Hong Kong Foreign Correspondent's Club suspends human rights award over legal fears

Citing legal concerns, the club has suspended the 26th edition of its human rights reporting award. Hong Kong's national security laws have stifled free press in the former bastion of democracy.

The club was reportedly worried about awarding Stand News, which shut down in December 

after several top editors were arrested

The Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents Club has canceled its annual human rights reporting award over fears it will violate repressive new laws, it announced on Monday.

FCC president Keith Richburg said in a statement that the club could not find a feasible way to award the prize without running afoul of new rules.

"Over the last two years, journalists in Hong Kong have been operating under new 'red lines' on what is and is not permissible, but there remain significant areas of uncertainty and we do not wish unintentionally to violate the law. This is the context in which we decided to suspend the awards," he said in a statement.

"The FCC intends to continue promoting press freedom in Hong Kong, while recognizing that recent developments might also require changes to our approach."

Broad restrictions on journalism

Following about a year of massive pro-democratic protests in Hong Kong, Beijing imposed a series of repressive measures in the former British territory. The national security laws include broad restrictions on democratic activities, freedom of speech and freedom of the press, forcing publishers and journalists to heavily self-censor under threat of jail terms. Unable to get the rules through Hong Kong's legislature, Beijing had to impose them on the territory. 

Former winners of the Human Rights Press Awards said they were disappointed by the decision, and members of the selection committee announced their resignation.

Timothy McLaughlin, who was on the committee and previously won the award, said the decision was "angering and sad."

Shibani Mahtani, who has served on the award committee for three years and was also a recipient, said the suspension showed that the club may not be able to serve its core purpose any more.

Mary Hui, who also resigned from the committee, highlighted the fact that the club appeared to have deleted its mission statement of "defend press freedom in Hong Kong and across the region" from its website.

In 2021, the awards recognized journalists that exposed government plots to extradite citizens, police brutality, government repression, coronavirus lockdowns in mainland China and human rights issues across Asia.

The awards have been handed out for the past 25 years.

The Reuters news agency reported that club president Richburg had earlier told the award committee that the decision was taken to protect its staff and members from legal risks, citing the minutes of a meeting.

The potential risks reportedly arose from proposed awards for Stand News, a liberal online news portal that shut down after severa

ERDOGAN DICKTATUER
Turkey: Rights activist Osman Kavala sentenced to life in prison

Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala has been found guilty of attempting to overthrow the government by an Istanbul court. The rights activist was sentenced to life without possibility of parole.



Kavala, 64, had been held without a conviction since October 2017

Turkish activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala was found guilty of trying to overthrow the government by an Istanbul court on Monday.

He had spent the last four and a half years in prison without being convicted.

The trial had garnered international attention, adding pressure to ties between Ankara and its Western allies as the process had been widely viewed as a crackdown on critics of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

DW correspondent Dorian Jones said the response to the verdict and sentence had been one of shock. 

"There is a palpable shock within Turkish civic society. The severity of the sentence is the most severe that can be given to anyone in Turkey. It means that Osman Kavala will be held in solitary confinement, he will be ineligible for parole, and he now spends the rest of his life in jail."

Turkish rights activist Kavala gets life in prison: DW's Dorian Jones

Rights groups slam ruling

AFP news agency reported that the ruling drew boos from some of those who had gathered to witness proceedings, among them a number of Western diplomats.

According to the Media and Law Studies Association group, which had been monitoring the trial, following his sentencing, Kavala said: "The aggravated life sentence demanded against me is an assassination that cannot be explained through legal reasons."

Amnesty International's Europe director Nils Muiznieks slammed the ruling. "Today, we have witnessed a travesty of justice of spectacular proportions," Muiznieks said.

Emma Sinclair-Webb of Human Rights Watch said Kavala's conviction and sentence was "the worst possible outcome to this show trial".
What was the case about?

Kavala and seven other prominent defendants faced accusations of espionage and attempting to overthrow the government, among other charges.

They were accused of ties to the 2013 Gezi protests and the 2016 coup attempt, both considered by Erdogan as part of an international plot to topple him.

Defendant Mucella Yapici previously told the court that the 2013 Gezi rallies were the "most democratic, most creative and peaceful collective movement in this country's history."

