BACKGROUNDER

Guatemala’s electoral authority blocks the suspension of President-elect Arévalo’s political party

People march to reject legal actions taken by the Attorney General’s office against the Seed Movement party and President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo in Guatemala City, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. Arévalo won the runoff against Sandra Torres by more than 20 points. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)People march to reject legal actions taken by the Attorney General’s office against the Seed Movement party and President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo, in Guatemala City, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. Guatemala’s Congress has declared the Seed Movement’s seven lawmakers — one of whom is Arévalo — independents, which bars them from holding leadership positions. 

BY SONIA PÉREZ D.
September 3, 2023

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala’s top electoral authority said Sunday it blocked the suspension of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo’s Seed Movement, at least temporarily giving the party back its legal status and cutting off an attempt by opposing political forces to weaken him.

The decision by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal came days after the electoral registry suspended the party on a judge’s order. The Attorney General’s office is investigating whether there was wrongdoing in the gathering of required signatures for the party’s formation years earlier.

The tribunal said the suspension could not stand because it did not come from an electoral body. Its decision holds until the official end of the electoral period Oct. 31, because Guatemala’s electoral law does not allow the suspension of a party during the electoral period.

The Seed Movement had also appealed the suspension through the normal court system, but so far without result. It is expected that come Nov. 1, the party could be suspended again.


Guatemala’s Congress refuses to recognize president-elect’s party

Guatemala’s president-elect faces legal challenges that seek to weaken him. Here’s what’s happening

The c ongressional leadership had already used the suspension of the Seed Movement last week to make its seven lawmakers, including Arévalo, independents, which bars them from leading legislative committees or holding other positions of leadership in the Congress.

Arévalo, a progressive lawmaker and academic, shocked Guatemala by making it into an Aug. 20 presidential runoff in which he beat former first lady Sandra Torres by more than 20 points. Ever since Arévalo achieved a surprise second-place finish among a crowded field in the first round of voting in June, his party has come under attack.

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal recognized Arévalo as the winner and outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei has said he will begin the transition, but the Attorney General’s Office has been aggressively pursuing the Seed Movement on various fronts.

On Friday, the head of the Organization of American States’ electoral observation mission said the efforts appear aimed at keeping Arévalo from taking office in January.

Observers inside and outside Guatemala have warned in recent years that the country’s democracy is in decline.

President Jimmy Morales, Giammattei’s predecessor, expelled the United Nations-backed anti-corruption mission that had made impressive strides in dismantling networks of corruption that divert public monies to their pockets and had allowed drug traffickers to take ever-growing control of the country.

Giammattei weaponized the justice system, turning it against the same prosecutors and judges who had led that anti-corruption fight. His Attorney General and her anti-corruption prosecutor have both been sanctioned by the United States government as undemocratic actors allegedly involved in corruption.

Polls showed Arévalo’s party with under 3% support heading into the first round of voting. But his message of taking up once again the corruption fight resonated with a frustrated population facing an array of candidates mostly promising more of the same.

His support expanded exponentially as he headed into the runoff last month. He ran a hopeful outsider’s campaign against Torres, who was making her third presidential bid and couldn’t shake the status quo reputation she picked up by helping to advance Giammattei’s legislative agenda.

Voters spoke loudly, trying to give Arévalo an undisputable margin of victory. But the entrenched political and economic forces that stand much to lose under an Arévalo presidency have not rolled over. And as the president-elect said Friday, there are still four months before he takes office “during which these political mafias will try to consummate the coup d’etat.”
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AP writer Christopher Sherman in Mexico City contributed to this report

People march against legal actions taken by the Attorney General’s office against the Seed Movement party and President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo, in Guatemala City, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. Guatemala’s Congress has declared the Seed Movement’s seven lawmakers — one of whom is Arévalo — independents, which bars them from holding leadership positions. 

A banner with a portrait of the Attorney General Consuelo Porras hangs on a crowd control barrier during a protest against her actions against the Seed Movement party and President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo, at the Constitutional Square in Guatemala City, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. Guatemala’s Congress has declared the Seed Movement’s seven lawmakers — one of whom is Arévalo — independents, which bars them from holding leadership positions

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A woman shows support for the Seed Movement party during a march against legal actions taken by the Attorney General’s office against President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo, at the Constitutional Square in Guatemala City, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. Guatemala’s Congress has declared the Seed Movement’s seven lawmakers — one of whom is Arévalo — independents, which bars them from holding leadership positions. 

People gather against the legal actions taken by the Attorney General’s office against the Seed Movement party and President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo, at the Constitutional Square in Guatemala City, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. Guatemala’s Congress has declared the Seed Movement’s seven lawmakers — one of whom is Arévalo — independents, which bars them from holding leadership positions. 

People march against legal actions taken by the Attorney General’s office against the Seed Movement party and President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo, in Guatemala City, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. Guatemala’s Congress has declared the Seed Movement’s seven lawmakers — one of whom is Arévalo — independents, which bars them from holding leadership positions. 

A woman holds up a sign with a message that reads in Spanish: “Get out coup plotters,” during a march against legal actions taken by the Attorney General’s office against the Seed Movement party and President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo in Guatemala City, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. Guatemala’s Congress has declared the Seed Movement’s seven lawmakers — one of whom is Arévalo — independents, which bars them from holding leadership positions. 

OAS says legal actions in Guatemala appear aimed at keeping president-elect from taking power

Protesters show documents with citizen signatures demanding the resignation of Attorney General Consuelo Porras, in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. President-elect Bernardo Arévalo named Porras, anti-corruption prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche and the judge who ordered his party’s suspension as among those working to keep him from taking office.

BY SONIA PÉREZ D.
September 1, 2023

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The head of the Organization of American States’ election observation mission said Friday that the actions taken by Guatemala’s justice system against the Seed Movement party of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo appear to be aimed at preventing him from taking power.

Arévalo echoed that concern at his own news conference Friday in which he called on Guatemalans to resist what he characterized as an attempt to overthrow his government before it takes office.

The president-elect also received a call from U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris congratulating him on his victory and pledging to work closely with his government, as the Biden administration works to make the transition to Arévalo appear inevitable.

Eladio Loizaga of the Organization of American States told a special meeting of the permanent council the Aug. 20 election vote was a peaceful and transparent election that left no doubt as to the will of the people.

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But in summarizing the various legal actions taken by the Attorney General’s Office against the Seed Movement, Loizaga said there appears to be clear political intent.

“Given the documented conditions, it is impossible that the Electoral Observation Mission would arrive at any other conclusion than that in this very specific case the mechanisms and tools of Guatemalan justice are being used politically” against the Seed Movement, he said, adding that the behavior of Guatemalan authorities has been “selective, disproportionate and clearly tailored to the political moment.”

Loizaga said that preventing Arévalo from taking power in January would break the constitutional order and go against the will of the people.

At the request of prosecutors, a judge suspended the Seed Movement’s legal status for alleged wrongdoing in the party’s collection of the signatures needed to register years earlier. This week, Guatemala’s Congress declared the Seed Movement’s seven lawmakers — one of whom is Arévalo — independents, which bars them from holding leadership positions.

Arévalo won the runoff against former first lady Sandra Torres by more than 20 points. She has not conceded and her party has alleged fraud, something Loizaga said was not supported by evidence.

