NOAA's Arctic report card finds 'alarming' trend in climate crisis


Iceberg floating close to a glacier in Iceland. 

File Photo by Marco Varro/Shutterstock

Dec. 14 (UPI) -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 2021 Arctic report card shows a region transformed by human-caused climate change, a thawing of a once reliably frozen region.

"The Arctic Report Card continues to show how the impacts of human-caused climate change are propelling the Arctic region into a dramatically different state than it was in just a few decades ago," said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad. "The trends are alarming and undeniable. We face a decisive moment. We must take action to confront the climate crisis."

The Arctic Report card is compiled by 111 scientists and 11 nations. The October-December 2020 period was the warmest Arctic autumn on record dating back to 1900.

Human-caused climate change effects on the Arctic include loss of sea ice volume, a deteriorating Greenland ice sheet and some of the fastest rates of ocean acidification in the Arctic ocean.

The thawing has also increased shipping in the region, which in turn is creating more garbage and debris along Arctic shorelines.

Scientists warned Monday that an ice shelf holding a crucial Antarctic glacier could break up within the next five years.

If that happens, it could greatly increase sea level rise by as much as 25 percent.

The Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf supports one-third of the Florida-size Thwaites Glacier.

Millions of people living in coastal areas would be endangered by that estimated 10-13 feet of sea level rise.

NOAA's Arctic report is like an annual health climate checkup for the region. It's a very significant biome. It continues to warm twice as fast as the rest of the Earth and is rapidly losing ice cover.

That thawing Arctic permafrost releases more greenhouse gases into Earth's atmosphere, which can accelerate global warming.

Big businesses accused of faking net-zero climate targets

Which companies are the biggest polluters in the world? - Copyright Canva

By Tim Gallagher • Updated: 10/06/2021

A new report entitled “The Big Con” claims to show how some of the world’s biggest polluters have worked to shape climate policy in their own interests.

Written by Corporate Accountability, Friends of the Earth International and the Global Forest Coalition the report shows how companies like Shell, Microsoft and Nestle are lobbying for “net-zero” targets which do not actually reduce emissions.

The Big Con accuses companies of using “distraction techniques” to give the impression of reducing emissions whilst pursuing their own interests.

Carbon offsetting draws particular ire from the report writers, with Shell planning to purchase more carbon offsets yearly by 2030 than were available in the entire global market in 2019.

The authors criticise United Airlines for planning to build carbon direct air capture plants to offset their carbon, a process which is not proven to work and was originally designed to extract hard to reach oil sources.

Other companies like Walmart are highlighted for ignoring the carbon emissions from products they sell; these emissions make up 95 per cent of Walmart’s carbon footprint.

Dangerous influence on climate policy

The Big Con accuses polluters of rejecting systemic change, placing profit over people and the planet, and being invested in the status quo. However they also outline a disturbing collusion between polluters and policy makers.

US lobbyists are accused of using their influence to get a tax credit passed which benefits those developing carbon capture technology even if this leads to more fossil fuel extraction.

Furthermore, lobbyists for big polluters attending climate talks are singled out as being instrumental in weakening the Paris Agreement, ensuring it was only voluntary.

The International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) is central to this lobbying and works to force the carbon market to the centre of international climate policy. The IETA was founded by Shell, BP and Chevron.

“We are deeply concerned about the corporate capture of climate policies and finance, and the growing nexus between governments and corporations to promote false solutions through Net Zero,” says Coraina De la Plaza, Climate Campaigner at Global Forest Coalition.

“Instead of deep emissions cuts, they continue to pursue ‘green’ neocolonial offsetting schemes to reap more profits and pollute through forest offsets, afforestation, reforestation, tree plantations, and dangerous techno-fixes.”

The IETA’s historic involvement in climate talks is clear; they sent 402 representatives to COP11 held in Montreal in 2005 when the average delegation from individual nations was 15.

The report also highlights relationships between big polluters and academic institutions, where they attempt to shape research to validate ‘net zero’; in 2020 BP and Exxon funded pre-net zero research at Princeton University.

What is net zero?

The idea behind net zero is that polluters can continue their current emissions - or even increase them - whilst mitigating them in other areas.

However The Big Con criticises corporations for treating carbon as a simple mathematical equation and ‘foisting’ their responsibilities onto the global south, as well as betting on risky technology which could further damage the world's habitats.

So-called ‘carbon colonialism’ could trap the most-affected communities into participating in carbon offsetting schemes for money. This has been described by the report’s authors as a ‘land grab’.

Friends of the Earth’s Sara Shaw says, “‘net zero’ plans from big polluters are nothing more than a big con.

“The reality is that corporations...plan to continue business as usual while greenwashing their image with tree planting and offsetting schemes that can never ever make up for digging up and burning fossil fuels.

“We must wake up fast to the fact that we are falling for a trick. Net zero risks obscuring a lack of action until it is too late.”

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Nestlé and Kellogg’s linked to shocking palm oil abuse in Papua New Guinea

Natural rivers and intact rainforest areas in the Bainings region of East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. - Copyright Global Witness

By Lottie Limb • Updated: 08/10/2021

Palm oil companies selling to European brands boasted about the use of child labour and beatings of local people.

A two-year investigation by international NGO Global Witness has revealed the shocking extent of human rights abuses and rampant deforestation in Papua New Guinea.

The South Pacific nation is home to the world’s third-largest remaining rainforest: a critical carbon sink helping to mitigate the climate crisis.