Paris-born Kavala, who made his fortune in publishing, was initially detained on arrival at Istanbul's airport from a trip to a cultural center in the Turkish city of Gaziantep in October 2017.

He was accused of financing a wave of 2013 anti-government protests. Despite being cleared in 2020, he was arrested again just hours later on a charge of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order related to a 2016 coup attempt.

He was also acquitted on that charge — but detained on accusations of espionage in the same case. Critics say those charges were aimed at circumventing a 2019 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) calling for his release.

Ultimately, the 64-year-old faced charges relating to both the 2013 protests and the 2016 coup effort.

Turkey declared a state of emergency after the failed coup attempt, and used that as a pretext to purge its military and public sector ranks.

Government blames US-based cleric Fetullah Gulen and his Hizmet (service) movement for organizing the coup attempt in order to overthrow Erdogan.
International condemnation follows Kavala's conviction

Germany demanded Kavala be "released immediately."

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the court's decision was "blatantly in contradiction with the norms of the rule of law and international obligations Turkey has signed up to as a member of the Council of Europe and EU membership candidate."

"We expect Osman Kavala to be freed immediately," Baerbock said, adding that the European Court of Human Rights had asked Turkey to do so.

The US Department of State said it was "deeply troubled and disappointed" by the judgment.

"His unjust conviction is inconsistent with respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law. We again call on Turkey to release Osman Kavala," said a State Department statement on Monday.

"We remain gravely concerned by the continued judicial harassment of civil society, media, political and business leaders in Turkey," it added.

jsi,kb/msh (Reuters, AFP, AP)

Rwanda defends controversial asylum pact with the United Kingdom

Kigali is hitting back at critics, justifying the controversial deal to relocate asylum seekers in Britain to Rwanda. Human rights groups and the United Nations have slammed the agreement as "unethical."

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel and Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs Vincent Birut seek

 to market the deal as a 'win-win'

The most senior cleric in the Church of England, Archbishop Justin Welby, has become the latest high-profile critic of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plans to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda. While acknowledging that the agreement's details remained with politicians, Welby stated that relocating asylum-seekers to another country posed significant ethical concerns:

"A country like Britain informed by Christian values cannot sub-contract out our responsibilities, even to a country that seeks to do well like Rwanda," the Archbishop of Canterbury told congregants during a Sunday service.

The United Kingdom and Rwanda made headlines on April 14 when they announced that migrants arriving in the UK irregularly would be sent some 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles) away to Rwanda. There, Rwandan authorities would be in charge of processing their asylum claims, and, if successful, they would be allowed to stay there. 

London said it will contribute up to £120 million ($157 million, 144 million euros) towards the controversial pact.

According to the British government, the idea will deter individuals from attempting risky crossings of the English Channel and will put human-smuggling organizations out of business.

Human rights groups accuse President Paul Kagame of suppressing basic freedoms in his country

Rwanda's role

Critics say Rwandan President Paul Kagame is seeking to present his country as an ally of the West.

The 64-year-old leader, who has long been accused of various human rights violations and of silencing his political opposition, has a track record of taking actions that please foreign governments: 

Kagame has deployed thousands of Rwandan troops to the continent's confilct zones, including Mozambique, Somalia, and the Central African Republic. Observers credit the Rwandan soldiers for succeeding in pushing back an Islamist insurgency in Mozambique's volatile Cabo Delgado Province.

The UK asylum deal could be seen as an extension of Kagame's pro-Western approach. The president, however, defended the deal, saying it was not about "trading people" but that it would offer a chance to asylum seekers to begin a new life.

Human rights groups shocked

Human rights organizations and the United Nations have expressed disbelief over the proposal, criticizing the plan in the harshest terms.

"The fact is that Rwanda has an abysmal human rights record. This is a country where freedom of speech is not respected," Lewis Mudge, Central Africa Director at Human Rights Watch, told DW. In 2021, Rwanda was ranked 156th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index.

Mudge, who lived in Rwanda, added that Rwanda is one of the most populated countries in terms of population density on the continent: "There's not a lot of open land. It's difficult to see how they could take tens and tens of thousands of people."

