China's economic losses from natural disasters surge to billions, adding more pressure to struggling economy

By Jenny Cai with wires

China is suffering heavy economic loss from recent natural disasters due to severe weather. 

(AP: Ng Han Guan)

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake has struck eastern China as rain continued to pelt the north-eastern regions in the wake of Typhoon Doksuri, adding more pressure to the country's struggle to recover its economy from the COVID pandemic.

Key points:Analysis shows Chinese provinces occupy more than half of global top 50 list of states and provinces most at risk of climate-related disaster by 2050
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck eastern China as flooding continues in the north-eastern regions
The impact of floods, while common in China in summer, has grown more pronounced this year

China's direct economic losses from natural disasters surged to 41.18 billion yuan ($8.72billion) in July, more than in January to June combined.

The impact of floods, while common in China in summer, has grown more pronounced this year, affecting over 7 million people nationwide in July, when Beijing was struck by the worst rains in 140 years.

Meanwhile, scorching summer heat and drought are threatening crops in other regions after the capital's hottest June on record.

August, when rainfall usually peaks and temperatures soar, is set for further economic impact from floods and heatwaves.

Rainfall in north-eastern provinces could be as much as 50 per cent higher than normal in August, China's national forecaster have warned.

Shi Heling, an economic professor at Monash University, said impact of recent natural disasters had dealt a "huge blow" to China's economy.

 
Professor Shi Heling said recent natural disasters had significant negative impacts on China's economy recovery from the pandemic. (Supplied)

"China's governments at all levels are already running in deficits due to costs during the three years of COVID-zero policies that used up the governments' savings."

"The floods happened at the North China Plain, where there are lots of farmlands. The crops were submerged by the floods and will lead to shortage of many products."


"The disasters happened at a really bad timing. China's economy is going downwards currently, and natural disasters would have huge impacts on people's lives."

The economic losses posed an unexpected drag on quarterly growth in the world's second-largest economy, which is already in want of stimulus as Chinese officials just rolled out a series of policy measures in recent weeks to support the economy as its post-pandemic recovery falters.

Professor Shi said the authorities were also ill-prepared to deal with the flood and subsequent impacts, as the North China Plain were rarely hit by floods before.

Why China's economy isn't recovering fast enough

Australia is relying on its largest trading partner to bounce back, but China's youth unemployment figures and low consumer confidence are slowing down much-needed growth, suggesting a full recovery will take some time.

"Most floods usually hit the southern regions near the Yellow River and Chang Jiang River ... so another reason that the damages were so huge this time was that the local officials didn't know how to respond [to the floods]," he said.

Professor Shi added that the floods may also pose a negative impact on Australia's economy, which heavily relies on exports to China, its largest trading partner.

"Many Chinese consumers may not have the abilities to consume the imported products from Australia anymore.

"China imports a lot of iron ore from Australia for building infrastructure, the government may not be able to invest as much in infrastructure if the finance is tight," Professor Shi said.

July losses from Typhoon Talim, which landed in southern China in the middle of the month, were 2.61 billion yuan ($600 million), the Ministry of Emergency Management said in a statement late on Friday.

Losses from the more destructive Doksuri reached $3.15 billion as of the end of July, the ministry said.

According to an analysis by Sydney based research firm XDI, Chinese provinces occupy more than half of global top 50 list of states and provinces most at risk of climate-related disaster by 2050.

Two of China's largest economic powerhouses, Jiangsu and Shandong, would be the most vulnerable places in the world to climate risks, according to the research.

YOUTUBEchina economy video
Earthquake hits eastern China as flood continues

Twenty-one people were injured and 126 buildings collapsed after an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 struck the eastern Chinese province of Shandong on Sunday, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The earthquake, 10km deep, jolted Pingyuan County of Dezhou City at 02:33am local time, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre.

China Railway Group suspended some train operations on routes including the Beijing-Shanghai Railway and Beijing-Kowloon Railway in response to the earthquake, CCTV reported.

People gather on a street in Liaocheng, China's eastern Shandong province following an earthquake. (AFP/STR)

TV broadcasters showed Dezhou residents who ran outdoors after the quake sitting on sidewalks in the pre-dawn darkness. Video on social media showed bricks that had fallen from cracked walls.

Dezhou and the surrounding area administered by the city have about 5.6 million people, according to the city government website.