Arévalo named Attorney General Consuelo Porras, anti-corruption prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche and the judge who ordered his party’s suspension as among those working to keep him from taking office.

“We are seeing a coup d’etat in motion in which the justice apparatus is used to violate justice,” Arévalo said.

Ahead of next January’s swearing in, “We alert the Guatemalan people that there are still four months, during which these political mafias will try to consummate the coup d’etat,” he said. “The people’s resistance is legitimate,” he added.

Guatemala’s Foreign Minister Mario Búcaro, who was present at the OAS meeting, downplayed the notion of any turmoil in the country’s politics, saying “there is no electoral crisis, and there is peace.”

Later Friday, the White House announced that U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Arévalo. She congratulated him on his victory and “discussed our shared interests in combatting corruption, supporting civilian security, and increasing economic opportunity,” according to a summary of the call provided by the White House.

Harris had previously identified corruption as one of the factors driving emigration from Guatemala. The call was the latest show of support by the U.S. government toward Arévalo since his election.

The Biden administration has been at odds with the government of outgoing Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei in recent years, sanctioning his attorney general as an undemocratic actor and criticizing a deterioration in the country’s democratic institutions, even while trying to enlist its help in controlling migration flows.

President-elect Bernardo Arévalo arrives to a press conference in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. 


President-elect Bernardo Arévalo gives a press conference in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. 


President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, right, and Vice President Karin Herrera give a press conference in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. 

President-elect Bernardo Arévalo talks with his staff after giving a press conference in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. 

Protesters show documents with citizen signatures demanding the resignation of Attorney General Consuelo Porras, in Guatemala City, Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. President-elect Bernardo Arévalo named Porras, anti-corruption prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche and the judge who ordered his party’s suspension as among those working to keep him from taking office.

Guatemala’s Congress refuses to recognize president-elect’s party

A woman stops to chat with police guarding the perimeter of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal building, in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. Progressive candidate Bernardo Arévalo was confirmed the winner of the presidential runoff election by the country’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal on Monday, but the same day another government body ordered his political party suspended. 

BY SONIA PÉREZ D.

August 30, 2023

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala’s Congress, which is controlled by the currently governing party, on Wednesday refused to recognize the seven lawmakers from the Seed Movement party of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, following the suspension of his party earlier this week.

Lawmakers declared their Seed Movement colleagues independents in the latest move against the party since Arévalo’s landslide win Aug. 20. Prosecutors have accused the Seed Movement of wrongdoing in gathering signatures for the party’s registration years earlier. The case was announced in July after Arévalo won a surprise place in the presidential runoff against former first lady Sandra Torres.

Anti-corruption prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche officially advised the Congress of the party’s suspension despite pending court appeals. The U.S. government has sanctioned Curruchiche for allegedly obstructing corruption investigations.

Wednesday was the Congress’ first session after a two-month recess. Arévalo is among the seven lawmakers declared independents and he was present at the session Wednesday.


Guatemala’s electoral authority blocks the suspension of President-elect Arévalo’s political party

Guatemala’s president-elect faces legal challenges that seek to weaken him. Here’s what’s happening

At a news conference later, the Seed Movement said it was the victim of a government conspiracy and would seek an injunction blocking Congress’ move. It said it would also file a complaint with the legislature’s leaders.

“In recent days we have witnessed the systematic articulation of actions aimed at the disappearance of the Seed Movement, at the same time cancelling the support of the Guatemalan people at the ballot box who expressed an emphatic ‘no’ to corruption,” said party lawmaker Samuel Pérez.

Seed Movement legislator Román Castellanos said the impact is that Seed Movement lawmakers cannot hold leadership positions in the Congress. They also lose the presidency of the sole congressional committee they held, he said.

The body acted differently in the case of another party, the National Change Union, months earlier when its party status was cancelled by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. The party allied with the governing party of President Alejandro Giammattei did not have its lawmakers declared independents or stripped of their committee leadership positions.

Arévalo’s win is worrying to entrenched powers because he has promised to re-start the campaign against corruption.

Seed Movement party lawmakers give a press conference in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. Guatemala’s Congress has refused to recognize the lawmakers from the party of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, following the suspension of his party earlier this week. 

Seed Movement party lawmaker and leader Samuel Perez, arrives at a press conference in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. Guatemala’s Congress has refused to recognize the lawmakers from the party of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, following the suspension of his party earlier this week. 

Seed Movement party lawmaker and leader Samuel Perez, center, arrives at a press conference in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. Guatemala’s Congress has refused to recognize the lawmakers from the party of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, following the suspension of his party earlier this week. 

Seed Movement party lawmakers give a press conference in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. Guatemala’s Congress has refused to recognize the lawmakers from the party of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, following the suspension of his party earlier this week. 

A child holds a poster with a message that reads in Spanish: “No to fraud,” during a protest alleging electoral fraud in the runoff presidential election, in front of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal building, in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. 

Seed Movement party lawmakers give a press conference in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. Guatemala’s Congress has refused to recognize the lawmakers from the party of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, following the suspension of his party earlier this week. 

A protester blows on noise maker holding a poster with a message that reads in Spanish: “No to electoral fraud,” during a protest alleging fraud in the runoff presidential election, in front of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal building, in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. 

A protester holds a poster asking for a do over during a protest alleging electoral fraud in the runoff presidential election, in front of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal building, in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. 

Protesters alleging electoral fraud in the runoff presidential election gather in front of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal building, in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023.

Guatemalan president calls for transition of power to anti-corruption crusader Arévalo


President-elect Bernardo Arevalo gives a press conference in Guatemala City, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. The Central American country’s top electoral tribunal declared Arevalo the winner of the presidential election just hours after another part of the government suspended his Seed Movement party. 

BY SONIA PÉREZ D. AND MEGAN JANETSKY
August 29, 2023

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei called Tuesday for a democratic transition of power to anti-corruption campaigner and president-elect Bernardo Arévalo and his Seed Movement party, which have faced waves of legal attacks in attempts to block his rise to power.

The president’s statement came after a night of political chaos in the Central American nation following one of its most tumultuous elections in recent history.

Hours before the country’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal certified late Monday that Arévalo won this month’s presidential election, another government body — the electoral registry — suspended his party from all political activities. The Seed Movement asked the country’s top electoral authority to lift the suspension.

Arévalo called the suspension illegal at a news conference Monday and said that now the vote has been certified “no one can impede me from taking office on Jan. 14.” Arévalo and his party, posing a threat to those keen on holding onto power, have faced a slew of legal challenges, allegations of irregularities and assassination plots, according to international observers.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday congratulated Arévalo on his election as the next president of Guatemala, saying in a statement that the United States remains “concerned with continued actions by those who seek to undermine Guatemala’s democracy.”

“We stand with our partners in the international community and with the Guatemalan people against these unacceptable efforts, including the use of prosecutorial powers against those who seek transparency and accountability,” the statement said.

Arévalo already appeared certain to take office as president in January, after easily beating conservative former first lady Sandra Torres in that runoff. He got 60.9% of the votes, while she had 37.2%.

In a brief message to Guatemalans on Tuesday, Giammattei said he was satisfied for having put all the resources into making the electoral process peaceful. Despite accusations of voter fraud by Torres, the president said there were no “significant” incidents in the voting process.