He further stressed that it's not only Human Rights Watch and other international organizations that have come to this conclusion but that the British government as recently as last year shared the same assessment: "So it smacks of real hypocrisy that all of a sudden the British Prime Minister can go ahead and say that this [Rwanda] is one of the safest countries in the world when this contradicts his own government's position."

The UN refugee agency UNHCR has distanced itself from the bilateral agreement, saying it was not involved in the process. In a statement published on its website, Gillian Triggs, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, said the agency "remains firmly opposed to arrangements that seek to transfer refugees and asylum seekers to third countries in the absence of sufficient safeguards and standards."

Rights activists have raised concerns about the rights of refugees in the deal

Could Rwanda handle a refugee influx - and how?

Last year, Rwanda offered temporary asylum to Afghans fleeing the Taliban takeover. In addition, the landlocked East African nation welcomed hundreds of African refugees stranded in Libya. According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, Rwanda had 127,163 refugees and asylum seekers in the country as of September 2021.

However, there have been concerns about Rwanda's capability to host more asylum seekers. Measuring just 26,338 square kilometers (10,169 sq mi) in size, the landlocked nation is the fourth-smallest country in Africa.

This is only one of the reasons why Rwandan opposition parties have dubbed the deal "unrealistic and unsustainable," calling on the government to focus rather on fixing the country's own problems.

Mudge says he is also worried that the deal and its process of vetting the asylum seekers remains shrouded in secrecy: "It's going to be very difficult for us on the outside of Rwanda to know how that's going because these refugees are not going to feel that they can speak out openly against any type of policy."

For now, Rwanda and the UK seem undeterred by any criticism and have vowed to start the process of finalizing the deal in the coming weeks.

Rwanda's other migrant deals

Above all, the question remains whether the migrants who are sent to Rwanda will choose to stay there. According to Mudge, "Rwanda has engaged in other types of agreements with other countries, most notably Israel, in which asylum seekers or refugees were taken to Rwanda.

"These people very quickly left, and got into dangerous situations once they're outside Rwanda again."

Following the announcement of the UK-Rwanda deal,Denmark has also informed the public that id is reportedly in talks with Rwanda for a similar agreement. Danish immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye told Reuters that his government's "dialogue with the Rwandan government includes a mechanism for the transfer of asylum seekers."

As Denmark is in the European Union, any such unprecedented attempt to bypass EU law could lead to serious consequences for the entire bloc.

DW has tried to reach out for comment from the Rwandan ministry of disaster management and refugee affairs and the International Migration Office in Rwanda but received no response.

DW

SEE 

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/04/uk-plan-to-fly-asylum-seekers-to-rwanda.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/04/uk-rwanda-asylum-plan-against.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/04/priti-patel-facing-mutiny-over-rwanda.html

Opinion: Why Ukrainians distrust Germany's president

In Germany, hardly anyone is familiar with the "Steinmeier formula" for Donbas. In Ukraine, however, it is not forgotten — and it's the reason why the German president is not welcome, says Yuri Andrukhovych.



Frank-Walter Steinmeier was not welcome to visit Ukraine

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was not welcome in Kyiv. It was not disclosed who exactly in the Ukrainian leadership made this decision. In any case, Steinmeier was not able to join the small group of other European presidents who were warmly received in in the Ukrainian capital.

Why did this happen to the German president? In this question, you could stress both the word "German" and the word "president." I am not certain which of them should be stressed more.
Chummy approach

First, however, a brief look back at a personal story of mine. In the late summer of 2016, I was in the German city of Weimar, where I was awarded the Goethe Medal along with a prominent Nigerian photographer and a no less prominent Georgian archaeologist.

The official program included a meeting with three foreign ministers. As a reminder, Germany, Poland and France form the so-called "Weimar Triangle" — the foreign ministers of the three countries meet from time to time, not necessarily in Weimar, but that's where it was back then. According to the program, the ministers were scheduled to congratulate the three new laureates.

Ukrainian writer Yuri Andrukhovych

Our meeting lasted between one and three minutes at the most. The French foreign minister seemed a little bored, perhaps he was just tired. The Polish foreign minister seemed unhappy with something and grumpy. Only Steinmeier, Germany's foreign minister at the time, was affable — it seemed he could hardly keep from patting us on the shoulder or back.

