UK urged to sack Tony Abbott as trade adviser for joining climate sceptic group

Helena Horton Environment reporter

THE GUARDIAN
Wed, 8 February 2023 

Tony Abbott, former Australian prime minister,

The UK government is being urged to sack one of its trade advisers after he joined a thinktank that has denied the scale of the climate crisis and campaigned against net zero.

Tony Abbott, a former Australian prime minister, announced this week that he had joined the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF).

Abbott has been a member of the UK government’s Board of Trade since 2020, advising on post-Brexit deals, with Australia now a key trading partner since the UK left the EU.

But sources at the Department for Business and Trade said Abbott would not be dismissed, despite an outcry from parliamentarians and climate campaigners.

The GWPF has produced reviews – at odds with mainstream science – that claim the climate emergency is not happening. Members of the thinktank have shared work suggesting that a rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could be a good thing. Presenting a report last year, the GWPF’s director, Dr Benny Peiser, said: “It’s extraordinary that anyone should think there is a climate crisis.”

Recently, the thinktank started Net Zero Watch, a campaigning platform highlighting what it calls the “costs of net zero”. GWPF is being looked into by the Charity Commission after claims from MPs and lawyers that it does not meet its aims as a charity and is a lobbying organisation.

The Guardian understands that one of the thinktank’s previous leading members, the Tory MP Steve Baker, was advised to give up his position on the board of trustees before being appointed a junior minister in the Northern Ireland Office last year.

Campaigners have called for Abbott to be sacked as a trade adviser. Mel Evans, of Greenpeace UK, said: “Talking tough on climate action while filling your Board of Trade with people like Abbott is a dismal signal to the world about Britain’s climate leadership. Tony Abbott is free to continue his journey into unreality, but the government shouldn’t allow us to be dragged along behind him.”

There are fears that having someone who is sceptical about reaching net zero on the Board of Trade could affect the UK’s trade deals. Shaun Spiers, the executive director of Green Alliance, said: “Ninety per cent of the world’s GDP is generated in countries that are committed to net zero. That brings lots of trading opportunities for progressive UK businesses, who will be looking to the new Department for Business and Trade for support. Meanwhile, one of its key advisers is trying to undermine support for climate action. It’s not a good look.”

The Board of Trade is headed by the trade secretary, Kemi Badenoch, who has also previously questioned net zero.

The Green MP, Caroline Lucas, said: “In May last year, the government claimed it was ‘leading the way on green trade’. How time flies, now that nine months later the trade department has a secretary of state who rejects net zero, and an adviser who openly supports climate denial. Our climate leadership on the world stage takes yet another pounding.

“Fundamentally, all trade agreements must meet the UK’s own climate and biodiversity targets; be aligned with Paris agreement targets to limit global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees; and deliver the sustainable development goals. If government figures can’t, or won’t, deliver those objectives, they should not be in post.”

The Liberal Democrat climate change spokesperson, Wera Hobhouse, said: “For Rishi Sunak to allow Tony Abbott to continue on the government’s Board of Trade tells you everything you need to know about his prioritisation of the climate crisis.

A government spokesperson said: “The Board of Trade is an advisory panel who serve in personal capacities, do not speak on behalf of government and do not set government policy.”

A spokesperson for the GWPF said: “Taking climate change seriously is about making sure the costs and benefits of climate policies are properly weighed up. Tony Abbott is sensitive to this concern, which is why he has joined our eminent board of trustees.”

The Guardian approached Tony Abbott for comment.

If you want a benefit of Brexit, here it is: British employers must now innovate again

Larry Elliott

THE GUARDIAN
Thu, 9 February 2023 

Photograph: Jacob King/PA

Strikes by nurses. Strikes by teachers. Strikes by train drivers, civil servants and college lecturers. This might not quite be a rerun of the winter of discontent 44 years ago but it is starting to look rather like it.

While it has been the standoff between the government and public sector workers that has attracted most of the media attention, there has also been widespread action in the private sector. Just this week, the Unite union announced that 180 members at the Drax power station would strike after rejecting an 8% pay offer, that tanker drivers employed by JW Suckling were balloting for industrial action, and that grounds maintenance staff on an outsourced Welwyn and Hatfield council contract had ended a lengthy dispute after securing a 13% pay increase.