But under firms supplying household names like Nestlé, Kellogg’s and Colgate, tens of thousands of hectares of tropical forest are being destroyed.

“Papua New Guinean communities have managed and protected their forests sustainably for countless generations,” Lela Stanley, senior investigator at Global Witness said.

Land has been cleared for Oil Palm plantations in the Bainings region of East New Britain, Papua New Guinea. Global Witness

“This investigation shows they are being sold out by their own government and global financial institutions in favour of a small number of highly destructive companies, with devastating human rights and environmental consequences.”

As this tainted palm oil continues to circulate in European supply chains, the NGO is calling for strong EU action to end complicity and demand change in the industry.

What did Global Witness uncover?

Global Witness’s investigation exposed the exploitative actions of the country’s three newest palm oil plantations, including the East New Britain Resources Group (ENB).

On tape, top ENB executives were recorded bragging to undercover investigators that they had bribed a Papua New Guinean minister; paid police to brutalise villagers; used child labour; and participated in an apparent tax evasion scheme.

In the village of Watwat, men and boys as young as 16 were dragged from their beds one night in July 2019. “When the boys woke up, they were at gunpoint. They tied their hands at the back and blindfolded their faces so they could not see,” a resident said.

“When the boys woke up, they were at gunpoint. They tied their hands at the back and blindfolded their faces so they could not see”
Resident of Watwat village

Five youths were beaten and held for weeks, part of a sustained pattern of abuse directed at communities suspected of opposing the companies’ ravaging activities.

Asked by Global Witness whether anything good had come from palm oil development, another villager said “only destruction.”

A second palm oil firm, Rimbunan Hijau, ignored repeated and avoidable worker deaths and injuries on its plantations, with at least 11 workers and the child of a worker losing their lives over an eight-year period.

The NGO’s investigation also raises serious concerns that plantations such as these were operating on grabbed land - in violation of land laws in Papua New Guinea.

Filmed covertly, ENB boss Eng Kwee Tan described the firm's international tax evasion scheme.  Global Witness

Why is the Papua New Guinean rainforest so important?

Covering half of the massive island of New Guinea, Papua New Guinea (PNG) is one of the most biodiverse places in the world.

It sustains at least five per cent of all species on Earth, many found nowhere else: forest dragons, tree kangaroos, resplendent birds of paradise, and the only known night-blooming orchid.

Billions of metric tonnes of carbon are stored in its towering trees, making them a vital carbon sink and a key resource in the fight against climate change.

All of this is imperilled by the palm oil industry, Global Witness has discovered, through using satellite imagery, analysing company records and interviewing local people.

The threat is growing: by 2030, the PNG government is aiming for a tenfold expansion in oil palm cultivation to 1.5m hectares (ha), compared to about 150,000 ha in 2016.

A landowner walks across forest land destroyed in East New Britain, PNG.

Global Witness

Who is handling the tainted palm oil?

For the first time, the extensive investigation has revealed that dirty palm oil and its byproducts are being sold to household brands including Kellogg’s, Nestlé, Colgate, Danone, Hershey, and the parent companies of Imperial Leather and Strepsils.

It’s not just the names on our supermarket shelves that are complicit.

Two of the palm oil suppliers received direct and indirect backing from global financiers such as Robeco and BlackRock.

"This investigation is yet further confirmation that the global financial system is broken – the business-as-usual, voluntary approach of past years has led us into climate crisis,” says senior investigator Ms Stanley.

"Firms like BlackRock talk a big game on their commitment tackling climate change and protecting human rights, yet our revelations show its money is ultimately financing the destruction of climate-critical forests, the use of child labour, and other human rights abuses.

"It is increasingly urgent that governments legislate to prevent supply chains and global financiers bankrolling deforestation and human rights abuses."

Indonesia set to start producing more palm oil as ban comes to an end

How palm oil ended up in everything - and could be ruining the planet

Why stopping deforestation doesn't just save lives, it revives economies

What can European companies and citizens do?

The presence of the liquid gold foodstuff in so many of our products puts pressure on us all to push for change.

Global Witness points to the upcoming EU legislative proposal on tackling deforestation - set to be published on November 17th - as an opportune moment to do so.

The European Commission’s current approach reportedly has several loopholes which could limit its aim of addressing tainted products in EU supply chains.

To stop enabling human rights abuses and environmental degradation in PNG, the proposal must require compliance with international human rights instruments and principles, such as obtaining Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of indigenous peoples and local communities.

Without this, EU-based businesses are relying on uneven national standards, and EU consumers cannot guarantee we are purchasing deforestation-free products.

McDonald’s new solar powered restaurant branded ‘McGreenwash’ by Greenpeace

McDonald's first net zero carbon restaurant has landed in Market Drayton, UK. - Copyright McDonald's

By Josey Vaughan-Hughes, Lottie Limb • Updated: 10/12/2021

McDonald’s has opened its first net-zero restaurant. But is it a blueprint for the future or just more greenwashing?

The new branch, located in the UK town of Shropshire, is powered by on-site solar panels and wind turbines. The building is also insulated with British sheep’s wool and clad in recycled IT equipment.

It’s set to be recognised as the first restaurant to meet the UK Green Building Council's (UKGBC’s) net-zero carbon buildings framework.

McDonald's spokeswoman Beth Hart says the Market Drayton eatery, which opened today (10 December) “will act as a blueprint for our future new builds.” The chain aims to make all new builds net-zero by 2030 while improving its existing 1,400 branches in the UK and Ireland.