Then he said something like "Oh, well done, congratulations... The Goethe Medal! Great, great... can anyone tell me what it is awarded for — what merits?" That's how he spoke to the three of us. It all happened quickly, and no one really listened to our answers. When the TV cameras had their shots, the trio of ministers moved on.

Model Putin sympathizer

Akinbode Akinbiyi, David Lordkipanidze and I later exchanged our impressions of this so-called "meeting." We agreed that it all seemed rather unprofessional and that we regarded Steinmeier's question as more of a joke, albeit a bad one. Otherwise, it would have been even more sad. None of us had expected the ministers to bow to us. But this obvious superficiality — and the less obvious but perceptible arrogance — was disappointing to us.

It was particularly disappointing to me — after all, I came from the country for which Frank-Walter Steinmeier had come up with his infamous formula. I don't want to claim that it played a decisive role in his further career or that it is the reason Steinmeier was elected President twice. But I can say with certainty that it is precisely because of this formula that Ukrainian society sees him as a model of a Putin sympathizer, and almost as an "agent of Moscow."

Written by Moscow?

The infamous formula which lost all meaning on February 24 was de facto intended to cement Ukraine's surrender in the Donbas. It matches Putin's plans to such an extent that the Ukrainians understandably attributed its true authorship to Moscow. Allegedly, Steinmeier was adhering to the wishes of his Russian friends and agreed to lend his name and suggested auhorship to a project that was disasterous for Ukraine. If secret diplomacy is considered to evil par excellence, the current German president holds the copyright to its embodiment — at least in the eyes of many Ukrainians.

I do not think Steinmeier is aware of how often Ukrainian media, especially since 2019, have mentioned his name along with the word "formula." It is not an exaggeration to say it was thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of times. Along with this "popularity" comes an avalanche of criticism, distrust and outright rejection. For Ukrainians, the "Steinmeier formula" has become a synonym for something insidious and threatening, a kind of Trojan horse for the destruction of Ukrainian statehood.

Unrivaled unpopularity

Perhaps the "author" himself, who has long since moved to a higher, if rather decorative, position, has already forgotten the essence of the formula he invented. But Ukraine has not forgotten, it has remembered all these years, almost daily, almost always with a curse and always in connection with the name Steinmeier. On the list of German politicians most disliked by Ukrainians, Steinmeier comes second only to his old boss, ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. As for current politically active personalities, no one comes close to Steinmeier's unpopularity.

Ukrainians are wary when they see photos like this one of Steinmeier

 and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

With Steinmeier's example in mind, Germany's elite should recognize how much damage their ambiguous policies during the Russian-Ukrainian conflict have done since 2014. In the process, they have not only harmed Ukraine, but also themselves: Branded as a partner who is extremely unreliable, cynical, and cunning, whose words egregiously diverge from their actions. As a result, Germany has lost its relevance and — thanks to the efforts of both the previous and current federal government — has become an outsider.

'Unimportant president of an unimportant country'

Ukrainian society and the country's leadership, which is heavily dependent on public opinion, clearly felt the moment when the United States and Britain filled the vacuum — the moment they were able to say "no" even to German President Steinmeier and had to do so for strategic reasons.

But the "unimportant president of an unimportant country" can radically fix that situation. Germany as a whole can recover its role in the eyes of Ukrainians — in particular as neither the US nor Britain are involved: in providing effective and committed support to Ukraine on the road to EU membership. Germany should do so, however without flirting with the aggressor and the ambiguities that go with it.

Yuri Andrukhovych is a Ukrainian writer, poet, essayist and translator. Today he is considered one of the most important cultural and intellectual voices of his country. 

Andrukhovych's works have been translated and published worldwide.

This article was originally written in Ukrainian.

African art stars you don't want to miss at Venice Biennale 2022

As the 59th international contemporary art fair kicks off in the city of canals, Sub-Saharan Africa will be well-represented with eight pavilions that showcase thought-provoking art from the region.



Cameroon: Angele Etoundi Essamba

African artists have long lacked representation at the Venice Biennale; the 2007 fair had only one African pavilion. Fifteen years later there are eight, including the Cameroon pavilion, which features work by photographer Angele Etoundi Essamba, among others. Her mission to "portray womankind" is reflected in her images of women who radiate strength and independence.

