‘Net-zero is not enough’: A new book explains how to end fossil fuels

Sociologist Holly Buck wants you to know that fossil fuel phaseout isn’t a "fringe" idea.

Verso Books / Holly Jean Buck / Grist


Emily PontecorvoReporter
PublishedDec 22, 2021

In just a couple of years, “net-zero” pledges have become the gold standard of climate action. According to one online tracker, more than 4,000 governments and companies around the world have pledged to go net-zero. But as the concept has caught on, it has invited fierce backlash from climate advocates who worry that it is malleable to the point of meaninglessness.

In her new book, Ending Fossil Fuels: Why Net Zero is Not Enough, sociologist Holly Jean Buck explains how striving for net-zero emissions opens up a wide range of possible futures, some of which could include lots of oil and gas. Buck argues that in addition to focusing on emissions, climate policy should be directed at phasing out fossil fuels.

A net-zero pledge is a promise to achieve a state of equilibrium. It implies that any planet-warming emissions you dump into the atmosphere will be offset by actions to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. In theory, if the whole world achieved this balance, the planet would stop heating up. But Buck writes that the phrase creates ambiguity that can be exploited by policymakers and corporate interests.

Focusing on net-zero could lead us toward a “near-zero emissions” world powered by renewable energy, or it could also lead us toward a “cleaner fossil world” where we continue burning oil and gas and build a vast network of infrastructure to capture the resulting carbon and bury or reuse it. Indeed, companies and policymakers are already promising to produce “lower carbon” fossil fuels. The U.S. Department of Energy has a new Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management focused entirely on meeting climate goals while minimizing the environmental impacts of fossil fuels.

Buck concedes that this cleaner fossil fuel future is technically possible but argues that ending fossil fuels is more desirable, with benefits for human health and the potential to rebalance power, restore democracy, and end corruption. The book is a guide for anyone who agrees and wants to fight for this version of the future. It asks readers to grapple with the complex realities of what a managed fossil fuel phaseout would mean in terms of geopolitics, culture, the built environment, data, and political power.

Ultimately, the book is not just about ending fossil fuels, but about building the capacity to face the end of all kinds of things — whether the end of single-use plastics, or the end of living near the coast because of climate risks. Buck invites readers to think of the end of things not as something negative, but as a way of “taking control of our own destiny.”

Grist spoke with Buck about her perspective on net-zero, her argument for public ownership of the fossil fuel industry, and why the language we use to talk about climate action is so important.

This conversation has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

Q.The book is about ending fossil fuels. How do you see this book in relation to the long-running movement to “keep it in the ground”?

A.It’s something I struggled with while writing the book, because there is obviously this vibrant movement that has had some amount of success in terms of shifting the discourse and social norms. At the same time, I’m concerned that shift could be mistaken for a shift in material reality. So the book is asking the movement, how do we convince people that it’s more than just a slogan or an aspiration, and that we have roadmaps for what we would need to do?

It’s also aimed at what I see as an audience of climate professionals, people who I am gently, and in solidarity, critiquing to some extent. I think there’s a lot of people who want to be more radical within the work of climate policy, and it’s an invitation to say, you know what, these radical things actually are more possible than we think. You’re not going to be fringe if you talk about them.

Q.The second part of the title is “why net-zero is not enough” — and elsewhere in the book you call net-zero a “collective delusion” — but ultimately, I don’t think this book is saying that we should aim for absolute zero emissions or advocating for some other emissions framework. Can you explain where you land with net-zero and whether it is useful?

A.I think that despite its problems, it’s useful. The utility of net-zero is both its temporal flexibility and its spatial flexibility. We have to realize that every country has its own roadmap for this transition that is shaped by history, by geography, by colonialism. It’s quite reasonable that countries will have different timelines and that countries in the Global North that have benefited from an unequal exchange should have an earlier net-zero date. They could be removing carbon — be net-negative — while other countries are still working to build out renewable infrastructure. They can balance each other out. That could ease the transition globally if we were smart and fair about it — which I know would be unprecedented given the history of injustice in all of this, but it’s something that I think we can strive for.

I do think we need absolute zero emissions at the end of the century. We have the technology on the horizon to get there by 2100, and if I was writing this book today — I wrote it a year ago — I would be more explicit about saying we should be working towards that.

Q.Is that just in hindsight, or have things changed for you or in the world to make you think that should be the goal?

A.It’s more hindsight. If we say we want full decarbonization by 2030, that just doesn’t seem credible based on the world that we’re in right now and how reliant we are on fossil fuels. But we should be spelling out what this other version of the world looks like in greater detail. I think that’s the next step — saying, OK, full zero by 2100, what will that entail?

Q.One of the things you critique in the book is the way experts have labeled certain industries as “hard to decarbonize” — that it masks the fact that distinctions of “difficulty” are political and economic, not just technical. How do you wish that people talked about this?

A.I’m semi-optimistic about what’s happening in this space. We have initiatives like the Science-Based Targets Initiative that are working to define what’s hard to decarbonize from a technical standpoint. Civil society groups can also make their way into those conversations, so that we will have a set of social norms about what’s hard to decarbonize.

What’s important is having a way to update those norms. Things that were regarded as hard to decarbonize 10 or 15 years ago, now we’re starting to see the private sector — if you believe them — take interest in decarbonizing. With shipping, for example, we’ve seen some interesting investments and commitments to developing methanol or ammonia or hydrogen that could actually decarbonize shipping if we got going with them. So we have to update our assumptions about what’s hard regularly.