'It just tastes great': I tried the new McPlant burger and this is what I thought

What actually goes on inside the kitchen is another issue, however, as campaigners have pointed out.

Why has McDonald’s been accused of greenwashing over its new build?

The new restaurant is powered by on-site solar panels and wind turbines

McDonald's

The attention to detail - signs made out of used coffee beans, a drive-thru lane of recycled tyres - sits in stark contrast to the scale of McDonald’s meat and dairy operations.

“If meat and dairy are still the main course on McDonald’s menu, then this new restaurant initiative can only be labelled as it is: McGreenwash,” says Greenpeace UK campaigner Anna Jones.

Greenwashing was first coined to describe a similar disparity between a company’s consumer-facing actions and its wider environmental policies. In the 1980s, American environmentalist Jay Westervelt noted how at a hotel he visited, there were signs asking guests to reuse their towels in order to “save the environment.”

He contrasted this with the vast amount of wastage he had encountered throughout the rest of the hotel, where there were no obvious efforts being made towards sustainability, and concluded the towel-washing was more about the business’s own image.

Simply put, the bulk of McDonald’s carbon emissions come not from its buildings but from its role as one of the world’s biggest buyers of beef.

It has been reported by The Counter that around 726 million kilograms of beef it purchases every year contribute 29 per cent of the company’s carbon footprint.

Jones explains that climate-critical forests in South America are being "decimated" by production linked with meat and dairy. McDonald's ought to "think beyond emissions from specific UK sites and start to urgently shift its entire business model to meat-free alternatives," she adds.

McDonald's has not pledged to reach net-zero in its supply chain until 2050 - which others have commented will be too McLate.

The build is intended to be a "blueprint" for the rest of McDonald's 1,400 UK sites.PA

What about McDonald's McPlant burger?

The launch of McDonald's plant-based McPlant burger in October was also met with mixed reviews.

Vegans had been pressuring the fast-food chain to join the meat-free movement for years, as the brand has historically been lacking in vegan options.

“When will McDonald’s take climate change seriously and launch some vegan burgers?” a Twitter user asked.

The certified vegan burger features a Beyond Meat patty and contains its own special vegan sauce and cheese.

The global chain spent three years developing the McPlant and it has even been accredited as vegan by the Vegetarian Society.

The burger costs the same as the famous Big Mac at £3.49 (€4.09) and is cooked separately from other meat and dairy products, ensuring no cross-contamination. Something which can’t be said of all its competitors.

Colombian farmers take on David vs. Goliath fight against 'exploitative' gold mining

The beautiful Cajamarca region in Colombia that local communities are fighting to protect. - Copyright CAFOD

By Louise Eldridge • Updated: 08/12/2021

Almost five years ago, small-scale farmers in Colombia won a remarkable victory in the fight to protect their land and territories. They voted en masse against international mining company AngloGold Ashanti’s plans to mine gold in the mountainous Andes district of Cajamarca.

This David vs. Goliath action was to protect an environmentally unique area, stop mining developments in the territory and inspire a surge of activism to defend land from predatory economic interests.

But the people of Cajamarca are now once again under threat.

Economic tensions underpinning the 2021 protests

2021 saw a wave of mass protests by Colombia’s working-class and rural communities under a so-called “general strike” – which led to subsequent violent attacks on protestors by security forces.

Viviana Tacha, an activist and lawyer from Colombia’s capital, Bogotá.

CAFOD

“The protests that we have witnessed in Colombia since 2019, with greater intensity in 2021, have their origin in the dissatisfaction of urban and rural communities in the face of growing inequality, linked to mining and agro-industrial business interests,” explains Viviana Tacha, an activist and lawyer from Colombia’s capital, Bogotá.

“The economic interests that exist in the territories due to their extractive potential, that only bring profit to corporations and the country’s political and economic elites, are related to the delicate financial situation that the country is experiencing. This is evident in the impoverishment of the people, who today demand basic rights to work, health, education and a fair tax system."

For the past six years, most recently with human rights organisation, Centro Socio-Jurídico para la Defensa Territorial Siembra – supported by the charity CAFOD – Viviana has been working to protect Colombia’s people and the environment from exploitation.

Including supporting the resistance of Campesinos (small-scale farmers) against plans to extract gold from their territory.

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Extractive industries drive land grabs and violence

The exploitation of Colombia’s land and communities for the extraction of precious minerals, primarily gold, formed the basis of European colonisers’ economy. Mineral wealth travelled to Europe, while indigenous people were dispossessed of their land, attacked, and killed.

Now, this vicious exploitation continues under a different guise. Collusion between state officials, corporate actors and even armed groups has helped facilitate the capture of minerals, metals and energy sources in Colombia by multinational corporations.

Massacres, torture and forced disappearances continue en masse.

The Peace Accord signed between the State and FARC guerrilla group in 2016 brought hope of an end to the violence Colombia has suffered for years. But despite this, massacres, torture and forced disappearances continue en masse. This is partly explained by the business interests seeking profit from Colombia’s natural resources, which is driving attacks on indigenous, campesino and afro-descendant communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating these developments. As CAFOD’s new report reveals, governments like Colombia’s are increasingly prioritising investment in the extractive industries as a driver for economic recovery, despite the negative ramifications for communities, who are suffering the deep impacts of the pandemic to their health and livelihoods.

Cajamarca’s 'true gold'

In 2017, South African-based multinational corporation, AngloGold Ashanti, who are listed on the London Stock Exchange, announced the discovery of a massive gold deposit in Cajamarca, which they intended to mine. This was the largest gold discovery in Colombia at the time. They named the deposit ‘La Colosa’ (The Colossus).

