathways to leadership will yield positive outcomes for the earth.

Countries can also build stronger, low-carbon economies with more girls’ educated and entering the workforce. Particularly if their education includes, as advocates and youth activists hope, career and technical education for green jobs.

Climate change, and any possible solutions, are becoming harder to ignore.

Related: When Climate Change Forces Schools to Close: Fires, Storms and Heatwaves Have Already Kept 1 Million Students Out of Classrooms This Semester

Despite education’s consistent presence at past climate talks, many countries are not currently naming climate change education, or girls’ education, as part of their policy strategy. An analysis of recently updated ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ (NDCs) from 73 countries revealed that less than a quarter mention youth or children and none call for mandatory climate change education as a strategy, including the U.S.’s plan.

While NDCs are not the “end-all-be-all” of climate policy, they are the most visible, guiding document for nations to support Paris Agreement goals, says researcher Christina Kwauk, who penned the report and is a nonresident fellow with the Brookings Institute.

If girls’ education continues to be omitted from the documents, she told The 74, the priority will likely be overlooked in subsequent policies, strategies and initiatives — like expanding career and vocational training for green jobs or leadership.

“Girls’ education is going to be collateral damage from climate change, if we’re not paying attention to it. From the research we know that investing in girls’ education can be a powerful climate solution, why aren’t we talking about these two hand in hand?” Kwauk said. “If our education system isn’t helping us to address those structural and systemic aspects of the climate crisis, we will have wasted some really valuable years.”

Related: How Can We Learn When Our Earth is Burning?

If quality girls’ education and reproductive health care are provided over the next 30 years, 85.4 gigatons (mass roughly equal to 16 billion elephants) of carbon dioxide emissions could be avoided, according to researchers with the international nonprofit Project Drawdown, who estimate the impact of particular climate solutions. That is over four times more impactful than increasing concentrated solar power in the same timeframe.

Advocates caution against using Project Drawdown’s oft-quoted measure of impact as the sole driver for expanding girls’ education.

“Many stakeholders link girls’ education to reducing emissions, due to decreased fertility rates, however this places the burden of mitigating climate change on those least responsible for its cause and undermines a rights-based approach. We advocate for girls’ education as it is their right, and can equip them with the skills and knowledge to take climate action, adapt to impacts, be more resilient and engage in policy processes,” Plan International’s Jessica Cooke, a London-based expert in climate change and resilience programming, told The 74 via email.

Cooke will attend the U.N. conference this year with colleagues and youth activists to call for transformative education policy that advances both climate and gender justice.

“A gender-transformative education can equip girls with the skills and knowledge needed to tackle the climate crisis, claim and exercise their rights, and empower them to be leaders and decision-makers, including by challenging the systems and norms which reinforce gender, climate, racial and social injustices around the world,” Cooke added.

Roughly one third of girls don’t currently feel confident participating in climate policy processes, fewer boys feel the same hesitancy — about 25 percent, a recent Plan International youth survey revealed. And over 80 percent of youth surveyed in 37 nations, including the U.S., say that they don’t know anything about their country’s climate policy and that efforts to include them in decision making are insufficient.

More womens’ rights and feminist organizations are pushing for climate education policy as they begin to “see climate justice as a key aspect of work for gender equality,” said Bridget Burns, director of Women’s Environment & Development Organization. Her group partners with U.N. and government agencies as advisors on intersectional policy.

Similar thinking is underway at the U.S. federal level on the eve of the conference. At the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration,Frank Niepold leads climate education efforts and holds a singular leadership role for the U.S. with the UN’s Action for Climate Empowerment. He served as a U.S. delegate to the 2015 climate conference.

Niepold told The 74 that he’s searching for ways to collaborate with other agencies to support girls’ education as a key climate strategy. The infrastructure for dialogue leaves something to be desired. Beyond the climate talks — which are focused on the national level — there is not an existing support system for international groups to collaborate with sub-national agencies like his, which implements policies to protect the environment.

“A gender equity focus on educational programming at the federal level — it is missing,” he said, but added, “I think it’s emerging.”

Niepold confirmed that education remains on the negotiating table for this year’s talks.

Related: Bipartisan Coalition’s New K-12 Climate Action Plan Says Net-Zero Schools, Infrastructure Changes are Key to Mitigating Climate Change

Many are closely watching to see what the U.S. prioritizes during and following the conference, especially given that President Biden’s key clean energy budget provision was just gutted after a key senator voiced opposition. The president originally planned to tout the move — to replace coal and gas power plants with wind, solar and nuclear energy sources — as an example of his country’s commitment to climate solutions and infrastructure.

