The UK Does Not Have Enough Fruit Or Veg To Give Everyone Their 5-A-Day, Research Finds

Kate Nicholson
Mon, 16 January 2023 


The UK is not growing or importing enough fruit or vegetables to provide everyone with five portions a day, according to new stats.

As it is, only one in ten children and one in three adults are meeting the government’s recommended five, 80-gram servings of fruit and vegetables a day.

If everyone met this requirement, life expectancy would increase by eight months on average – and diet-related greenhouse gas emissions would fall by more than 8%.

Now, the global research group, Sustainably and Healthy Food Systems (SHEFS) has found that even if the amount of waste in the UK wasn’t considered, the UK would need to produce or import 9% more fruit and vegetables to meet the country’s requirements.

More than 80% of our fruit supply and almost half of our vegetables comes from imported varieties which cannot be grown in the UK, because consumers have moved away from home-grown foods like peas and carrots in recent years.

But, as the charity Food Foundation pointed out, this makes the UK particularly vulnerable to extreme weather changes felt all over the world, brought on by the climate crisis.

Food is also become one of the most inflated items in our supermarkets since the cost of living crisis has seen day-to-day necessities soar in price.

As SHEFS pointed out, the hike in prices for fruit and vegetables is also adding to the already sizeable health gap between rich and poor.

Between October 2021 and 2022, the price of fruit rose by more than 10% and vegetables by more than 15%.

Price rises in the past 12 months. See story ECONOMY inflation. Infographic PA Graphics. An editable version of this graphic is available if required. Please contact graphics@pamediagroup.com

Price rises in the past 12 months. See story ECONOMY inflation. Infographic PA Graphics. An editable version of this graphic is available if required. Please contact graphics@pamediagroup.com.

Healthier foods are nearly three times as expensive per calorie as less healthy foods, which is why consumers tend to move towards the less nutritious when bank accounts are squeezed.

Budgets are already so stretched due to the climbing costs of energy bills that these essential food groups have dropped off the shopping list.

Even prior to the cost of living crisis, the highest income groups consumed around 1.5 more portions per day compared to those on the lowest incomes.

SHEFS has suggested boosting domestic fruit and veg supply urgently, to prevent the UK suffering from future climate events.

The research group, led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, funded by the Wellcome Trust’s Our Planet, Our Health Programme, and in partnership with organisations all over the world, also wants taxpayer-funded meals in schools, hospitals, prisons and government offices to include two portions of vegetables.

It also considered increasing TV and online advertising about fruit and vegetables, while providing the greater protection of low-income consumers (like the free school meals programme).
Related...

Thames Water responsible for 25 sewage spills in this river last year

Matthew Norman
Mon, 16 January 2023 

The River Cherwell. Pictured inset is MP Victoria Prentis

 (Image: Mark Gushtscha/Victoria Prentis)

Victoria Prentis discovered on her visit to Banbury Sewage Treatment Works that Thames Water were responsible for 25 sewage spills in the river Cherwell last year.

The MP accepted an invitation to visit the works following a letter sent to the chief executive of Thames Water asking about what is being done to safeguard the river Cherwell and limit sewage discharge into it.

Speaking on the visit, Mrs Prentis said: “Just before Christmas, I accepted an invitation to visit the Banbury Sewage Treatment Works and meet senior company representatives to discuss the safeguarding of the river Cherwell.

“At the site – which serves over 80,000 people in Banbury and the surrounding area – I had a frank conversation about the progress which Thames Water have made to date, and what more there is to be done to protect our rivers.

“I was showed the storm overflow, which is used when the treatment works are overwhelmed by heavy rainfall.

“This is done to prevent sewers from backing up and flooding into people’s homes.

“I was told that the frequency and duration of discharges in Banbury have decreased significantly over the last 3 years.

“Up until my visit, there had been 25 spills last year. This is 25 too many – a point which Thames Water readily accept.

“They assured me they understand releasing untreated sewage into our rivers is unacceptable, which is why they are working at pace to stop it.

“I was reassured they are taking the new statutory requirements placed on water companies very seriously and are demonstrating a commitment to protecting and enhancing our rivers.