Authorities in northeastern China raised their emergency response level on Sunday as tributaries of the Songhua, a major river, rose to dangerous levels after days of heavy rain caused by Typhoon Doksuri

.
People stay on a roof at a flooded residential compound after the rains and floods brought by remnants of Typhoon Doksuri, in Zhuozhou, Hebei province.(Reuters: Tingshu Wang)

China's Ministry of Water Resources said it raised the response for flooding to Level III at 10am local time in Inner Mongolia, Jilin and Heilongjiang.

China uses a four-tier emergency response system, with Level I the most urgent.

Heilongjiang, known as China's "great northern granary", is among the latest areas to suffer the aftermath of Doksuri, which has killed at least 20 people, displaced thousands and flooded Beijing and several other cities since it made landfall in the south a week ago.

China on Sunday allocated an additional 350 million yuan ($74.13 million) to support rescues and house repairs in the flood-hit regions including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Heilongjiang and Jilin, according to a government statement.

The government had previously allocated $36 million for rescue and recovery work.

WATCH
Duration: 1 minute 33 seconds

Extreme flooding leaves at least 20 people dead in China
ABC/wires

Palestine sends letters to UN officials on occupation's ongoing crimes against Palestinian people

QNA

 AUGUST 06, 2023 |

The Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the United Nations Ambassador Riyad Mansour has sent three identical letters to the UN Secretary-General, the President of the UN Security Council for this month (the United States), and the President of the UN General Assembly, demanding an end to the ongoing human rights abuses, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel, the occupying power, against the Palestinian people.

In his letters, Mansour urged the international community, including the Security Council, to immediately intervene in line with international law, including relevant United Nations resolutions, to provide protection to the Palestinian people, especially children whose lives are at grave risk due to this illegal Israeli colonial occupation and apartheid, according to (WAFA) news agency.

He stressed the importance of providing the protection that all civilians are entitled to under international humanitarian law and UN resolutions, including Resolution 904, which called on Israel to "confiscate arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli settlers."

Mansour also called for taking measures to ensure the safety and protection of Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories, including a temporary international presence.

People of Raqqa protest the isolation of Öcalan

People of Raqqa took to the streets to denounce the aggravated isolation imposed on Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan on the Turkish prison island of Imrali.

ANF
RAQQA
Sunday, 6 Aug 2023, 15:58

Concerns over the situation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan increased after the Executive Council Member of the Kurdistan Democratic Communities Union (KCK), Sabri Ok said in an interview on the Kurdish TV Channel Sterk TV on July 8 that threatening letters had recently been sent to Abdullah Öcalan anonymously via the Imrali prison administration.

Lawyers are requesting to meet with Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan twice a week. However, applications for visits are systematically left unanswered. In some cases, months later, lawyers are informed that disciplinary action has been taken against the Kurdish people's leader and therefore no visit can be granted.

In its annual report about rights violations in Turkish prisons, the Human Rights Association (IHD) stated that Öcalan has not been heard from for 29 months.

The Syrian Revolutionary Youth Movement and Young Women’s Union in Raqqa organised a march in protest at the aggravated isolation of Öcalan.

Hundreds of people from Raqqa and its countryside attended the march, as well as members of civil and military councils, representatives of political parties and çivil society organizations.

Following the march from Raqqa Children’s Hospital to the Women’s Square (Qada Jinê), a press statement was made on behalf of the demonstrators, read out by Mihemed Elî, a member of the Syrian Revolutionary Youth Movement.

Elî condemned the isolation of Öcalan, which, he said, was implemented in line with the plans of disruption and occupation in the Middle East.

“Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s freedom is our freedom. For this very reason, we pledge to continue our struggle until his physical freedom is achieved,” Elî said.

CONSTRUCTING CAPITALI$M
TURKIYE
Crisis of construction sector deepening

The crisis experienced by the construction sector, which has been functioning as the locomotive of the Turkish economy in recent years, is deepening.

ANF
ISTANBUL
Sunday, 6 Aug 2023

The AKP government used the construction industry illegally to increase its political power, to maintain its power and, at the same time, to increase its personal wealth. The AKP dragged both the industry and the country into political and economic disaster. The construction sector, which was the locomotive of the Turkish economy in recent years, is also experiencing a deep crisis. The AKP wanted to end or minimize all kinds of production mechanisms except the war economy.