In 2017, former President Trump pledged to drop out of the Paris accord; the U.S. was the first country in the world to formally withdraw in 2020. At the last in-person climate talks in 2019, delegates were in disarray over whether his re-election would further block meaningful climate action globally. President Biden has since made the current administration’s position on climate change clear, rejoining the agreement in February 2021.

The Aspen Institute’s Laura Schifter, who’s heading up a new initiative to make school infrastructure more sustainable, remains hopeful that the nation is now prepared to back more education-centered climate solutions.

“The U.S. has the potential of really being an international leader in this space,” she said. “We have the administration right now committed to climate issues, we have schools across the country who have been experiencing climate impacts. We have a real need … the time is really right for education to mobilize and start taking climate action.”

Shell falls short of Dutch court ruling as it sets new 2030 climate target

The new target includes Scope 1 and 2 emissions, but not Scope 3, which accounts for 90% of Shell’s total.

August Graham
THE INDEPENDENT

Shell’s new target will see its own emissions cut in half by 2030 (Andrew Matthews/PA)
(PA Wire)

Oil giant Shell will halve its emissions by the end of the decade, meeting part of a ruling handed down in a Dutch court earlier this year.

The company said its so-called Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions will be cut by 50% compared with where they were in 2016.

Scope 1 and Scope 2 cover all the greenhouse gases produced at Shell’s oil and gas sites as well as off-site emissions from the energy it uses.

The target strengthens the company’s climate ambitions, but excludes the vital Scope 3 emissions, which are 90% of Shell’s total.

Scope 3 covers what is emitted when customers burn Shell’s fuels.

“It is … an important step as we rise to meet the challenge of the Dutch court’s ruling for our Scope 1 and 2 emissions, which Shell expects to meet by 2030,” the company said.

However, the new target only goes part of the way to meeting that ruling. The court said Shell must cut all three emissions categories by 45%.

Shell is appealing over the court’s decision on Scope 3 emissions.

It said: “Our 2022 business plan will reflect this new target, which we are committed to delivering regardless of whether we win or lose our appeal against the ruling.”

Shell has a separate target to get to net zero Scope 3 emissions by 2050.

The business also said it will stop routine gas flaring by 2025, five years ahead of its previous target.

When extracting oil from the ground producers often also get unwanted gas in their pipes. Sometimes this is used for energy, but often it does not make financial sense to do so and the gas is simply burnt on site.

The World Bank estimates that enough gas to power all of sub-Saharan Africa is wasted this way each year.

Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said: “Today, we also set a new 2030 target to halve the absolute emissions from our operations, compared to 2016 levels on a net basis.

“Altogether, this is clear evidence of how we are accelerating our Powering Progress strategy, purposefully and profitably.”

Stuart Lamont, investment manager at Brewin Dolphin said: “As ever, the tricky balance Shell needs to strike is remaining an attractive investment prospect as it makes the transition towards net zero, which it is currently managing well with a progressive dividend and share buyback programme.

“However, any detrimental change to the oil price could be a significant challenge in that regard.”

Separately, the oil giant announced on Thursday that it made a 988 million US dollar (£719 million) loss in the third quarter of the year.

The figure, which is measured on a current cost of supply basis and attributable to shareholders, was a swing from a 177 million dollar (£129 million) profit a year earlier.

“This quarter we’ve generated record cash flow, maintained capital discipline and announced our intention to distribute 7 billion dollars (£5.1 billion) to our shareholders from the sale of our Permian assets,” Mr van Beurden said.

Wildfires, logging turn protected forests into carbon emitters -report

BOGOTA, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Some of the world's most protected forests are emitting more carbon than they absorb, driven by things like logging and wildfires, a new report said on Wednesday, with researchers alarmed that protected areas are contributing to climate change.

At least 10 forests designated World Heritage sites - including Yosemite National Park in the United States - have been net carbon emitters over the last two decades, the report said.

"That even some of the most iconic and best protected forests such as those found in World Heritage sites can actually contribute to climate change is alarming and brings to light evidence of the severity of this climate emergency," Tales Carvalho Resende, report co-author and project officer for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said in a statement.