River Cherwell (Image: Mark Guschtscha)

“Thames Water are making good progress on delivering £1.25 billion of maintenance and improvements on operational sites between 2020 and 2025.

“£10 million is being invested into two main projects at the Banbury Sewage Treatment Works. “These will upgrade the current infrastructure and improve the quality of the final effluent which leaves the site.

“Crucially, the two projects combined will increase the current output of the site by around 84 per cent - moving from being able to treat 266 litres per second, to 490 litres per second.

“This should reduce the need for storm overflows significantly and provide further headroom for local population growth.

“It is clearly encouraging that Thames Water are taking responsibility for their performance and investing in Banbury.

“Just last week, they launched a near real-time map which shows storm discharge activity from all 468 of their sites.

“Thames Water know how concerned constituents are about the health of our rivers and this transparency will allow us to hold them accountable.

“I will monitor progress in Banbury and across North Oxfordshire very closely this year to ensure that we continue to see improvements in our water quality.”

Solar farm will be one of Cornwall's biggest - to power 17,000 homes

Richard Whitehouse
Mon, 16 January 2023 

A photomontage showing how the proposed solar farm at land at Kestle Mill, Newquay could look

Permission has been agreed for what will be one of the biggest solar farms in Cornwall - despite a warning “Don’t let an energy crisis today turn into a food crisis tomorrow.”

Renewable Connections had applied to build the solar farm and associated facilities on land near Tregonning Farm at Kestle Mill near Newquay.

Cornwall Council’s strategic planning committee agreed to approve the plans on the condition that the council tries to reach a legal agreement with the developers to have community ownership of five per cent of the solar farm.

The committee meeting, which had been postponed just before Christmas due to poor weather, heard that the 54 hectare solar farm would be one of the largest in Cornwall and would provide enough energy for 17,000 homes. Planning officers had recommended that the application be approved saying that the benefits outweighed any harm.

There had been an objection from St Newlyn East Parish Council on the basis that the development would lead to the loss of good quality agricultural land. However, landowner and farmer Andrew Brewer told the committee that he would continue to farm the land used for the solar panels by grazing sheep there.

He said that he did not believe that the development of the solar farm would reduce the agricultural output of the land and claimed that some studies had suggested that output was actually increased on farms using solar panels due to the shelter provided for animals on the land.

The committee heard that there had been 32 objections to the application submitted to Cornwall Council, along with 39 letters of support for the project. There had been no objections from other organisations including landscape officers.

Oliver Baines, a climate change activist, spoke in objection to the plans claiming that solar power was inefficient and it would be better for land to be used for wind turbines. He said that solar was better utilised when placed on the roofs of buildings and said that the land at Tregonning Farm should be reserved for food production.

John Leith, development director at Renewable Connections, said that the scheme was an “exemplar project” and would maximise the generation of renewable energy in Cornwall. He said that extensive work had been done to address biodiversity and ecology across the site and that particular work had been done to protect and enhance skylark habitats as part of the plans.

Steve Arthur, Cornwall councillor for one of the neighbouring wards to the scheme, said that he was concerned about the loss of agricultural land and was not convinced that that would be helped by using it for grazing sheep. He said: “Don’t let an energy crisis today turn into a food crisis tomorrow.”

Committee member John Fitter said that he did not support the scheme and again was concerned about the loss of “best quality” agricultural land, which he felt should be protected. He said: “I believe that the weight of evidence must be that the agricultural yield will diminish.”

He added: “We have to decide at some stage whether we are going to protect our precious and most versatile land.”

Rob Nolan said that it was a “balanced” application but highlighted that the farmer himself had told councillors that he would be able to continue to farm the land and that should be taken into consideration. He said that the only real ground to refuse the application would be on impact to the landscape but the landscape officers and planning officers had not raised any issues with this.

But John Bastin said that the council should be “protecting” food security by ensuring that land can continue to be used for agriculture. He said: “Food security is very much underestimated, we keep brushing it under the carpet.”

Julian German said he was in support of the scheme and proposed that it should be approved but with a condition that a five percent community ownership agreement would be reached with the developers. He said that whilst the developers had offered to make a contribution to the local community it would be better to instead have a community ownership agreement, something which has been included in the council’s new climate change development policy which has recently been signed off by the planning inspectorate.