Producing society is also a questioning society. And this was a problem for the AKP government, which invented different mechanisms to avoid any social confrontation. In recent years, the contraction process in the construction sector has accelerated due to the effects of developments in the world (such as the Covid pandemic and war). The uncertainty and contraction in a sector with high employment capacity, actually meant that unemployment in the construction sector reached its peak. This caused hundreds of thousands of workers to become unemployed, forcing many to emigrate.

While there was a partial activity in the construction sector of the coastal areas as a result of the increasing demands of foreigners to acquire property, the sector came to a standstill, especially in Kurdistan and many provinces of Anatolia, with the increase in input costs and the deepening of the economic crisis.

The contraction in the construction sector has been continuing for the last 5-6 years. When the data of TURKSTAT and the professional chambers of each province are examined, it is possible to see that the construction sector is completely at a standstill. Employers working in the field of construction point out that the sector has been inflated by the AKP to create capital, rather than social needs, and state resources have been used for this purpose, especially in the last 15 years.

A contractor interviewed by ANF about the situation in the construction industry and who does not want his name to be given, summarized the situation in the industry as follows: “Resources have to be transferred for many years to projects such as roads, hospitals, airports, bridges and similar projects built with this model. In doing so, the government created a capital group of its own. It has a capital group at its disposal that it can use as it wishes when it needs it. Especially in elections, important tasks fall on this group. It met the electoral economy it needed in cities outside the metropolises by using these groups. It should not be forgotten that the construction sector is a sensitive sector that can shrink very quickly as well as grow quickly. At this point, the sector, which has entered the process of contraction due to the improper use of economic resources, will continue to shrink as it will not be able to provide stability unless there is a political change in management.”

Sector shrinking

Underlining that the contractors who have been doing business with the public for a long time have problems with their progress payments, the contractor said: “It does not seem possible for the segments that feed the government (economic and political) and that are fed by the government (power and economy) to be affected by this problem. The affected segment is the laborers without unions, who are condemned to lack of job security, low wages, small-sized contracting firms and small-scale subcontractors working for large firms.

With the courage given by the political uncertainty before the elections, even participation in many public tenders could not be achieved. Unemployment reached its peak when the public works came to a standstill and the irregularity in the payments in the ongoing works caused the works to come to a standstill and partially to slow down. The sector has affected the general unemployment rate in proportion to its economic size.”

Housing prices increase

Connecting the rise in housing prices and rents to the results of the collapsed economy, the contractor said: “There has been a tremendous production problem in housing in recent years. This sector is experiencing the reflections of the state of the country's economy at a peak level. In other words, since the supply could not be stabilized, the accumulated demand became unmet. The deepening crisis continues to grow by the day. They could not find a solution to the deepening crisis by providing resources. They ignored the warnings of the economists, causing the crisis to deepen. The vast majority of the country continues to experience this crisis to the bone. As in all sectors, the construction industry does not seem likely to recover quickly. As a matter of fact, we are far from a solution that can stop the price increases of houses, which are supplied in very few numbers, and thus prevent the increase in rents. All in all, yesterday was better than today.”

Foreign investment meant temporary recovery in coastal areas

Stating that the construction sector in the coastal areas is partially active due to excessive acquisition of property by foreigners compared to Kurdistan and other interior regions, the contractor explained: “The construction seems more lively in coastal areas. However, this is a temporary situation. It is a fact that the rich in Ukraine, Russia and Syria, especially due to the war, see the coastline as a safer region. These people acquire property in coastal areas. They are more in demand because they can be acquired without any problems. In recent years, there has been a movement due to the preferences of those who come from abroad and launder money. But now we can say that the bottom of it has come to an end.”

Stating that construction works such as dams, airports and city hospitals, which are carried out under the name of infrastructure, are planned for a single purpose, the contractor added: “Capital groups have been created to build and run these huge projects. These capital groups are also unofficial partners of the government. It is their own capital. These infrastructure projects are difficult to do in the country again. Because it doesn't seem possible with the current economic crisis. However, those who do these projects will be fed by the state for years. They will receive all the losses from the treasury of all the figures under the contract. But there is another unknown and unspoken problem. It is the repair of these gigantic projects. The repair of these huge projects will also put a serious burden on the treasury. Because these projects were built on unsuitable grounds with the understanding of rent. This will also have an extra economic burden.”