Forests are considered vital for curbing climate change due to their ability to work as so-called carbon sinks. Trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen, removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

All 257 forests together do act as a net carbon sink, according to the research which analyzed a period from 2001 to 2020. Still, human activities like logging and intense climate-related events such as wildfires are hindering their ability to capture and store more carbon than they emit, which experts say is a cause for grave concern.

As well as in the United States, forests found to be net carbon emitters were also located in Indonesia, Australia and Russia, among other countries.

UNESCO investigators and researchers from advocacy groups the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) combined satellite data with on-site monitoring and found that together the heritage sites saw net absorption of 190 million tons of CO2 annually over the 20-year period.

Over the course of centuries the forests have stored some 13 billion tons of carbon, equivalent to Kuwait's proven oil reserves, the report said.

The findings drew on data published by the journal Nature Climate Change in January, which mapped greenhouse gas emissions and absorption by forests globally.

The researchers used this data and on-the-ground monitoring of the heritage sites to understand what is putting forests at risk, including logging, agricultural incursions, droughts and shifting temperatures.

"I would expect all of them to be removing carbon for the atmosphere, and not to be sources of carbon," Carlos Sanquetta a forestry engineering professor at the Federal University of Parana in Brazil, told Reuters. "Instead of playing a role in carbon sequestration they are a playing a role in carbon emissions."

Though it produced important findings, the report could have presented its methodology in greater depth, he said.

While just 10 of the UNESCO-protected forests were found to have been carbon emitters, the report said other sites also showed clear upward trajectories in emissions.

"This is one more clear sign that even forests we traditionally assumed to be safe are now under increasing threat," David Kaimowitz, one of the forest directors at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, told Reuters.

The report did not place enough emphasis on supporting indigenous and local communities as well as activists who oppose forest destruction than is laid out in the report, he said. He also questioned whether the report was representative of all forests.

"Readers should ... not assume that the specific numbers presented here apply to forests everywhere," he said. (Reporting by Oliver Griffin; Editing by David Gregorio)

COP OUT 26

China, world’s top carbon emitter, offers few new climate targets ahead of U.N. summit

Smoke and steam rise from towers at a coal-fired power plant in western China.
(Mark Schiefelbein / Associated Press)

BY CHRISTINA LARSON
ASSOCIATED PRESSOCT. 29, 2021
WASHINGTON —
China is offering no significant new goals for reducing climate-changing emissions ahead of the United Nations climate summit set to start next week in Glasgow, Scotland.

China, the world’s top emitter of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that cause global warming, formally submitted its goals Thursday. The highly anticipated announcement includes targets previously established in speeches by President Xi Jinping and domestic policy documents.

On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that Xi would talk to global leaders at the summit by video link only. Xi has avoided foreign travel since before the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020.

China says it aims to reach peak emissions of carbon dioxide — which is produced mainly through burning coal, oil and natural gas for transportation, electric power and manufacturing — “before 2030.” The country is aiming for “carbon neutrality,” meaning no net emissions of CO2, before 2060

Joanna Lewis, an expert in China, climate and energy at Georgetown University, said the document submitted Thursday “gave more detail about [how] China will meet those goals,” through measures such as increasing its wind and solar power capacity and carbon-absorbing forest cover. “It’s not surprising, but it is disappointing that there wasn’t anything new” in terms of goals, Lewis said.

Climate experts say key questions about China’s future carbon emissions remain unanswered.


What U.S.-China tension means for fighting climate change


“The document gives no answers on the major open questions about the country’s emissions,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air in Helsinki, Finland. “At what level will emissions peak and how fast should they fall after the peak?”

Nations participating in the U.N. climate conference submit what are called “nationally determined contributions,” or NDCs, that lay out emissions reduction plans.

It’s still possible that China may have additional announcements at the climate summit related to financing for renewable energy overseas, said Lewis.

China’s NDC is “consistent with everything that we’ve seen from Xi Jinping’s previous statements,” said Sam Geall, CEO of the nonprofit organization China Dialogue and associate fellow at Chatham House in London.


Column: Can humanity rise to the challenge in Glasgow and take some meaningful steps on climate change?

“It may not be enough to get us to 1.5 degrees, which is where we want to go,” he said, referring to the target set under the Paris Agreement of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

At the summit, Geall said he is looking to see countries take steps to “restore trust in the process” of climate negotiations, after widespread economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Promises on climate finance” — money pledged by rich countries to fund climate responses in developing countries — “are coming in far too late, far too small,” he said.