Rishi Sunak may well be digging in for a war of attrition with public sector workers, but employers in the private sector are prepared to be a lot more flexible. The latest official figures show annual average growth in the private sector running at 7.2%, and while that’s still below inflation, it is more than double the 3.3% pay growth in the public sector.

The reason that private sector employers are willing to settle is clear: firms are facing a shortage of labour. Even at a time when the economy is barely growing, the number of job vacancies remains close to record levels. Agents employed by the Bank of England to take the temperature of business conditions across the UK reported last week that companies were reluctant to reduce staff levels due “to concerns they would struggle to rehire if needed”. Only a small number of firms planned redundancies.

There is no single cause for the dearth of staff. An ageing population is one factor. So is the decision by many 50- to 64-year-olds who left the labour market during the pandemic not to return. Childcare costs are a big issue here. Almost two-thirds of grandparents regularly look after their grandchildren – a sharp rise over recent decades.

Brexit is also a factor. In part, that’s because our departure from the EU is causing shortages in specific sectors such as construction and hospitality. In part, it is because employers are having to rethink how they will respond to a change in the way the UK labour market operates.

For decades, the balance of power in the workplace has been tilted heavily in favour of employers. Trade union membership has halved since its peak in the late 1970s and is concentrated in the public sector. Industrial action has been made more difficult by government legislation. And, until recently, EU membership meant firms had access to a massive pool of workers any time they needed them. As far as employers were concerned, free movement of labour was a great idea, because EU workers were highly motivated, well-educated and cheap. They provided a reserve army of labour that was useful when it came to disciplining the domestic workforce.

Striking ambulance workers marching to the House of Commons to protest against the Labour government’s 5% per cent limit for pay rises on 22 January 1979. Photograph: Central Press/Getty Images

In the end, wage negotiations come down to a question of demand and supply. If demand for workers goes up – as it did when the economy emerged from the pandemic-induced lockdowns – and supply of workers is limited, then unions have more bargaining power. If demand for labour goes up and employers can whistle up some new recruits from overseas, then union bargaining power is more limited.

The row between the government and the CBI over migrant workers illustrates how things have changed. The employers’ lobby group has been urging Sunak to grant more visas so that firms can tackle labour shortages. The prime minister says that firms should train out-of-work British workers to plug the gaps. Labour does not sound as if it would be more accommodating to employer demands either. A key reason why Keir Starmer is opposed to the UK rejoining the single market is because doing so would mean accepting free movement of workers from the EU.

It would be wrong to exaggerate the impact of all this. Brexit is just one – and not the most important – reason behind the present shortage of labour. What’s more, the CBI has a point when it says that training UK workers is no real answer to job vacancies that need filling now. There is a case, even with tougher migration controls, for more time-limited visas for workers with specific skills.

That said, the end of free movement has implications both for pay bargainers and the wider economy. Wage awards are not keeping pace with price increases, even at a time when unemployment is below 4% and vacancies are plentiful, but settlements would be even lower if employers had fewer problems finding labour.

In the end, employers will respond in one of three ways. They will accept that workers have more clout and pay them more. They will take on the challenge of equipping people on benefits who want to work with the skills necessary to hold down a job. Finally, they will invest in new machinery as the cost of labour increases relative to the cost of capital.

The last point is important. While there are undoubtedly short-term costs of restrictions on free movement of EU labour, there is also an opportunity to break with an economic model that relied too heavily on access to a deep pool of cheap labour. Previously, firms had no real incentive to invest more in new kit, which is a reason the UK’s recent productivity record has been so poor. Now they do.

Larry Elliott is the Guardian’s economics editor

Church of England votes in favour of blessings for same-sex unions

Harriet Sherwood
Thu, 9 February 2023

Photograph: James Manning/PA

Church of England priests will be permitted to bless the civil marriages of same-sex couples in a profound shift in the church’s stance on homosexuality after a historic vote by its governing body.

The first blessings for gay couples could happen this summer. Individual churches will be encouraged to state clearly whether they will offer blessings to avoid confusion and disappointment.

After an impassioned debate lasting more than eight hours, the C of E’s national assembly, the General Synod, voted by 250 votes to 181 to back a proposal by bishops intended to end years of painful divisions and disagreement over sexuality.

