Iran is using executions to crush dissent and quell protests, says UN

Issued on: 10/01/2023 -

02:13   A judge sits in a courtroom in front of Saeid Yaghoubi, who is to be executed by hanging, along with Majid Kazemi and Saleh Mirhashemi, for allegedly killing members of security forces during nationwide protests in Iran.

© Wana News Agency, via Reuters

Text by:NEWS WIRES

Iran is weaponising the death penalty, attempting to crush dissent by frightening the public with the execution of protesters, the United Nations said Tuesday.

The Islamic republic has been rocked by a wave of protests since the death in custody on September 16 of Mahsa Amini, following the 22-year-old's arrest for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code for women.

Tehran has executed four people in connection with the demonstrations, following expedited trials that did not meet the minimum guarantees of fair trial, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said.

"Criminal proceedings and the death penalty are being weaponised by the Iranian government to punish individuals participating in protests and to strike fear into the population so as to stamp out dissent, in violation of international human rights law," OHCHR said.

Two further executions are scheduled imminently and at least 17 other individuals have reportedly been sentenced to death, said the office of Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights


"The weaponisation of criminal procedures to punish people for exercising their basic rights -- such as those participating in or organising demonstrations -- amounts to state-sanctioned killing," Turk said in a statement.

>> Lack of leadership is both a strength and weakness of Iran's protest movement

OHCHR spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the UN was against the imposition of the death penalty in all circumstances.

"However, in these instances, what we have seen is a lack of due process; charges that are completely spurious and don't make sense," she told a press briefing.

"These are charges of corruption on Earth and waging war against God, which are very vaguely worded."

She said there were also serious allegations of torture, mistreatment and humiliating treatment prior to the executions.

"In such circumstances, these executions amount to an arbitrary deprivation of life," she explained.
'Listening to their grievances'

OHCHR said it had received information that two further executions are imminent -- that of 22-year-old Mohammad Ghobadlou and Mohammad Boroghani, 19.

"The government of Iran would better serve its interests and those of its people by listening to their grievances," said Turk.

"I reiterate once more my call to the government of Iran to respect the lives and voices of its people, to impose an immediate moratorium on the death penalty and to halt all executions," Turk said.

"Iran must take sincere steps to embark on the reforms that are required and demanded by their own people for the respect and protection of their human rights."

11:26THE INTERVIEW © FRANCE 24

Mohammad Al Nsour, OHCHR's Middle East and North Africa chief, said Turk would be meeting soon with Iranian officials in Geneva.

Turk has voiced his willingness to go to Tehran and meet with the Iranian authorities, including supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

However, he said there was no agreed date and no discussion as yet on the terms of reference for such a visit.

Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights said Monday that at least 109 protesters now in detention have been sentenced to death or face charges that can carry capital punishment.

The crackdown and executions have sparked global outrage and new Western sanctions against Tehran.

(AFP)

Iran intensifies protest crackdown as UN decries executions

Tue, January 10, 2023 


Iran's judiciary said Tuesday it will "firmly punish" women who violate strict dress rules, as the United Nations warned Tehran is trying to crush protests by weaponising the death penalty.

Demonstrations have swept Iran since the September 16 death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, 22, after her arrest in Tehran for allegedly failing to adhere to the dress rules which demand women wear hijab headscarves.

After nearly four months of protests, in which Iran has hanged four people for their role in the unrest, the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva said Iran's executions without due process amount to "state-sanctioned killing".

Since the outbreak of the protests, the morality police units charged with enforcing the hijab rules have been less visible and many women have taken to the streets with their heads uncovered.

But as the demonstrations continue, the prosecutor general on Tuesday issued a directive in which "police were ordered to firmly punish any hijab violations", Mehr news agency reported.

"Courts must sentence the violators, as well as fine them, to additional penalties such as exile, bans on practising certain professions and closing workplaces," Mehr quoted the judiciary as saying.

- Death sentences rise -

Iran's judiciary said Tuesday it had sentenced another man to death in connection with the protests, with Javad Rouhi found guilty of charges of "corruption on Earth".

Rouhi was found guilty of "leading a group of rioters", "inciting people to create insecurity", as well as of "apostasy by desecration of the Koran by burning it", the judiciary's Mizan Online news website reported.

The sentence, which can still be appealed, brings to 18 the total number of people the judiciary have announced have been condemned to death in connection with the protests.

Of those 18 confirmed, four are already dead and six face retrials.

However, Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) says at least 109 protesters now in detention have been sentenced to death or face charges that can carry capital punishment.