Seminar on Human Rights Violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir held in Brussels to mark “Youm-e-Istehsal Kashmir”

KASHMIR IS INDIA'S GAZA


ON AUGUST 6, 2023
By Press Release


The Embassy of Pakistan Brussels organized a Seminar on the eve of Youm-e-Istehsal (Day of exploitation) Kashmir to express its firm support to the people of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K).

The Seminar which was held in hybrid format was aimed at highlighting the Human Rights violations by the Indian government in the IIOJ&K especially in the wake of August 5, 2019 actions to modify the status contrary to the international commitments.

Former Member of the European Parliament Mr Phil Bennion, Chairman Kashmir Institute of International Relations Mr. Altaf Hussain Wani, Former President Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry Dr. Mubeen Shah and Chairman EU Kashmir Council Mr. Ali Raza Syed expressed their views focusing on the gross violations by the Indian forces of the right to liberty, health, education, expression, assembly and freedom of religion.

While highlighting the grave human rights situation in the IIOJ&K, the panellists called upon India to cease atrocities against innocent Kashmiris who were suffering under its illegal occupation for over past seven decades. They termed Indian actions since 05 August 2019, illegal and in violation of the international law, and demanded their unconditional revocation.

Ambassador of Pakistan to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg, Ms. Amna Baloch

In her remarks, the Ambassador of Pakistan to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg, Ms. Amna Baloch apprised the audience about the unabated atrocities being committed by the Indian security forces, especially after illegally revoking the special status of the IIOJ&K on 5th August 2019. She underscored that over 900,000 Indian occupation forces turned IIOJK into the world’s largest open prison and the most militarized zone in the world, which necessitates intervention from the international community especially UN and the European Union.

The Ambassador reiterated Pakistan’s political, diplomatic and moral support for the Kashmiri people’s just cause of self-determination according to the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.

The event was attended by representatives of media, Scholars, Pakistani and Kashmiri diaspora.

 

China Coast Guard Uses Water Cannons Against Philippine Vessels

The Philippines on Sunday condemned China Coast Guard latest string of incidents in the disputed waters, the third incident this year where they used water cannons against its vessels heading for a resupply mission of its men in the West Philippine Sea.

Jeoffrey Maitem  06 Aug 2023

Commodore Jay Tarriela, the spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard for the West Philippine Sea, said on Saturday, August 5, the China Coast Guard (CCG)’s made another “dangerous maneuvers by illegally using water cannons” against their vessels escorting the indigenous boats chartered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines to deliver food, water, fuel, and other supplies to military troops stationed on BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) in West Philippine Sea.

The West Philippine Sea is the name usually used by the Philippines for the part of the South China Sea within the nation’s EEZ, where it holds exclusive rights to natural resources.

“The PCG calls on the China Coast Guard to restrain its forces, respect the sovereign rights of the Philippines in its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, refrain from hampering freedom of navigation, and take appropriate actions against the individuals involved in this unlawful incident,” said Tarriela in a statement.

Tarriela stressed that CCG’s move not only disregarded the safety of the PCG crew and the supply boats, but also violated international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 1972 Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS), and the 2016 Arbitral Award.

“We ask that China Coast Guard, as an organization with a responsibility to observe state obligations under UNCLOS, COLREGs, and other relevant instruments of international maritime safety and security, to cease all illegal activities within the maritime zones of the Philippines,” Tarriela said.

In a separate statement, Col. Medel Aguilar, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson, said they expressed grave concern over CCG’s excessive and unlawful actions against Philippine vessels.

“Because of the CCG’s dangerous maneuvers, the second supply boat was not able to unload the supplies and could not complete the mission,” he said.

“We call on the China Coast Guard and the Central Military Commission to act with prudence and be responsible in their actions to prevent miscalculations and accidents that will endanger peoples’ lives,” Aguilar added.

At publishing time, no statement was issued by the Chinese Embassy in Manila.

Philippine Coast Guard picture

China’s action came after lawmakers last week unanimously adopted a resolution condemning China’s continued harassment of Filipino fishermen and its persistent incursions in the contested waters.

The resolution, which expresses the sentiment of the upper chamber but is non-binding, also urged the Philippine government “to take appropriate action in asserting and securing” the country’s sovereign rights, and “to call on China to stop its illegal activities.”

“This bipartisan effort tells the Filipino people that when it comes to matters of national sovereignty, we will never be bullied into submission,” said Sen. Risa Hontiveros, one of the senators who filed the resolution.