But emotionally charged speeches from those advocating full equality for LGBTQ+ Christians and those arguing that traditional biblical teaching on marriage and sex must be upheld signalled that the debate is set to continue.

The synod also agreed that the church will apologise for the harm it has caused to LGBTQ+ people. It welcomed a forthcoming review of a ban on clergy entering into same-sex civil marriages and a celibacy rule for clergy in same-sex relationships.

Conservatives narrowly succeeded in amending the motion to state that the church’s doctrine of marriage – that it is between a man and a woman – was unchanged. Although progressives were dismayed by the amendment, it may have encouraged some traditionalists to cast their votes in favour of the main motion.

Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, and Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York, said they hoped the decision marked a “new beginning” for the C of E, saying: “It has been a long road to get us to this point.”

The archbishops said: “For the first time, the C of E will publicly, unreservedly and joyfully welcome same-sex couples in church.

“The church continues to have deep differences on these questions which go to the heart of our human identity. As archbishops, we are committed to respecting the conscience of those for whom this goes too far and to ensure that they have all the reassurances they need in order to maintain the unity of the church as this conversation continues.”

Sarah Mullally, the bishop of London, who led the debate, said: “This is a moment of hope for the church.” But, she added,“I know that what we have proposed as a way forward does not go nearly far enough for many, but too far for others”.

Steven Croft, the bishop of Oxford, who supports marriage equality, said the vote was a “significant and historic step”. He said: “Same-sex couples will become much more visible and their relationships will be celebrated publicly and that, I think, will continue to change attitudes within the life of the church.”

The amendment on marriage doctrine was “important to give some reassurance to those who are more conservative”, he said, but it would not stop the church “returning to this question [of same-sex marriage]” in the future.

Gay rights campaigners were frustrated that their demand that a proposal for marriage equality be put before the synod within two years was rejected by 52% to 45%.

Jayne Ozanne, a leading advocate for LGBTQ+ equality in the C of E, said allowing blessings for same-sex couples was a “tiny step forward”. She added: “I am deeply disappointed by the way the conservatives have consistently sought to undermine those of us who sought to move towards a church that could embrace a plurality of views on sexuality.”

Nigel Pietroni, the chair of the Campaign for Equal Marriage in the C of E, said the decision “falls short of what we ultimately believe is the only outcome for radical inclusion – equal marriage for all people”, but it was “a small step forward”.

The gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said: “The offer of blessings to same-sex partners is an insult. Every heterosexual man and woman in England has the right to marry in their parish church - but not LGBTQ+ couples. That’s discrimination and discrimination is not a Christian value.”

On the other side of the argument, the Church of England Evangelical Council said it was “deeply saddened” by the decision, which it saw as setting the church on a course of action that rejected “our historic and biblical understanding of sex and marriage”. The vote had “settled nothing and has only served to deepen divisions”, the association said.

The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches said the decision raised the question of the archbishop of Canterbury’s “fitness to lead what is still a largely orthodox worldwide communion”.

The synod debate was procedurally complex, with more than two dozen amendments to the bishops’ motion. Some were efforts to delay the plans, arguing that more time was needed to consider the issues despite several years of consultations over sexuality. All but one of the amendments were rejected, sometimes narrowly, or withdrawn.

Credit Suisse posts biggest loss since 2008 financial crisis

Robin MILLARD
Thu, 9 February 2023 


Credit Suisse on Thursday posted its biggest annual loss since the 2008 financial crisis and the scandal-plagued Swiss banking giant expects to stay in the red in 2023, sending its shares plummeting.

Switzerland's second-biggest bank, which unveiled a dramatic restructuring plan in October aimed at stopping the rot, reported a net loss of 7.3 billion Swiss francs ($7.9 billion) for 2022.

The Zurich-based lender had waved goodbye to more than eight billion Swiss francs during the global financial crisis 15 years ago.


Citing the impact from restructuring charges and its exit from non-core businesses, Credit Suisse said in a statement that it "would also expect the group to report a substantial loss before taxes in 2023".

The bank's restructuring focuses on drastically reducing the scale of its investment banking unit, which was at the heart of a string of scandals that included the collapse of US fund Archegos.

Those restructuring costs are estimated at around 1.6 billion Swiss francs this year and around one billion francs in 2024.