Iran has blamed the unrest on hostile foreign forces, and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Monday that authorities had been dealing "seriously and justly" with those implicated in the "riots".

In an updated death toll, IHR said Monday that 481 protesters had been killed, including 64 minors, since the unrest began.

Iranian authorities say hundreds, including members of the security forces, have been killed.

- 'Strike fear' -

The UN warned that Iran is using capital punishment to frighten the public and crush dissent.

"Criminal proceedings and the death penalty are being weaponised by the Iranian government to punish individuals participating in protests and to strike fear into the population so as to stamp out dissent, in violation of international human rights law," UN rights chief Volker Turk's office said.

"The weaponisation of criminal procedures to punish people for exercising their basic rights -- such as those participating in or organising demonstrations -- amounts to state-sanctioned killing," Turk added.

The crackdown and executions have sparked global outrage and fresh Western sanctions against Tehran.

Rights groups have also accused Iran of extracting forced confessions and denying the thousands arrested due legal process.

According to London-based rights group Amnesty International, Iran is second only to China in its use of the death penalty, with at least 314 people executed in 2021.

Iran executions ‘state sanctioned killing’: UN rights chief

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has condemned the ‘weaponisation’ of the death penalty to squash dissent.

Human rights groups say 481 protesters have been killed, including 64 minors, since the unrest began in September. The sign reads: "Women Life Freedom". 

[File: Raquel Cunha/Reuters]

Published On 10 Jan 2023

The UN human rights chief says the flurry of death sentences handed down following the outbreak of civil unrest in Iran amount to “state sanctioned killing”, with executions being used to strike fear into the population and stamp out dissent.

“The weaponization of criminal procedures to punish people for exercising their basic rights – such as those participating in or organizing demonstrations – amounts to state sanctioned killing,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement on Tuesday.

He added that such executions violated international human rights law.

On Saturday, Iran hanged two men convicted of killing a member of the security forces during nationwide protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody in September.

The UN Human Rights office has received information that two further executions are imminent, the statement said.

As part of the ongoing crackdown, Iranian activist Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, received a preliminary sentence of five years in prison for spreading “propaganda” and acts against national security, her lawyer, Neda Shams, said on Monday.

Hashemi was arrested in the capital Tehran on September 27 for encouraging residents to demonstrate. The 60-year-old former lawmaker and women’s rights activist was charged with “collusion against national security, propaganda against the Islamic republic and disturbing public order by participating in illegal gatherings”, Shams said.

Hashemi will be able to appeal the sentence.

The Islamic Republic has been rocked by a wave of protests since Amini’s death. The 22-year-old had been arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.

Iranian authorities said hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed and thousands arrested in connection with the protests, which they generally describe as “riots”.

Despite months of popular unrest, authorities have signalled an increased crackdown since the start of the year, with police warning that women must wear headscarves even in cars. Iran’s judiciary on Tuesday ordered police to “firmly punish” people who violate the country’s hijab law.

“Courts must sentence the violators, as well as fine them, to additional penalties such as exile, bans on practicing certain professions and closing workplaces,” Mehr news agency quoted the judiciary as saying.

Executions spark international concern

Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) said on Monday that at least 109 protesters now in detention have been sentenced to death or face charges that can carry capital punishment.

In an updated death toll, IHR said 481 protesters have been killed, including 64 minors, since the unrest began.

The UN human rights chief’s statement is the latest reprimand from the international community.

The White House on Monday condemned Saturday’s executions, saying the United States stood with other countries demanding a halt to the death sentences.

“We condemn the executions of Mohammad Mehdi Karami & Mohammad Hosseini and the additional executions announced today,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan tweeted.

“We join with partners around the world calling for an immediate cessation of these abuses. Iran will be held accountable.”

Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly announced a new round of sanctions over Iran’s “brutal repression of brave Iranian voices”.

The European Union and several European countries, including Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway summoned Iranian diplomats in protest.

On Monday, Pope Francis denounced the recourse to the death penalty, saying it “only fuels the thirst for vengeance”.

He stressed everyone had a “right to life” and “demanded greater respect for the dignity of women”.

Iran has blamed the unrest on hostile foreign forces, and the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Monday that authorities had been dealing “seriously and justly” with those implicated in the “riots”.

KEEP READING

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Iran releases prominent actress jailed for backing protests

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Denies Gas Stove Ban

By Julianne Geiger - Jan 11, 2023

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has no plans to ban gas stoves, the agency said, according to Bloomberg.

A commissioner from the same agency, Richard Trumka Jr., earlier this week said that the CPSC had been considering a ban on gas stoves for months, with Trumka recommending in October that the agency seek public comment on the hazards of gas stoves.

