‘Capitalist equals bad’ attitude must be dropped at Cop28, says petrol tycoon

Gordon Rayner
Fri, 10 November 2023 

Mr Jafar says business must be 'at the table and not on the menu' if the summit is to be more than just a 'talking shop' for politicians - Dave M Benett/Getty Images

Environmentalists must drop their “capitalism equals bad” attitude and embrace business if next month’s Cop28 climate summit is to stand any chance of success, a former oil industry boss who is helping host the event has said.

Badr Jafar, who is chairing a business and philanthropy forum at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, said business must be “at the table and not on the menu” if the summit is to be more than just a “talking shop” for politicians.

Eton and Cambridge-educated Mr Jafar, who is a former president of UAE-based Crescent Petroleum and former chairman of Pearl Petroleum, said previous Cop summits had failed to reach their goals because “business has not been properly engaged in the process”.


Only by working with industry, private finance and philanthropists will the world be able to find the £2.5 trillion estimated annual cost of reaching Cop28’s stated net zero goals of trebling renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency by 2030, he insisted.

He told The Telegraph: “Business can’t be seen as something that’s acted upon - it has to be acted with, so we need to make sure that business is at the table and not on the menu.

“For far too long the climate conversation has been seen through the lens of activists equals good and capitalism equals bad. And this needs to change if business is going to be a big part of the solution.”

The then Prince of Wales is given an award at the Accounting for Sustainability conference by Mr Jafar during a Royal tour of the UAE in 2016 - Arthur Edwards/Getty Images

He added: “We’ve all witnessed over the years the flip flopping by various governments with warring political parties playing ping-pong politics with climate policies, and some even pushing net zero off the cliff to suit domestic agendas. The constant failure of many nations to abide by climate finance pledges is also a reason that we can’t simply rely on pledges.”

For the first time, a Cop summit will have business and philanthropy embedded in its agenda, reflecting what he describes as “an all hands on deck moment”.

“It’s clear we are way off track [on climate goals],” he said. “If we continue aiming for linear progress, we’re simply not going to get there.” Instead, he said, an “exponential shift” is needed in green investment which will only happen if businesses, rather than just politicians, are driving it.

More than 500 chief executives and philanthropists will attend the summit, along with representatives of King Charles III’s Sustainable Markets Initiative and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Mr Jafar also accused critics of the decision to host Cop28 in Dubai, which has built its wealth on oil, of “childish finger pointing”.

He said: “To solve our world’s biggest challenges we need less preaching and finger pointing and more extending hands with cooperation”, adding that people needed to “look in the mirror” and ask themselves whether they were “actually helping the situation as opposed to playing self-interested politics”.

In recent days there has also been criticism of the decision to invite Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria, to the conference given that he has caused huge environmental damage with bombs and chemical weapons in his country’s ongoing civil war.

Mr Jafar said the guest list was in the hands of the UN and that all signatories to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, including Syria, were automatically invited.

‘I’m 12 and I advise the UN on climate change’


Noah Eastwood
Fri, 10 November 2023 

Madhvi Chittoor has been selected to join a team of young advisers to the UN

The United Nations is hiring advisers as young as 12 to consult on climate change as the “Thunberg effect” takes off.

Madhvi Chittoor, 12, skipped school to attend climate rallies after watching a documentary on the impact of plastics on the Pacific ocean.

At the age of seven, and with the help of her parents, she published a book called “Is Plastic My Food?” on Amazon and last year she was selected to join a team of young advisers to the UN.


Ms Chittoor is one of a growing number of young people advising world leaders on climate change.

Iranian-American Sophia Kianni, 21, has a CV that could well be one of LinkedIn’s most enviable.

Sophia Kianni, 21, says ‘meeting the Pope was an unparalleled experience’ - Sophia Kianni

The Stanford University student is an adviser to the UN, a co-chair of a working group at the World Economic Forum and has a seat on the advisory board of Lady Gaga’s non-profit organisation, as well as almost a dozen others.

And that’s to say nothing of her frequent appearances alongside international A-listers such as Deepak Chopra, Malala Yousafzai and even Pope Francis.

Ms Kianni became an overnight sensation in 2019 when, at the age of 17, she skipped high school lessons to attend a hunger strike led by Extinction Rebellion at politician Nancy Pelosi’s office in Washington D.C.

Ms Chopra, who was the youngest activist present, explained that she joined the protest to take “a stand for the pressing environmental and societal issues” and that she felt it was her “duty” to attend.

“I believed that my actions would ultimately contribute to a larger conversation,” she said.

Soon afterwards, in a column for Teen Vogue, she made a call to action for other teens around the world to follow her example.