Ahead of Glasgow climate conference, India and China 

dim hopes for reaching 

sweeping deal

David Knowles

·Senior Editor

Thu, October 28, 2021, 2:51 PM·3 min read

The hope that world leaders will reach a broad-reaching climate change accord in Glasgow, Scotland, to keep global temperatures from crossing 1.5 degrees Celsius of rise over preindustrial levels has continued to dim in recent days. 

China, by far the world's leading emitter of greenhouse gases, announced Thursday that it would not go beyond previous commitments to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060 and to reach peak levels of carbon emissions by 2030. That means that at a time when scientists have warned that nations must commit immediately to reducing greenhouse gas emissions or suffer devastating extreme weather consequences, the world's biggest atmospheric polluter plans to continue apace for nine more years. 

China's defiance ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, comes days after U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres issued a personal appeal to President Xi Jinping to bolster the commitments made in Paris in 2015.

“I commend President Xi Jinping for announcing at the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly that China will end financing of coal-fired power plants abroad and direct support to green and low-carbon energy,” Guterres said. “We must do everything possible to keep the 1.5-degree goal of the Paris Agreement alive. I appeal for China’s presentation of an ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution in the run-up to COP-26 in Glasgow.”

A heating plant in Jilin, China. (Reuters)

On Wednesday, India, the world's third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, flatly rejected calls to set a deadline to achieve net-zero emissions.  

“It is how much carbon you are going to put in the atmosphere before reaching net zero that is more important,” Indian Environment Secretary R.P. Gupta told reporters. 

While the U.S., Britain and the European Union have all pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the devil is in the details. Meanwhile, the fate of the climate change measures contained in President Biden's infrastructure and spending bills remained in doubt as he left for Europe on Thursday. 

The biggest weapon Biden had to meet the clean energy provision was stripped from the Democrats’ framework by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.

Just six of the G-20 nations have updated their emissions targets ahead of Glasgow, and a new report released this week found that another six, including the U.S., failed to meet their old ones. 

A report by the United Nations Environment Program released this week found that, given current emissions pledges, the world was poised to see 2.7 degrees Celsius of warming, and that a 55 percent cut in overall emissions was needed to keep temperatures from rising beyond the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming. 

“We have eight years to make the plans, put in place the policies, implement them and ultimately deliver the cuts,” Inger Andersen, UNEP executive director, said in a statement. “The clock is ticking loudly.”

The lack of action has left many climate scientists doubtful that the Glasgow conference will yield a new and effective agreement that keeps temperatures from crossing the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold. 

Australia rules out committing to methane reduction target


 In this Jan. 9, 2020, file photo, cattle graze in a field as smoke rises from burning fires on mountains near Moruya, Australia. Australia Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, ruled out promising to cut methane emissions by 30% by the end of the decade in a stance that will add to criticisms that the country is a laggard in addressing climate change. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)More


ROD McGUIRK
Wed, October 27, 2021, 

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia on Thursday ruled out promising to cut methane emissions by 30% by the end of the decade in a stance that will add to criticism that the country is a laggard in addressing climate change.

Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor announced his government’s decision before he was to fly with Prime Minister Scott Morrison to a U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

The United States and the European Union pledged in September to the 30% methane reduction target.

Taylor said the only way Australia could achieve that target would be to reduce numbers of cattle and sheep.

“At present, almost half of Australia’s annual methane emissions come from the agriculture sector, where no affordable, practical and large-scale way exists to reduce it other than by culling herd sizes,” Taylor wrote in The Australian newspaper.

“What activists in Australia and elsewhere want is an end to the beef industry,” he added.

Australia is one of the world’s largest exporters of coal and liquified natural gas. The gas and mining sector account for almost one third of Australia’s methane emissions.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said his Nationals party, the conservative government’s junior coalition partner, had insisted Morrison not commit to reducing methane at the Glasgow summit, known as COP26.

Inaction on methane was one of the conditions the rural-based Nationals had placed on support for Morrison’s Liberal Party’s target of net zero emissions by 2050.

“The only way you can get your 30% by 2030 reduction in methane on 2020 levels would be to go and grab a rifle, go out and start shooting your cattle because it’s just not possible,” Joyce said.

But Meat and Livestock Australia — a Sydney-based producer-owned company that provides marketing, research and development services to over 50,000 cattle, sheep and goat farmers — said the Australian red meat industry was pursuing its own net zero target for 2030.