“Now the doors are open to an orderly, transparent and efficient government transition,” Giammattei said.

Still, the suspension throws into doubt whether Seed Movement lawmakers can take their 23 seats in Congress, and also underscores the uphill battle faced by Arévalo, who campaigned on a progressive and anti-corruption platform.

The Seed Movement requested that the suspension be nullified, basing its request on a June ruling by Guatemala’s constitutional court holding that no political force can be suspended during an electoral period. It will be up to the the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to rule on the party’s standing.

“We’re basically entering really unexplored legal terrain,” said Tiziano Breda, a Central America expert at Italy’s Instituto Affari Internazionali. “But Arévalo’s victory is very hard to overrule. I’m not sure they want to risk great international concern, a diplomatic crisis, or what it could imply socially, the unrest it could provoke.”

He said he expects Arévalo’s opponents to continue trying to hamstring other parts of his administration so as to make it as hard as possible for him to govern.

Torres had appeared to have a clear shot at the presidency earlier this year after various other competitors were eliminated from the race, sparking concerns among some critics about the country’s democracy.

In the first round of voting, the little-known Arévalo emerged from a crowded presidential field as a surprise presidential contender, winning the right to go into the runoff with Torres, who came to represent the country’s elite at a time that Guatemalans are hungry for change amid discontent over endemic corruption.

His win has been the source of a legal back-and-forth between various governmental entities and courts, some staffed with officials who have been sanctioned by the United States on charges of corruption.

Torres, who hasn’t conceded defeat, has alleged voter fraud. Raids by prosecutors on his party’s headquarters have caused concern in the international community and among Guatemalans. Earlier this week, the Organization of American States’ human rights commission asked that Guatemala provide protection for Arévalo after reports emerged of possible plots to kill him.

Following the election in August, thousands of people spontaneously took to the streets to celebrate his victory in the capital, Guatemala City. Amid attempts to invalidate the vote, smaller peaceful protests have cropped up in front of the Attorney General’s Office, with demonstrators waving blue and white Guatemalan flags to demand respect for the vote.

Breda said the existing establishment has tried hard to overturn the results. “Even if they don’t manage to, this will have an implication of hindering a transition to Arévalo’s presidency,” he said.
___

Janetsky reported from Mexico City.


Guatemala arrests former UN anti-corruption commission representative

 August 28, 2023


GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemalan prosecutors on Monday arrested the former representative of a United Nations-backed anti-corruption commission that was expelled from the country several years ago.

The arrest of Claudia González is the latest chapter in the government’s systematic pursuit of those who worked with the U.N. anti-corruption mission, best known by its Spanish initials CICIG.

Interviewed outside the courthouse after her arrest, González said the charges were strange. She said she was charged with abuse of authority by a public servant, when in fact she was not a government employee when she served as legal representative of the CICIG.

González has most recently been acting as defense attorney for some of the dozens of former anti-corruption prosecutors and officials facing legal action from the current administration.

President Alejandro Giammattei’s administration has been accused by civil society organizations and foreign governments of systemically pursuing those who worked with the U.N. mission.

Some 30 judges, magistrates and prosecutors involved in the investigation or processing of those corruption cases have been forced to flee the country after facing legal action.

Perhaps the CICIG’s greatest achievement was the investigation and prosecution of President Otto Pérez Molina, who was forced to resign along with his Cabinet in 2015.

Over 12 years, the CICIG supported Guatemala’s Special Prosecutors Office Against Impunity in dismantling dozens of criminal networks while at the same time building its capacity to handle complex corruption cases.

Then President Jimmy Morales ended the CICIG mission in 2019 while he was under investigation.

The U.S. government has sharply criticized the weakening of anti-corruption efforts in Guatemala and last year cancelled the U.S. visa of current Guatemalan Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who had been pursuing former prosecutors who conducted corruption investigations.

President-elect Bernardo Arevalo, right, and his Vice President Karin Herrera give a press conference in Guatemala City, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. 


President-Elect Bernardo Arevalo, right, and his Vice President Karin Herrera arrive for a press conference in Guatemala City, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. 

President-elect Bernardo Arevalo gives a press conference in Guatemala City, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. 

President-Elect Bernardo Arevalo listens to a question during a press conference in Guatemala City, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023.  

AP Photos/Moisés Castillo

ANOTHER SWEATSHOP FIRE

Rain and a wrong address delayed firefighters reaching a Philippine factory blaze. 15 people died

A fire killed 15 people in a small apparel factory in a Philippine residential area, where firefighters were delayed by flooding, traffic and a wrong address, officials said Thursday. 

 August 31, 2023

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A fire killed 15 people Thursday in a small apparel factory in a Philippine residential area, where firefighters were delayed by flooding, traffic and a wrong address, a fire protection official.

Most of the victims appeared to be factory workers and carpenters who were sleeping in rooms when the fire broke out Thursday morning.

Some were found dead on an aisle outside the rooms and the factory owner and his child were among the dead, Chief Superintendent Nahum Tarroza of the Bureau of Fire Protection said.

Three people survived with injuries by jumping off the second floor of the two-story factory in panic, Tarroza said. The three were taken to a hospital.

The firefighters’ arrival was delayed by about 14 minutes after a monsoon-season downpour and wind caused flooding and traffic jams and a wrong address was given to firefighters, Tarroza said.

Tarroza said he would order an investigation into the firefighters’ delayed response.

The fire in the Pleasant View residential enclave in Tandang Sora village in suburban Quezon city was extinguished in two hours. An investigation was looking into the cause and if safety regulations were breached by the factory owner, officials said.

The factory stored combustible materials and textile used in making apparel and also printed designs on shirts used for business promotions, village officials said.

Construction of buildings and residential enclaves that don’t conform to safety standards and lax enforcement of safety regulations have caused deadly fires in the Philippines in the past.

A 1996 nightclub fire killed 162 people, mostly students celebrating the end of the school year, in Quezon city. About 400 people were packed in the Ozone disco when the fire started, but many were unable to escape because the emergency exit was blocked by a new building next door.

Ninety-three others were injured in the blaze, one of the biggest nightclub fires in the world in recent decades

Metal factory explosion in Brazil kills 4 and injures at least 30

A metal factory is destroyed after a fatal explosion in Cabreuva, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. 

Firefighters walk amid the debris of a metal factory destroyed by an explosion, in Cabreuva, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. The explosion in southern Brazil killed several people and seriously injured at least a dozen others, state officials said. 

Updated 4:15 PM MDT, September 1, 2023


SAO PAULO (AP) — An explosion Friday at a metal factory in the countryside of Brazil’s most populous state killed four people and seriously injured at least 30 others, officials said.

Dozens of firefighters and rescue teams were sent to the site of the explosion in the city of Cabreuva, Sao Paulo Gov. Tarcisio de Freitas said on social media. Cabreuva lies about 90 kilometers (about 60 miles) northwest of the city of Sao Paulo.

Footage on Brazilian TV broadcasters showed the factory completely destroyed by the explosion.

Local media outlets said the blast was triggered by overheating equipment, and that hospitals in the area had been warned there would be a big influx of injured patients.

Onlookers watch as authorities investigate the scene where a metal factory was destroyed by an explosion, in Cabreuva, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. The explosion in southern Brazil killed several people and seriously injured at least a dozen others, state officials said. 