But the head of the CPSC, Alexander Hoehn-Saric, said on Wednesday that the agency had no such plans.

“I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so,” Hoehn-Saric said in a statement to Bloomberg on Wednesday, just a day after discussions of a ban set off a flurry of reactions on both sides.

Hoehn-Saric added that the Commission—made up of just four members—was researching emissions from gas stoves.

Back in August of last year, the Committee on Oversight and Reform—the principal oversight committee of the House of Representatives, asked the Commission to turn over documents and information “about the CPSC’s failure to establish safety standards and provide adequate warnings to consumers addressing the significant health risks posed by indoor air pollution from gas stoves.” The Committee document was retrieved in Cached form, as the document can no longer be found at its original web location.

The push against gas stoves has resulted in GOP backlash, with Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) also speaking out against the idea of a ban on the cooking appliance preferred by most chefs.

“This is a recipe for disaster. The federal government has no business telling American families how to cook their dinner,” Manchin said, adding that if this was the CPSC’s greatest concern, “I think we need to reevaluate the commission.”

Asthma study sparks debate about safety of cooking with gas

Issued on: 12/01/2023 - 07:30

Paris (AFP) – New research that links cooking with natural gas to around 12 percent of childhood asthma cases has sparked debate about the health risks of kitchen stoves, as well as calls in the United States for stepped-up regulation.

The authors of the study said their findings suggested that around 650,000 US children would not have developed asthma if their homes had electric or induction stovetops, comparing the impact on health to that of second-hand smoke.

But an expert who was involved in the study questioned its findings and cautioned that gas remains far healthier than cooking with wood, charcoal and coal, which are estimated to cause 3.2 million deaths a year from household air pollution, overwhelmingly in developing countries.

The peer-reviewed US study was published last month in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

It is based on a calculation of the risk of developing asthma in homes with a gas stove from a 2013 review of 41 previous studies.

Combining that calculation with US census data, it linked 12.7 percent of US childhood asthma cases to gas cooking.

The same calculation was previously used in 2018 research that attributed 12.3 percent of childhood asthma cases in Australia to gas stoves.

A report released Monday used the same calculation to link 12 percent of childhood asthma to gas cooking in the European Union.

The report, which has not been peer-reviewed, was released by the energy efficiency group CLASP and the European Public Health Alliance.
N02 levels exceed limits

The European report included computer simulations conducted by the Netherlands' research organisation TNO analysing exposure to air pollution in different European household kitchens.

The level of nitrogen dioxide was found to exceed EU and World Health Organization guidelines several times a week in all scenarios except for a large kitchen with a range hood that vented outside the home.

Nitrogen dioxide, which is emitted when gas is burned, is "a pollutant closely linked to asthma and other respiratory conditions," according to the WHO.

This year, CLASP will collect air quality measurements from 280 kitchens across Europe in a bid to confirm the results.

The research comes amid heightened scrutiny of gas stoves in the United States.

Richard Trumka Jr, a commissioner at the Consumer Product Safety Commission, tweeted on Monday that the agency "will consider all approaches to regulation".

"To be clear, CPSC isn't coming for anyone's gas stoves. Regulations apply to new products," he later added.

The American Gas Association, a lobby group, denounced the US study as an "advocacy-based mathematical exercise that doesn't add any new science".

Brady Seals, a manager at the Rocky Mountain Institute and co-author of the study, rebuffed the lobby group's statement.

"Of course it's just math," she told AFP. "But it gives us a number that we never had before."

'Not clean'

Rob Jackson of Stanford University, who has previously published research showing that climate-warming methane can leak from gas stoves even when they are switched off, said the US paper was "supported by dozens of other studies concluding that breathing indoor pollution from gas can trigger asthma".

But researchers working to transition the three billion people still cooking with harmful solid fuels such as wood, coal and charcoal to cleaner sources expressed concern.

Daniel Pope, a professor of global public health at the UK's University of Liverpool, said that the link between asthma and pollution from gas stoves had yet to be definitively proven and that further research was needed.

Pope is part of a team conducting research commissioned by the WHO to summarise the effects different kinds of fuel for cooking and heating can have on health.

Pope told AFP that the results, which will be published later this year, indicate a "substantial reduction in risk" when people switched to gas from solid fuels and kerosene.

They found "negligible effects (mostly non-significant) of using gas compared to electricity for all health outcomes -- including asthma," he added.

Seals responded by saying that the study did not assume a causal relationship between asthma and gas cooking, but instead reported the association between exposure and the disease using studies dating back to the 1970s.