The committee agreed to delegate authority to planning officers, with the committee chairman to grant planning permission subject to a legal Section 106 agreement being reached with regards to a five per cent community ownership agreement.

UK

Banks still investing heavily in fossil fuels despite net zero pledges – study

Fiona Harvey Environment editor

THE GUARDIAN
Mon, 16 January 2023 

Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

Banks and finance institutions that have signed up to net zero pledges are still investing heavily in fossil fuels, research has shown, leading to accusations they are acting as “climate arsonists”.

The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) initiative was launched by the former Bank of England governor Mark Carney, as one of the main UK achievements in hosting the Cop26 UN climate summit at Glasgow in 2021.

The UK boasted at Cop26 that 450 organisations in 45 countries with assets of more than $130tn had signed up to GFANZ, to align their investments with the goal of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

But its members have poured hundreds of billions into fossil fuels since then, according to data compiled by the pressure group Reclaim Finance.

GFANZ is made up of numerous smaller groupings that require members to reduce their exposure to fossil fuels. But at least 56 of the biggest banks in the net-zero banking alliance grouping (NZBA) have provided $270bn to 102 fossil fuel companies for their expansion, through 134 loans and 215 underwriting arrangements, according to Reclaim Finance.

Paddy McCully, senior analyst at Reclaim Finance, said: “GFANZ members are acting as climate arsonists. They’ve pledged to achieve net zero but are continuing to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into fossil fuel developers. GFANZ and its member alliances will only be credible once they up their game and insist that their members help bring a rapid end to the era of coal, oil and fossil gas expansion.”

GFANZ companies are also failing to divest from fossil fuels. In the net zero asset managers grouping (NZAM), another part of GFANZ, at least $847bn in assets in more than 200 fossil fuel companies were held by the 58 largest members, as of last September, according to the report published on Tuesday.

The report also found that few of the GFANZ members had put in place watertight investment polices that would stop them financing new fossil fuel projects, even though all are supposed to be shifting their portfolios to be in line with the 1.5C goal, confirmed at Cop26.

Lucie Pinson, executive director and founder of Reclaim Finance, accused the alliance of greenwashing. “It is business as usual for most banks and investors [involved in GFANZ], who continue to support fossil fuel developers without any restrictions, despite their high-profile commitments to carbon neutrality,” she said. “Their greenwashing is all the more damaging as it casts doubt on the sincerity of all net zero commitments, and undermines the efforts of those who are truly acting for the climate.”

One of the biggest banks involved in GFANZ is HSBC, which announced restrictions on oil and gas financing last month. But it has approved 58 transactions worth $12bn in capital to fossil fuel developers, since joining a GFANZ grouping in April 2021, according to the Reclaim Finance report.

A spokesperson for HSBC told the Guardian: “HSBC’s aim is to reduce emissions in line with a 1.5C pathway, promote energy security, and ensure energy affordability and access, as part of our commitment to a net zero future. In line with our 1.5C-aligned 2030 financed emissions targets and updated energy policy we will no longer provide new finance or advisory for the specific purposes of new oil and gas fields or related infrastructure, or for the most carbon-intensive oil assets. To accelerate an orderly transition to net zero, we continue to support clients who are playing an active role in the energy transition, including through regular engagement on their transition plans.”

The spokesperson added that fossil fuels were still likely to be necessary for a transition period. “The International Energy Agency’s seminal Net Zero 2050 report outlines that an orderly transition requires continued financing and investment in existing oil and gas fields to maintain the necessary output and security of supply – with 2020 financing levels maintained through 2030 and declining to half thereafter,” they said.

However, Reclaim Finance pointed out that the IEA has also made clear that no new fossil fuel development can take place if the world is to remain within the limit of 1.5C of heating, above pre-industrial levels. It has identified the fossil fuel developers in the report as those engaged in expansion of their assets, such as new drilling and new mining.

LGIM is the biggest UK company in the NZAM initiative, yet in September it held at least $13bn of assets in fossil fuel developers, the report found.