Q.The book provides examples where fossil fuels with carbon capture might be a desirable option, whether it’s to save jobs, or in a geopolitical context where it’s the only solution oil-dependent countries with authoritarian governments accept. Do you think there is room for those kinds of solutions?

A.The primary aim was to help people understand the arguments that we’re going to face when we argue for phaseout. We need to know what those arguments will be and figure out compelling ways to counter them. That said, there is some ambiguity there. And part of that is because what I really believe is that this should be up to people to decide.

This is a really tricky thing about the idea of energy democracy. What if you have an overwhelming majority in a place that wants electricity from gas with carbon capture and storage over 100 percent renewables because they’ve appraised the trade-offs and that’s what they think is better? Are we going to say, “OK, that’s what people wanted”? These are hard questions. I don’t have the answer, but I think we need to be talking about that because it’s going to come up.

Q.Towards the end, you make an argument for public ownership of fossil fuel companies. I’m wondering why you’re so optimistic about public ownership, or why anyone should be, given that we have many public institutions that don’t work very well today?

A.This isn’t something that I see working without a broader revolution to a better form of democracy than this neoliberalized, dysfunctional form of democracy that we have right now. So I think you’re absolutely right that this vision of public ownership of things like fossil fuels doesn’t work with what we have today.

This is why the book is actually about a lot more than fossil fuels. It’s about developing democratic planning capabilities for ending all sorts of things that are harming us, whether that’s single-use plastics or pesticides or even social practices. I do think that things like ending fossil fuels or breaking up tech companies can create a self-reinforcing loop with being able to build democratic power. I know this sounds like idealist, activist stuff, but what’s the alternative? The alternative seems totally bleak, so we might as well try for the best case.

Q.In this book, and throughout your other work on climate change, you’re often advocating for new language. Why is that so important to you?

A.This is fundamentally, for me, a cultural shift as much as it would be a shift in energy or infrastructure. For example, do we talk about “ending,” do we talk about “managed decline,” do we talk about “phaseout”? How do we understand that as something that’s actually empowering? Not a decline, but opening up space to build something new that’s amazing. Language is important for unlocking these things. And it needs to be a language that resonates with people in rural areas, with conservative voters, with workers in fossil fuel industries. If it doesn’t work there, it’s going to fail.

I don’t go very far proposing what this language should be because it needs to be invented in conversation with the people who live in all of these places, otherwise it’s not going to take hold. So creating new language is also about listening as much as it is about generating.

What Canada can learn from Iceland's four-day work week trial

THAT WE ALSO NEED A FOUR HOUR DAY  & FULL PAY

Sarah Turnbull

CTVNews.ca Producer
Thursday, December 23, 2021

LONG READ

Iceland is paving the way when it comes to striving for better work-life balance, having just wrapped up a series of trials shortening the typical five-day work week to four.

Starting in 2015, Reykjavik City Council and the Icelandic government launched the initiative spurred by pressure from trade unions and civil society organizations. Their goals were to reimagine citizens’ relationship with work and to determine if compressing office hours would actually enhance productivity.

Jack Kellam, a researcher at U.K.-based think-tank Autonomy, which studied Iceland’s approach, said the experiment proved successful. For the most part, employers found employee well-being increased as stress and burnout decreased and productivity stayed the same or rose.

“Over a course of a number of years, in which trials took place in these workplaces, results showed it had a transformative effect for these workers,” he said in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Nov 2.

He said many participants said they went to work better rested, better prepared, and more motivated for the working day.

“Workers managed to gather their existing working practices and working conditions and made changes to try and make them more efficient and productive…simple things like cutting out meetings, moving to emails,” he said.

The two trials, launched in 2015 and 2017, ultimately involved over 2,500 workers, or more than one per cent of Iceland’s entire working population, and included both nine-to-five and shift workers from a variety of sectors including health care and social services.

Importantly, employee compensation remained at pre-trial levels despite the drop in hours.

According to Autonomy’s summary report, many participants expressed enjoying more time with their families.

One father said, “My older children know that we have shorter hours and they often say something like 'Is it Tuesday today, dad? Do you finish early today? Can I come home directly after school?' and I might reply 'Of course.' We then go and do something — we have nice quality time.”

Others said they experienced less stress at home, more personal time, and better physical and mental health.

Fewer hours at work also reportedly increased productivity, as participants cut back on coffee breaks, water cooler chat, and unnecessary meetings. Many said they perceived Friday off as a “carrot” that kept them going.


“The overarching picture that emerges… is that the Icelandic trials strongly challenge the idea that a reduction in working hours will lower service provision. On the contrary, they show that productivity can, in many instances, be increased through working time reduction,” Autonomy’s report reads.

The trials also proved revenue-neutral for the city council and the government.

Following the experiment, Icelandic trade unions and their confederations secured permanent reductions in working hours for “tens of thousands” of their members across the country.

“In total, roughly 86 per cent of Iceland’s entire working population has now either moved to working shorter hours or have gained the right to shorten their working hours,” the report reads.

Kellam says that while the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t a factor in the trials, as they’d finished before the disease arrived, the results are even more relevant today as people shift to an at-home work setup and studies show workers are placing more value in work-life balance.

“Prior to the pandemic the four-day work week or short working week was primarily being led by private-sector companies, businesses and so on, but I think we’ve increasingly seen public sector organizations taking interest,” he said.

“It’s given people an opportunity to reflect on their life, what they value and prioritize.”