The project could have substantial negative environmental repercussions, particularly on the area’s paramos – an ecosystem of high-altitude wetlands in the Andes. The paramos are a vital water source, protect innumerable plant and animal species, and function as soil-based carbon storage – crucial protection against climate change.

Cajamarca is known as the agricultural pantry of Colombia. The fertile volcanic soils support a wide range of crops, and the area is famous for its production of arracacha, a famous Andean parsnip, which supplies national restaurant chain Crepes and Waffles. This, farmers say, is Cajamarca’s “true gold”.

Robinson Mejía, a local activist who works with Viviana.

CAFOD

More than half of Cajamarca’s 20,000 inhabitants live off the land as peasant farmers. The project risks destroying the identity of these Campesinos, whose lives are intrinsically bound up in their land and the circular agricultural system that sustains them and other Colombians.

“Here, people are proud and very happy that what is on their plate at lunchtime was grown on each of their farms,” explains Robinson Mejía, a local activist who works with Viviana.

“Their relationship with the land is characterised by how the food is produced.”
Resistance and victory

Campesino organisations, young peoples’ organisations and national environmental groups have tirelessly campaigned against mining projects in Colombia for many years.

In March 2017, despite attempts by Anglo-Gold Ashanti to stop the vote, an overwhelming 98 per cent of the population voted to protect water sources and reject the mine – and the company was forced to suspend its operations in Cajamarca.

This was the first-ever time citizens themselves had called a 'consulta popular' (popular consultation). The company had shown a disregard for the community’s decision to proceed with the mine.

They referred to Cajamarca as an unconquerable territory: no one can enter here.

Viviana believes the case is uniquely important: not only because of the ground-breaking way local community signatures triggered a consulta popular but also because it is very deeply rooted in the local campesino identity and spirit of resistance. This once prevented Spanish colonists from making their capital in the territory centuries ago.

“They referred to Cajamarca as an unconquerable territory: no one can enter here. So, if one considers the campesino attachment to the territory and the love they have for their trade, then it is not surprising that if a mining project comes along that directly threatens that, the people react and respond.”

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Under threat again

Despite the overwhelming rejection of mining activities by the people, and a legally binding agreement to have no mining on this territory, there have been some worrying recent developments. In 2017 more than 68 per cent of the Cajamarca territory had mining concessions. As of September, that figure is closer to 30 per cent, but there are also five new applications under consideration.

The new applications were submitted by unknown companies, but Colombian organisations have found indications of possible links between one of these companies and AngloGold Ashanti itself.

Rather than a national dispute between guerrillas and the state, violence in rural Colombia is now marked by local feuds over drug routes, illegal mines and gasoline smuggling

Fernando Vergara/Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The news brings the renewed threats of violence and attacks to environmental defenders protecting their lands. Since 2013, five local campaigners against the mine have been killed, and no one is held accountable for their murders. 

The consulta popular mechanism itself is under threat as Colombian courts, pressured by the government and businesses, have moved to prevent other communities from following in Cajamarca’s footsteps – barring mining activities being forced to undergo public consultations.

International rules for companies

Many campaigners argue that the Colombian state must stop criminalising and persecuting Colombia’s people – and instead, protect them from the economic interests intent on exploiting their land, water and forests. However, they also acknowledge that many of the drivers are businesses outside the country, who source materials or products from Colombia and profit from human rights violations committed out of sight.

A number of countries, like the UK, have signed up to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This 2011 global framework is meant to ensure that companies do not violate human rights in their operations or supply chains. But it has been done without ever putting in place any laws to hold companies accountable.

CAFOD is calling for a new law to make UK companies prevent abuse – no matter where they operate. With a new law on human rights and environmental due diligence due to be tabled in 2022 by the EU, strong action by the UK could set a precedent and encourage other governments to follow.

If the mine goes ahead, the inhabitants of Cajamarca will sacrifice their lives and land for the benefit of the company and those who buy this gold.

Viviana Tacha

Activist and lawyer from Colombia’s capital, Bogotá.

“If the La Colosa mining project goes ahead, it is a defeat for democracy in Colombia, as well as meaning the end of the life project of a community that has spent generations building its territory around the Campesino economy, guaranteeing our food sovereignty," says Viviana.

"If the mine goes ahead, the inhabitants of Cajamarca will sacrifice their lives and land for the benefit of the company and those who buy this gold. Binding regulations that hold companies accountable for the abuses they commit are essential to stop this."

“In Tolima people defend these mountains with joy, with love, but above all with a lot of enthusiasm,” adds Robinson.

“We do not want to be martyrs – we want to continue to be happy where we live.”

Louise Eldridge is the Lead Policy Analyst - Private Sector at CAFOD.
Additional sources • CAFOD

BJP HINDUTVA RELIGIOUS WAR

'Totally false, fabricated allegations': Mother Teresa's Gujarat mission under attack

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ*

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

It is been happening with frightening regularity all over India and particularly, in States run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): the bashing of Christians! It is a well-orchestrated campaign to denigrate and demonise the Christians. Their design is devious: a method in their ‘madness’!

The divisive agenda is clearly to polarise sections of the majority community against the Christians. The bogey of so-called ‘conversions’ is always raised creating unfounded ‘fears’ that the population of Christians is increasing in the country whereas official government statistics clearly show a decline in numbers!