“The fight against China’s reckless behavior in the West Philippine Sea does not end here,” she added. 

Just last month, the Philippines also accused its Chinese counterpart of dangerous maneuvers that could have caused a collision during a resupply mission in the contested South China Sea.

The incident happened on June 30 in Ayungin Shoal when two China Coast Guard vessels intercepted Philippine patrol boats and “exhibited aggressive tactics” near Second Thomas Shoal. At one point, CCG 5201 came within 50 yards (46 meters) of a Philippine ship.

In a separate incident, on April 21, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy vessel with the bow number 549 crossed paths with Philippine vessels near Pag-asa Island.

In February, a CCG vessel directed a military grade laser light  twice at a Philippine ship, causing temporary blindness to the crew at the bridge. Manila filed a diplomatic protest over the incident, with Marcos himself summoning the Chinese envoy.

China has competing claims in the South China Sea with the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam. In 2016, an international tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines and against Beijing’s sweeping “nine-dash line,” but China has since refused to acknowledge the ruling.

 

Peace: A New Tool for Reducing Deforestation in the Colombian Amazon

 

The Colombian government has responded to this uptick with militarization, which has done little to quell deforestation and has often stoked more violence.

August 5, 2023 by Mongabay Leave a Comment

By Sarah Sax

• In the almost seven years since Colombia signed a peace agreement with FARC, its largest rebel movement, farmers, miners, loggers and armed groups have accelerated deforestation, often in tandem with environmental conflicts.
• The Colombian government has responded to this uptick with militarization, which has done little to quell deforestation and has often stoked more violence.
• Now, a new group of researchers from the Del Rosario University in Colombia are piloting a different approach, developing a toolbox that communities and local governments can use to reconcile environmental and social conflicts as a way to stop deforestation and bring more peace to the region.

For the last several years, soldiers have been entering the Colombian Amazon armed to the teeth to fight deforestation, surging ever since the 2016 peace accord between rebel group FARC and the government. But when Simon Uribe Martinez enters the jungle, his only weapon is a large wooden box, filled with colorful figurines and large pieces of paper. The 2-kilogram (4.4-pound) box, which resembles more a board game than a game of war, symbolizes a new attempt to stop deforestation and bring peace to an area that has seen successive waves of violence for the last several decades — most recently from the national military attempting to stop miners, loggers and ranchers from eating away at the forest.

Historically, the government has put the cause of deforestation squarely on coca growers and ranchers using cattle to launder money. While this might be true in some regions, said Uribe Martinez, a geographer whose research has focused on the impact of infrastructure in the Amazon, the region is incredibly diverse, and the drivers of deforestation — as well as the solutions — are not homogenous.

“Rather than take the language of the government in terms of direct and indirect causes of deforestation, we are trying to understand what are the historical trajectories and transformations that can help us understand why our territory has transformed in time and what has been the role of deforestation,” Uribe Martinez told Mongabay.

Uribe Martinez is part of the Selva y Conflicto (Forest and Conflict) research team at Del Rosario University in Bogotá that is working to find alternative solutions to tackling deforestation. One of the primary things that sets them apart from the government’s approach is their emphasis on peace building as a way to also tackle environmental issues like deforestation. With that in mind, they have developed a toolbox – which Uribe Martinez carries into the jungle – that includes ways of engaging with farmers and peasants on the forest boundary combined with state-of-the-art technology such as geospatial analysis and satellite imagery. Using this toolbox, the team can better diagnose the causes of deforestation and violent conflict, ultimately equipping policymakers, civil society leaders and local community members to develop more sustainable solutions.

Defining the problem first

Since reaching the 2016 peace agreement with FARC, deforestation in Colombia has surged from 49,600 hectares (123,000 acres) of primary forest loss in 2015 to 128,000 hectares (316,000 acres) in 2022. Deforestation is mainly driven by cattle, with smaller amounts attributable to coca and other crops.

Although deforestation is often seen as a biophysical process — cutting down trees — it is just as much a socio-environmental process, Javier Eduardo Revelo Rebolledo, a political scientist and co-leader of the project who has been researching deforestation in the Amazon since the 2016 peace accord, told Mongabay.

People live in and around forests, and those forests are deeply connected to people’s livelihoods, identities and cultures as well as enmeshed with local politics. For example, before the peace accord, deforestation was much lower partly because FARC and other rebel groups needed the tree cover to hide their activities. In contrast, the paramilitary wanted less tree cover so it could see its adversaries.