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Beyond ecology: The trees at the heart of our culture

From Ireland to the Amazon to Kenya, trees can hold traditional or even sacred value. DW takes a look at trees and forests of cultural importance to communities around the world. Some are under threat.

Date 25.04.2022
Author Beatrice Christofaro
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/4AHEy

Some farmers in Ireland avoid cutting down hawthorn trees because it might be bad luck

There are numerous ecological reasons to conserve trees. They provide shelter to animals, regulate soil fertility , and are vital to combatting the climate crisis because they absorb greenhouse gasses.

Trees and forests also hold deep cultural significance to people around the globe.
Irish fairy trees

It isn't uncommon to see lone hawthorns in the middle of fields in Ireland. Some farmers won't fell these wild trees because of a superstition that dates back to prehistoric times, when pagans worshiped nature. The sacred hawthorn was thought to house fairies that could bring bad luck onto people that wronged them.

But that doesn't stop many others from enjoying its white blooms in May and June. Traditionally, people bring a hawthorn branch back to their gardens around this time of year to decorate with egg shells and blossoms.

The 'mother of trees' in the Amazon

 

Trees, such as this Samauma in the Amazon, can have cultural significance to communities around the globe

In the Amazon, the Samauma, sometimes called the Kapok, is known as the "mother of all trees" among Indigenous groups.

At 60 meters (197 feet) this tree towers above the rest, watching over the rainforest like an attentive mother. Some also believe the Samauma connects our world to a divine universe.

The tree is used for its wood, the cotton-like fibers that wrap around its seeds and the medicinal properties of its sap. It also serves as a communication device. If you hit the trunk and roots, the noise echoes across the forest.

Like other species in the Amazon, the Samauma is threatened by illegal loggers and forest fires.

A symbol of peace: The Ghaf tree

Ghaf trees can remain green even in harsh desert environments

The drought-tolerant Ghaf tree can be found in several arid regions, including the Arabian Peninsula, Western Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

But the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sees it as such a vital "symbol of stability and peace" that the country declared it the national tree.

Resistant even to the harshest desert environments, the Ghaf has long been part of traditional life for locals. People can eat its leaves while livestock prefer the branches. It is also used for its medicinal properties. The tree is under strict protection from felling in the UAE.

The tree of enlightenment

The Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India, is a popular pilgrimage site

The Bodhi or Bo tree plays a central role in Buddhist tradition. It is said that Buddha achieved enlightenment after meditating for 49 days under this sacred fig in Bodh Gaya, India.

Though there are Bodhi trees around the world — it is customary to plant them in Buddhist temples — the one in Bodh Gaya has become a pilgrimage site. The original Bodhi tree under which Buddha sat is no longer alive, but devoted Buddhists can visit a tree thought to be its descendant.

Sacred Kenyan forests

 

The sacred Kaya Forests are home to remnants of traditional Mijkenda villages

The sacred Mijkenda Kaya Forests stretch across 200 kilometers (124 miles) off Kenya's coast. The Mijkenda people built their villages, or kayas, in these sites as far back as the 16th century, but started abandoning them for nearby towns in the 1940s.

Nowadays, councils of elders maintain the remains of their ancestral homes to preserve holy graves, groves and other sites of spiritual significance.

The forests are not only home to the kayas. Their trees also shield forest guardians from the worsening effects of climate change such as floods or landslides. But the protectors say the forests are facing another danger from mines.

The guardians fear not only for the fate of the forests but that they themselves could be driven out as mine waste pollutes local water sources.

India: How air pollution is affecting people in Delhi's slums

People living in slums, who mostly survive on meager incomes, are most vulnerable to toxic air because their work often requires them to stay outdoors for long hours.

The Ghazipur landfill is now almost as tall as India's iconic Taj Mahal.

This week, authorities in India's capital New Delhi released a new plan of action to curb air pollution over the course of summer, as a severe heatwave bakes the city.

The plan focuses on reducing pollution from road dust and the burning of waste, which are major contributors of fine particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) that pose the greatest threat to human airways.

Delhi's pollution problem is especially bad in late fall and early winter, when prevailing weather patterns drive pollutants from heavy industry and coal-fired power plants to smother the megacity in toxic gray smog.