“This target means that by 2030, Australian beef, lamb and goat production, including lot feeding and meat processing, will make no net release of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere,” the company website said.

Morrison’s net zero deal with the Nationals means he cannot budge from Australia’s 6-year-old target of reducing emissions by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2030.

Scientists agree Australia’s 2030 targets are among the weakest in the developed world. The United States has committed to reductions of between 50% and 52% below 2005 levels. Britain has pledged to cut emissions by 68% below 1990 levels.

Critics argue that Morrison’s plan to achieve net zero without imposing costs on households or businesses will not achieve the target and contains no measures to wean the Australian economy off fossil fuels.

Morrison and Joyce appeared to contradict each other on Thursday over the extent to which the agricultural sector will bear the burden of transitioning to net zero.

When Joyce was asked if he was certain that agriculture had been excluded from the net zero plan, he told reporters: “Absolutely, 100%.”

Morrison backed Taylor who earlier this week said the government’s policy was to reduce emissions across the entire Australian economy.

“I have no misunderstanding. It’s a whole-of-economy emissions reduction plan,” Morrison said. “That’s the policy agreed by Cabinet.”

Joyce said the net zero deal had also included a government commitment to create a “fund to support people in regional Australia.”

But neither Joyce nor Morrison would say how much the fund would cost.

Morrison said policies to “invest in rural and regional Australia” would be announced before the next election, which is due by May.

COP26 Glasgow: Net zero goals aren’t the solution, says India before UN climate summit

Via AP news wire
Wed, October 27, 2021

India Climate (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The solution to climate change is not setting net zero carbon emissions targets as dozens of nations have done, India’s federal environment minister said.

Instead, rich countries need to acknowledge their “historic responsibility" for emissions and protect the interests of developing nations and those vulnerable to climate change, said minister Bhupender Yadav.

India — the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the United States — is committed to “being part of the solution” at the upcoming United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, Yadav said.


India is among the few countries on course to reach its targets for curbing the release of planet-warming gases. But a UN-backed report published Tuesday said the country had “significant room” for more ambitious goals, which it has yet to provide to the UN climate agency.

Asked about newer targets, Rameshwar Prasad Gupta, India’s top environmental official, said that “all options were still on the table.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending a Group of 20 summit scheduled for this weekend in Rome, then the summit at Glasgow, known as COP26.

Yadav stressed that India had reached its climate targets without the promised financing from rich nations. The cost of meeting the targets is estimated to be $2.5 trillion, a 2019 finance ministry document said.

Although India is now a top emitter of greenhouse gases, it has historically contributed only 4% of total emissions since the 1850s.

Gupta said that “net zero in itself isn't a solution,” since cumulative emissions were the cause of the climate problem. He said countries need to focus on how much carbon is put in the atmosphere while getting to that goal.

Developing nations need space to grow and assistance — and without it, they are faced with a choice of compromising on development or relying on dirty fuels, he said.

But India's dependence on coal — it's the world's second-largest user of fossil fuel and has vast reserves — is likely to continue.

Electricity demand is expected to soar — and while the overall share of energy from coal will keep coming down, Gupta said weaning the country off coal at this point would impact its energy security.

Pete Buttigieg took parental leave. LGBTQ+ advocates and administration officials say that should be normal.


Pete Buttigieg his husband, Chasten, attend President Joe Biden's inauguration. (PHOTO BY TOM WILLIAMS/CQ-ROLL CALL/GETTY IMAGES)

By Kate Sosin, Sara Luterman, Chabeli Carrazan

Published October 15, 2021

Advocates for LGBTQ+ people and the Biden administration are pointing to recent criticism of parental leave taken by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as evidence that the country needs new policies around paid leave.

Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten, recently adopted twins, and the secretary took time off starting in mid-August. He is now returning to work. The details of his leave were first reported by Politico.

Buttigieg, on MSNBC on Friday evening, talked about the awe he felt upon becoming a parent.

“Like so many working parents, I’m thinking about how best to meet that incredibly compelling responsibility while also of course the other responsibilities that I have in my day job,” Buttigieg said.

LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization GLAAD said that while the issue of paid parental leave is key for queer families, it’s one with resonance for all families. It called coverage of Buttigieg’s leave “a little puzzling.”

“Many companies are already expanding their parental leave policies to include both parents’ need and desire to bond with their children,” GLAAD said in a statement.