"I think it's a real problem that the international community is not explicitly recognising the very well known, very researched risk of gas stoves," Seals said.

"Gas is certainly better" than cooking with wood or coal, she said. "But it's not clean."

© 2023 AFP

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2023/01/gas-stove-pollution-causes-roughly-12.html

World enters 'new age' of clean energy manufacturing: IEA

Issued on: 12/01/2023 - 

The cost of building wind turbines outside China has crept up after years of declining prices © Daniel LEAL / AFP

Paris (AFP) – The world is at the "dawn of a new industrial age" of clean energy technology manufacturing that will triple in value by 2030 and create millions of jobs, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday.

The global market for key mass-manufactured technologies including solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicle batteries, heat pumps and electrolysers for hydrogen will be worth around $650 billion a year by the end of the decade, the IEA predicted in a report.

The figure is more than three times larger than current levels but is conditional on countries fully implementing their energy and climate pledges, it added.

Related jobs in clean energy manufacturing will more than double from six million to nearly 14 million by 2030, the agency said.

"The energy world is at the dawn of a new industrial age –- the age of clean energy technology manufacturing," the IEA said.

But the Paris-based organisation warned that the concentration of resource extraction and manufacturing poses risks to supply chains.

Three countries account for 70 percent of the manufacting capacity for solar, wind, battery, eletrolyser and heat pump technology, with China "dominant in all of them".

The Democratic Republic of Congo produces more than 70 percent of the world's cobalt, and three countries -- Australia, Chile and China -- account for more than 90 percent of the global production of lithium, a key resource for electric vehicle batteries.

Supply chain tensions risk making the energy transition more difficult and expensive, the report added.

In a first, rising cobalt, lithium and nickel prices in 2022 led to an increase in the global price of electric vehicle batteries by almost 10 percent.

The cost of building wind turbines outside China has also crept up after years of declining prices, while similar trends are affecting solar panels.

IEA executive director Fatih Birol urged countries to diversify supply chains, citing Europe's dependence on Russian gas as a prime of example of the potential exposure to disruption caused by depending excessively on one trade source.

"As we have seen with Europe's reliance on Russian gas, when you depend too much on one company, one country or one trade route –- you risk paying a heavy price if there is disruption," he said.

Birol also stressed the importance of international collaboration, "since no country is an energy island and energy transitions will be more costly and slow if countries do not work together."

© 2023 AFP

MINING IS NOT GREEN

Mining firm: Europe’s largest rare earths deposit found in Sweden

China currently provides the bulk of the EU’s supply.

A view of the iron mine of Swedish state-owned mining company LKAB | Jonas Ekstromer/AFP via Getty Images

BY ANTONIA ZIMMERMANN
JANUARY 12, 2023

Europe's largest known deposit of rare earth elements — key for building electric vehicle batteries and wind turbines — has been discovered in northern Sweden, mining company LKAB announced today.

The Swedish company found a deposit of rare earth metals exceeding 1 million tons of rare earth oxides.

"This is the largest known deposit of rare earth elements in our part of the world, and it could become a significant building block for producing the critical raw materials that are absolutely crucial to enable the green transition," said Jan Moström, the company's president and CEO.

No rare earth elements are currently mined in Europe, with China providing nearly 98 percent of the EU’s supply.

According to the European Commission, demand for these elements is expected to increase more than fivefold by 2030, as they are needed for building digital and green technologies.

Given current permitting processes, it could take between 10 and 15 years for operations begin at the Kiruna mine, where the deposits were found, said Moström.

He called on Brussels to speed up and streamline those processes as part of its Critical Raw Materials Act, which is slated to be announced on March 14.

"Politics must give the industry the conditions to switch to green and fossil-free production," Sweden's Energy and Industry Minister Ebba Busch said in response to the news.

LKAB broadened its business in 2022 to extract phosphorus and rare earths as residual products from iron ore production. (Image: Future circular industrial park LKAB.)

Europe's largest rare earths deposit discovered in Sweden

Issued on: 12/01/2023 

Kiruna (Sweden) (AFP) – Europe's largest known deposit of rare earth elements, essential for the manufacturing of electric vehicles, has been discovered in Sweden's far north, boosting Europe's hopes of cutting its dependence on China.

Swedish mining group LKAB said Thursday the newly-explored deposit, found right next to its iron ore mine, contained more than one million tonnes of rare earth oxides.

"This is the largest known deposit of rare earth elements in our part of the world, and it could become a significant building block for producing the critical raw materials that are absolutely crucial to enable the green transition," LKAB's chief executive Jan Mostrom said in a statement.