Police officers investigate the scene of a metal factory destroyed by an explosion, in Cabreuva, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. The explosion in southern Brazil killed several people and seriously injured at least a dozen others, state officials said. 

A metal factory is without a roof after a deadly explosion in Cabreuva, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Tuane Fernandes)

A metal factory is destroyed after a fatal explosion in Cabreuva, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. 

( 

AP Photos/Tuane Fernandes

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Australian consumer watchdog calls for record fine against Qantas over canceled flights

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb speaks to media during a press conference at the ACCC Office in Sydney, Australia, on June 8, 2022. Australia’s consumer watchdog on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, called for Qantas Airways to be punished with a record fine for allegedly selling tickets on thousands of flights that had already been canceled. 

(Bianca De Marchi/AAP Image via AP)

BY ROD MCGUIRK
 August 31, 2023

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s consumer watchdog on Friday called for Qantas Airways to be punished with a record fine for allegedly selling tickets on thousands of flights that had already been canceled.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said Qantas’ penalty for allegedly breaching consumer law should be more than double the Australian record 125 million Australian dollar ($81 million) fine imposed on the Volkswagen Group in 2019 for misleading customers about the level of exhaust emissions from its diesel engines.

“We consider that this should be a record penalty for this conduct,” Cass-Gottieb told Australian Broadcasting Corp. “We are going to seek a penalty that will underline that this is not just to be a cost of doing business.”


“We consider these penalties to have been too low. We think the penalties should be in hundreds of million, not tens of million,” she added.

 Qantas passenger jets cross as they taxi at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Australia, on Sept. 5, 2022. Australia’s consumer watchdog on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, called for Qantas Airways to be punished with a record fine for allegedly selling tickets on thousands of flights that had already been canceled.

 (AP Photo/Mark Baker,File)

The commission filed a lawsuit against Qantas in the Federal Court Thursday alleging Australia’s flagship airline engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct by advertising tickets for more than 8,000 flights from May through July last year that had already been canceled but not removed from sale.

Qantas canceled 1-in-4 flights during the three-month period.

Qantas kept selling tickets on average for more than two weeks after flights were canceled and in some cases up to 47 days, the commission said.

Customers who bought tickets before flights were canceled were informed on average 18 days after the cancellations and in some cases 48 days later.

The result was that customers were left with less time to make alternative bookings and may have paid higher prices to fly at a particular time.

In one case, Qantas sold 21 tickets for a July 29, 2022, service from Sydney to San Francisco up to 40 days after that flight was canceled, the commission said.

Qantas said it would respond in full to the commission’s allegations in court.

“We have a longstanding approach to managing cancellations for flights, with a focus on providing customers with rebooking options or refunds. It’s a process that is consistent with common practice at many other airlines,” a Qantas statement said.

“It’s important to note that the period examined by the ACCC between May and July 2022 was a time of unprecedented upheaval for the entire airline industry. All airlines were experiencing well-publicized issues from a very challenging restart, with ongoing border uncertainty, industry wide staff shortages and fleet availability causing a lot of disruption,” Qantas added.

The lawsuit came a week after Qantas posted a record profit for the fiscal year ending June 30, following years of losses due to the pandemic.

Its underlying profit for the year before tax was AU$2.47 billion ($1.6 billion), compared to a AU$1.86 billion ($1.2 billion) loss in the previous year.

Statutory profit after tax for the latest year was AU$1.74 billion ($1.13 billion).

Since Volkswagen made false or misleading representations over 57,000 diesel vehicles imported into Australia during five years to 2015, the penalty for each breach of Australian consumer law has increased from AU$1.1 million ($712,000) to AU$10 million ($6.5 million).

UN-backed panel says Italy can do more to fight racism, discrimination in sports and society

ASKING THIS OF A FASCIST GOVT


Inter Milan’s Romelu Lukaku walks on the pitch in front of a ‘no to racism’ banner during the training session prior the Europa League round of 16 soccer match between Inter Milan and Getafe at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020. U.N.-backed human rights experts focusing on racial discrimination called on Italy’s government to do more to eliminate acts of violence, hate speech, stigmatization and harassment against Africans and people of African descent, and expressed concern that no legal cases have been brought to punish fans and others racist acts at sports events. (Lars Baron/Pool via AP, File)

BY JAMEY KEATEN

August 31, 2023

GENEVA (AP) — U.N.-backed human rights experts focusing on racial discrimination urged Italy’s government to do more to eliminate violence, hate speech, stigmatization and harassment against Africans and people of African descent, and expressed concern that no legal cases have been brought to punish fans and others for racist acts at sports events.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, a panel of independent experts that works with the U.N.'s human rights office, also said it regrets that Italy’s government hasn’t provided it with an updated number of complaints and cases of racial discrimination that have been investigated and prosecuted, among other concerns.

The findings released Thursday were part of the committee’s periodic look at efforts by governments of U.N. member states to crack down on racial hatred and discrimination. Other countries under the panel’s scrutiny in this round were Croatia, Namibia, Senegal, Turkmenistan and Uruguay.

Italian soccer has a longstanding issue with Black players being racially abused by fans, and incidents in which players including Kevin-Prince Boateng in 2013 and Romelu Lukaku this year felt they were not adequately supported by match officials and soccer bodies.

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Italy, Latvia, Serbia and Canada clinch spots in Basketball World Cup quarterfinals

The committee noted Italy had adopted laws and other measures to fight racial discrimination, including hate speech in sports. But it said it was “concerned that cases of racist acts during sport events, including physical and verbal attacks against athletes of African descent, continue” in Italy and “legal proceedings to punish those responsible are not initiated.”

Italy also has been a major thoroughfare and destination for Africans and other migrants who make dangerous crossings of the Mediterranean to reach Europe, where peace and economic opportunity may be greater than in their home countries.

The panel urged Italian authorities to do more to protect the human rights of migrants and asylum-seekers, as well as ethnic minorities. It expressed concern about “persistent and increasing use and normalization of racist hate speech” against ethnic groups in the media and on the internet.

Italy’s diplomatic mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment about the report.
___

AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Monaco contributed to this report.

1984

Belarus journalist jailed for ‘facilitating extremism’ after collecting data for human rights group

BY YURAS KARMANAU
August 31, 2023

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A court in Belarus has sentenced a high-profile journalist to 3 1/2 years for “facilitating extremist activities” and “discrediting Belarus” after she provided data for a renowned human rights group, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) said Thursday.

Larysa Shchyrakova — sentenced during a closed trial in the city of Gomel — will serve her sentence in a high-security penal colony and must pay a fine of 3,500 Belarusian rubles (about $1,100).

Belarusian authorities detained Shchyrakova in December 2022. Officials initially placed her son in a state orphanage before transferring custody to her ex-husband.

Shchyrakova, 50, is the latest in a string of journalists jailed in Belarus after covering the large-scale political repression that has rocked the country since its last presidential elections three years ago.

Journalist for top Polish paper allegedly denied medication in Belarusian prison

Large-scale protests erupted in Belarus in August 2020, when President Alexander Lukashenko was re-elected in a vote that both the opposition and the West have condemned as rigged. Authorities responded to the demonstrations with a violent crackdown that resulted in more than 35,000 arrests, with thousands of protestors beaten.