He also said that a shortened work week policy should be implemented alongside parallel policies including a strict disconnect rule, – encouraging employees to officially “sign off” from work when they’re finished – raising base salaries so that people don’t feel compelled to have to work longer hours, and a lead-by-example approach, so employees feel empowered to make necessary scheduling changes.

These policies shouldn’t be reserved for only white-collar jobs either, Kellam said.

“Something we’re trying to do as a think-tank in our research is to show that a four-day week is a possibility across quite a wide range of sectors, it doesn’t just have to be confined to office work,” he said. “It’s about a more efficient way of sharing around the necessary labor of our economy.”

CANADIAN EXAMPLE

While Canada hasn’t initiated an experiment at this scale, some businesses owners are taking steps to shorten the work week.

Jamie Savage, CEO and founder of Toronto-based recruitment company The Leadership Agency, implemented a four-day work week for her employees in October 2020.

Savage said she initiated the move in response to observations of burnout midway through the pandemic.

“I saw emails coming in at one o’clock in the morning, working on Sundays, and I was like I’m tired and overwhelmed, I can only imagine how my team feels…I said, ‘we need to make a change, this is going to be irreversible damage if we don’t do something about it,’” she told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.

“Two days later we were a four-day work week company.”

She said it took about three months for the policy to become effective as staff adapted to the change.

“We had to come up with stakeholder communication strategies, making sure our clients knew that their needs were going to be met, come up with time management strategies, and the biggest thing, we never wanted this to feel like it was going to be in exchange for something,” she said.

That included ensuring that her employees knew their pay wouldn’t be docked and there wasn’t an expectation they were to work overtime on the other days of the week.

Savage said that while there have been growing pains, the results a year in have been positive both culturally and financially.

“People started to invest in their physical health and well-being, we started to see this come alive. And since then, our revenue has more than doubled,” she said.

Leading by example is another key element of success, Savage noted.

“It was a real learning curve for me personally and the managers…people need to know it’s safe, we’re doing it, we’re walking the walk, talking the talk, and they’re safe to do it as well,” she said.

GOVERNMENT BACKING

As for a federal pilot, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau didn’t rule out the idea last year when asked about the possibility of implementing a four-day work week program following the pandemic.

“I think there are a lot of people thinking creatively about what the post-COVID world could look like,” he said, speaking to reporters in May 2020. “And I look forward to hearing a wide range of suggestions. But right now, we’re very much focused on getting through this particular crisis.”

In a statement to CTV News, Michelle Johnston, the director of communications for the Minister of Labour Seamus O’Regan, said only that the government encourages a flexible and respectful work arrangement for federally regulated employees.

“In the 2021 platform we committed to working with federally regulated employers and labour groups to co-develop a new policy for the right to disconnect so that, where appropriate, workers can disconnect at the end of a workday without worrying about job security and restore healthy work-life balance,” the statement reads.

The Ontario Liberals have indicated that if elected in June 2022, they would launch an initiative to “analyze the potential for a four-day work-week.”

“I want us to understand if it has merit here,” Leader Steven Del Duca told his party on Dec. 17. “We’re a party that believes in science, expertise and evidence-based decision-making and so I want us to gather the facts in an open and transparent way.”

The Nova Scotia municipality of Guysborough also experimented with a nine-month shortened work week trial in 2020 amid pandemic scheduling shake-ups.

Quebec looks beyond hydroelectricity as last planned megaproject set to wrap

Quebec’s hydro dams have long provided its residents cheap electricity and bragging rights in the race to reduce global carbon emissions, with Premier François Legault suggesting the province could become the “green battery of North America.”

But as the premier signs lucrative export deals with states such as Massachusetts and New York, the province’s utility has acknowledged that the Romaine-4 hydroelectric project — scheduled to enter service next year — could be the last major dam project for the foreseeable future.

Francis Labbé, a spokesman for Hydro-Québec, confirmed that the utility doesn’t have other hydro projects on the horizon. He said such projects take at least a decade to plan and build, adding that they don’t come cheap — as Romaine’s $7.3-billion price tag attests.

In the meantime, prices for other kinds of renewable energy — such as wind power — have fallen, making them more attractive options.

“It may come to a point where we come to the conclusion that we need another hydroelectric project but right now, considering the delays, considering the cost, considering that we have other options, we will not go in this direction,” Labbé said in a recent interview.

Quebec started building the four-part Romaine project — described at the time as the biggest construction project in Canada — in 2009. The commissioning of Romaine-4, the last of the dams, was pushed back to 2022 from 2020 after a series of delays, including the pandemic and other health and safety concerns.

Labbé said the dam and reservoir are complete and work is underway on the power station. When it is commissioned next fall, it should supply about eight terawatt hours, enough to power about 450,000 homes.

While Labbé says the utility has enough power in reserve to serve the province and its export contracts until 2025 or 2026, it will be putting out a call for tenders for projects to provide 300 megawatts of wind power and 480 megawatts of renewables, which could include wind and solar.

That’s in addition to the Apuiat wind energy project developed with the Innu of the Côte-Nord region, which should provide some 200 megawatts when it’s commissioned in 2024.

François Bouffard, an associate professor of electrical engineering at McGill University, says the megaprojects that propelled the company to early success are “a development model of the past.”

“If you look at the projects from the 1960s to the end of 1990s, if they were to redo this, it would never happen the way it did,” he said in a recent phone interview. “The environmental assessments would be a lot more robust, more complicated. We wouldn’t be able to trample Aboriginal rights like they have.”