The long-term strategy is clear: they bash up minorities and, in several cases, notch up electoral gains! There is evidence to prove this be it in Gujarat in the past or recently in Tripura! Besides with bogeys and myths – the way is paved for a national anti-Conversion law! Ultimately, the ushering of a nation-state based on the ‘Hindutva’ ideology!

Christians are being bashed up, their institutions are attacked, Christian literature is burnt, undemocratic demands are made on the Christians, false charges framed, anti-conversion laws are made weapons to intimidated and harass. Reports on these come in daily: they don’t seem to stop! Above all, those who are responsible for these heinous crimes do so with impunity and are apparently guaranteed impunity by the bosses and their ilk!

The latest attack is on the Missionaries of Charity (founded by Mother Teresa) in Vadodara when on December 13 the Gujarat Police registered an FIR against them (the Missionaries of Charity who run the Ashram), for allegedly “luring young girls into Christianity and hurting Hindu religious sentiments.”

This is an allegation that is totally false and fabricated.

The sequence of events is as follows:

On August 29, 2021, Priyank Kanoongo the Chairman of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), paid a “surprise” visit to the Ashram and apparently finds a couple of Bibles with the names of a child written on them
He directs the District Administration and police to take action; they do visit the Ashram later and in fact they find nothing wrong. In fact, they had all appreciation for the work of the sisters

On December 9 the District Social Defence Officer with the Chairman of the CWC visited the premises during which they ‘apparently’ found some serious issues!

This visit took place because there was plenty of pressure from ‘above’

An FIR was then filed; the sisters came to know about it from the media

On December 13 around 7.00pm a team consisting of an Asst Commissioner of Police, the PI of Makarpura, a Social Welfare Officer from the CWC and a lady constable visited the premises till 11.00pm for ‘investigations’

On December 14, another team of police came to the Ashram to interrogate the five girls whose names were written on the Bibles – no MC Sister or lawyer/representative (on behalf of the Sisters) was allowed to be present. The interrogation went on for more than four hours.The complaint was finally filed by the District Social Defence Officer Mayank Trivedi. During his visit Trivedi ‘apparently’ found girls being forced to read Christian religious texts at the shelter and that similar activities were conducted with the intention of “steering them into Christianity.”

Bogey of conversion is being raised amidst unfounded fears that Christian population is increasing. Official data show decline in numbers

The Missionaries of Charity have been booked under sections 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts to outrage feelings of any class by insulting its religious beliefs) and 298 (deliberately uttering words to wound the religious feelings of a person) of the Indian Penal Code. The FIR also invokes sections of the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003, including those providing for prohibition of forcible conversion and punishment for it.

The FIR states:
“Between February 10, 2021, and December 9, 2021, the institution has been involved in activities to hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus intentionally and with bitterness… The girls inside the Home for Girls are being lured to adopt Christianity by making them wear the cross around their neck and also placing the Bible on the table of the storeroom used by the girls, in order to compel them to read the Bible… It is an attempted crime to force religious conversion upon the girls.”

The Missionaries of Charity vehemently denies these allegations as false saying that the 24 girls living in the Ashram and under their care are very well looked after. No one is forced to do anything -- if the girls want to, they are free to pray in any way they wish; besides no one is converted or forced to marry a Christian.

The calculated attempts to dismantle the tremendous work done by the Missionaries of Charity for the poorest of the poor, the unloved and rejected, the orphans and widows- needs to be condemned unequivocally and strongly by all enlightened citizens who not only value the great legacy Mother Teresa has left us – but who admire the work done by her Sisters today!

All efforts to tarnish the name of the Missionaries of Charity, besides hurting their tremendous work, will greatly affect the thousands of the poorest of the poor, dying destitute, abandoned, rejected and others (irrespective of caste or creed) they so lovingly care for day and night – without counting the cost!

This bashing of the Missionaries of Charity and of all Christians must stop now!
Wake up India before it is too late!
---
*Human rights, reconciliation and peace activist/writer

SJ SOCIETY OF JESUS, AKA JESUITS

Pepsi action against Gujarat potato farmers declared 'violation of public interest'

By Our Representative

Thursday, December 09, 2021

The Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers' Rights (PPV&FR) Authority has accepted a farm activist’s Revocation Application, to revoke the varietal registration of Pepsico India Holding (PIH) on potato variety FL-2027.

Calling it a a precedent-setting judgement a joint note issued by several farmers' rights groups said, it means that anything that threatens farmers rights as contained in India's unique legislation is, and ought to be a matter of Public Interest. "This is a victory for farmers of India", it said.

PPV&FR in its virtual hearing accepted a plea for revocation of the PVP certificate granted to PepsiCo India Holding on the potato variety in India (FL-2027), on multiple grounds.

Grounds included are: that the grant of the certificate of registration has been based on incorrect information furnished by the applicant (Sec.34 (a)), that the certificate has been granted to a person not eligible for protection (Sec.34(b)), that the breeder did not provide the Registrar with such information, documents or material as required for registration (Sec.34 (c)), and that the grant of the certificate of registration is not in the public interest (Sec.34 (h)).

This means that Pepsico’s varietal intellectual property rights (IPR) as granted in a plant variety certificate in February 2016 will be taken back by the authority. The judgement brings to light the procedural gaps in the grant of PVCs. Importantly, farmers’ rights as contained in India’s Act and any attempt to harass and intimidate farmers have been considered as a matter of public interest, through this judgement.