The government’s response to deforestation has been to send highly militarized battalions into national parks to prevent people from cutting trees. The most recent campaign, “Operation Artemis,” launched in 2019, sent heavily militarized battalions to areas suffering deforestation in Colombian national parks, where anywhere from 14,000-22,000 people still live. But according to calculations by Mongabay Latam and Cuestión Pública, between 2019 and 2021 the operation barely tackled 3% of the country’s total deforested area while costing the country more than 3.4 billion pesos (just under $830,000).

Critics have argued that military campaigns like this one target the weakest links of the chain: poor peasants in rural areas who are trying to eke out a living in the forest while being caught between violent insurgent groups and large land-grabbers and agribusinesses. “Operation Artemis has not significantly targeted the large deforesters with political connections in the territory. It has, above all, [targeted] small settlers, who are responsible, but to a lesser extent,” said Nicola Clerici, an ecologist and researcher from Del Rosario University in Colombia.

These attempts have often provoked more conflict. For example, in the department of Caquetá, communities have denounced the army for burning their houses and even destroyed the road in an attempt to keep out the military. Objectives for reducing deforestation need to be much more diverse than just stopping the felling of trees, said Revelo Rebolledo. If you try to reduce deforestation but, in the process, you end up fueling more conflict, as in the case of the current militarization, then it will likely not be a sustainable or equitable solution.

“It is not just the ends but also the means we need to be concerned with,” said Revelo Rebolledo. “We need to find a way to reconcile environmental concerns with peace-building concerns.”

Defining the solutions

Part of the problem is that the drivers of deforestation in the Amazon are often oversimplified, said Uribe Martinez. For example, in February 2021, Colombian President Iván Duque told the press that “undoubtedly, much of this deforesting criminal cattle farming that has reached this region is also linked to organized armed groups’ money laundering operations, which bring cattle without movement licenses and also expose our country to threatening circumstances.”

While this may be true in some regions, the oversimplification of the problem has led to solutions that have at best been ineffective and at worst aggravated local tensions.

“What we were fighting against from the beginning was seeing the Amazon as a homogenous region. What happens in Caquetá with cattle is very different from Putumayo,” said Uribe Martinez. “The only way to understand this conflict is through understanding the regional differences.”

To understand the social and environmental conflicts at the root of deforestation, the team has piloted the use of the wooden toolbox. The physical box looks from the outset like a board game, with different colored figurines and pieces. In addition to satellite information about the territories, communities themselves work then to create their own maps of conflicts — these maps include not only geographical areas and causes of deforestation, but also relationships and values, building a much more holistic understanding of the territory.

The team developed the tool in collaboration with the ITArKA Foundation in Puerto Guzmán, in the municipality of Putumayo, and local communities. The challenge was to reconcile the research methods often used by academics and the needs of local leaders and communities. “It was kind of a laboratory,” Rebolledo Revelo said. Now that they have a prototype of the toolbox developed, they are working to expand their networks to other municipalities and organizations.

While the toolbox is designed primarily for organizations accompanying environmental and territorial community processes, the researchers recognize the importance of collaboration with local governments, which have participated in several workshops they have given about the toolbox. Especially for the authorities who will be elected in October, the research teams hope the tool will become a valuable instrument for their planning processes next year.

“This tool can be effective when you have engaged organizations and communities,” Revelo Rebolledo told Mongabay “But it’s also a process that often takes years — very different from a government engagement that is short-term.”

One result from their initial implementations has been to confirm the importance that communities put on getting access to things like health care and education. Deforestation is not just about illegal drivers and capital accumulation; many people are also just trying to survive, Revelo Rebolledo told Mongabay. “When we talk about deforestation as just an environmental issue, we don’t think about it as a social issue that needs to deal with development,” he said.

Internationally, researchers and practitioners are increasingly focusing on solutions to stopping deforestation that go beyond the simple idea that physically barring people from entering or using the forest will be a sustainable solution. This aligns with a growing trend of valuing and prioritizing the knowledge and demands of the communities most affected by deforestation.

For example, the organization Health In Harmony, which works in Indonesia, Brazil and Madagascar, identified rising medical and fertilizer costs as a prime reason why communities engage in deforestation. By providing medical services and training in sustainable agriculture, their project in Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park in Indonesia has avoided the emission of 22 million metric tons of carbon, according to the Woodwell Climate Research Center.