Their comment came in the wake of a Politico newsletter asking if Buttigieg was “MIA” while pointing out he was on leave, as well as criticism by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who frequently targets women, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people and people of color on his show. Fox News offers paternity leave to its employees.

Annise Parker, president of the LGBTQ Victory Insitute, which works to elect out public officials, accused Carlson of resorting to petty homophobic rants.

“We should give Tucker the collective eye roll he deserves and use this opportunity to have a conversation about the policies America needs to ensure parents can succeed – including same-sex parents,” Parker said in a statement. “For the benefit of all families, America should adopt parental leave policies comparable to what almost all other developed nations offer.”

Buttigieg, in his comments on MSNBC, linked his leave to administration policy.

“What’s really strange is that this is from a side of the aisle that used to claim the mantle of being pro family,” Buttigieg said of Carlson’s criticism. “What we have right now is an administration that is actually pro-family, and I’m blessed to be able to experience that as an employee.”

A proposal for paid parental leave is part of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. It would establish 12 weeks of paid parental leave for all new parents, irrespective of gender or sexual orientation. Fathers and adoptive parents would also qualify. It’s being weighed alongside other policies that would represent historic investments in care infrastructure, including a $450 billion provision to enact a universal prekindergarten program and raise wages for child care providers while lowering the cost of child care for parents.

“As advocates we’re really proud of the provisions being discussed, including an inclusive definition of ‘family’ which really takes into account the nature and needs of families in America today,” said Dawn Huckelbridge, the director of Paid Leave for All, an advocacy group focused on establishing national paid family leave.

Shalanda Young, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, is pregnant and expecting her first child any day now. She said she’s not yet sure how much parental leave she will take but that she has a contingency plan in place and that her experience has shaped how she thinks about policies the administration is putting forward.

“It really does make you a more sympathetic person involved in policy making — so representation is real,” Young said. “As you’re going through it yourself, it rings more true to you, personally.”

Despite efforts to normalize taking time off for the birth or adoption of a child for both parents, fathers in particular are still stigmatized for taking time off from work. It’s one of the reasons a national paid leave policy has experienced little momentum in the United States until quite recently, while nearly every other developed nation has had a policy in the books for several years, if not decades.

The fact that that is not the standard, for both parents, is surprising, Young said.

“That’s just a no-brainer for me that we need to make sure that moms and dads both have time with their children and that’s why you see the policies put forward because we think every American deserves that.”

Buttigieg said in a statement from the Transportation Department that his experience has also influenced his view of how important leave is.

“The Secretary feels fortunate and grateful to be able to take time to focus on his responsibilities as a father, and believes all American parents deserve the same,” the statement said.

Pregnancy loss is common. Paid time off afterward is not
BY BARBARA RODRIGUEZ 

AND THE 19TH
October 22, 2021 11:10 AM MDT

Spontaneous pregnancy loss takes a physical and emotional toll, and some state lawmakers are starting to push for paid leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth.

CAVAN IMAGES—GETTY IMAGES

This story was originally published by The 19th.

It was her first weeks as a Michigan state legislator, and Kyra Harris Bolden was having a miscarriage.

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This company thrives with a commitment to inclusivityFROM REYNOLDS AMERICAN

“It’s not like a one-day event, which is something I think is also a misconception,” Bolden told The 19th. “It happens over weeks for a lot of people. So I was starting a new job and literally still going through my miscarriage, on my first days of entering my first session.”

It was 2019, and the Democratic lawmaker had just been elected. She described her constituents as her “90,000 bosses.” So Bolden balanced policy debates with doctor’s appointments and other related care to address her physical pain. She did not feel like she could take time off work.

“It just was not a feasible option for me, because it’s not something that’s been normalized,” she said. “Looking back on it, I should not have been at work. It just was not good for me, emotionally or physically.”

Months later, Bolden filed a bill to require eligible employers in the state to offer paid medical leave to a person and their spouse or partner if they experience a miscarriage or stillbirth. It mirrors similar proposals at other statehouses — one of the strongest indications that policymakers are beginning to acknowledge the physical and emotional toll of spontaneous pregnancy loss. But few bills have become law, highlighting the challenges to enacting such policy.

Such pregnancy loss is considered common. An estimated 10 to 20 percent of pregnancies end in a miscarriage (defined as the loss of a pregnancy before 20 weeks of pregnancy). Separately, there are around 24,000 stillbirths every year, defined as the death or loss of a baby before or during delivery, at or after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

In March, New Zealand approved legislation to provide three days of paid leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth, becoming one of just a handful of countries with available benefits. New Zealand’s policy includes both birthing people and their partners.