The revocation application used specific clauses (Sec.34 (g)) in India's Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights (PPV&FR) Act 2001 and argued that the IPR granted to Pepsico India on a potato variety was not as per provisions laid down for registration and was also against public interest. The revocation application was filed by farmer rights activist Kavitha Kuruganti, who said, the judgement is unprecedented in India's statutory history related to farmers' seed rights.

The revocation application was filed on June 11, 2019, and the authority took almost 30 months in arriving at this conclusion on Kuruganti's application. The company now has just about two months of the original registration time period left which was till January 31, 2022 (the registration certificate given to the company was renewable up to January 31, 2031, but now stands revoked).

The judgement sets a precedent for all seed and F&B corporations and other registrants to not only uphold, but also more importantly, not to transgress the legally granted farmers’ seed rights and freedoms in India, said Kuruganti.

“This judgement of the Authority is significant and historic. It upholds farmers’ seed freedoms as contained in Sec. 39 of the PPV&FR Act, which makes this sui generis law of India truly unique. The Authority’s acceptance of the Revocation Application, including on grounds of being against public interest, sends an important signal that farmers’ rights cannot be taken lightly by IPR-holders in the country", said Shalini Bhutani, legal researcher and IPR expert in agriculture and biodiversity.

"This should prevent further intimidation of farmers through vexatious IP lawsuits. The PPV&FR Act 2001 provides routine legal provisions for opposition to the IP registration at the time of grant of registration [Sec.21(3) read with Sec. 34]", Bhutani explained.

"The grounds for subsequent revocation include [Sec. 34(h)] that the grant of the certificate of registration is not in public interest; this is a fundamental safeguard for farmers’ inherent seed rights Sec.34 for Revocation of the IP protection has been reinforced by our law-makers in their wisdom keeping in mind that developments warranting intervention could happen after the grant of certificate of registration, requiring the said IP Registration to be revoked”, she added.

The civil society note said, in the current case, Pepsico India used the certificate that it got from the authority on FL-2027 potato variety to sue hapless and uninformed farmers in Gujarat in 2018 and 2019, basing its actions on a non-existent exclusive right that it claims to have obtained against Indian farmers also. The judgement of the authority also says this.

On the other hand, the Indian legislation is unambiguous that farmers have over-arching rights over what seed they can plant as well as what they are entitled to do with their produce from any variety, including seed of registered variety. The only condition is that they may not sell seed of protected varieties in a branded fashion, knowingly, the note continued.

Indian legislation is unambiguous: Farmers have over-arching rights over what seed they can plant and what they are entitled to do with their produce
Even here, an Indian farmer can claim innocent infringement if done unknowingly.

 Despite the law being this clear, Pepsico India harassed and intimidated farmers and sued them for exorbitant levels of alleged damages in 2018 and 2019. PIH also engaged detectives to entrap farmers and took secret video footage to build its cases, it added.
“It is a welcome development. With this judgement, the authority has chosen to uphold the legal rights granted to farmers and has decisively considered Pepsi’s actions against potato farmers in Gujarat as a violation of public interest. The Order today follows another responsible action that the Authority took several months ago, when it corrected the factual mistakes we pointed out in the FAQs document on their website", said Dr Suman Sahai of the Gene Campaign.

"We are happy with the result of this case filed with the Authority and feel proud to be instrumental in setting up the precedent that asserts farmers’ rights. We are thankful to the farm activists also", said Bipinbhai Patel, one of the farmers sued by PIH in 2019.

"We believe that the Authority and the Government have a responsibility to let every applicant and registrant under the PPV&FR Act know that their rights do not supersede farmers' rights. The registrants’ rights are limited to only production of a variety, and not production from a variety. Even when it comes to production of a variety, farmers have rights to produce seed and even sell seed of a protected variety provided it is unbranded", said Kapil Shah of the Kisan Beej Adhikar Manch.

"Companies should not think that they are at liberty to harass farmers -- we are watching, and will disallow any such mischief. For us, any intimidation and harassment of farmers is clearly a matter of public interest. We sincerely hope that the Authority will proactively put into place all measures and mechanisms possible to ensure that farmers' rights are not violated at any cost", asserted Kuruganti.

The interpretation of 'public interest' by the Authority today is very progressive. This is a victory for farmers in the country, especially of the potato farmers in Gujarat who strongly resisted Pepsi’s onslaught on their rights in 2019", she added.

Bhopal-type disasters: Lack of binding UN treaty behind 'failure' to regulate TNCs

By Gopal Krishna*

Tuesday, December 07, 2021

A binding UN treaty alone can ensure that transnational corporations like UCC/Dow pay the price for industrial disasters. Liability for industrial disasters such as the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy must be pinned on transnational corporations. New efforts for an enforceable treaty which are underway alone can ensure that business enterprises are subservient to both peoples’ will and legislative will. It can ensure the primacy of human rights and public interest over private economic interests.

a compelling logic for the governments “to establish an open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights, whose mandate shall be to elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises.”

The open-ended intergovernmental working group (OEIGWG) has had seven sessions so far. Ahead of the seventh session, the Permanent Mission of Ecuador, on behalf of the Chairmanship of the OEIGWG, released a third revised draft legally binding instrument to regulate the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises. The third revised draft served as the basis for State-led negotiations during the seventh session, which took place from 25 to 29 October 2021.

Thirty seven years after the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984, the victims and the adversely affected ecosystems await relief and remediation. Lessons from such industrial disasters create a compelling logic for an internationally binding treaty for transnational corporations (TNCs) and human rights.