"We face a supply problem. Without mines, there can be no electric vehicles," Mostrom added.

While the find is believed to be the biggest in Europe, it remains small on a global scale, representing less than one percent of the 120 million tonnes estimated worldwide by the US Geological Survey.

In 2021, the European Commission said that 98 percent of the rare earths used in the EU were imported from China, prompting Brussels to urge member states to develop their own extraction capacities.

LKAB's find was presented as a delegation from the European Commission visited Sweden, which took over the rotating EU presidency at the start of the year.

"Today, the EU is way too dependent on other countries for these materials," Swedish Energy Minister Ebba Busch told a press conference, pointing specifically to Russia and China.

"This must change. We must take responsibility for the raw material supply needed for the (green) transition," she added.

Trade not enough

The European Union has agreed to phase out new CO2-emitting vehicles by 2035, effectively banning combustion engine cars, meaning the need for rare earth materials will only increase.

In the short term, Busch said the EU needed to "diversify" its trade.

"But in the long run, we cannot rely on trade agreements only," she said.

Mostrom said the full extent of the deposit had yet to be established.

"We are continuing to conduct exploration to see how big this is," Mostrom told AFP, adding that LKAB was also still in the process of figuring out how the new deposit could be mined.

Mostrom said it was difficult to accurately gauge the impact of the discovery on reducing Europe's dependence on Chinese imports.

But he said he was confident "it will have a huge impact."

Asked during a press conference when the deposit could actually be mined and deliver raw materials to the market, Mostrom said it would largely depend on how quickly permits could be secured.

But based on experience, it would likely be "10 to 15 years", he said.

According to LKAB, the rare earth elements found in the Per Geijer deposit occurred "in what is mainly an iron ore deposit and which may therefore be produced as by-products," creating new opportunities for potentially "competitive mining."

From magnets to lenses

Rare earth minerals with names like neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium are crucial to the manufacture of magnets used in industries of the future, like wind turbines and electric cars.

They are also present in consumer goods such as smartphones, computer screens and telescopic lenses.

Others have more traditional uses, like cerium for glass polishing and lanthanum for car catalysts or optical lenses.

Sweden is one of the EU's biggest mining countries.

More than 90 percent of the EU's iron ore production comes from the Scandinavian country, which also has the bloc's largest lead and zinc production, the second largest silver production, and among the highest gold and copper production, according to the Geological Survey of Sweden.

© 2023 AFP

PROVING COP IS A JOKE

Like oil and water? How will Sultan al-Jaber's 'shocking' COP28 presidency resonate?

Issued on: 12/01/2023 - 

04:37  Video by:Nadia MASSIH

The United Arab Emirates on Thursday named a veteran technocrat who both leads Abu Dhabi's state-run oil company and oversees its renewable energy efforts to be the president of the upcoming UN climate negotiations in Dubai. For more on this controversial move, FRANCE 24 is joined by Lola Vallejo, Climate Programme Director at the IDDRI. She says that it's the "first time that a serving CEO of an oil and gas company acts as a COP president."

UAE puts oil company boss in charge of Cop28 climate talks

Published on 12/01/2023

Campaigners called on Sultan Al Jaber to step down from the UAE’s state-owned oil company to avoid a conflict of interest

ROFLMAO

Sultan Al Jaber, oil and climate chief for the United Arab Emirates

 (Pic: Sammy Dallal / Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi/Flickr)

By Joe Lo

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has appointed Sultan Al-Jaber to be the president of the Cop28 climate talks in November.

Al Jaber heads the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), the twelfth largest oil company in the world, and the emirates’ much smaller renewable energy firm Masdar.

He has been a key figure in national climate and energy policy for over a decade. While Al Jaber has promoted renewable energy, in November 2021 he called for increased global investment in oil and gas.

“The oil and gas industry will have to invest over $600bn every year until 2030 just to keep up with the expected demand,” he told an Abu Dhabi oil conference.

“Renewable energy is the fastest growing segment of the energy mix but oil and gas is still the biggest and will be for decades to come. The future is clean but it is not here yet. We must make progress with pragmatism,” he said.

Analysis: UAE plans to have it both ways as Cop28 climate summit host

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in 2021 that, if the world is to limit global warming to 1.5C then there should be no investment in new fossil fuels. They calculated that the supply of oil should drop by three-quarters between 2020 and 2050.

In October 2022, the IEA projected that even under existing policies, global fossil fuel demand would peak and decline steadily from the mid‐2020s.