Chief executive Ulrich Korner said the bank had "a clear plan to create a new Credit Suisse".

But its share price plunged on the Swiss stock exchange's main SMI index, down 7.7 percent at exactly three Swiss francs just after 1200 GMT, having at one point dipped as low as 2.88 francs a share. The SMI was up 0.3 percent.

Since March 2021, the bank's stock has lost more than 75 percent of its value.

In the last quarter, its net loss attributable to shareholders amounted to nearly 1.4 billion Swiss francs -- slightly better than expected.

"A weak fourth quarter concludes a terrible 2022, clearly one of the worst years in Credit Suisse's 167-year history," said Andreas Venditti, an analyst at Swiss investment managers Vontobel, noting that the bank reported losses in seven out of the last nine quarters.

"2024 might bring a turnaround, albeit with likely still minor profits. The transformation to 'new Credit Suisse' will take time."

- Clients withdraw funds -

In November, the bank issued a profit warning on restructuring charges, lower activity in the capital markets and large client withdrawals, saying it expected a loss of up to 1.5 billion Swiss francs.

Credit Suisse recorded net asset outflows of 110.5 billion Swiss francs in the fourth quarter of last year alone, mostly in October.

The rate of capital outflows slowed in December and "we've seen a reversal in January," chief financial officer Dixit Joshi told reporters.

ING financial market analyst Suvi Platerink Kosonen said a "substantial change" in customer behaviour was needed to protect the bank's client franchise.

"We consider that the negative operating performance increases the risk for further rating downgrades," she said.

As part of its overhaul, Credit Suisse decided to revive its First Boston brand, named after a US investment bank it absorbed in 1990, bringing together its capital market and advisory activities.

On Thursday the bank announced the acquisition of the investment banking business of M. Klein & Company for $175 million, thus taking a step forward in the transformation of its investment banking arm.

- 'Simpler, more focused bank -

Credit Suisse's capital-guzzling investment banking business has been the source of heavy losses which plunged Credit Suisse's accounts into the red -- eclipsing its more stable activities such as wealth management or its Swiss domestic banking services.

Credit Suisse's investment bank suffered a loss of 3.7 billion Swiss francs in 2021, then a pre-tax loss of $3.3 billion in 2022, mainly driven by significantly lower revenues.

It was hit by the implosion of US fund Archegos, which cost Credit Suisse more than $5 billion.

Under its revamp, Credit Suisse will refocus on its most stable activities and reduce its merchant banking.

"2022 was a crucial year for Credit Suisse," Korner said.

"We announced our strategic plan to create a simpler, more focused bank, built around client needs and since October we have been executing at pace," the CEO said.

The bank will halve the 2022 dividend paid to its shareholders to 0.05 Swiss francs per share, while the bank's executives will not be receiving any bonuses for the year.

"If you produce such a loss, I would not expect any bonus at all," Korner told reporters.

rjm-noo/nl

UK

Record number of millennials and Gen Z still live with their parents

Eir Nolsoe
Thu, 9 February 2023 

BUT WHAT IF THEIR PARENTS ARE STILL LIVING AT HOME?!

The number of grown-up children living with parents surged to a record high as soaring costs drove Gen-Zs and millennials back into their childhood bedrooms.

A total 4.9m people were living with their parents during 2021, Census data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed, a jump of 15pc compared with the previous census in 2011.

It marks an increase of 15pc since 2011 when 4.2 million adults were still living with their parents. The largest rise happened among those aged 25 to 29, suggesting it was driven by people who had left home and then moved back in with their family.

The ONS said the pandemic and related lockdowns would have had some effect on the data, but added that it was likely to be marginal in relation to the underlying trends in living arrangements.

Steve Smallwood, at the ONS, said: “Today’s census data gives us a more detailed understanding of patterns in living arrangements across the generations in England and Wales and how these have changed over the last decade.”

He added: “We can see that there has been a significant increase in grown-up children living with their parents, with over half of those aged 19 to 23 doing so. This may reflect an overall increase in age at life milestones, including moving out of home, along with the impact of the pandemic on people’s living arrangements.”

The share of adults living with their parents increased in nearly all parts of the UK although it went up by the most in London.