A spokesperson for LGIM told the Guardian: “LGIM is one of the founder members of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative established as part of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) and as part of our commitment to the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative and in partnership with and on behalf of our clients, LGIM has set its own interim net zero AUM [assets under management] target of 70% by 2030, and continues to make progress towards this climate transition. Financing the transition is vitally important and certain fossil fuels will need to be part of the transition to renewable alternatives. By divesting from entire sectors like oil and gas, we won’t achieve any real world outcome and investors lose their ability to exert a positive influence via active engagement.”

A spokeswoman for GFANZ said: “This report focuses on an important aspect of the energy transition. It’s clear a lot of work needs to be done to ensure the world is deploying capital consistent with a 1.5C pathway, which is exactly why GFANZ was created. Based on research GFANZ commissioned last year, we know that investment in renewables needs to be four times the levels going into fossil fuels by 2030 to restrict climate change consistent with the aims of the Paris agreement.”

She added: “GFANZ members will detail how they are financing the transition of the energy sector when they publish their interim targets and transition plans. This will allow government, investors and civil society organisations to track progress. We call on financial institutions not in GFANZ to join the alliances that comprise GFANZ to provide transparency and become part of the solution.”

UK
More than 100 bids received in latest round of offshore oil and gas licensing

Neil Pooran, PA Scotland Political Reporter
Tue, 17 January 2023 

More than 100 applications have been received in the UK’s 33rd round of offshore oil and gas licensing.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which regulates the sector, said a total of 115 bids have been received from 76 companies, covering 258 “blocks” of the sea.

The licensing round for exploration and potential development opened in October.



The NSTA says the bids will now be studied and those that go ahead could begin production in as little as 18 months.

Several different consents are needed after licences are granted but before production can begin, including ensuring it is in line with climate commitments.

While offshore licensing is reserved to Westminster, last week the Scottish Government published its draft energy strategy which discussed its policy on the North Sea.

Ministers in Edinburgh are consulting on whether to adopt a position of a presumption against new oil and gas drilling.

Ministers in Edinburgh launched their energy strategy last week (Jane Barlow/PA)

Nick Richardson, the NSTA’s head of exploration, said: “We have seen a strong response from industry to the (licensing) round, which has exceeded application levels compared to previous rounds.

“We will now be working hard to analyse the applications with a view to awarding the first licences from the second quarter of 2023.”

UK climate minister Graham Stuart said: “Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has led to volatile global energy markets.

“It’s fantastic to see such interest from industry in this round, with the awarded licences set to play an important role in boosting domestic energy production and securing the UK’s long-term energy security of supply.”

Trendwatch: How indigenous guides, tours and experiences are changing the way we travel

Lucy Thackray
Tue, 17 January 2023 

An aboriginal guide shows kids around his community near the Great Ocean Road, Australia (Intrepid Travel)

In The Independent’s travel trends column, Trendwatch, we dig into the types of trip, modes of transport and top buzzwords to watch out for.

Of the many exciting new tours, accommodation and travel experiences that pinged into my inbox as the calendar flicked from 2022 into 2023, one loomed larger and more vivid than most. This was the trend for days out and micro-adventures led by, or immersing travellers in, indigenous and First Nations communities.

Extending far beyond the odd Aboriginal-culture-themed day trip in Australia, this is a new, diverse generation of experiences designed for learning and appreciation. Thoughtfully planned and sensitively led, ideally by people from the community they are hosted in, a raft of new micro-adventures range from Canada to Costa Rica, the Pacific islands to South Dakota. They’re not merely tucked into itineraries that pass through certain remote regions; rather, they’re proudly marketed as one of the most essential and meaningful ways to immerse yourself in that country’s culture. Increasingly, they involve staying overnight with, and being guided by, indigenous people who are experts on their land, wildlife and folklore.

Experiences are proudly marketed as one of the most essential and meaningful ways to immerse yourself in that country’s culture

So why now? Many of these communities have existed for centuries, with mainstream tourism only making contact in more recent years. The 2023 wave is likely a more focused aspect of a wider recent trend for travels that empower the locals in a destination. The idea is that operators and tourist boards link up fully with remote communities and indigenous guides who may have been working and living in the same way for centuries. With more experiences of this kind than ever before, many operators have reviewed their offering in all countries with an indigenous population, making sure they engage respectfully with and channel funds towards these enlightening guides and hosts.