Additionally, the city residents are inhaling smoke from burning crop waste in the neighboring states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. The city is among the worst-polluted in the world.

To understand the impact of pollution on people most exposed to harmful air, DW recently visited the Ghazipur landfill, considered India's tallest rubbish mountain, and its surrounding areas.

Tons of garbage dumped at the site daily

The landfill, located in eastern Delhi, is already more than 65 meters (213 feet) high, only a few meters short of the height of India's iconic Taj Mahal.

Ghazipur was opened in 1984 and reached its capacity in 2002 when it should have been closed. But the city's waste has kept on arriving each day in hundreds of trucks.

The landfill, which covers an area that's equivalent to over 40 football pitches, is rising by nearly 10 meters a year with no end in sight to its foul-smelling growth.

It's estimated that about 2,000 tons of garbage is dumped at the site each day.

The air quality index, which measures PM2.5 levels, or particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers, in the area is 12 times above the World Health Organization's (WHO) air quality guideline value.

The WHO revised the air quality guidelines in September 2021, saying that the average annual PM2.5 concentrations should not be higher than 5 micrograms per cubic meter.
Serious health risks to people in the area

The area surrounding the landfill teems with people since there are hundreds of dairy farms and wholesale livestock markets in the immediate periphery.

The fires that regularly break out at the landfill take days to extinguish

Fires, sparked by methane gas coming from the dump, regularly break out and take days to extinguish. They have become a major cause of concern for residents in the area.

Muskan, a 22-year-old living in a slum near the landfill, says her house was destroyed by a fire and that she's lost count of such incidents in the locality. "It's dusty and it's hard to breathe all the time. I feel terrible being here."

Ajay Singh Nagpure, head of air quality at the World Resources Institute in India, said that the toxicity of the air near landfills poses serious health risks for people living there.

"Continuous informal burning of plastics and compostable waste leads to a number of health concerns," Nagpure told DW, pointing out that pregnant women give birth prematurely, while children develop asthma and suffer from shortness of breath.

People living in slums, who mostly survive on meager incomes, are most vulnerable to toxic air because their work often requires them to stay outdoors for long hours.

"Our exposure to air pollution and how it impacts our health can be influenced by a variety of factors, including our occupation and our daily activity patterns," says Pallavi Pant, an air quality expert.

"Certain occupations, including work at construction sites, small-scale factories, street stalls and shops, can increase exposure to air pollution," Pant underlined.

In addition, low-income workers often lack money and resources to seek proper health care.

Calls for proper waste management

Muktarun, 36, said she had lost everything when a fire engulfed her house a few years ago.

"We are always struggling to make ends meet. It's very hard to think about anything else," she told DW.

Landfills release methane gas, as organic waste decomposes, and a toxic liquid called leachate that contaminates groundwater, said Anurag Kashyap, who runs Gulmeher Green Producer Company, an NGO.

In addition to the continuous threat of fire and poisonous smoke, many people living in the slums do not have access to cleaner cooking fuels like Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) and rely on the burning of biomass, said Bhavreen Kandhari, an environmental activist in Delhi.

Even though a power plant near the landfill converts thousands of tons of solid waste into electricity every day, it would take a long time before "legacy waste" or the mountain of rubbish that has accumulated over the years can be cleared, said Kashyap.

People will have to put pressure on authorities to tackle air pollution in the same way they would complain to officials if water ran out, experts stressed.

The mixing up of waste with recyclable and combustible material dumped in the yard needs to end, Kandhari said. "There has to be proper waste management and segregation at source," the expert added.

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru

Coal still top threat to global climate goals: report

AFP - Yesterday 
© Ina FASSBENDER

The number of coal-fired power plants in the pipeline worldwide declined in 2021, according to research released Tuesday, but the fossil fuel most responsible for global warming still generated record CO2 emissions, threatening Paris climate goals.


© Noel Celis

The world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter, China has vowed to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and become carbon-neutral by 2060

Since the 195-nation treaty was inked in 2015, coal power capacity under construction or slated for development has dropped by three-quarters, including a 13-percent year-on-year decrease in 2021 to 457 gigawatts (GW).

Globally, there are more than 2,400 coal-fired power plants operating in 79 countries, with a total capacity of 2,100 GW.