House and rental prices appear to play a significant role, with nearly all regions with the highest rises of people flocking back to their parents being more expensive than average. Meanwhile, the areas with the largest decreases were more affordable.

The largest rise since 2011 was in Tower Hamlets at 49.1pc, which may be partially explained by the overall population in the borough growing by 22.1pc.

Just 21 of 331 local authorities recorded a decline in non-dependent children living with their parents. The largest drops were in the North of England and the Midlands where property tends to be more affordable. The ONS also highlighted that young people may be more likely to leave these areas for higher education or employment opportunities.

Climate change may have toppled Hittite Empire: study

Juliette Collen
Thu, 9 February 2023 


Three years of extreme drought may have brought about the collapse of the mighty Hittite Empire around 1200 BC, researchers have said, linking the plight of the fallen civilisation to the modern world's climate crisis.

The Hittites dominated Anatolia in modern-day Turkey for nearly 500 years, even rivalling the power of the Egyptian Empire for a period.

They were one of several influential ancient civilisations in the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East which were all toppled or severely weakened at around the same time, bringing the curtain down on the Bronze Age.

The Hittites mysteriously abandoned their capital and religious centre Hattusa around 1200 BC, when the royal line died out and written historical documents dried up.

The empire's centuries-old political and cultural structures ended "quite rapidly," Sturt Manning, an archaeologist at Cornell University in the United States and lead author of a new study, told AFP.

There are several theories for what was behind the "Late Bronze Age collapse", including attacks from naval raiders called the "Sea Peoples", epidemics and famines -- as well as a 300-year change to a drier, cooler climate.

But exactly what triggered the demise of these empires has remained unclear.

- 'Existential threat' -

Now, for the Hittites at least, the answer may have come inscribed in the rings of ancient juniper wood.

The juniper comes from one of the world's oldest wooden structures, found at the Phrygian capital of Gordion in central Turkey as part of the excavation of a king's tomb in the 1950s.

By analysing the rings of the juniper wood, the researchers were able to reconstruct climate conditions more than 3,000 years ago.

In semi-arid Central Anatolia, "the major threat to growth for most plants in the region is a lack of water," Manning said.

Narrower tree rings indicate drier years, when a lack of water meant the trees did not grow much.

The rings showed three-straight years -- 1198 BC to 1196 BC -- with "unusually" low growth, suggesting a prolonged and particularly severe drought, according to the study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.

The researchers suggested that the drought caused severe food shortages, particularly for the land-locked parts of the central Hittite kingdom, which depended on grain and livestock.

The food shortages could have led to political, economic and social unrest, ultimately bringing about the end of the empire.

Manning warned that current global warming means the modern world could face a "multi-year existential threat" similar to the one that affected the Hittites.

Muge Durusu-Tanriover, an archaeologist at Temple University in Philadelphia who was not involved in the study, hailed it as "groundbreaking".

"Now that we know a major climate event might have tipped the Hittite empire beyond its point of no return, there are more questions to ask about climate change, its impact on states and society and, most crucially, what can be learnt from the past during our current climate crisis," she said in a Nature comment piece.

juc-dl/str/jm

Climate change is triggering more earthquakes. Big Oil's interests are a factor

CAPITALI$M IS UNSUSTAINABLE

Prof İbrahim Özdemir, UN advisor

Thu, 9 February 2023 a

On Monday, earthquakes in my country Turkey and neighbouring Syria left a trail of unprecedented devastation and a death toll surpassing 16,000 people at the last count.

We do not know for sure what triggered this horrific natural disaster, but we do know there is growing scientific evidence that climate change increases the risk of such tremors, together with tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.

“If a fault is primed or ready to rupture, all that is needed is the pressure of a handshake to set if off [...] Environmental changes associated with rapid and accelerating climate breakdown could easily do the job,” professor of geophysics and climate hazards at University College London Bill McGuire pointed out back in 2012.

Furthermore, NASA scientists acknowledged that glaciers retreating due to global warming have been triggering earthquakes in Alaska in the last decades.

The impact is not limited to the Arctic. As melting glaciers change the distribution of weight across the Earth’s crust, the resulting "glacial isostatic adjustment" drives changes in plate tectonics that could lead to more earthquakes, awaken volcanoes and even affect the movement of the Earth’s axis.