During proceedings, the state accused Shchyrakova of “collecting, creating, processing, storing and transmitting information” for Belarus’ leading human rights center, Viasna, as well as for television channel Belsat — which broadcasts in Belarusian from Poland.

Both Viasna and Belsat are considered “extremist” organizations by the Belarusian government.

“The verdict against Larysa Shchyrakova is another reprisal aimed at taking revenge upon journalists,” the Belarusian Association of Journalists said in a statement. “Shchyrakova is a professional reporter with years of experience, a human rights activist, and a cultural figure. Across the globe, these kinds of figures are usually given awards. In Belarus, they are persecuted — but journalism is not a crime.” Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya also condemned the court’s decision.

“Today, my thoughts are with Larysa Shchyrakova, a journalist and mother,” she said. “She’s been sentenced to 3 1/2 years simply for doing her job, torn away from her son. This brilliant woman is held as a political prisoner alongside 32 other journalists in Belarus. This shameful injustice must end.”

Some 33 Belarusian media workers are currently behind bars, either awaiting trial or serving prison sentences, according to the Association of Journalists.

Viasna has recorded 1,496 political prisoners in Belarus today, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski.

STALINISM 2023

Russia declares Nobel-winning editor Dmitry Muratov to be a foreign agent


 Nobel Peace Prize awarded journalist Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the influential Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta speak to journalists stands at a courtroom prior to a session in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, June 8, 2023. Russian authorities on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, declared newspaper editor Dmitry Muratov, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, to be a foreign agent, continuing the country’s moves to suppress critics and independent reporting. 

AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

 September 1, 2023

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities on Friday declared newspaper editor Dmitry Muratov, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, to be a foreign agent, continuing the country’s moves to suppress critics and independent reporting.

Russian law allows for individuals and organizations receiving funding from abroad to be declared foreign agents, a pejorative term that potentially undermines their credibility with the Russian public. The status also requires designees to mark any publications with a disclaimer stating they are foreign agents.

Muratov was chief editor of Novaya Gazeta, which was widely respected abroad for its investigative reporting and was frequently critical of the Kremlin. Muratov was a co-laureate of the 2021 Nobel prize; he later put up his Nobel medal for auction, receiving $103.5 million which he said would be used to aid refugee children from Ukraine.

After Russia enacted harsh laws to punish statements that criticized its military actions in Ukraine or were found to discredit Russian soldiers, Novaya Gazeta announced it would suspend publication until the conflict ended.

Many of its journalists started a new publication called Novaya Gazeta Europe that is based in Latvia.

Russia in recent years has methodically targeted people and organizations critical of the Kremlin, branding many as “foreign agents.” It has has branded some as “undesirable” under a 2015 law that makes membership in such organizations a criminal offense.

It also has imprisoned prominent opposition figures including anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, who is President Vladimir Putin’s most persistent domestic foe, and dissidents Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin.

African leaders to push for finance at climate summit

Nairobi (AFP) – African leaders and global policymakers gather on Tuesday in Kenya for a climate summit aimed at showcasing the continent as a destination for investment in efforts to combat global warming.

05/09/2023 

The three-day event began Monday and is billed as bringing together African leaders to define a shared vision for green development

 © Suleiman Mbatiah / AFP

Heads of state, and government and industry leaders, are among thousands of attendees at the summit where Africa is promoting its potential as a clean energy powerhouse and asset in addressing the climate emergency.

The Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi comes ahead of the COP28 summit later this year in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, which is expected to feature competing agendas for the world's energy future.

The three-day event in Nairobi, which began Monday, is billed as bringing together African leaders to define a shared vision for green development on the diverse continent of 1.4 billion.

Kenyan President William Ruto is hosting counterparts from countries including Mozambique, Tanzania and Ghana, and United Nations head Antonio Guterres, US climate envoy John Kerry, and COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber are in attendance.

Wind and solar electricity generation by region 

© Sophie STUBER, Paz PIZARRO / AFP

On Tuesday, the summit will offer proposals to reform global financial structures that have resulted in only a tiny fraction of investments in climate solutions being directed toward Africa.

Countries in Africa are hamstrung by mounting debt costs and a dearth of finance, and despite an abundance of natural resources just three percent of energy investments worldwide are made in the continent.
Competing visions

On the opening day of the summit on Monday, Ruto said trillions of dollars in "green investment opportunities" would be needed as the climate crisis accelerates.

"Africa holds the key to accelerating decarbonization of the global economy. We are not just a continent rich in resources. We are a powerhouse of untapped potential, eager to engage and fairly compete in the global markets," Ruto said on Monday.

A clean energy transition across the world's developing nations will be crucial in order to keep alive the Paris Agreement goal of capping global warming "well below" two degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times, and 1.5C if possible.

To make that happen, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says investment will need to surge to $2 trillion a year within a decade -- an eight-fold increase.

Kenyan President William Ruto said trillions of dollars in 'green investment opportunities' would be needed © Luis Tato / AFP

International investment must be "massively scaled up to enable commitments to be turned into actions across the continent", said Ruto, Al Jaber, and African Union Commission head Moussa Faki Mahamat in a joint statement on Monday.

The summit's focus on climate finance has drawn opposition from some environmental quarters, with hundreds of demonstrators protesting near the conference venue in Nairobi on its opening day.

A coalition of civil society groups has been urging Ruto to steer global climate priorities away from what it perceives as a Western-led agenda that champions carbon markets and other financial tools to redress the climate crisis.

© 2023 AFP

Kenya bets on carbon credits as it hosts African climate summit

Deep within Kasigau, a sweeping wilderness of craggy hills and savannah roamed by elephants, a team armed with clipboards and measuring tapes is busy studying an unremarkable tree.

Issued on: 05/09/2023 

Head of states and delegates pose for a group photo, during the official opening of the Africa Climate Summit at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. 

© Khalil Senosi,AP

By: NEWS WIRES|
Video by: FRANCE 24

Gnarled and leafless, it nonetheless has great value: it stores carbon, and the team wants to know exactly how much is locked away across this semi-arid, half-a-million-acre (200,000-hectare) woodland in southern Kenya.

"We want to make absolutely sure we account for every single tree," said Geoffrey Mwangi, lead scientist at US-based company Wildlife Works, as the "carbon samplers" took the dimensions of another thorny specimen.

The data translates into carbon credits, and millions of dollars have been made selling these to corporate giants such as Netflix and Shell looking to offset their greenhouse gas emissions and burnish their green credentials.

As climate change accelerates and pressure mounts on companies and countries to lift their game, demand for carbon credits has exploded -- even as their reputation has taken a battering.

Cash-strapped African nations want a much bigger share of a $2-billion market that is forecast to grow five-fold by 2030.

Africa only produces 11 percent of the world's offsets yet boasts the planet's second-largest rainforest and tracts of carbon-absorbing ecosystems like mangroves and peatlands.

Kenyan President William Ruto, who is hosting a climate summit in Nairobi this week, said Africa's carbon sinks were an "unparalleled economic goldmine".

"They have the potential to absorb millions of tons of CO2 annually, which should translate into billions of dollars," he said on Monday.
'Massive interest'

A single credit represents one tonne of carbon dioxide removed or reduced from the atmosphere. Companies buy credits generated through activities like renewable energy, planting trees or protecting forests.