Bouffard says the early dams relied on flooding large tracts of land, without regard for the Indigenous inhabitants of the area and without bothering to remove the vegetation underneath, which led to mercury contamination in fish.

While he says the Romaine project has corrected some of those early mistakes by logging the area before the reservoir was created, he notes that Hydro-Québec still encounters opposition when it tries to build transmission lines through wilderness — something that came up when Maine residents voted against allowing lines to pass through their state in a referendum this fall.

“Nothing is really carbon-free,” he said.

In the absence of future hydropower projects, the company has been moving into other domains. In addition to wind partnerships, Hydro-Québec recently inaugurated its first two solar energy plants. It has also formed a subsidiary designed to help customers improve their energy efficiency, and it is working on large-scale batteries that can store surplus energy.

Experts say that far from becoming redundant, Quebec’s massive hydro dams will become more important than ever as the province shifts to alternate sources of power.

Louis Beaumier, the executive director of the Trottier Energy Institute at Polytechnique Montreal, agrees that building more “titanic” dam projects doesn’t make sense, largely due to the cost.

Read more: Hydro-Québec project facing ‘green’ opposition in Maine ahead of Tuesday’s referendum

But he says the main advantage of hydro power is that, unlike wind or solar, it provides a consistent stream of power that can be increased or decreased fairly easily to meet fluctuating demand. The power stored in the province’s reservoirs amounts to “the biggest battery you can every build,” he said, and one that puts Quebec in a uniquely advantageous position of being able to move forward with new technologies while always having hydro as a backup.

Bouffard and Beaumier agree that the Crown corporation will have to adjust to yet more changes in the coming years. With the Quebec government as its only shareholder, Hydro-Québec’s mandate is to bring in revenue for the province, meet provincial electricity needs and keep rates low — all at once.

Increasingly, the province has looked to expand sales to the United States in order to grow. Legault has made no secret of his desire to see the province expand exports to the northeastern United States — even as the province was dealt a blow when Maine voters rejected a plan to run transmission lines through their state on their way to Massachusetts. (Legault has said he remains confident the project will go ahead).

Bouffard believes the future of the company may lie outside North America altogether, as it looks to sell its valuable expertise to developing countries. Beaumier, for his part, says the company should also play a role domestically as the federal government moves toward its goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. He said Hydro-Québec could be doing more in helping to meet those goals.

Hydro-Québec’s Labbe underplayed the extent of the culture shift that is underway at the utility. He notes that while Romaine is the last major project planned, the company still has plenty of work to do managing and maintaining its 62 existing power stations. Plans are already underway to make several of them more efficient.

“This is far from the end of hydroelectricity in Quebec,” Labbé said.

© 2021 The Canadian Press

Thousands again take to the streets in Sudan to call for return to civilian rule

Issued on: 25/12/2021

Protesters march during a mass demonstration demanding civilian rule in the south of Sudan's capital Khartoum on December 25, 2021. © AFP

Text by: NEWS WIRES|
Video by: FRANCE 24

Thousands of Sudanese protesters rallied Saturday two months on since a military coup, demanding soldiers "go back to the barracks" and calling for a transition to civilian rule.

Waving flags, beating drums, dancing and chanting, crowds marched on the streets of Khartoum despite a heavy deployment of security forces -- who later fired tear gas canisters to break them up.

Officers had earlier blocked bridges connecting the capital to suburbs, cut phone lines and restricted the internet ahead of the planned protests.

At least 48 people have died in crackdowns during weeks of protests, according to the independent Doctors' Committee, and Khartoum's state governor has warned that security forces "will deal with those who break the law and create chaos".

Demonstrators converged on the presidential palace in Khartoum, the headquarters of the military government in control since General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan seized power on October 25.

Burhan held civilian leader Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok under effective house arrest for weeks, but reinstated him on November 21 under a deal promising elections for July 2023.

The move alienated many of Hamdok's pro-democracy supporters, who dismissed it as providing a cloak of legitimacy for Burhan's coup.

>> Despite deal, Sudanese rally to demand military rulers leave

Protesters online had encouraged supporters with slogans, including demanding "no negotiations" with the army.

As well as rallies in Khartoum and its suburbs, protesters also marched on the streets of Madani, a town around 150 kilometres (more than 90 miles) to the south, witnesses said.

Internet cut at dawn

Security forces with cranes used shipping containers to block the bridges across the Nile river connecting Khartoum to the cities of Omdurman and North Khartoum, and web monitoring group NetBlocks reported mobile internet was cut at sunrise on Saturday.

Activists reported the arrest of several colleagues beginning Friday night, and Volker Perthes, the UN special envoy to Sudan, urged the authorities to "protect" the protests not to stop them.

"Freedom of expression is a human right," Perthes said Saturday, adding that it includes "full access" to the internet. "No one should be arrested for his or her intention to protest peacefully."

"We draw the attention of the world and ask them to monitor what happens in Sudan on the issue of the revolutionary movement for freedom and democracy", said the Doctors' Committee, which is part of the pro-democracy movement.

Khartoum's governor warned that "approaching or attacking buildings of strategic sovereignty is punishable by law".
Rape used as a 'weapon'

At rallies last Sunday, held on the third anniversary of mass demonstrations that led to the ouster of veteran strongman Omar al-Bashir, crowds began a "sit-in" protest outside the presidential palace.

Within hours, security forces dispersed the thousands of protesters with truncheons and firing tear gas canisters.