This particular consequence of global warming "warns us of a seismically turbulent future," one recent study concluded.

Unfortunately, it is not just earthquakes. Climate and weather-related disasters have surged five-fold over the past five decades, killing over two million people, with 91% of the casualties in developing countries. And it is only getting worse.
Is there accountability for Big Oil's 'ever more invasive ways'?

Fossil fuel companies bear significant responsibility for the climate emergency yet enjoy near-total impunity. At the same time, they are consistently reaping record profits — while ordinary citizens across the globe struggle to pay their household bills.

A series of investigations and legal proceedings over the years have shown how fossil fuel giants call the shots: they use and abuse the rule of law to escape accountability for environmental pollution, resource-grabbing and cronyism. Those objecting are often silenced.

Just over the last decade, fossil fuel companies in the United States have targeted over 150 environmental activists with lawsuits. Meanwhile, dozens of US states are in the process of enacting “critical infrastructure” legislation, increasing criminal penalties against activists protesting pipelines that will wreck the planet.

German police officers carry Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg away from the edge of the Garzweiler II opencast lignite mine during a protest action, 17 January 2023 - Federico Gambarini/AP

One European Parliament study similarly found that EU-based mining, oil, and gas extraction companies are increasing impacts on indigenous communities in “ever more invasive ways”.

Third-party litigation funding (TPLF) is another approach exploited by Western oil and gas interests, where claimants raise funds from outside investors who take the lion's share of the proceeds.

Since 2012, US investment fund Tenor backed the $1.4 billion (€1.3bn) claim of a Canadian mining firm against the Venezuelan government, permitting a court-ordered seizure of its Houston-based oil company.

Tenor is also targeting other developing countries and their governments, with a $4.4bn (€4.1bn) claim by Gabriel Resources Ltd against Romania and a $764 million (€712,4m) one by Eco Oro Minerals Corp against Colombia.
The curious case of 'Sultanate of Sulu'

Another firm spearheading such cases is the London-based legal financing giant Therium. In 2021, Therium backed the UK-based Victoria Oil & Gas against the Republic of Kazakhstan on the grounds that Astana breached an agreement with the company after kicking it out of the country to take over its own oil field. Victoria Oil & Gas lost the case.

But Therium scored a victory last year by funding the descendants of the long-vanished "Sultanate of Sulu," who received a $15bn (€13.9bn) award from a French court against the Malaysian government.

The case laid claim to profits from Malaysia’s oil and gas projects in the eastern region of Sabah, based on a defunct colonial-era treaty with the British Crown.

Friends of the Earth supporters unfold a banner outside the district court in The Hague, January 2021 - AP Photo/Mike Corder

The claimant’s legal team also have links to oil and gas interests.

Paul H Cohen of 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square, who openly talks of using European courts to confiscate “specific Malaysian assets” in multiple jurisdictions, has regularly represented oil and gas clients in international arbitrations.

Elisabeth Mason, another lawyer representing the Sulu heirs, works closely with executives from tech giants Google and Facebook.

Famously, both have been accused of backing organisations involved in climate denial and making millions from ads for ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron and Shell or entities like The American Petroleum Institute — all labelled by activists as attempts at "greenwashing".
What is more important: interests of few, or our planet and its people?

I am not suggesting a conspiracy. These cases solely go to show how fossil fuel interests still hold extraordinary clout across sectors and national borders, despite ever-increasing proof that they are among those ultimately responsible for climate change and the ongoing climate emergency.

The problem is systemic: there is a long-demonstrated preference for the interests of fossil fuel firms and their allies rather than the people and the planet.

No wonder UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently demanded that fossil fuel companies that do not set a “credible course for net zero” by 2030 “should not be in business”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the he 2022 United Nations climate conference, COP27, in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, November 2021 - AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell

Governments must take this message seriously by joining forces to end this giant profit-making scheme against the planet.

How? Instead of being sued by them, governments should consider whether and how to hold fossil fuel firms liable for the damages their operations have caused to countless victims worldwide. The potential proceeds should be then invested in accelerating net zero.

Otherwise, we will see more tragedies like what has befallen my country.

Professor İbrahim Özdemir is a UN advisor and an ecologist teaching at Üsküdar University. He has served as Director-General at the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Turkish Ministry of Education and was a leading member in drafting the Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change endorsed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC.