Carbon markets are largely unregulated and accusations that some offsets -- particularly forest-based ones -- do little for the environment or exploit communities have sent prices crashing this year.

Kenya already generates the most offsets in Africa and despite market uncertainty, sees the potential for a much bigger domestic industry capable of creating much-needed jobs and economic growth.

"There is massive interest. We have 25 percent of the African market (for carbon credits) in Kenya, and it's our ambition to expand this," Ali Mohamed, the president's special envoy for climate change, told AFP.

In Kasigau, about 330 kilometres (205 miles) southeast of Nairobi, landowners and communities are paid to keep the forest intact under a flagship carbon credit project run by Wildlife Works, a for-profit business and largest offset developer in Africa.

Joseph Mwakima from Wildlife Works said project revenue had employed around 400 people and funded water, education and health infrastructure in a long-underserved part of Kenya.

"These are things that were never really there," he told AFP.

Wildlife Works founder Mike Korchinsky said at least half of revenue went to communities.

The forests protected under the scheme were once cleared for firewood and charcoal, degrading a carbon sink and critical wildlife habitat.

Avoiding deforestation serves climate goals by keeping carbon in the soil and trees instead of allowing them to be released into the atmosphere. The Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project was the world's first to generate certified credits this way.

Wildlife Works says the project has been independently verified nine times since 2011, and has avoided roughly 22 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Kenya emits about 70 million tonnes of CO2 per year, according to Climate Watch, a platform managed by the World Resources Institute that tracks national greenhouse gas emissions.
'False solutions'

The UN-endorsed African Carbon Market Initiative, launched at COP27 in November, believes 300 million credits could be generated annually on the continent by 2030 -- a 19-fold increase on current volumes.

For Kenya, this would mean more than 600,000 jobs and $600 million in annual revenue.

But these projections assume a carbon price far above current trades, and a massive increase in finance at a time of great volatility in a market struggling to build trust and integrity.

Ahead of the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, more than 500 civil society organisations wrote to Ruto urging him to steer the conference away from carbon markets and other "false solutions... led by Western interests".

"In truth, though, these approaches will embolden wealthy nations and large corporations to continue polluting the world, much to Africa's detriment," it read.


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Ruto's appointee to lead the summit, Joseph Nganga, said carbon markets acted "not as an excuse for emissions but as a means to ensure accountability" as rich polluting nations bore the cost.

Countries are moving to regulate the sector. Earlier this year, Zimbabwe announced it would appropriate half of all the revenue generated from carbon credits on its land, sending jitters through markets.

Kenya is finalising its own legislation. Mohamed said the government did not want to "chase away investors" but ensure transparency and a fair share for communities.

Korchinsky expressed confidence the Kasigau project "will hold up to whatever scrutiny is applied".

(AFP)

    

Kenya bets on carbon credits as it hosts climate summit

Kasigau (Kenya) (AFP) – Deep within Kasigau, a sweeping wilderness of craggy hills and savannah roamed by elephants, a team armed with clipboards and measuring tapes is busy studying an unremarkable tree.


Issued on: 05/09/2023 
Cash-strapped African nations want a much bigger share of a $2-billion carbon credits market that is forecast to grow five-fold by 2030 © Tony KARUMBA / AFP
ADVERTISING


Gnarled and leafless, it nonetheless has great value: it stores carbon, and the team wants to know exactly how much is locked away across this semi-arid, half-a-million-acre (200,000-hectare) woodland in southern Kenya.

"We want to make absolutely sure we account for every single tree," said Geoffrey Mwangi, lead scientist at US-based company Wildlife Works, as the "carbon samplers" took the dimensions of another thorny specimen.

The data translates into carbon credits, and millions of dollars have been made selling these to corporate giants such as Netflix and Shell looking to offset their greenhouse gas emissions and burnish their green credentials.

As climate change accelerates and pressure mounts on companies and countries to lift their game, demand for carbon credits has exploded -- even as their reputation has taken a battering.

Cash-strapped African nations want a much bigger share of a $2-billion market that is forecast to grow five-fold by 2030.

Environment wardens out on patrol in the Kasigau wilderness in southern Kenya

 © Tony KARUMBA / AFP

Africa only produces 11 percent of the world's offsets yet boasts the planet's second-largest rainforest and tracts of carbon-absorbing ecosystems like mangroves and peatlands.

Kenyan President William Ruto, who is hosting a climate summit in Nairobi this week, said Africa's carbon sinks were an "unparalleled economic goldmine".

"They have the potential to absorb millions of tons of CO2 annually, which should translate into billions of dollars," he said on Monday.
'Massive interest'

A single credit represents one tonne of carbon dioxide removed or reduced from the atmosphere. Companies buy credits generated through activities like renewable energy, planting trees or protecting forests.

Carbon markets are largely unregulated and accusations that some offsets -- particularly forest-based ones -- do little for the environment or exploit communities have sent prices crashing this year.

The Kasigau wilderness stretches across half a million acres

 © Tony KARUMBA / AFP

Kenya already generates the most offsets in Africa and despite market uncertainty, sees the potential for a much bigger domestic industry capable of creating much-needed jobs and economic growth.

"There is massive interest. We have 25 percent of the African market (for carbon credits) in Kenya, and it's our ambition to expand this," Ali Mohamed, the president's special envoy for climate change, told AFP.

In Kasigau, about 330 kilometres (205 miles) southeast of Nairobi, landowners and communities are paid to keep the forest intact under a flagship carbon credit project run by Wildlife Works, a for-profit business and largest offset developer in Africa.

Joseph Mwakima from Wildlife Works said project revenue had employed around 400 people and funded water, education and health infrastructure in a long-underserved part of Kenya.

Dominic Mwakai, 43, sells water collected from natural springs flowing from Mount Kasigau 

© Tony KARUMBA / AFP

"These are things that were never really there," he told AFP.

Wildlife Works founder Mike Korchinsky said at least half of revenue went to communities.

The forests protected under the scheme were once cleared for firewood and charcoal, degrading a carbon sink and critical wildlife habitat.

Avoiding deforestation serves climate goals by keeping carbon in the soil and trees instead of allowing them to be released into the atmosphere. The Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project was the world's first to generate certified credits this way.

Wildlife Works says the project has been independently verified nine times since 2011, and has avoided roughly 22 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Kenya emits about 70 million tonnes of CO2 per year, according to Climate Watch, a platform managed by the World Resources Institute that tracks national greenhouse gas emissions.

'False solutions'

The UN-endorsed African Carbon Market Initiative, launched at COP27 in November, believes 300 million credits could be generated annually on the continent by 2030 –- a 19-fold increase on current volumes.

For Kenya, this would mean more than 600,000 jobs and $600 million in annual revenue.

Wildlife Works says the project has avoided roughly 22 million tonnes of CO2 emissions 

© Tony KARUMBA / AFP

But these projections assume a carbon price far above current trades, and a massive increase in finance at a time of great volatility in a market struggling to build trust and integrity.

Ahead of the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, more than 500 civil society organisations wrote to Ruto urging him to steer the conference away from carbon markets and other "false solutions... led by Western interests".

"In truth, though, these approaches will embolden wealthy nations and large corporations to continue polluting the world, much to Africa's detriment," it read.