To this end, a UN resolution of 2014 created the UN open-ended intergovernmental working group and tasked it to prepare the text of such a treaty. Given the fact that corporations are admittedly not meant to be “democratic public interest institutions”, such negotiations on an enforceable treaty is of great significance.

Prior to the current efforts initiated by Ecuador and supported by India, China, South Africa and others, to provide a legal remedy to wrongs committed by business enterprises, the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights had approved the ‘UN norms on the responsibilities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises with regard to human rights’.

These norms emerged as a step towards ensuring corporate accountability in August 2003. But the report of the special representative of the UN Secretary-General on business and human rights undermined these proposed mandatory norms under the influence of International Chamber of Commerce and the International Organization of Employers.

It chose to promote the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in July 2011 as part of advocacy for the status quo of voluntary regulation by the companies while admitting that “while corporations may be considered organs of society, they are specialised economic organs, not democratic public interest institutions.”

The tremendous influence of US-based Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) became visible when I posed a question to the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. I asked him about the disposal of the 336 tonnes of hazardous waste lying in the UCC factory, its liability and the disclosure of the report of the judicial inquiry commission on the 1984 Bhopal disaster. The chief minister chose to maintain a studied silence about all these questions. Significantly, although the Justice SL Kochar led commission submitted its report to the state government in February 2015; it has not been made public as yet.
In such a backdrop, it was remarkable that the foreign ministry under Sushma Swaraj changed India’s position with regard to a mandatory UN treaty. In its essence, the proposed treaty is an outcome of some 45 years of effort underlining that self-regulation by TNCs is not enough at all.

In order to inspire confidence, the new efforts for an enforceable treaty must ensure that business enterprises are subservient to both peoples’ will and legislative will. It should ensure the primacy of human rights and public interest over private economic interests. It should reaffirm the hierarchical superiority of human rights norms over trade and investment treaties and develop specific state obligations in this regard.
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*Law and public policy researcher. Source: ToxicsWatch

Govt of India's 'narrative' of hate, 'clarion call' for onslaught on civil society: Ex-babus

Counterview Desk

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Addressing “fellow citizens”, the Constitution Conduct Group (CCG), having former prominent civil servants as it members, has said that recent assertions by National Human Rights Commission National Human Rights Commission Justice (retd) Arun Mishra, the Prime Minister and General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff, portent a deliberate and disturbing strategy to “deny civil society the space and wherewithal for its operation.”

Pointing out that the contours of this strategy have now been revealed in the New Doval Doctrine propounded by the National Security Adviser (NSA), in a statement, signed by 102 ex-civil servants, CCG said, Doval’s recent use of the term “fourth-generation warfare”, which is normally employed in relation to a conflict where the state is fighting non-state actors, such as terror groups and insurgents, is sought to used in the context of civil society.

Text:We are a group of former civil servants of the All India and Central Services who have worked with the Central and State Governments in the course of our careers. As a group, we have no affiliation with any political party but believe in impartiality, neutrality and commitment to the Constitution of India.

A disturbing trend in the direction of the country’s governance has become discernible over the past few years. The foundational values of our republic and the cherished norms of governance, which we had taken as immutable, have been under the relentless assault of an arrogant, majoritarian state. The sacrosanct principles of secularism and human rights have come to acquire a pejorative sense. Civil society activists striving to defend these principles are subjected to arrest and indefinite detention under draconian laws that blot our statute book. The establishment does its best to discredit them as anti-national and foreign agents.

Civil society, a diverse mass of formal and informal groups pursuing their own interests, occupies the vast democratic space outside of government and business. As the locus of critique, contestation and negotiation, it is an important stakeholder in governance, as well as a force multiplier and partner in the project of meeting popular aspirations. But civil society is viewed through an adversarial prism today. Any entity, which dares to highlight deviations from the norms of Constitutional conduct, or question the arbitrary exercise of executive authority, runs the risk of being projected as a foreign agent and enemy of the people. At a systemic level, the financial viability of civil society organisations is being progressively undermined by tweaking the legal framework governing foreign contributions, deployment of corporate social responsibility funds and income tax exemptions.

Our anxiety with regard to the articulation of the state-civil society interface has been heightened in recent weeks by statements emanating from high dignitaries of the state. On the occasion of the Foundation Day of the National Human Rights Commission, its Chair, Justice (retd) Arun Mishra, asserted that India’s creditable record on human rights was being tarnished at the behest of international forces. The Prime Minister, on his part, discerned a political agenda in what he felt was selective perception of human rights violation in certain incidents, while overlooking certain others. And quite shockingly, General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff, gave a fillip to the growing menace of vigilantism by endorsing the killing of persons believed to be terrorists by lynch mobs in Kashmir.

Taken together, these portents indicate a deliberate strategy to deny civil society the space and wherewithal for its operation. The contours of this strategy have now been revealed in the New Doval Doctrine propounded by the National Security Adviser (NSA).

Reviewing the passing out parade of IPS probationers at the National Police Academy in Hyderabad, Shri Ajit Doval proclaimed:

“The new frontiers of war, what you call the fourth- generation warfare, is the civil society. Wars have ceased to become an effective instrument for achieving political or military objectives. They are too expensive and unaffordable and, at the same time, there is uncertainty about their outcome. But it is the civil society that can be subverted, that can be suborned, that can be divided, that can be manipulated to hurt the interests of a nation. You are there to see that they stand fully protected.”