Activists have condemned sexual attacks during those protests, in which the UN said at least 13 women and girls were raped.

The European Union and the United States issued a joint statement Thursday condemning the use of sexual violence "as a weapon to drive women away from demonstrations and silence their voices".

 Eye on Africa: Multiple allegations of rape during Sudan protests

Sudan, one of the world's poorest countries, has a long history of military coups, enjoying only rare interludes of democratic rule since independence in 1956.

Over 14 million people, a third of Sudan's population, will need humanitarian aid next year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the highest level for a decade.

Activists say more demonstrations are planned for December 30.

(AFP)

A New Chapter for Baghdad's Book Street
December 25, 2021 
Agence France-Presse

Iraqis shop for books and stationery along Al-Mutanabbi Street, home to the city's book market in central Baghdad, Feb. 1, 2019.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ —

The Iraqi capital Baghdad on Saturday celebrated the renovation of the historic heart of its book trade, in the latest sign of an artistic renaissance after decades of conflict and strife.

In a city where explosions once could mean only one thing—violence—colorful fireworks lit up the sky during festivities organized by Baghdad municipality to inaugurate the renovated Al-Mutanabbi Street.

Its new look comes alongside art exhibitions, gallery openings, book fairs and festivals reflecting a fledgling cultural renaissance, and recalling a golden age when Baghdad was considered one of the Arab world's cultural capitals.

Al-Mutanabbi Street was first inaugurated in 1932 by King Faisal I and named after the celebrated 10th century poet Abul Tayeb al-Mutanabbi, who was born under the Abbasid dynasty in what would become modern-day Iraq.

A narrow street in the heart of old Baghdad, Al-Mutanabbi has long drawn students and young people, usually on Fridays. But it is also frequented by intellectuals and older bibliophiles.

Normality still hangs by a thread in the Iraqi capital, where rocket and drone attacks sometimes target its highly fortified Green Zone, and where a July suicide attack on a market killed more than 30 people.

There was high security for the costumed performers and musicians who performed along the car-free road of new cobblestones.

The road is lined with shops, freshly-painted and sparkling, but most were closed. Fairy lights garlanded the ornate brick facades and wrought iron balconies.

Private-sector banks financed the work, which began in August.

'Islet of beauty'

"Since the 1960s, I would come here every week to look at the books on the stalls and to meet friends," veteran journalist and writer Zoheir al-Jazairi told AFP, delighting over the street's latest transformation.

"It's an islet of beauty in the heart of Baghdad. You notice the difference compared to the rest of the city," he said, lamenting the oft-neglected heritage of the capital.

Stretching for just under one kilometer (0.6 miles), the street begins with a statue of its namesake overlooking the Tigris River and ends with an arch adorned with the poet's quotes.

Visitors can find Arabic translations of American best-sellers side-by-side with textbooks.

There are titles in an array of languages, and every once in a while a hidden treasure can be found nestled between the selections.

Years of violence

Years of sectarian violence followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Iraq's former dictator Saddam Hussein.

The rise of the Islamic State jihadist group in 2014 saw more brutality and bloodshed.

Iraq is trying to recover from its years of violence but remains hobbled by political divisions, corruption and poverty.

Even Al-Mutanabbi Street, a center of intellectual life with its cafes and books, could not escape past violence.

In March 2007, a suicide car bomb killed 30 people and wounded 60 others there.

Street transformed

Mohamed Adnan, 28, took over a bookshop from his father, who died in the blast.

"He was killed, our neighbors too and several others who are dear to us," said the history graduate, welcoming the renovation.

"I wish those who left were alive to see how the street has transformed," he said.

On the banks of the Tigris a singer hummed traditional ballads, beneath the fireworks.

How art restorers uncover hidden details in artworks

From Jan Vermeer to Renoir: Hidden paintings have been found concealed behind famous artworks in 2021. How do art restorers reveal these details?


Amorous intentions: Vermeer's 'Girl Reading a Letter an at Open Window'

Experts of the Dresden State Art Collections were astonished when they closely examined Vermeer's "Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window" using technical equipment: Under a layer of paint hid a youthful Cupid.

The artist had painted the figure on the wall behind the girl, who seems to be reading innocently. After two years of work to reveal the original, the painting was presented to a surprised audience.

Alongside Rembrandt and Rubens, Dutch painter Jan Vermeer (1632-1675) is considered one of the most famous artists of the Baroque period. His "Girl Reading a Letter" was and is considered one of the best works of the Dutch Golden Age between 1600 and 1700, during which the Netherlands prospered politically, commercially and culturally.

With only 37 paintings, Vermeer's oeuvre is rather small, contributing to the excitement that the finding in Dresden triggered in the world.

The museum is now celebrating the painter with the exhibition "Johannes Vermeer. On Reflection."


FROM REMBRANDT TO PICASSO: ARTWORKS THAT WERE PAINTED OVER
Rembrandt's legendary 'Night Watch'
Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum closely examined Rembrandt's most famous painting over the past two years, using state-of-the-art technology. It turned out that Rembrandt first made a sketch on the canvas, painted over it and made several changes as he was going along. "We have discovered the genesis of 'The Night Watch,'" director Taco Dibbits said, calling it a "breakthrough."
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"Uncovering parts of paintings that have been drawn over is not always as meaningful as in the case of Vermeer," says Maria Galen, expert for modern art and gallery owner in the western German city of Greven.

"Vermeer used the figure of cupid four times — as a 'picture-in-picture,'" according to Uta Neidhardt, senior art conservator at the Dresden Museum.