A record-low 34 countries have new coal plants under consideration, down from 41 in January 2021, according to the annual Global Energy Monitor report, Tracking the Global Coal Plant Pipeline.

China, Japan and South Korea -- all historical backers of coal development outside their borders -- have pledged to stop funding new coal plants in other countries, though there remain concerns about possible loopholes in China's commitment.

And yet the worldwide operational fleet of coal-fired power grew in 2021 by 18 GW, and as of December an additional 176 GW of coal capacity was under construction -- about the same as the year before.

Most of that growth is in China, which accounts for just over half of new coal-fired power in the pipeline. South and Southeast Asia are responsible for another 37 percent.

Three-quarters of the new coal power plants that broke ground last year were in China, where newly commissioned capacity offset coal plant retirements in all other nations combined.

- Coal-free -

"The coal plant pipeline is shrinking, but there is simply no carbon budget left to be building new coal plants," said Flora Champenois of Global Energy Monitor. "We need to stop, now."

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency have warned that having a fighting chance of capping global warming at liveable levels means no new coal plants and a rapid phase-out of existing ones.

Rich countries must do so by 2030 and most of the rest of the world by 2040, they said.

Many emerging economies -- India, Vietnam, Bangladesh -- have cut back on plans for new coal-fired capacity.

"In China, plans for new coal-fired power plants have continued to be announced," said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst for the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and a co-author of the report.

By far the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, China has vowed to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and become carbon-neutral by 2060.

In the United States, efforts to curtail coal use have slowed, the report showed.

The amount of US coal capacity retired in 2021 declined for the second year in a row, from 16.1 GW in 2019, to 11.6 GW in 2020, to an estimated 6.4 to 9.0 GW last year.

To meet its own climate goals, the United States would need to retire 25 GW annually between now and 2030.

The European Union retired a record 12.9 GW in 2021, including 5.8 GW in Germany, 1.7 GW in Spain and 1.9 GW in Portugal, which became coal-free in November 2021 -- nine years before its target phase-out date.

mh/imm

Humanity entering ‘spiral of self-destruction’, UN warns

Humanity is suffering from a “broken perception of risk”, spurring us into activities and behaviours that cause climate change and a surging number of disasters around the globe, the UN warned Tuesday.

© Jay Labra, AP

In a fresh report, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, or UNDRR, found that between 350 and 500 medium- to large-scale disasters took place globally every year over the past two decades.

That is five times more than the average during the three preceding decades, it said.

And amid the changing climate, disastrous events brought on by drought, extreme temperatures and devastating flooding are expected to occur even more frequently going forward.

The report estimated that by 2030, we will be experiencing 560 disasters around the world every year – or 1.5 disasters every day on average.

UNDRR said in a statement that the sharp rise in disasters globally could be attributed to a “broken perception of risk based on optimism, underestimation and invincibility”.

This, it said, had led to policy, finance and development decisions that exacerbate vulnerabilities and put people in danger.

Ignoring the towering risks we face “is setting humanity on a spiral of self-destruction”, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed warned in the statement.

“Raising the alarm by speaking the truth is not only necessary but crucial,” added UNDRR head Mami Mizutori.

“The science is clear. It is less costly to take action before a disaster devastates than to wait until destruction is done and respond after it has happened,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The UN-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned this year that climate change impacts, from heat to drought and flooding, are set to become more frequent and intense, damaging nature, people and the places they live.

But measures to slash planet-heating emissions and adapt to global warming are both lagging, the panel said.

Wait now, pay later

Ignoring risks has come at a high price.

Disasters around the world have cost roughly $170 billion (160 billion euros) each year over the past decade, the report found.

But most of that is incurred in lower-income countries, which on average lose one percent of their national GDP to disasters each year, compared to just 0.1 to 0.2 percent in wealthier nations.

Asia-Pacific nations are worst hit, with a 1.6% annual GDP dent, said the report, published ahead of a global disaster forum on the Indonesian island of Bali next month.

In the Philippines, for example, millions of people are still recovering from Typhoon Rai which struck in December, killing over 300 people and leaving hundreds of thousands more displaced, along with about $500 million in damages.

And as the number of disasters increase, the costs will as well.