In theory, the aim of the toolbox is to give communities the means to diagnose problems and come up with solutions that could look very similar to this; solutions that go beyond stopping tree loss and get to the heart of the conflicts and needs of the communities themselves.

Now that the grant has run its course, the developers of the Selva y Conflicto toolbox are in the process of writing up their results and disseminating their toolbox and findings to other researchers, communities and organizations in other municipalities through workshops and online resources. With so much information on deforestation and policy solutions to tackling it being either in English or focused on the Brazilian Amazon, the researchers also see this toolbox as a way to diversify the conversation around deforestation in the Amazon as an international region.

“We know there is a consensus that current policies don’t work — the policy of coercion has failed,” said Uribe Martinez. “We know what doesn’t work — now we need to find out what does.”

—

This post was previously published on news.mongabay.com and under a Creative Commons license CC BY-ND 4.

SCHADENFRUEDE

Sweden see off United States on penalties 

United States were dumped out of the Women's World Cup on Sunday following a penalty shoot-out loss to Sweden. 

AFTER TWO ROUNDS OF OT FULL PLAY BECAUSE OF TIE, THEN A DOUBLE SHOOT OUT AND I CHEERED FOR SWEDEN

Earlier the Netherlands moved into the last eight with 2-0 victory over South Africa.

Issued on: 06/08/2023 -

Lina Hurtig (number 8) celberates with her Sweden teammates after her penalty secured the shoot-out victory over the United States at the women's World Cup.

 © REUTERS - ASANKA BRENDON RATNAYAKE

Text by: Paul Myers

Following torrents of criticism for their lacklustre displays, the Americans dominated the Swedes at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. But they could not find a way past the Sweden goalkeeper Zecira Musovic.

And in a gripping penalty session, the Americans failed to take advantage of their fortune when Gun Nathalie Bjorn missed Sweden's third kick.

Veteran US striker Megan Rapinoe – who won titles in 2015 and 2019 – missed the fourth kick for the Americans.

Rebecka Blomquist also fluffed her shot for the Swedes which gave Sophia Smith the chance to seal passage into the quarter-finals. But the 22-year-old missed.

Hanna Bennison scored for Sweden to level proceedings at three apiece and take the session into sudden death.

US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher and defender Magdalena Eriksson scored to make it 4-4.

But Kelley O’Hara's shot hit the post which gave Sweden's Lina Hurtig the chance for glory. Naeher saved her shot but the ball spun back and the video assistant referee judged that it had crossed the line before Naeher could slap it away.

Sweden, who condemned the Americans to their earliest exit from the tournament in nine appearances, will take on Japan in the quarter-finals on 11 August at Eden Park in Auckland.

AFTER LOSING TO CANADA 

Netherlands beat South Africa

The Netherlands advanced to the quarters with less trauma.

Jill Roord's header past the South Africa goalkeeper Kaylin Swart gave the Dutch a ninth minute lead against the African champions at the Sydney Football Stadium.

And Lineth Beerensteyn added a second goal mid way through the second-half to send the Netherlands into the quarter-finals for the second consecutive tournament.

Sherida Spitse, the Netherlands skipper, hailed the performance of goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar who produced a string of outstanding saves to thwart the South Africans.

"That is why she is our number one goalkeeper,” said the 33-year-old midfielder.

“She did a very good job and I am really thankful."

South Africa coach Desiree Ellis was left to rue her side's inability to exploit their openings from 14 shots on target.

“We felt we could have won this game and if I look back, we should have done with the opportunities that we had,” she said.

“But, as always, if you don’t take the chances then that’s what happens. With a decision or a goal here or there, we could be speaking differently now, but I think the whole of South Africa should be really proud of this team.”

The Netherlands will play Spain on Friday in Wellington for a place in the semi-finals.

ARCHITECTURE OF CAPITALI$M

India's new diamond exchange pips the Pentagon as world's largest office block

A glittering new building that will house India’s mammoth diamond market has grabbed the title of the world’s single largest office block. It comprises nine 15-storey towers that make up some 2 million square metres of floor space.

Surat Diamond Bourse is designed to hold 67,000 professionals, including cutters, polishers and traders. 