Research and state-of-the-art laboratory tests have unambiguously confirmed that the love god, painted in brown and ochre tones, was covered up by a different hand that also covered up the amorous statement Vermeer originally wanted to make. But the case is not always this clear.

Searching for the perfect picture

What complicates the matter is the fact that pictures can be painted over in the most varied of ways.

Cologne's Wallraf-Richartz Museum is currently holding an exhibition called "Revealed! Painting techniques from Martini to Monet." A section of the exhibition engages with such artistic interventions.

"Painters have always sought the perfect picture," says Iris Schaefer, chief art restorer at the museum. "There are only a few paintings, which are free of pentimenti," she adds.

"Pentimenti," the singular form of which is "pentimento," essentially means the presence of images that have been painted over. This includes corrections, changes in motif and color, and even artistic interventions to the point of complete destruction of artworks.

An X-ray of Renoir's 'A Couple' revealed a completely different picture

But what drives artists to change their work? "There were many reasons for that," Schaefer says. Sometimes artists had doubts regarding their self-worth, often actual life crises. Then again, criticism from observers, art dealers or buyers had consequences for the artwork.

But were "pentimenti," or later changes in a painting by someone else, also executed to adjust the artwork to new moral ideals? According to Schaefer, it is not always easy to differentiate between the two.

In order to reveal the secrets of old paintings, restorers today use a growing arsenal of investigative methods. Even observing with the naked eye can reveal brush strokes which point to possible overpainting. Stereo microscopes allow 3D-vision with up to 90 times magnification. X-rays, infrared and ultraviolet rays seep into different depths of the picture's surface and convey painting canvases or signature lines.

Art technologists at the Wallraf-Richartz Museum were astonished when they X-rayed "A Couple" by August Renoir (1841-1919).

Instead of the man and woman standing together at a park seen on the 1868 oil-on-canvas painting, the X-ray revealed a completely different image of two women sitting opposite to each other. "We thought we had pulled out the wrong painting from the developer fluid," Schaefer remembers.

Art restorers are now analyzing Rembrandt's 'The Blinding of Samson'

The chemistry of color

Even more astonishing is the macro X-ray fluorescence analysis, or MA-XRF, which is a sophisticated method that allows the observer to look under the surface of an object without causing any damage.

The process helps recognize the composition of colors and comprehend the painting process. As part of a big research project, the Frankfurt Städel Museum has already exposed unknown parts of the Altenberger altarpiece using a process called "Element mapping."


FRIENDS AND FAMILY: REMBRANDT'S SOCIAL NETWORK
Portrait of Rembrandt by Jan Lievens (1629)
An old friend of Rembrandt's, Lievens captured the painter known for his impressive self-portraiture. The two artists, friends since childhood, shared a studio in Amsterdam until 1631, when Lievens began to travel for his career. Rembrandt, in contrast, never went abroad, although he is said to have been inspired by the Italian masters
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Since spring 2021, one of the main paintings in the museum, Rembrandt's "The Blinding of Samson" is under the scanner.

The master's works are being researched not only from the point of view of art history, but also using the latest technology, as was the case during the huge research and restoration project called "Operation Night Watch" that was carried out by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

During Rembrandt's time, the owners of his famous painting "The Night Watch" had cut it with scissors so it could pass between doors. The restoration process allowed experts to reconstruct the missing pieces of the work.

Cologne art restorer Iris Schaefer admires the global museums in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London and Washington, which have financial resources for devices that cost millions. "Incredible to see all that's possible," she says, although artists were not always happy with everything that resulted from technology and the art of restoration.
A change in attitudes

In the past centuries, artists restored their own works and thanks to their skills, they were also hired to maintain and improve other artworks. Even in the 19th century, it was common to overpaint and regild damaged artworks. "I cannot believe that artists were happy with this," Schaefer says.

An MA-XRF image of 'The Blinding of Samson'

Only around 1900 did painters begin specializing as restorers and the profession was born.

To become a restorer in Germany today requires a university degree. Art history is mandatory as is an understanding of technology. "Our profession is linked to a code of conduct," Schaefer says. "There are strict rules regarding intervention in art and cultural objects." The integrity of the artwork has the highest priority. "There has been a change of attitude here," she adds.

A change that has also proven beneficial for Vermeer's "Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window." For a long time, the painting stood for the meager interior of a chaste soul. The empty wall with the girl's dainty silhouette emphasized the contemplative stillness of the work.

After 200 years, the painting now tells a completely different story: behind the girl is a naked youth. The window is open, the curtain in front of Cupid is drawn to a side, a bowl of fruit spills over with shiny apples and delicate, fuzzy peaches, possibly displaying the tension between external calm and inner tumult, or even longing for love. Vermeer's original secret seems to have been revealed.

This article was translated from German.

German arms exports hit new record during Merkel's last days

The former government approved almost €5 billion in warships and missile defense deals as it prepared to leave office. New Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was then finance minister, has also received criticism.

 

ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems was given approval to deliver three warships to Egypt and a submarine to Singapore

Germany's weapons exports reached a record level this year, thanks to the last-minute approval of deals worth nearly €5 billion ($5.6 billion) by then-Chancellor Angela Merkel's administration.

The data, from the Economy Ministry, was requested by a lawmaker with the socialist Left party, and published by DPA news agency on Saturday.

The figures reveal that the agreements were signed off during Merkel's last nine days in power.