The report estimated that 37.6 million more people will be living in conditions of extreme poverty by 2030 due to the impacts of climate change and disasters.

Most disaster-related losses are meanwhile not covered by insurers.

Since 1980, only about 40 percent have been covered globally, but in developing countries the less than 10 percent of such losses had insurance coverage.

“Disasters can be prevented, but only if countries invest the time and resources to understand and reduce their risks,” Mizutori stressed in the statement.

However, she warned, “by deliberately ignoring risk and failing to integrate it in decision making, the world is effectively bankrolling its own destruction.”

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and the Thomson Reuters Foundation)

Top radio chief sees Russia 'thrown back 40 years'




'Alexei Venediktov has been a top figure of Russia's media scene for years, leading the flagship of liberal broadcasters radio station Echo. 

The Russian president believes 'the media is an instrument' of the state, says Venediktov

Echo of Moscow had survived for decades as one of Russia's leading independent voices 

(AFP/Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV)


Marina LAPENKOVA
Mon, April 25, 2022, 

It survived for decades as one of Russia's leading independent voices, but when radio station Echo of Moscow shut down last month, long-time editor Alexei Venediktov knew it was the end of an era.

"The country has been thrown back in every sense, for me it's been set back 40 years," said Venediktov, who joined the station at its founding in 1990 and steered it through the 20 years of Vladimir Putin's rule, until the Russian president sent troops into Ukraine two months ago.

"We are now somewhere around 1983... war is going on in Afghanistan, dissidents are in jail or kicked out of the country and Andropov is in the Kremlin," he said, referring to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov, who like Putin served in the KGB.

With his mop of curly grey hair, 66-year-old Venediktov has been a top figure of Russia's media scene for years, leading the flagship of liberal broadcasters.


Echo of Moscow first took to the airwaves in August 1990, in the final months of the Soviet Union, becoming a symbol of Russia's new-found media freedoms.

Venediktov, a former history teacher, joined the station as a reporter and became editor-in-chief in 1998.

As pressure mounted on Russian media over the last 20 years and many other independent outlets fell under state control, Echo of Moscow survived -- a fact many chalked up to Venediktov's links with powerful officials, including in the Kremlin.

- 'Drinking buddies' -

He made no secret of having friends in high places, referring to them jokingly as his "drinking buddies", and was one of the few journalists in Russia who continued to openly criticise Putin.

The Kremlin chief even intervened when zealous officials wanted to shut the station down, Venediktov told AFP during an interview in a central Moscow restaurant.

"Putin said three times: 'No, let them work.'"

But that changed when Russia launched the military offensive in Ukraine on February 24 and Echo of Moscow described the campaign as a "political mistake".

Echo of Moscow was taken off the air on March 1, and then formally shut down by its board of directors, where the majority of votes were controlled by state energy giant Gazprom.

The station's frequencies in Moscow and several other cities were taken over by state-owned Sputnik Radio.

"I understand (Putin's) logic: he could not keep us because propaganda during such operations must be total," Venediktov said.

Russia in March also introduced prison terms of up to 15 years for publishing information about the army deemed false by the government and in late April Venediktov was designated a "foreign agent".

Last month, he posted images online of a pig's head wearing a curly wig that was left outside his apartment and an anti-Semitic sticker glued to his door.

Many journalists have fled Russia fearing for their safety, but Venediktov said he has no plans to leave.

"People will trust me more if I experience the same difficulties, walk the same streets as them and face the same sanctions," he said.

- Face-to-face with Putin -

Venediktov now hosts guests on a YouTube channel that has racked up half a million subscribers.

He wants to continue speaking about the Ukraine conflict, saying Russians need to know "why this happened" and "why you are hurting".

Venediktov said he had met Putin several times over the years, but "we never spoke the same language", with the Russian leader believing "the media is an instrument" of the state.

"I told him face-to-face that the main problem in the country was the absence of any form of competition: political, ideological and economic absolutism," Venediktov said.

Despite their differences, he said Putin had twice asked the former teacher what place he would occupy in history books -- once in 2008 at the end of his first two presidential terms, and again in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea.

Even with the dramatic events of the last few weeks, Venediktov said he is not sure.

"We are still in the middle of the chapter and we can't turn the page yet."

bur/bp