Mixed reception

Reaction to Al Jaber’s appointment was mixed. The head of the Climate Action Network campaign group, Tasneem Essop, said it was a conflict of interest to lead climate talks at the same time as heading an oil company.

She said: “If he does not step down as CEO, it will be tantamount to a full scale capture of the UN climate talks by a petrostate national oil company and its associated fossil fuel lobbyists. Cop26 in Glasgow had 500 fossil fuel lobbyists in attendance, the Cop [27] in Egypt saw a 25% increase in their presence, Cop28 now seems to be open season for vested interests who will no doubt use the climate talks to continue to undermine any progress on climate action. As civil society we demand that Al Jaber does the right thing and either stand aside or step down.”

The last hours of Cop27 were marked by fierce debate, in closed meetings, on whether governments should agree to “phase out fossil fuels”. Oil and gas producing states like Saudi Arabia opposed this language, but the argument is not going away.

Yvo De Boer, who led the UN’s climate body between 2006 and 2010, said that Al Jaber had been “instrumental” in bringing the International Renewable Energy Agency to the UAE and adopting “a sound green growth strategy” with renewable investments domestically and abroad.

“This equips him with the understanding, experience and responsibility to make Cop28 ambitious, innovative and future focussed,” De Boer said.

In 2010, the US ambassador to UAE Richard Olson described him as part of the “progressive group” on climate in the UAE government.

Another Man

Al Jaber will be the 23rd man to lead the Cop climate talks. Five women have had the presidency role.

The UAE’s female environment minister Mariam Al Mheiri was overlooked.

Similarly, Egypt promoted the male foreign minister Sameh Shoukry over female environment minister and climate scientist Yasmine Fouad.

The UK sacked female clean growth minister Claire Perry O’Neill, who lobbied to host Cop26, before the conference and put male energy minister Alok Sharma in charge.

Two women have been appointed to supporting roles. Razan Al Mubarak, one of the UAE’s leading nature conservationists, has been made “high level champion” and tasked with increasing the climate ambition of businesses and non-state actors.

Shamma Al Mazrui, aged 29, will be youth climate champion.

Read more on: UN climate talks

Oil boss as climate talks host: what's behind UAE's choice?

Dubai (AFP) – The United Arab Emirates has picked the head of its national oil company as president of this year's COP28 climate talks, prompting criticism from environmental activists.

Here we examine the UAE's reasons for choosing Sultan Al Jaber and what message it is sending ahead of the UN climate talks later this year.

Who is Sultan Al Jaber?

Al Jaber is the chief executive of the UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), which is one of the world's biggest oil firms.

The 49-year-old, who was educated in the United States and Britain, is also the UAE's Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology.

He was named the UAE's special climate envoy in 2020, a post he also previously held from 2010-2016.

He is also the founder of Masdar -- a multibillion-dollar, state-backed company that invests in renewable energy, backing projects in more than 40 countries since it was founded in 2006, according to UAE state media.

Global temperature anomalies © Julia Han JANICKI / AFP

Al Jaber, who has taken part in more than 10 COP meetings, headed the UAE's delegation to the last UN climate summit in Egypt. It was by far the biggest delegation to attend the talks, and one of the largest in COP history.

In 2009, he was appointed to the UN's Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change by Ban Ki-Moon, the then secretary general.

"Sultan Al Jaber has been spearheading the UAE's climate action well before and during his tenure at ADNOC," said climate expert Karim Elgendy, Associate Fellow at Britain's Chatham House think tank.

Why the controversy?

Holding COP28 in a major oil-producing country has provoked concern from activists urging a shift away from oil, which produces the greenhouse gases that heat the planet.

Those worries were only stoked by the choice of a fossil fuel executive as the face of the talks.

Tasneem Essop, executive director of Climate Action Network International said it was a "conflict of interest" to choose a figure "heading an industry that is responsible for the crisis itself".

Jaber's nomination also heightened concerns that lobbyists looking to delay the phasing-out of fossil fuels will be given more sway.

Already, the COP26 in Scotland had 500 fossil fuel lobbyists in attendance -- a figure that only increased with COP27 in Egypt, with the UAE sending the highest number.

"COP28 needs to conclude with an uncompromised commitment to a just phase out all fossil fuels: coal, oil and gas," said Tracy Carty from Greenpeace International.

"There is no place for the fossil fuel industry in the global climate negotiations."

What's the message?

The UAE -- one of the world's biggest crude producers -- "sees no contradiction" in the selection of Al-Jaber, Elgendy said.

The Gulf nation has repeatedly maintained that oil and gas will be needed for decades to power the world economy, while generating revenues that could be invested in renewable energy sources.