Arms exports hit new record

The last-minute deals brought Germany's total weapons exports to a record €9.04 billion for the whole of 2021, according to the ministry.

The previous record high for German arms exports was €8.015 billion in 2019.

Egypt is the main recipient of German arms, despite criticism over its human rights violations and involvement in conflicts in Yemen and Libya. 

Under the last-minute agreements, Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems will deliver three warships to Egypt and a submarine to Singapore, while Diehl Defence will deliver 16 air defense systems to Egypt.  

Details of the deals were released just a day before Olaf Scholz was elected chancellor earlier this month, although the exports' value was not known at the time. 

The last-minute deals were approved despite the fact that the government was only acting in an executive capacity, when major decisions are usually avoided.

Scholz was Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister in Merkel's grand coalition between the conservative bloc and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and would have been privy to the deals.

Scholz acted like a 'crook'

Sevim Dagdelen, the socialist Left party's foreign policy expert, hit out at Scholz on Twitter, accusing him of acting like "a real crook."

She called for the export of "murder tools" to be halted.

In a separate interview with DPA news agency, Dagdelen slammed his party's criticism of arms sales to authoritarian regimes as inconsequential.

Germany's new coalition of the SPD, climate-friendly Greens and neoliberal FDP has spoken out in favor of a restrictive arms export policy. 

The coalition agreement stipulates that they plan to curb exports to countries outside of the EU and NATO.

With material from DPA news agency

SEE LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY 

 Opinion: Visibility for queer people is more important than ever

2021 was a good year for shining a spotlight on queer people in Germany. However, it needs to go beyond displaying social media profile pictures in rainbow colors, says Kristina Reymann-Schneider.

The queer community needs continuous support from mainstream society

In February, 185 actors and actresses came out in the magazine of daily Süddeutsche Zeitung. They wanted to draw attention to the fact that many lesbian, gay, queer, nonbinary, bi-, trans- and intersex people work in the film industry.

But instead of dealing with this openly, some of them had hidden their sexual identity because they feared professional repercussions. Under the hashtag #actout, they encouraged a debate about the visibility of queer lifestyles and diversity in film and TV.

Over the summer, the first season of the reality show "Princess Charming" aired, in which lesbian women vied to be "Princess." It was the first TV show of its kind in the world and, notwithstanding prejudices commonly linked to such reality formats, it was far from trashy. On the contrary, the show dispelled stereotypes; the contestants saw themselves as educators and wanted to encourage others to stand up for themselves, their sexuality and their bodies.

EU and corporations get behind LGBT community

In July, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen raised eyebrows when she said: "Europe will never allow parts of its society to be stigmatized: because of who they love, because of their age, because of their political opinions, or because of their religious beliefs."

DW editor Kristina Reymann-Schneider

Her remarks were aimed primarily at the policies of Hungary and Poland, where education about sexual diversity is severely restricted, not least due to the introduction of so-called LGBT-free zones.

A few months later, the EU froze coronavirus-linked aid to Poland after the country failed to back down from its anti-LGBT policies. In November, the new German government announced in its coalition agreement that it would strengthen the rights of queer people by abolishing the Transsexual Act, which bars people from choosing their first name and gender registration without prior evaluation.

But the absurd debate about German football captain Manuel Neuer's armband and the illumination of Munich's Allianz Arena in rainbow colors during the Euro 2020 championship showed the limits of the commitment against discrimination.

While companies such as BMW and even FIFA used Pride Month in June to show their openness and tolerance by displaying company logos on their social media channels in rainbow colors, it failed to take off elsewhere. The logos in the Arab world and the Middle East remained unchanged. Given that homosexuality is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia that is understandable. Still, it weakens the credibility of the corporations about how open and tolerant they really are.

A strong message, but it musn't stop there

Discrimination and hate crime

These days, there is broad social acceptance for queer people in Germany, but terms like "gay" or "faggot" are still frequently bandied about. According to a study by the German Institute for Economic Research, one third of non-heterosexual people keep their sexual identity a secret at work for fear of discrimination and reprisals.

This fear is not entirely unfounded. Indeed, 30% of respondents said they experienced discrimination at work. Social workers, educators, doctors or geriatric nurses whose institutions belong to the Protestant or Catholic church are subject to church labor law. This allows employers to dismiss employees on the basis of their sexual identity. The General Equal Treatment Act does not apply here.

Right-wing as well as religiously motivated groups continue to publicly agitate against homosexuals. Hate crime against people from the community has been on the rise for years, according to figures provided by Germany's Interior Ministry.

In 2020, authorities registered 782 hate crime offenses against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and intersex people — and those are only the incidents that were reported to police.

Education and role models remain important

That is why education in schools is so crucial. There needs to be more awareness about children's and adolescents' books, series and movies that relate different life realities; that there are people in all walks of life who are open about their sexual identity and can become role models; that governments can ensure equality and abolish discriminatory laws; that CSD events are important and that there are shelters for homosexual people; and that people show civil courage when transsexuals are discriminated against, ridiculed or beaten up.

Only then can we call ourselves a society that truly stands up for diversity. And anyone who dips their social media profile picture in rainbow colors in June is of course welcome to do so.

Just remember that queer people are still there after Pride Month and need the continuous support of mainstream society.

This article was originally written in German.