Ruto's appointee to lead the summit, Joseph Nganga, said carbon markets acted "not as an excuse for emissions but as a means to ensure accountability" as rich polluting nations bore the cost.

The project supports a number of alternative industries involving surrounding communities, including sustainable charcoal production 

© Tony KARUMBA / AFP

Countries are moving to regulate the sector. Earlier this year, Zimbabwe announced it would appropriate half of all the revenue generated from carbon credits on its land, sending jitters through markets.

Kenya is finalising its own legislation. Mohamed said the government did not want to "chase away investors" but ensure transparency and a fair share for communities.

Korchinsky expressed confidence the Kasigau project "will hold up to whatever scrutiny is applied".

© 2023 AFP

Africa climate summit to urge investment in continent

By AFP
September 4, 2023

Water supply in Iraq, which the UN ranks as one of the five countries most impacted by some effects of climate change, is in a dire state 

- Copyright AFP Ahmad AL-RUBAYE

Nick Perry, Kelly MACNAMARA

Kenya’s president said Africa had a chance to “guide the globe” on climate action as he prepared to open a landmark climate summit in Nairobi on Monday aimed at reframing the continent as a budding renewable energy powerhouse.

The first Africa Climate Summit comes ahead of a flurry of diplomatic meetings leading to the November COP28 climate summit in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, which will likely be dominated by clashing visions for the world’s energy future.

The Nairobi meeting is billed as bringing together leaders from the 54-nation continent to define a shared vision of Africa’s green development — an ambitious aim in a politically and economically diverse region whose communities are among the most vulnerable to climate change.

Kenyan President William Ruto said on Monday that an African position on climate action would be to “save lives and the planet from calamity”.

“We aspire to chart a new growth agenda that will deliver shared prosperity and sustainable development,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.

“Africa is committed to taking advantage of this unique opportunity to guide the globe towards inclusive climate action.”

The Africa Climate Summit is the first of its kind 

– Copyright TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP Mustafa Kamaci

To meet those aspirations, Ruto has said that the international community must help unblock financing for the continent and ease the mounting debt burden on African countries.

Joseph Nganga, Ruto’s appointee to head the summit, said the conference would demonstrate that “Africa is not just a victim but a dynamic continent with solutions for the world”.

Security has been tightened and roads closed around the summit venue in central Nairobi, where the government says 30,000 people have registered to attend the three-day event.

Civil society groups are expected to protest near the summit at its opening against what they call its “deeply compromised agenda” and focus on rich-nation interests.

– Daunting challenges –

A draft version of the final declaration seen by AFP puts the spotlight on Africa’s vast renewable energy potential, young workforce, and natural assets.

Those include 40 percent of global reserves of cobalt, manganese, and platinum crucial for batteries and hydrogen fuel-cells.

But there are daunting challenges for a continent where hundreds of millions of people currently lack access to electricity.

Reminders of political instability in the region came last week, with a military takeover in Gabon little more than a month after a coup in Niger.

Countries in Africa are also hamstrung by mounting debt costs and a dearth of finance.

Despite hosting 60 percent of the world’s best solar energy resources, Africa has roughly the same amount of installed capacity as Belgium, according to a commentary published last month by Ruto and the International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol.

Currently, only about three percent of energy investments worldwide are made in Africa.

Charra Tesfaye Terfassa from the think tank E3G said the summit should balance optimism with a tough assessment of the challenges to “chart a new path for Africa to be a key part of the global conversation and benefit from the opportunities of the transition”.

The Nairobi meeting is expected to draw several African heads of state, UN head Antonio Guterres, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and other leaders.

As Africa opens a climate summit, poor weather forecasting keeps the continent underprepared


Displaced families arrive after being rescued by boat from a flooded area of Buzi district, 200 kilometers (120 miles) outside Beira, Mozambique, Saturday, March 23, 2019. Much of the world takes daily weather forecasts for granted. But most of Africa’s 1.3 billion people live with little advance knowledge of what’s to come. That can be deadly, with damage running in the billions of dollars. The first Africa Climate Summit opens this week in Kenya to highlight the continent that will suffer the most from climate change while contributing to it the least. At the heart of every issue on the agenda, from energy to agriculture, is the lack of data collection that drives decisions as basic as when to plant and when to flee. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, File)

BY CARA ANNA
 September 3, 2023

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Much of the world takes daily weather forecasts for granted. But most of Africa’s 1.3 billion people live with little advance knowledge of what’s to come. That can be both deadly and expensive, with damage running in the billions of dollars.

The first Africa Climate Summit opens Monday in Kenya to highlight the continent that will suffer the most from climate change while contributing to it the least. Significant investment in Africa’s adaptation to climate change, including better forecasting, will be an urgent goal. At the heart of every issue on the agenda, from energy to agriculture, is the lack of data collection that drives decisions as crucial as when to plant — and when to flee.

The African continent is larger than China, India and the United States combined. And yet Africa has just 37 radar facilities for tracking weather, an essential tool along with satellite data and surface monitoring, according to a World Meteorological Organization database.

Europe has 345 radar facilities. North America, 291.

“The continent, at large, is in a climate risk blind spot,” said Asaf Tzachor, a researcher at the Center for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge. In August, he and colleagues warned in a commentary for the journal Nature that climate change will cost Africa more than $50 billion every year by 2050. By then, Africa’s population is expected to double.

The widespread inability to track and forecast the weather affects key development choices, their commentary said: “There is no point investing in smallholder farms, for example, if floods are simply going to wash them away.”

Kenya, the host of the climate summit, is one of the few countries in Africa seen as having a relatively well-developed weather service, along with South Africa and Morocco. Kenya has allocated about $12 million this year for its meteorological service, according to the national treasury. In contrast, the U.S. National Weather Service budget request for fiscal year 2023 was $1.3 billion.

The vast expanse of the 54-nation African continent is relatively unserved and unwarned.

“Despite covering a fifth of the world’s total land area, Africa has the least developed land-based observation network of all continents, and one that is in a deteriorating state,” the WMO said in 2019.

And because of a lack of funding, the number of observations by atmospheric devices usually used with weather balloons decreased by as much as 50% over Africa between 2015 and 2020, a “particularly serious issue,” the WMO said in a report last year.

Fewer than 20% of sub-Saharan African countries provide reliable weather services, the report said. “Weather stations are so far apart that their data cannot be extrapolated to the local level due to the varying terrain and altitude.”

Now, 13 of the most data-sparse African countries, including Ethiopia, Madagascar and Congo, are getting money to improve weather data collection and sharing from a United Nations-created trust fund, the Systematic Observations Financing Facility. An older funding mechanism with many of the same partners, Climate Risk & Early Warning Systems, has supported modernizing meteorological systems in a half-dozen West and Central African countries.

And it’s not just forecasting. As climate shocks such as Somalia’s worst drought in decades become more common, better recording of weather data is a critical need for decision-making.

“For many people in the West, accurate weather forecasts often make lives more convenient: ‘Shall I take an umbrella along?’ In Africa, where many people depend on rain-fed agriculture, that is all a bit sharper,” said Nick van de Giesen, a professor of water resources management at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. “With a changing climate, traditional methods to determine, say, the onset of the rainy season are becoming less reliable. So farmers regularly sow after a few rains, after which rains may fail and seeds will not germinate.”

That can be devastating during the current global food security crisis.