"The choice of Dr Sultan is absolutely representative of the UAE's approach to climate action, which pledges to decarbonise its economy... but advocates for its moral right to export every molecule of fossil fuel," Elgendy said.

"It argues that the world will still need some fossil fuel supplies by 2050 and that these should come from the lowest cost and lowest carbon producers," namely Gulf Arab countries, Elgendy added.

The UAE is also a strong advocate for including oil executives in the climate conversation, arguing that their experience in the energy industry is helpful in tackling climate change.

"For Gulf countries, where oil wealth contributes significantly to the economy, a great deal of climate action will need to come from this exact sector," said Aisha Al-Sarihi, a research fellow at the National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute.

"Excluding the oil industry from the negotiating table might not serve the region," the Omani expert told AFP.

© 2023 AFP

‘I'll try my luck’: Haitians flock for passports hoping to reach US under new program

02:52  ‘I'll try my luck’: Haitians flock for passports hoping to reach US under new program (2023)

 © AFP / France 24
Video by:Juliette MONTILLY

Issued on: 12/01/2023 -

Haitians seeking to escape from poverty and uncertainty are flocking to the main migration office in the capital Port-au-Prince hoping to get a passport and perhaps their ticket to life in America under a new US immigration program. Under the policy announced by President Joe Biden, the United States will accept 30,000 people per month from Haiti and a handful of other countries mired in crisis, on the condition that they stay away from the overcrowded US border with Mexico and arrive by plane.

French union threatens refinery shutdowns, halt to oil deliveries to protest pension reform


Thu, 12 January 2023

© Thibault Camus, AP

Unions representing French oil workers on Thursday called for strikes against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms, threatening a repeat of the refinery and depot closures that caused chaos for motorists last year.

The walkouts planned for January 19 and 26 and February 6 would include "shutdowns of refinery installations if necessary," said Eric Sellini, national coordinator of the CGT union federation at energy giant TotalEnergies.

Strikes will mean "reductions in output" and "a halt to deliveries", he told AFP.

A walkout on January 19 will coincide with a national day of strikes and demonstrations, backed by all France's major trade union federations, against Macron's pension plans.

Worker representatives object to the government's proposed raising of the legal retirement age by two years, to 64, and faster increases in the minimum number of years of contributions required to receive a full pension.

A 24-hour strike by oil workers on January 19 could be followed up by 48 hours from January 26 and 72 hours from February 6.

Weeks of industrial action at refineries and depots in autumn caused biting fuel shortages for motorists, with huge queues forming at many petrol stations.

The oil workers' announcement follows Wednesday calls for walkouts in the transport sector, which hobbled activity during Macron's last pension reform bid in 2019-2020.

(AFP)

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Panama says First Quantum misleading investors

Cecilia Jamasmie | January 11, 2023 

Aerial view of Cobre Panama. (Screenshot from First Quantum video | YouTube.)

The government of Panama expressed its discontent on Wednesday with the latest investor update given by First Quantum Minerals (TSX: FM) about the Cobre Panama contract negotiations, saying it contained several inaccuracies that could misguide investors.


The Canadian miner’s chief executive officer, Tristan Pascall, said in a Tuesday call with analysts that the parties had made significant progress in resolving the dispute over a new contract that would increase royalties paid by the company.


The country’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Federico Alfaro noted that the government believes that the company’s most recent contract proposals had done nothing but move the two sides further apart.

There are more than a “few disagreements”, the minister said, adding there were fundamental differences around issues such as royalties, deductions for depletion, international measures to mitigate tax avoidance, value added tax, scope of easements, material breach, termination, and others.

Alfaro highlighted key aspects of First Quantum’s narrative the government finds misleading.

Panama’s Supreme Court ruled in 2017 that contract governing the giant Cobre Panama copper mine was unconstitutional and annulled it. This meant a new contract was required to regularize First Quantum’s operations, the minister said. The Vancouver-based miner, however, believes the original contract remains in effect until a new contract is signed.

The government also dismissed First Quantum alleging economic benefits for Panama, stating the company had submitted proposals “that offer more upside benefit, when copper prices are high, and not just downside protections, when copper prices are low”.

It also noted the miner’s proposal on depletion shortens the number of years it will pay the guaranteed minimum sum, decreasing Panama’s fiscal take in high-copper-price and/or high-production scenarios.

 

Copper shipments. (Image courtesy of Cobre Panama.)

“This would make Panama’s fiscal take considerably lower than that of its comparator countries and results in an asymmetrical economic upside to the benefit of [First Quantum]”, Alfaro said.