Foraging, wildlife tracking and ‘bush tucker' are hallmarks of many indigenous-guided experiences (Intrepid Travel)

As just one example, Australia-based adventure operator Intrepid Travel is launching 100 new indigenous-led experiences in 2023. Its general manager of purpose, Sara King, tells me that the pandemic was a time for reflection – and one major thing the team reviewed and overhauled was the role of visits to indigenous communities on its tours. As an example, she says, “in 2019 we had 12 indigenous-led experiences in Australia,” she says. “In 2023, we’ll have 50, led by 41 different operators”.

She tells me this type of tour stop is not just popular with guests; it’s an ESG (environmental, social and governance) commitment. “As a company we have a Reconciliation Action Plan, which helps us create relationships and do things in the right way, engaging appropriately with indigenous communities,” she says. “Going into 2023, we’ve really tried to offer some kind of First Nations experience no matter where you go.”

Beyond Australia, the group adventure operator’s 100 new experiences extend to Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea, Guatemala, Mexico, Utah and Tanzania. As well as channelling tourist spend directly into the towns and projects they visit, King says, responsible tourism to these areas can even have a direct, positive effect on the environment.

Indigenous guides can be that conduit for travellers to understand what the impact of climate can be on their own country
Sara King, Intrepid Travel

“There’s a huge connection between First Nations people and the country they have lived in for many years, the wildlife and the land. They can be that conduit for travellers to understand what the impact of climate can be on their own country,” she says. Connecting with these tribes, villages and projects, ensuring they thrive, is key because they are often the stewards of nature.

According to the UN, indigenous peoples are stewards of the world’s biodiversity and cultural diversity. “Although they account for only around 5 per cent of the world’s population,” it says, “they effectively manage an estimated 20-25 per cent of the Earth’s land surface. This land coincides with areas that hold 80 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity and about 40 per cent of all terrestrial protected areas and ecologically intact landscapes. “

Tracking Canadian wolves is best done on a camp-out with First Nations guides, says Audley Travel (Coastal Rainforest Safaris)

Many of the UK’s top tour operators have new experiences taking guests to indigenous heartlands in 2023. Audley Travel is proudest of its new two-day adventure with Tlatlasikwala First Nation guides in British Columbia. Out in the wilderness with a maximum of six guests, your First Nations hosts will show you how they track sea- and land wolves, as you camp out surrounded by nature.

“I think this trend is gaining traction because clients are interested in immersive experiences: they want to meet local people, to get a sense of what these destinations offer beyond the tourist hot spots, and there’s a feeling of supporting a local community, a local way of life,” says Audley’s head of product, Alex Bentley. “It feels good, it feels responsible. It’s a positive impact story that clients relate to.”

As well as cultural immersion and a new appreciation of wildlife, he says, “these communities also often directly show or tell you how tourist money is spent. For our wolf-tracking tour, some of those funds go to schools that keep their traditional language alive, a language that was in danger of disappearing.” Two of Audley’s other tours he recommends are visiting Borneo’s Lemanak longhouse, run by the Iban people, and visiting deep-rooted communities in Japan’s Kyoto-by-the-Sea, engaging with local artisans and seeing their longstanding way of life in stilted, coastal houses.

Indigenous storytelling at Flinders Ranges, South Australia (Intrepid Travel)

Elsewhere, Much Better Adventures is tapping into the local knowledge of Panama’s Guna and Emberá communities, who will lead kayaking adventures in the the Guna Yala Islands and Chagres National Park on their 2023 tours. On the tourism board front, Australia’s Tropical North Queensland, already home to three major indigenous Australian festivals, has pledged to double indigenous employment in the region by 2032.

In the US, Trafalgar has launched a nine-day “National Parks and Native Trails of the Dakotas” tour, where visitors will spend time with representatives of the states’ Lakota, Rosebud and Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes, going on plant-foraging walks, learning about the preservation of native languages and being treated to a dinner and dance ritual.