UK

Blow for Rishi Sunak as Labour holds West Lancashire seat

West Lancashire by-election: Labour hold onto seat as Ashley Dalton secures victory

WHO IS SHE POINTING TO 

AND WHY DO POLITICIANS DO THAT?!

Thu, 9 February 2023 

Labour has held on to its seat in West Lancashire after a by-election victory which saw Ashley Dalton become the country's newest MP.

Ms Dalton secured a majority of 8,326 over Conservative candidate Mike Prendergast, with a 10.52% swing from the Tories to Labour.

In her victory speech, she said the people of her constituency have spoken on "behalf of the country" and sent a message to the Conservative government that they "do not have confidence in them to govern or the prime minister to lead".

She added that these are "testing times for our country" with the cost of living crisis, as she told the Conservatives to "move out of the way and let Labour take over".

The result marked the third by-election victory for Labour in recent months.

While veteran MP Rosie Cooper's majority at the 2019 snap general election was 8,336, that was over 36% of the vote, compared with just over 25% this time around.

It was the first time the Tory vote has dipped below 30% since the 1997 general election, which Tony Blair's Labour Party won by a landslide.

In December, Labour comfortably held on to its seat in Stretford and Urmston, Greater Manchester, with a 10.5% swing from Conservatives to Labour.

The victory came just two weeks after a successful result in Chester, when Samantha Dixon held the seat for Labour with an increased majority of some 11,000 over the Tories.

Ms Cooper, 72, resigned in November to become chairwoman of the Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.

The MP was the victim of a plot to kill her by an alleged member of the banned neo-Nazi group National Action and admitted the stress of what happened had "taken its toll".

West Lancashire has been a Labour stronghold since 1992 when Colin Pickthall took the seat from Tory MP Ken Hind, who had held it since 1983.

Although winning with an increased majority in 2015 and 2017, Ms Cooper saw her majority drop in 2019.

Read more analysis:
A worrying trend is emerging for Tories in by-elections

West Lancashire separates Liverpool, a historically Labour-supporting area, and the Conservative-held seats of South Ribble, Southport and Bolton West.

The constituency has a mix of rural and urban areas while its largest town, Skelmersdale, has relatively high levels of deprivation compared with the neighbouring towns of Aughton and Ormskirk, which are considered relatively wealthy.

OBVIOUSLY NOT PRO-LIFE

UK

Lee Anderson: New Tory deputy chairman says he would support return of death penalty

Wed, 8 February 2023 



Rishi Sunak's controversial new deputy party chairman said he would support the return of the death penalty because "nobody has ever committed a crime after being executed".

Outspoken Ashfield MP Lee Anderson was handed the senior government position during the prime minister's reshuffle on Tuesday.

The move raised eyebrows given his history of controversial comments, including questioning if food bank users have genuine need and criticising England football players for taking the knee in protest at racism.

In an interview with The Spectator magazine a few days before his surprise appointment, Mr Anderson said he would back the return of capital punishment.

Asked whether he would support the return of the death penalty, Mr Anderson told the weekly magazine: "Yes."

He added: "Nobody has ever committed a crime after being executed. You know that, don't you? 100% success rate."

The death penalty for murder in the UK was outlawed permanently in 1969 and then totally abolished for all crimes in 1998.

The last people executed in Britain were Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans on 13 August 1964.

The UK has signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits the restoration of the death penalty.

But Mr Anderson argued that heinous crimes where the perpetrators are clearly identifiable should be punished by execution.

He pointed to the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby in 2013 by Islamist extremists Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale.

The former was given a whole life term, meaning he will die in prison, and the latter was jailed for a minimum of 45 years for running over and stabbing the British Army soldier in southeast London in broad daylight.

Mr Anderson told the magazine: "Now I'd be very careful on that one [the return of the death penalty] because you'll get the certain groups saying 'You can never prove it'.

"Well, you can prove it if they have videoed it and are on camera - like the Lee Rigby killers.

"I mean: they should have gone, same week. I don't want to pay for these people."

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Mr Anderson, who has compared the government to "the band on the Titanic" for its handling of small boat crossings, also said migrants arriving unlawfully in Britain should be returned the "same day" to where they came from.