Instead of exhorting the IPS probationers to abide by the values enshrined in the Constitution to which they had sworn allegiance, the NSA stressed the primacy of the representatives of the people, and the laws framed by them.

NSA’s clarion call for an onslaught on a demonised civil society is of a piece with the narrative of hate targeting defenders of Constitutional values

It would be pertinent to recall here that the term “fourth-generation warfare” is normally employed in relation to a conflict where the state is fighting non-state actors, such as terror groups and insurgents. Civil society now finds itself placed in this company. Earlier, the term “Urban Naxal” was being used to denigrate individual human rights activists. Clearly, under the New Doval Doctrine, people like Father Stan Swamy would become the arch enemy of the Indian state and the prime concern and target of its security forces.

The NSA’s clarion call for an onslaught on a demonised civil society is of a piece with the narrative of hate targeting defenders of Constitutional values and human rights that is regularly purveyed by the high and mighty in the establishment.

The defining traits of the current dispensation are hubris and an utter disregard of democratic norms. These were manifest in the steamrolling of a discriminatory Citizenship (Amendment) Act through Parliament, its linkage with the National Register of Citizens, and the ruthless suppression of the spontaneous protests that erupted in various parts of the country.

The same traits were in evidence in the enactment of a set of three farm laws without public debate, stakeholder consultations or endorsement by alliance partners, and the highhanded treatment accorded to the agitated farmers encamped at the gates of Delhi. Their heroic resistance over fourteen months elicited the choicest of epithets from the establishment. Dubbed variously as “Andolanjeevis” (professional agitators), “Left-wing extremists” and “Khalistanis”, they were accused of working at the behest of “Foreign Destructive Ideology”, in a bizarre word-play with the acronym FDI referring to Foreign Direct Investment. Electoral compulsions might have led the Prime Minister to announce the decision to repeal the hated laws, but the damage done to the nation’s polity and social fabric will be hard to repair.

Let us hope that the government will realize the pitfalls of demonising dissent and trying to suppress civil resistance by brute force. It is also hoped that the alumni of the National Police Academy, or indeed our security forces in general, will not be swayed by the NSA’s rhetoric and remember that their primary duty is to uphold Constitutional values, which override the will of the political executive. Even the laws framed by the legislatures have to be tested on the touchstone of constitutionality and accepted by the people. If this fundamental principle is not accepted, we may turn to the well-known satirical poem “The Solution”, written in a different context by the famous German playwright Bertolt Brecht, which concludes with the following words:

"Would it not in that case be simpler
for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?"
Satyameva Jayate
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Click here for signatories

INDIA
Nagas being subjected to untold trauma, 'heavy' mental burden: Global rights group
Sunday, December 12, 2021

Counterview Desk

The International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS), with presence in 40 countries, even as strongly condemning the "murder" of 15 coal miners and injuring 11 more by the Indian army in Mon district, Nagaland, has said it is "joining" its network, Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), adding, it supports the Naga peoples, the people of India’s north east and all lovers of peace and freedom in calling for the immediate repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958.

Releasing a statement by NPMHR, it said, AFSPA is sought to be implemented by the Government of India in Northeast States allegedly enabling Indian army’s "massacre of indigenous peoples and citizens with impunity." Calling for justice for all the "victims" of the Indian government, it has floated an online petition to repeal AFSPA to seek international solidarity.

NPMHR statement:Ever since military aggression and occupation of the Naga homeland in 1954, civilians and common Naga people have been the target of the Indian army and the para-military forces. Armed with Draconian and inhuman legal immunity by the Indian Parliament, the Government of India continues unabated to kill civilians and common people at any time and at any place of its conveniences. Our women folks were stripped of all human dignity by the armed forces of the world’s largest Democracy, India.
They are being raped, tortured, made to give birth publicly with no more human dignity left and are being subjected to live lives of untold trauma and heavy mental burdens. The Indian State does not spare any of its armed tools and occupational instruments to extinguish the Naga spirit of human dignity and spirit of equal human brotherhood. The world is prevented from knowing these ceaseless state-sponsored crimes against the Naga people and against humanity.

The reign of the Indian State-sponsored terrorism and war waged on civilian population is yet again showcased when the best-trained Indian elite forces butchered a group of humble people returning to their homes in a truck from their work places. The well-trained Indian army personnel engaged their most sophisticated firearms to kill them as if the simple, humble and bread-earning villagers were diseased and had to be culled.
Are the lives of the Naga people less than the lives of other fellow human beings? This evil act of the Indian government through its military forces once again reveals its true intent of owning our land after exterminating our Naga people.

Our people at all times seek to live in peace with all other people. Our history tells that we have never waged war on any people even in the days of old. We are being denied to live lives of dignity, to exercise our rights and are now being driven to live in fear. The Government of India, time and again, wages war against our Naga people. The actions of the Indian State upon our people are no less than the erstwhile apartheid. No power on earth had ever succeeded in subduing our Naga spirit.

We, the Naga Peoples’ Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), resolutely condemn the genocide committed upon the humble working-civilian villagers. We squarely hold the Government of India with all its draconian and fascist laws responsible for letting loose their dogs of war to maul to shreds the innocent villagers of Oting who have committed no crime whatsoever except commitment to humbly earn their livelihood with dignity and honor. Even at this moment when we are making this Statement, the Indian military and paramilitary forces are still engaged in their mayhem of killing the civilians in Mon Town.

Our anguish is unspeakable at this moment of grief. Our hearts go to the families of the slain innocent villagers. The NPMHR stands with them all and shall walk with them through thick and thin.