Accommodation can be a source of income for indigenous communities, too: this year, US operator Ranch Rider has launched trips to its first wholly indigenous-owned and operated ranch for horseriding and culture exchange holidays in Alberta, Canada. And Original Travel is leading tours to Nemiah Valley Lodge, British Columbia, which will open for its first full season in June. Run by the Xeni Gwet’in community, it’s the first tourism venture in the Tsilhqot’in region, after a landmark ruling awarded this 1,900 sqkm territory to six First Nation communities in the region in 2014.

Guna Yala is a comarca indígena (indigenous province) off the north coast of Panama (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

This trend has some unhappy realities behind it. It’s partly driven by the public consciousness raised by headlines around indigenous peoples protecting whole ecosystems, receiving apologies for historic cruelty and even being murdered for defending their land. Many countries are letting go of any attempts to gloss over cruelty and past dismissal of indigenous communities, and instead facing up to and atoning for their history. More positive is the increased awareness about how remote destinations were affected by the tourism slump during Covid, and a concerted effort to spend tourist dollars where they’re most needed.

The first sign of anything becoming too commercialised or taking advantage of locals, we would walk away

Alex Bentley, Audley

I question Alex Bentley about how Audley keeps its experiences respectful and beneficial to tour leaders, well away from a dated idea of wealthy, white people going to stare at an “exotic” way of life. “That’s crucial, isn’t it,” he says. “We work closely with local tourism commissions to ensure there’s a degree of sensitivity, and we’re mindful of our language to clients, and also preparing clients for how they should interact with local people.

“But what we’ve found is that these communities, particularly in Canada, are very supportive of this as a way to generate income, to promote themselves and make a living with something they enjoy doing. It’s low impact: you’re typically walking, talking, hiking and camping, looking and viewing. People are seeing this an opportunity to further promote themselves and their culture. Provided we continue to review and consider all of that carefully with our partners, it’s a good message to send.”

First Nations guides lead Audley’s wolf tracking tour (Coastal Rainforest Safaris)

“There are some operators that don’t do it well,” says Alex. “There has to be a mutual understanding of what we want to deliver. We want to maintain a respect, a mutually beneficial relationship with each community; the first sign of anything becoming too commercialised or taking advantage of locals, we would walk away.”

The Intrepid project hasn’t been without its challenges, says King. Tour leaders and businesses in the US and Canada have been harder to connect with. “Many indigenous guides in the US don’t have websites or tour information online, so we have to find them through word of mouth from local tourism boards, plus some deep digging around for phone numbers,” she explains. But she’s confident this kind of experience will only feature more prominently in its tours.

The rise in interest correlates with the increase in guests wanting to put experiences, people-led encounters, nature and wildlife above luxury and seclusion

But, in many cases, learning skills or engaging in knowledge exchange with a First Nations community is the highlight of a multi-stop trip. Alex Bentley observes that the rise in interest correlates with the increase in guests wanting to put experiences, people-led encounters, nature and wildlife above luxury and seclusion.

“Many of our clients are willing to sacrifice a certain degree of comfort for something that is so unique and may be the most memorable part of their holiday,” says Alex Bentley. It’s often also one of the best-value components of a trip, he says, given that many hikes and camp-outs are pretty rustic in nature.

For Sara King, it’s all about recognising and paying tribute to indigenous residents’ part in each country’s history and culture. “Indigenous tourism has the power to bring travellers closer to the communities that shaped destinations, honouring their customs and unique history while paving a new path for peace and reconciliation,” she says.

What’s the true value of crypto? It lays bare the lies of libertarians

Zoe Williams
Tue, 17 January 2023 

Photograph: David Dee Delgado/Reuters

I’ve laboured hard not to engage with cryptocurrency, to turn the page on its scandals and file its many bin fires under “fools and their money being easily parted”. But this has been a mistake, because the story is just getting good.

The PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel said in 2020 that crypto was one of two poles of technological conflict, the other being artificial intelligence. AI could “theoretically make it possible to centrally control an entire economy” while crypto “holds out the prospect of a decentralised and individualised world”. He concluded that AI is communist and crypto is libertarian; it was unnecessary to add which of those he thought was better.