© Edmund Sumner

Text by: Pratap Chakravarty

Issued on: 06/08/2023 - 

Pundits predict the Surat Diamond Bourse, which took four years to build as a "city within a city", will help India's domestic diamond industry deflect the impact of the war in Ukraine.

Bourse chairman Vallabhbhai Patel said the facility in Gujarat state would have an annual turnover of 25 billion euros.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is tipped to inaugurate the new bourse, labelled the building “a testament to India’s entrepreneurial spirit”.

The first occupants will move in from November.

“It will serve as a hub for trade, innovation, and collaboration, further boosting our economy and creating employment opportunities,” Modi tweeted last month.
Diamond traders

Indian diamantaires cut and polish nine out of every 10 stones that are mined in the world.

However, the local industry, which was worth 17 billion euros in 2021, faces the threat of sanctions to choke supplies of Russian diamonds.

Pentagon pipped

The Indian structure wrests the crown as the world's largest office building from the 620,000-square-metre Pentagon, which held the title for 80 years after being built near Washington DC to serve as the headquarters of the US military in 1943.

The Indian bourse consists of 4,717 offices for 67,000 diamond cutters, polishers, gemologists and traders. It also offers shaded courtyards for the informal commerce that is popular among traditional Indian traders.

The offices are also designed that they can be reached from any of the entrance points in seven minutes.

Morphogenesis Architects, which planned the red granite and white stone colossus spread across 35 acres of land and built at a cost of 355 million euros, said it had been “democratically designed”.

“It has not been designed for an individual head of a company or an individual head of an association but has been requisitioned by a committee that represents the entire diamond merchants,” Morphogenesis co-founder Sonali Rastogi told RFI.

“The committee judged the design, making sure it was fair for everyone. The concept even applied to things like furniture.”

Sparkling pledge

The nine towers connected with wide corridors are equipped with 131 elevators, fire safety gear, safe deposit vaults and customs facilities.

The offices, which can also double up as small workshops for cutting and polishing, were day-lit for diamond grading, “pushing Surat to becoming the world’s largest diamond trading hub”, the Surat bourse said.

And if necessary, architect Rastogi added, more diamond cutters, traders and polishers could be packed into the nine rectangular towers that are interconnected via a central “spine”.

“The building can handle more people— that’s a ‘yes’ for increased density. And when it comes to offices, they can fit more people to some extent. But overall there is enough space to increase density in the building.”

But some reports said traders of Mumbai were in no hurry to shift base from India’s financial capital to Surat, a mercantile district shunned in 1994 when plague killed 56 residents and later sullied by Gujarat’s anti-Muslim riots in 2002.

Despite this, many craftsmen working in gemstone sweatshops are likely to make a beeline for Surat as Rastogi pledges favourable conditions at the new building, 15 kilometres from the city.

Burkina Faso-born architect Francis Diebedo Kere wins prestigious Pritzker Prize

French architect and May '68 activist Roland Castro dies aged 82

Taliban bans girl students from attending school beyond third class: Report

ByMallika Soni

Aug 06, 2023 

Afghanistan: In some provinces, the local authorities of the “Ministry for Preaching and Guidance” separated girls based on age, it was reported.

Local Taliban officials have reportedly banned girls over 10 years of age from attending primary school classes in some provinces of Afghanistan bringing in its latest set of restrictions against female education. Officials from Taliban-ruled Ministry of Education told principals of schools and short-term training classes in Ghazni province that “any girl over 10 years of age is not allowed to study in primary schools”, BBC Persian reported.

Afghanistan: A Taliban fighter stands guard in Kabul, Afghanistan.(AP)

A student in sixth grade- for which the Taliban had permitted education last year- said that girls who are over 10 years old were not allowed to enter the school. In some provinces, the local authorities of the “Ministry for Preaching and Guidance” separated girls based on age, the report claimed, adding that officials asked the principals of the girls’ school to send the female students above the third grade home.

Taliban's history of banning women education

Following the exit of US and NATO-led regime in Afghanistan, Taliban in September 2021 banned girls from secondary education, ordering high schools to be reopened for boys only. Last December, it banned college and university-going women and imposed an indefinite ban on university education for thousands.

Last month, the UN criticised Taliban for further increasing restrictions on women and girls in Afghanistan in recent months, including on education and employment. The regime has barred women from most areas of public life and work. This includes banning girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade and prohibiting Afghan women from working at local and non-governmental organisations. The ban was also extended to employees of the United Nations in April.