Van de Giesen is the co-director of the Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological Observatory, a project that has helped to set up about 650 low-cost local weather monitoring stations in collaboration with schools and other entities across 20 African countries. Not all of those surface monitoring stations are operational because of issues including threats by extremist groups that limit access for maintenance in areas such as Lake Chad.

“To be clear, TAHMO can never be a replacement of efficient and effective national weather services,” van de Giesen said, adding that many African governments still don’t have the needed resources or funding.

In countries like Somalia and Mozambique, with some of the continent’s longest and most vulnerable coastlines, the lack of effective weather monitoring and early warning systems have contributed to thousands of deaths in disasters such as tropical storms and flooding.

After Cyclone Idai ripped into central Mozambique in 2019, residents told The Associated Press they had received little or no warning from authorities. More than 1,000 people were killed, some swept away by floodwaters as loved ones clung to trees.

Cyclone Idai was the costliest disaster in Africa, at $1.9 billion, in the period from 1970 to 2019, according to a WMO report on weather extremes and their economic and personal tolls.

The lack of weather data in much of Africa also complicates efforts to link certain natural disasters to climate change.

Earlier this year, a collection of climate researchers known as World Weather Attribution said in a report that limited data made it impossible to “confidently evaluate” the role of climate change in flooding that killed hundreds of people in Congo and Rwanda around Lake Kivu in May.

“We urgently need robust climate data and research in this highly vulnerable region,” their report said.

Last year, the researchers expressed similar frustration in a study of erratic rainfall and hunger in West Africa’s Sahel region, citing “large uncertainties” in data.

They urged investments as simple as a network of rain gauges, saying that even small shifts in rainfall can affect millions of people.

 Passengers from stranded vehicles stand next to the debris from floodwaters, on the road from Kapenguria, in West Pokot county, in western Kenya Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019. Much of the world takes daily weather forecasts for granted. But most of Africa’s 1.3 billion people live with little advance knowledge of what’s to come. That can be deadly, with damage running in the billions of dollars. The first Africa Climate Summit opens this week in Kenya to highlight the continent that will suffer the most from climate change while contributing to it the least. At the heart of every issue on the agenda, from energy to agriculture, is the lack of data collection that drives decisions as basic as when to plant and when to flee. (AP Photo, File)

 Displaced families arrive after being rescued by boat from a flooded area of Buzi district, 200 kilometers (120 miles) outside Beira, Mozambique, Saturday, March 23, 2019. Much of the world takes daily weather forecasts for granted. But most of Africa’s 1.3 billion people live with little advance knowledge of what’s to come. That can be deadly, with damage running in the billions of dollars. The first Africa Climate Summit opens this week in Kenya to highlight the continent that will suffer the most from climate change while contributing to it the least. At the heart of every issue on the agenda, from energy to agriculture, is the lack of data collection that drives decisions as basic as when to plant and when to flee. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, File)

 People walk on a road swept by flooding waters in Chikwawa, Malawi, Tuesday Jan. 25, 2022. Mozambique, Madagascar and Malawi are counting the deaths and damage by tropical storm Ana and more than a week of heavy rains across southern Africa. uch of the world takes daily weather forecasts for granted. But most of Africa’s 1.3 billion people live with little advance knowledge of what’s to come. That can be deadly, with damage running in the billions of dollars. The first Africa Climate Summit opens this week in Kenya to highlight the continent that will suffer the most from climate change while contributing to it the least. At the heart of every issue on the agenda, from energy to agriculture, is the lack of data collection that drives decisions as basic as when to plant and when to flee. (AP Photo, File)

Houses are submerged in flood waters in Blantyre, Malawi, Tuesday, March 14, 2023. Much of the world takes daily weather forecasts for granted. But most of Africa’s 1.3 billion people live with little advance knowledge of what’s to come. That can be deadly, with damage running in the billions of dollars. The first Africa Climate Summit opens this week in Kenya to highlight the continent that will suffer the most from climate change while contributing to it the least. At the heart of every issue on the agenda, from energy to agriculture, is the lack of data collection that drives decisions as basic as when to plant and when to flee (AP Photo/Thoko Chikondi, File)

Saito Ene Ruka, right, who said he has lost 100 cows due to drought, and his neighbor Kesoi Ole Tingoe, left, who said she lost 40 cows, walk past animal carcasses at Ilangeruani village, near Lake Magadi, in Kenya, on Nov. 9, 2022. Much of the world takes daily weather forecasts for granted. But most of Africa’s 1.3 billion people live with little advance knowledge of what’s to come. That can be deadly, with damage running in the billions of dollars. The first Africa Climate Summit opens this week in Kenya to highlight the continent that will suffer the most from climate change while contributing to it the least. At the heart of every issue on the agenda, from energy to agriculture, is the lack of data collection that drives decisions as basic as when to plant and when to flee . 

(AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File)

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

1st Africa Climate Summit opens as hard-hit continent of 1.3 billion demands more say and financing


 People walk on a road swept by flooding waters in Chikwawa, Malawi, Tuesday Jan. 25, 2022. Mozambique, Madagascar and Malawi are counting the deaths and damage by tropical storm Ana and more than a week of heavy rains across southern Africa. uch of the world takes daily weather forecasts for granted. But most of Africa’s 1.3 billion people live with little advance knowledge of what’s to come. That can be deadly, with damage running in the billions of dollars. The first Africa Climate Summit opens this week in Kenya to highlight the continent that will suffer the most from climate change while contributing to it the least. At the heart of every issue on the agenda, from energy to agriculture, is the lack of data collection that drives decisions as basic as when to plant and when to flee.

BY CARA ANNA AND EVELYNE MUSAMBI
 September 4, 2023

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The first African Climate Summit is opening as heads of state and others assert a stronger voice on a global issue that affects the continent of 1.3 billion people the most, even as they contribute to it the least.

Kenyan President William Ruto’s government is launching the ministerial session on Monday while more than a dozen heads of state begin to arrive, determined to wield more global influence and bring in far more financing and support. The first speakers included youth, who demanded a bigger voice in the process.

There is some frustration on the continent about being asked to develop in cleaner ways than the world’s richest countries, which have long produced most of the emissions that endanger climate, and to do it while much of the support that has been pledged hasn’t appeared.

“This is our time,” Mithika Mwenda with the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance told the gathering, asserting that the annual flow of climate assistance to the continent is about $16 billion, a tenth or less of what is needed and a “fraction” of the budget of some polluting companies.

Outside attendees to the summit include United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and the U.S. government’s climate envoy, John Kerry.

Ruto’s video welcome released before the summit was heavy on tree-planting but didn’t mention his administration’s decision this year to lift a yearslong ban on commercial logging, which alarmed environmental watchdogs. The decision has been challenged in court, while the government says only mature trees in state-run plantations would be harvested.

Kenya derives much of its power from renewables and has banned single-use plastic bags, but it struggles with some other climate-friendly adaptations. Trees were chopped down to make way for the expressway that some summit attendees travelled from the airport, and bags of informally made charcoal are found on some Nairobi street corners.

Ruto made his way to Monday’s events in a small electric car, a contrast to the usual government convoys, on streets cleared of the sometimes poorly maintained buses and vans belching smoke.

Challenges for the African continent include simply being able to forecast and monitor the weather in order to avert thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in damages.