Parking for the time being how communist AI is, let’s take that last bit as read. Naturally, if you unshackle a currency from the state and don’t regulate it, that’s a pretty libertarian proposition. You might even call it the ultimate free market. So how’s that panning out for you, lads? Or should I say bros?

Three years after Thiel’s prophecy, Sam Bankman-Fried has resigned from the cryptocurrency exchange he founded and FTX has filed for bankruptcy. As Bankman-Fried continues to proclaim his innocence, investigators point in court to a $65bn (£53bn) backdoor between his two companies; they’ve also identified tens of millions of dollars of spending on hotels, travel, food and luxury items in under a year.

No question, there will be technical details in here that are hard to understand, but there is a principle that is very easily grasped, that is as universal and intuitive as time itself. Markets have never been free: they are social spaces and, as such, have always been governed by rules, which – since the first time a snake-eyed trader tried to cut flour with chalk – work because they are formally determined. Take away those rules and soon a greedy, clever person might take advantage. He won’t be able to help himself. He needs the rules as much as anyone else, if not more.

I think Thiel is right: crypto is the ultimate technology of libertarianism, the final frontier of discovery. He just missed the second footfall, which is that, through crypto, we will discover that libertarianism is bullshit.

Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist

Rohingya fleeing Myanmar or Bangladesh by sea surged fivefold in 2022- UN

Tue, 17 January 2023 

Rohingya refugees are seen on a boat near the coast of Seunuddon beach in North Aceh

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -The number of Rohingya fleeing Myanmar or Bangladesh by sea surged fivefold to more than 3,500 in 2022 from a year earlier, the U.N. refugee agency said on Tuesday, in the deadliest year for the ethnic minority group at since 2014.

At least 348 Rohingya died or went missing as they attempted to cross the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal last year, with the figure reaching alarming levels after the sinking of a boat in December, with all 180 Rohingya Muslims on board presumed dead, the UNHCR said in a statement.

"They undertake dangerous sea journeys seeking protection, security, family reunification, and livelihoods in other countries. Growing desperation in Myanmar and Bangladesh appears to have driven the increasing numbers undertaking sea journeys in 2022," the agency said.

The Rohingya, a mostly Muslim minority group that has lived in Myanmar for centuries but has been denied citizenship in the Buddhist-majority nation since 1982, are seen as illegal immigrants from South Asia.

Nearly 1 million Rohingya from Myanmar are additionally living in crowded facilities in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, including tens of thousands who fled Myanmar after its military conducted a deadly crackdown in 2017.

Most boats carrying the Rohingya departed from Myanmar and Bangladesh, the UNHCR said, and those on board disembarked primarily in Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

In 2014, more than 700 people were estimated to have lost their lives or were missing with nearly 60,000 taking the risky sea journeys, an UNHCR spokesperson told Reuters.

The number of women and children undertaking the dangerous sea journeys rose by 7% last year from 2021, and comprised nearly 45% of those disembarking.

(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta and Sudipto Ganguly; Editing by Krishna N. Das and Bernadette Baum)

Swedish mining town sinking into the ground to be relocated building by building

 

By Isabel da Silva • Updated: 16/01/2023

The Swedish town of Kiruna is sinking into the ground due to years of mining. - Copyright Malin Moberg/Copyright 2019 The AP. All rights reserved.

The Swedish town of Kiruna will be moved building by building to a new location in the country due to years of mining that have caused it to sink into the ground.

Valuable minerals have also been found in and around it, including Europe's largest deposit of rare earth minerals, used to make green technologies.

Kiruna is located 200km north of the Arctic circle and was founded to house the workers of an iron ore mine installed 125 years ago.

Most of its inhabitants have welcomed the move, after taking part in a consultation about their desires.

Clara Nyström, an antiquarian at the Kiruna Municipality told Euronews that the relocation is a significant improvement.

"They wanted places to meet, like a big town square, we did not have that [before]. Also a more defined shopping area, like our new shopping street, and also - maybe the most important - was the access to nature. We really enjoy outdoor life," Nyström said.

The relocation of 450,000 square metres of houses, schools, public, commercial and leisure premises should be completed by 2035.

One of the most sensitive buildings is the iconic church, from 1912, which Lena Tjarnberg, a vicar at Kiruna Lutheran Church says is crucial for the town.