In 2020, after founding Climate Cardinals, a youth organisation that translates information about global warming into different languages, she successfully applied to join the UN’s Youth Advisory Group.

The panel is made up of seven young people who volunteer from different UN countries and serve two year terms, making recommendations about how to fight climate change to Secretary-General António Guterres, according to the UN website.

Mr Guterres described the members in March as having completed “tireless work throughout their two-year term to bring youth perspectives directly to me”.

At the end of her term, Ms Kianni stayed on at the UN and explained that her work is voluntary. Her typical day outside of the UN is “spent on Zoom” hosting meetings with firms like Google and Unicef to “discuss strategies and brainstorm on new climate projects”.

She broadcasts her visits to international summits and conferences on climate change with her over 137,000 followers on Instagram and in June was invited to meet Pope Francis at a festival celebrating World Environment Day in Rome.

“Meeting the Pope was an unparalleled experience,” she said.

He told her that “we have a responsibility before God to protect the earth” which she believes is “under constant attack from devastating effects of climate change”.
‘Thunberg effect’

In 2021, Anandita Sabherwal, a doctoral student at the London School of Economics, wrote a paper analysing the phenomena of children who have copied the actions of Greta Thunberg and missed lessons to protest about environmental issues.

Ms Chittoor says she was inspired by the famous activist.

Greta Thunberg, centre right, is seen as setting an example for many young people

 - Dylan Martinez/Reuters

The young protester, who lives in Colorado, began missing school to attend climate change marches after seeing Greta Thunberg’s protest in Sweden. “Greta Thunberg inspired me,” she said.

“I participated in many climate rallies at the state capital. I missed school for those rallies.”

In February last year, Ms Chittoor took part in a programme that saw a group of children work with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

She said she helped write a questionnaire that the UN sent to children around the world asking their views on climate change.

The survey was used to produce an unofficial “children’s global charter” which demanded nations and businesses “pay large fines to make up for pollution” and repair damage caused to the environment.

“I shared the survey with many students in my school and I also organised workshops,” she said. “I suggested that the UN give a certificate to every child who participated. Each child can cherish that and feel proud about their contribution.”

Ms Sabherwal explains that “social identification” is responsible for the Thunberg trend “which is basically when we relate to a certain person and we try to do things that they are doing.

“Climate activism appeals to young people and is a general and universal phenomena.

“Because she [Ms Thunberg] is such a relatable figure, she was setting an example for many young people and teenagers.

“This is why she is such an interesting leader. She always in her speeches talks about ‘we’ and mentions her ‘generation’ as a group rather than singling herself out.

“These grassroots movements have been popping up in many parts of the world because they have set a norm that we want to conform to.”

Ms Sabherwal added that this is “leading to more young people feeling like they can be effective” by becoming climate activists.

COLOMBIA
Father of Liverpool football star Luis Diaz reveals details of kidnapping

Sky News
Updated Sat, 11 November 2023



The father of Liverpool star Luis Diaz has revealed details of his captivity - and said he intends to keep living in Colombia despite his ordeal.

Luis Manuel Diaz was released on Thursday on Thursday after spending 12 days in the hands of guerrillas.

During a news conference, the 58-year-old said his kidnappers had advised him to remain calm.


He said he had "almost 12 days without sleep" and had to endure "a lot of quite difficult horseback riding, lots of mountains, rain".

"Even though the treatment was good, I didn't feel very comfortable," he said.

He and his wife were abducted by armed men on motorcycles at a petrol station in the town of Barrancas, near Colombia's border with Venezuela on 28 October.

The 26-year-old footballer's mother, Cilenis Marulanda, was rescued within hours by police after roadblocks were set up.

"My aspirations are to continue in my town because I have my entire family in my town," Mr Diaz said.

"The government has given me impressively strong and great support. I trust and have faith that it will provide me security to be in Barrancas."

During his captivity special forces were deployed to search for Mr Diaz - with air and land patrols trawling a mountain range that straddles both Colombia and Venezuela.

Officials said they could not rule out the possibility that he had been smuggled over the border - meaning he would have been out of reach of Colombian police.

A reward of $48,000 (£39,000) had been offered for information leading police to the hostage.

The Liverpool winger had pleaded with his father's captors to release him - and said he and his brothers were in a "desperate" situation.

Mr Diaz was eventually released by guerrillas from the National Liberation Army (ELN), according to the Colombian FA.

The capture stoked criticism of ongoing peace talks between the ELN and the government of leftist President Gustavo Petro, who is trying to put an end to Colombia's six-decade internal conflict that has left more than 450,000 dead.

The government and the ELN began a six-month ceasefire in August.