The Ministry said the company is resisting customary termination rights and seeking an “unreasonably high payment for certain assets in the case of termination”, which it deems inconsistent with international best practices.

Pascall said earlier in the week the company was prepared to meet, and even exceed, the government objectives regarding revenues, environmental protections and labour standards.

These include a minimum of $375 million per year in government income from 2026 onwards, and a profit-based mineral royalty of 12 to 16%, with downside protections aligned with the government’s position.

The Ministry also took issue with the miner’s statement that putting the operation on care and maintenance was a “drastic and unnecessary step”.
Imminent halt?

Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo ordered last month the halt of operations at Cobre Panama after the parties failed to agree on the terms for a new contract due to issues around taxes and royalties.

The mine hasn’t closed yet, but First Quantum is preparing for the scenario that would put thousands out of work. In the interim, the company has filed an appeal in an attempt to reverse the decision.

“Entering care and maintenance may be necessary because [First Quantum] has continued to operate the Cobre Panama mine without a contract, and the irregular status quo cannot continue indefinitely,” the ministry said. 

Cobre Panama is the biggest foreign investment in the Central American nation, supporting 40,000 jobs. (Image courtesy of Minera Panama.)

First Quantum is one of the world’s top copper miners and Canada’s largest producer of the metal. It produced 816,000 tonnes of copper in 2021, its highest ever, thanks mainly to record output at Cobre Panama.

The Cobre Panama mine complex, located about 120 km west of Panama City and 20 km from the Atlantic coast, contributes 3.5% of the Central American country’s gross domestic product, according to government figures.

The asset is estimated to hold 3.1 billion tonnes in proven and probable reserves and at full capacity can produce more than 300,000 tonnes of copper per year, or about 1.5% of global production of the metal.

Panama says First Quantum must pay $375m for 2022 amid contract row

Reuters | January 11, 2023 |

Aerial view of Cobre Panama mine. Credit: First Quantum Minerals

Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals must pay Panama a $375 million payment for its 2022 operations, the country’s commerce minister said on Wednesday, adding the government has hired advisors to assess options if no deal is reached on a contract.


Panama’s government and the firm have been negotiating a contract covering the country’s largest mine since late 2021, after a top court ruled that the previous contract was unconstitutional.

Commerce and Industry Minister Fernando Alfaro told Reuters the company has until Friday to appeal an order issued last month to halt operations at its massive Cobre Panama mine, the largest in the country. The order stems from a contractual dispute after First Quantum missed a deadline for a new contract due to disagreements over royalties and tax payments.

Alfaro added that the clock for the 10-day limit for the order issued on Dec. 19 for the company to present its stoppage plan has not yet started, but did not offer a specific deadline.

The minister also stressed that the government is prepared in the event no new deal is reached with the miner, noting that lawyers and other international experts have been proactively hired “to contemplate all options.”

(By Valentine Hilaire; Editing by David Alire Garcia)

Chinese Solar Company Plans To Open A Factory In The U.S.

By Irina Slav - Jan 12, 2023, 

A Chinese solar panel maker is planning to open a factory in the United States despite trade tensions between the two.

JA Solar Technology Co., one of the largest players in the Chinese solar panel field, has allocated $60 million for the facility, to be built in Phoenix, with completion slated for the fourth quarter of this year, according to Bloomberg.

The facility will have a production capacity of 2 GW annually, making a substantial addition to total U.S. solar panel production capacity, which currently stands at 4.5 GW.

A boost in the local production capacity for solar panels is instrumental for the Biden administration’s transition plans, which envisage a sizeable increase in both wind and solar generation capacity.

Earlier this week, another Asian company made a sizeable financial commitment to U.S. solar: South Korean Hanwha said it would invest $2.5 billion in expanding its solar equipment plant in Georgia.

However, the administration itself has created problems for the U.S. solar power industry by imposing tariffs on panel imports from China and other Asian countries on allegations that non-Chinese Asian solar panel manufacturers were using Chinese components, and Chinese components are subject to U.S. tariffs.

Local panel production, meanwhile, remains costlier than Chinese imports and has insufficient capacity. The Biden administration’s push against China in the solar department, which took the form of an investigation into the abovementioned allegations, led to delays and cancellations of more than 300 new solar projects.

Interestingly, the investigation was launched after a complaint from a U.S. solar panel manufacturer Auxin. According to its CEO, “When prices of finished panels from Southeast Asia come in below our bill of materials cost, American manufacturers cannot compete. If foreign producers are circumventing U.S. law and causing harm to U.S. producers like Auxin Solar, it needs to be addressed.”