DW

Save the Children workers missing after 30 villagers massacred by Myanmar troops

Two members of international humanitarian group missing after killings in Kayah state

Burned-out vehicles near Hpruso township on Christmas Eve. Photograph: AP

The Associated Press
Sun 26 Dec 2021 03.29 GMT

Two members of the international humanitarian group Save the Children are missing after Myanmar government troops rounded up villagers, some believed to be women and children, fatally shot more than 30 and burned the bodies, according to a witness and other reports.

Purported photos of the aftermath of the Christmas Eve massacre in Moso, a village in the country’s east, just outside Hpruso township in Kayah state where refugees were sheltering from an army offensive, have spread on social media in the country, fuelling outrage against the military that took power in February.

The accounts could not be independently verified. The photos showed the charred bodies of more than 30 people in three burned-out vehicles.

Myanmar’s top general Min Aung Hlaing is strangling a democracy. What will the west do about it?

A villager who said he went to the scene told the Associated Press that the victims had fled the fighting between armed resistance groups and Myanmar’s army near Koi Ngan village, which is just beside Moso, on Friday. He said they were killed after they were arrested by troops while heading to refugee camps in the western part of the township.

Save the Children said that two of its staff who were traveling home for the holidays after conducting humanitarian response work in a nearby community were “caught up in the incident and remain missing”.

“We have confirmation that their private vehicle was attacked and burned out,” the group added in a statement. “The military reportedly forced people from their cars, arrested some, killed others and burned their bodies.”

The government has not commented on the allegations, but a report in the state-run Myanma Alinn daily newspaper on Saturday said that the fighting near Moso broke out on Friday when members of ethnic guerrilla forces, known as the Karenni National Progressive Party, and those opposed to the military drove in “suspicious” vehicles and attacked security forces after refusing to stop.

The newspaper report said that the seven vehicles they were traveling in were destroyed in a fire. It gave no further details about the killings.

The witness who spoke to the AP said the remains were burned beyond recognition, and children’s and women’s clothes were found together with medical supplies and food.

“The bodies were tied with ropes before being set on fire,” said the witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared for his safety.

He did not see the moment they were killed, but said he believed some of them were Moso villagers who were reportedly arrested by troops on Friday. He denied that those captured were members of locally organised militia groups.

Myanmar’s independent media reported on Friday that 10 Moso villagers, including children, were arrested by the army. Four members of a local paramilitary group who went to negotiate for their release were reportedly tied up and shot in the head by the military.

The witness said the villagers and anti-government militia groups left as military troops arrived near Moso while the bodies were being prepared for cremation. The fighting was still intense near the village.

“It’s a heinous crime and the worst incident during Christmas. We strongly condemn that massacre as a crime against humanity,” said Banyar Khun Aung, director of the Karen Human Rights Group.

Earlier this month, government troops were also accused of rounding up villagers, some believed to be children, tying them up and slaughtering them. An opposition leader, Dr Sasa, who uses only one name, said the civilians were burned alive.

A video of the aftermath of the 7 December assault – apparently retaliation for an attack on a military convoy – showed the charred bodies of 11 people lying in a circle amid what appeared to be the remains of a hut.


Eleven villagers shot and burned alive by Myanmar soldiers, reports say

Fighting resumed on Saturday in a neighbouring state that borders Thailand, where thousands of people have fled to seek shelter. Local officials said Myanmar’s military had unleashed airstrikes and heavy artillery on Lay Kay Kaw, a small town controlled by ethnic Karen guerrillas, since Friday.

The military’s action prompted multiple western governments, including the US embassy, to issue a joint statement condemning “serious human rights violations committed by the military regime across the country”.

“We call on the regime to immediately cease its indiscriminate attacks in Karen state and throughout the country, and to ensure the safety of all civilians in line with international law,” the joint statement said.

Vale Weighs Bid for a Stake in Anglo’s Brazil Iron Mine



Mariana Durao, Cristiane Lucchesi and Mark Burton
Thu, December 23, 2021

(Bloomberg) -- Vale SA, the world’s second-largest iron ore producer, is considering acquiring a stake in Anglo American Plc’s huge Minas-Rio project in Brazil, according to people familiar to the matter.

Preliminary talks that started last year so far haven’t advanced enough to be presented to the companies’ boards and may not result in a deal, the people said, asking not to be named because the talks are private. Vale is considering buying a 30% to 40% stake in the project, or even a controlling interest, one of the people said.

Anglo American and Vale declined to comment.

A deal would help Vale fulfill its goal of increasing annual production capacity to 400 million tons, enabling it to dilute costs and recover the title of world’s No. 1 iron-ore producer that it lost to Rio Tinto Group in the wake of the Brumadinho dam disaster in 2019.

The Rio de Janeiro-based company also wants to position itself as a top supplier of premium iron ore, a key ingredient for steelmakers to reduce their carbon footprint. Anglo’s Minas-Rio has a high-grade ore of about 67% iron content, higher than Vale’s average.

Minas-Rio is a fully integrated iron ore operation, with a mine in Minas Gerais State, a processing plant, a slurry pipeline, and a port in Rio de Janeiro. The project is expected to produce 26.5 million tons a year. Acquired from MMX Mineracao e Metalicos SA in 2008, Minas-Rio cost Anglo American about $14 billion to buy and build.

Thanks to a surge in metals prices in recent years, Minas-Rio has gone from a liability to a cash cow for Anglo American, leading the company to scrap plans to sell the mine.

Even with prices of its core product down from record highs in recent months, Vale continues to generate plenty of cash. Focused on capital discipline and returning value to shareholders, the miner has been divesting non-core assets to sharpen its efforts on iron ore and base metal deposits.