But political headwinds in America, which unlike many other countries lacks some type of paid parental leave policy, are rougher. A bill filed in Congress this year that would provide paid leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth has not advanced. And while some states have begun to offer paid parental leave and other related accommodations, it appears no state has approved a statewide policy that accommodates both miscarriage and stillbirth.

Bolden’s 2019 bill did not advance or even get a preliminary public hearing in the Michigan legislature. She refiled the bill in September as part of a package of bills aimed at helping women return to the workforce. Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, a Democrat who chairs the Michigan Progressive Women’s Caucus that supports the bills, said there is a stigma around miscarriages and stillbirths.

“People don’t know to ask, and don’t want to ask even, so it’s important to make sure that it is a uniform policy across the board, and that people who may be experiencing that level of loss just know that it is an option available to them,” she said.

A bill introduced in the New York legislature this spring proposes paid family leave to mourn the “loss of a stillborn child” or to mourn “the loss of a miscarriage.” Separate legislation filed in Kentucky would offer paid leave for parents following a miscarriage or stillbirth or grieving the loss of a child under one year old.

“I think more and more legislators, policymakers and stakeholders are realizing that paid leave doesn’t negatively impact employees but actually supports and improves employees performance,” said Michaelle Solages, a Democrat in the New York Assembly who first filed her bill on miscarriage and stillbirth in 2019.

Solages is more hopeful her bill can advance this year, especially in a Democratic-controlled legislature with a new governor. The state of New York already offers paid family leave in part through employees’ contributions. She said ensuring that system can pay for an expansion of benefits to accommodate pregnancy loss will be key to the bill’s passage. She said the estimated cost of the bill is not available yet.

The most promising movement has happened on the local level. In March, the city council in Washington, D.C., passed a bill to expand paid bereavement leave for city employees who lose a child under the age of 21, including a stillbirth.

Councilmember Elissa Silverman, who filed the bill, said she did so after a woman, Elizabeth O’Donnell, spoke out on social media about delivering a stillborn daughter when she was seven months pregnant. Her employer, D.C. Public Schools, denied her request for eight weeks of paid time off for postpartum recovery.

O’Donnell posted on Instagram about the realities of a stillbirth: She was in labor for 48 hours, lost nearly a liter and a half of blood and felt constant pain from complications.

“My daughter living or dying should not determine whether or not I receive 8-week paid family leave to HEAL MY BODY after delivering a baby,” she wrote.

The physical impact on a person who experiences a miscarriage or stillbirth varies. That’s because different stages of spontaneous pregnancy loss impacts the body in different ways, according to Sara Twogood, an OB-GYN in Los Angeles. A miscarriage can result in days or weeks of vaginal spotting or bleeding, as well as cramping. Twogood said delivering a stillborn is comparable to the experience of delivering a healthy baby, which has multiple health effects on the birthing parent.

Twogood added that depending on the severity of the pregnancy loss, a person is probably taking some sort of time off — whether paid or unpaid — from work for doctors’ visits and other needs.

“People are already taking time off work to cope with this. It’s just — they’re taking a sick day. They’re taking a vacation day,” she said.

There is also emotional trauma. Research shows that people who experience pregnancy loss face grief and depression after a miscarriage and stillbirth.

Silverman said as more people like O’Donnell share publicly the realities of that loss, more policy discussions will emerge.

“I think that it has been taboo or uncomfortable and not part of pleasant conversation for women to talk about how traumatic a miscarriage or stillbirth is,” Silverman said. “I think we’re starting to see a societal change in that women are coming forward talking about this.”

Bolden does not expect Republicans, who still control both of Michigan’s legislative chambers, to take up her latest measure or to even hold a public hearing. The chair of the legislative committee that would oversee the bill’s passage did not return a request for comment.

But Bolden is hopeful for gradual change. Last October, she spoke on the House floor about her miscarriage as part of a resolution recognizing Pregnancy Loss Awareness Month. She said sharing so much of herself can be hard, but she’s willing to do it if fellow policymakers start to look at the issue differently.

“There were Republican men that came up to me and said, ‘My wife had a miscarriage, thank you so much for sharing your story.’ And I think that’s the first step into making sure legislation like this moves,” she said.