The former miner said he visited Calais last month and met migrants referring to Britain as "El Dorado".

"They are seeing a country where the streets are paved with gold - where, once you land, they are not in that manky little f****** scruffy tent," he said.

Asked for his solution, he replied: "I'd send them straight back the same day.

"I'd put them on a Royal Navy frigate or whatever and sail it to Calais, have a stand-off. And they'd just stop coming."

A former Labour councillor before converting to the Tories, Mr Anderson said that despite facing criticism in some quarters for his opinions, he found voters often agreed with him.

"If I say something that is supposedly outrageous in that place [the Commons], I get back to Ashfield on a Thursday, people will come out the shops and say 'You say what I'm thinking'," he added.

"Maybe some of my colleagues think I'm a little bit too divisive.

"But I'm of the mind that half the population will hate you, whatever colour you wear."

Mr Anderson is popular among grassroot party members and was voted favourite backbench MP of 2022 in a survey by Conservative Home.

He will work under Greg Hands, who is replacing Nadhim Zahawi as chairman after he was sacked over his handling of his tax affairs.

One Tory MP had choice words over the appointment, telling Sky's deputy political editor Sam Coates that Mr Anderson is "everything that is wrong with the Conservative brand presently".

The MP added: "He seems to rejoice in deliberately provoking and making aggressive simplistic statements that fail to recognise the complexities of the issues facing the country.

"If this is the new Tory party, many will be forgiven for deserting it."

Another added: "We thought Liz Truss had killed the right of the party.

"Nobody knew Rishi had an ace card up his sleeve by making Lee Anderson the face of the right, putting the final nail in its coffin."

Labour also attacked the appointment, with Zarah Sultana saying the Conservatives were "scraping the barrel" to fill government appointments.

But Nigel Adams, the Tory MP for Selby and Ainsty, hailed the decision as a "clever appointment" by the prime minister adding: "He understands why people voted Conservative in 2019 and what makes them tick."

Solar will make up more than half of new US grid power in 2023

Louise Boyle
Wed, 8 February 2023

FIELD OF BIRD FRYERS

The US power grid is set to boost its electricity generation this year – and more than half of that capacity will be solar power.

The country’s utility-scale solar has quickly ramped up over the past decade due to advances in technology and increased efforts to decarbonise society-wide to battle the climate crisis.

In 2023, some 54 per cent of solar power will be added to the grid along with 17 per cent of battery storage, according to the latest electric generator inventory from the nonpartisan Energy Information Administration (EIA).


The optimistic renewables outlook comes after a short-term blip. New utility-scale solar declined by 23 per cent in 2022 from 2021 due to impacts of the Covid pandemic and supply chain disruptions, EIA said.

However, the agency reported that some delayed 2022 projects will begin operating this year. If all the capacity comes online, it means it will be the most new, utility-scale solar added in a single year – doubling the record set in 2021.

Some 41 per cent of this new solar capacity will be in the sunshine-abundant states of Texas and California.

Battery storage is also expected to double in 2023, in tandem with the rise in solar and wind power which provide clean but intermittent energy. The EIA says that 71 per cent of the new battery storage will be in California and Texas alongside the solar and wind projects.

On the flip side, fossil fuel operations will make up the vast majority of power-generating sources retired this year.

Coal and gas plants are set to make up 98 per cent of those being wound down in 2023, EIA reported

.

How the US grid will expand its capacity in 2023 (EIA)

The agency noted that “substantial” amounts of coal-fired power, the dirtiest of fossil fuels, have been retired in the past 10 years. Most plants date back to the 1970s and 1980s and cannot compete with modern gas-fired power plants and low-cost renewables.

The largest coal-fired power plant expected to retire is the WH Sammis Power Plant in Stratton, Ohio that began operating in 1960.

The oldest four of the plant’s seven coal-fired units were retired in 2020 and the last three units will be shut down this year, along with the plant’s five petroleum-fired units. Pleasants Power Station near Belmont, West Virginia is the second-largest being shuttered.

Energy Harbor, which operates both plants, has a goal to supply 100 per cent carbon-free electricity by the end of 2023.

Three aging gas-fired plants in California are also set for retirement in the next 12 months. They were originally to be closed in 2020 but kept on for an extra three years to maintain grid reliability.