"It is very important to move the church for us and for the city. People are very happy about that... that the church is going to the new city, and is not going to be torn down. I think people are looking forward to the move, for the day when it is going to happen," she told Euronews.

Kiruna has around 23,000 inhabitants that populate a territory the size of Slovenia.

It is located in a protected landscape that attracts many tourists as it includes birch forests, alpine tundra, seven rivers and 6,000 lakes.

But the expansion of the mine worries the indigenous people of Lapland, known as the Sámi, who mostly live off reindeer herding.

The government says it will take into account their needs, but Stefan Mikaelsson, the Deputy Chair from the Board of the Sámi Parliament, told Euronews that the surrounding nature must be taken into account.

"Biological diversity in the Arctic is very crucial also for the people of the continent. We cannot just depend on the Amazon and pretend that by protecting it we are then allowed to keep the consumption habits, the extraction of natural resources and gaining profits in the Arctic by endless amount of years," he said.

The mining company involved, LKAB, announced it will soon use just clean energy sources, aiming to be at the centre of the so-called green industrial revolution. But questions remain, given that the discovery of rare earth elements in Kiruna means an expansion of industries in the Arctic.

BACKGROUNDER

The dark climate secret of self-driving cars

Rob Waugh
·Contributor
Mon, 16 January 2023

Is there a dark environmental secret behind self-driving car technology? (Getty)

In many visions of the future, self-driving electric cars will whoosh through our cities, picking up passengers - but is there a hidden environmental cost to the technology?

New research from MIT suggests that the energy required to run the computers in a global fleet of autonomous cars could generate as many greenhouse gas emissions as all the data centres in the world today.

The research highlighted the sheer amount of computing required to keep billions of self-driving vehicles on the road - with up to 21.6 quadrillion calculations per day (one quadrillion is 1,000 trillion).

Data centres account for about 0.3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, or about as much carbon as the country of Argentina produces annually, according to the International Energy Agency.

MIT researchers built a statistical model to study the problem.

Read more: Melting snow in Himalayas drives growth of green sea slime visible from space

They determined that 1 billion autonomous vehicles, each driving for one hour per day with a computer consuming 840 watts, would consume enough energy to generate about the same amount of emissions as all the data centres currently on Earth.

The researchers warn that to minimise the impact may require more efficient computers - perhaps requiring faster upgrades than the current rate of technology evolution.

Lead author Soumya Sudhakar, a graduate student in aeronautics and astronautics, says, "If we just keep the business-as-usual trends in decarbonisation and the current rate of hardware efficiency improvements, it doesn't seem like it is going to be enough to constrain the emissions from computing onboard autonomous vehicles.

Read more: A 1988 warning about climate change was mostly right

“This has the potential to become an enormous problem. But if we get ahead of it, we could design more efficient autonomous vehicles that have a smaller carbon footprint from the start.”

The researchers built a framework to explore the operational emissions from computers on board a global fleet of electric vehicles that are fully autonomous, meaning they don't require a back-up human driver.

The model is a function of the number of vehicles in the global fleet, the power of each computer on each vehicle, the hours driven by each vehicle, and the carbon intensity of the electricity powering each computer.

"On its own, that looks like a deceptively simple equation. But each of those variables contains a lot of uncertainty because we are considering an emerging application that is not here yet," Sudhakar says.

Read more: Why economists worry that reversing climate change is hopeless

When they used the probabilistic model to explore different scenarios, Sudhakar was surprised by how quickly the algorithms' workload added up.

For example, if an autonomous vehicle has 10 deep neural networks processing images from 10 cameras, and that vehicle drives for one hour a day, it will make 21.6 million inferences each day.

One billion vehicles would make 21.6 quadrillion inferences.

To put that into perspective, all of Facebook's data centres worldwide make a few trillion inferences each day.

Sertac Karaman, associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics says."After seeing the results, this makes a lot of sense, but it is not something that is on a lot of people's radar. These vehicles could actually be using a ton of computer power. They have a 360-degree view of the world, so while we have two eyes, they may have 20 eyes, looking all over the place and trying to understand all the things that are happening at the same time,