Walked 'too much': Liverpool striker Luis Diaz's dad recounts kidnapping


Valentín DÌAZ
Fri, 10 November 2023 

Diaz walked with difficulty and had to be helped up from his chair after addressing reporters (Daniel Munoz)

Between tears, Luis Manuel Diaz, father of Liverpool striker Luis Diaz, recounted Friday how he was made to walk "too much" with little sleep in the nearly two weeks he was held hostage in a mountainous area of Colombia by members of the ELN guerrilla group.

Diaz, finally liberated Thursday after calls from around the world for his freedom, told reporters at his home in the country's north he went through a "very difficult" time, surviving "almost 12 days without sleep."

Diaz's wife Cilenis Marulanda, who was taken by the same ELN kidnappers on October 28 but rescued hours later, rubbed her husband's back lovingly as he broke down in tears mid-statement.

Behind the pair hung a string of golden balloons spelling out "Welcome Mane," his nickname, in Spanish.

Diaz walked with obvious difficulty as he arrived for the press conference, and had to be helped up from his chair afterwards and led away.

He told reporters he was not maltreated by his captors.

"I had to walk too much, up and down many mountains, trying to stay safe so that... I could return home," said the 56-year-old, who is no stranger to the mountainous region he has explored since a child.

But "this was a different story," he said Friday. "I would not want anyone to be in that mountain in the situation I was in."

Footballer Diaz's parents were abducted by armed men on motorcycles at a gas station in Barrancas, a town near the Venezuelan border.

Marulanda was rescued hours later and a massive search operation by ground and air was launched for her husband, with more than 250 soldiers involved.

The ELN, which is in peace negotiations with the government and is party to a six-month ceasefire that entered into force in August, described the kidnapping by one of its units as a "mistake."

- 'Peace in Colombia' -

On Thursday, after days of intense negotiations, the rebels handed Diaz over to humanitarian workers at an undisclosed location in the Serrania del Perija mountain range, from where he was flown by helicopter to the city of Valledupar, some 90 kilometers (55 miles) from his hometown.

Hours later, he arrived by car to neighbors celebrating with drums and trumpet music outside his home, which was under police guard.

On Friday, Diaz told reporters he hoped his release was a step towards "peace in Colombia and so that everyone, and all the hostages, will have a chance to be free."

The abduction threatened to derail high-stakes peace negotiations between the ELN and the government of leftist President Gustavo Petro.

Petro took office last August with the stated goal of achieving "total peace" in a country ravaged by decades of fighting between the security forces, leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs.

More than 38,000 people have been kidnapped in Colombia over the years, mainly by armed groups raising funds with ransom money.

According to official data, the ELN still holds about 30 hostages.

Colombia's rights ombudsman Carlos Camargo said Friday the practice must be stopped as part of "fixed conditions" for successful peace talks.

But an ELN leader who goes by the name Antonio Garcia said on X, formerly Twitter, the organization "will not accept conditions or blackmail."

Luis Manuel Diaz is the founder and amateur coach of the only football academy in Barrancas, where his son showed promise from a very young age.

Diaz Sr. is credited with aiding the meteoric rise of his son who has played for his country 43 times and is the first Indigenous Colombian to make it to world football's top echelons.

Acquaintances have told AFP he sometimes sold food he cooked himself to pay for his son's trips to Barranquilla, the city where he had his debut.

He later played for Porto and now for Liverpool.

The ELN, one of Colombia's last recognized guerrilla groups, has some 5,800 combatants.

bur-mlr/bfm

Myanmar fighting blocks key trade routes with China

AFP
Fri, 10 November 2023 

Smoke rises from the direction of a Myanmar military base in Lashio township in northern Shan State, where residents say fighting is driving up prices (STR)

A surprise offensive by Myanmar ethnic armed groups has blocked two strategically vital roads to the country's biggest trading partner China, choking cross-border commerce and denying the cash-strapped junta taxes and foreign exchange.

Fighting has raged across northern Shan state for two weeks, displacing almost 50,000 people, according to the United Nations, and posing the most serious military challenge to the generals since they seized power in 2021.

The blockage to key transport arteries is already leading to higher prices in markets and hampering the junta's ability to send reinforcements to tackle the offensive.


"We haven't seen any (goods) trucks since the fighting started" on October 27, a resident of Muse town on the border with China told AFP.

"There is no trade crossing," they said, requesting anonymity for security reasons, adding that artillery and gunfire were heard regularly from the town.

Hundreds of trucks a day normally pass through, taking fruit and vegetables into China or bringing back electronic equipment, medicine and consumer goods.

In the town of Lashio, about 160 kilometres (100 miles) away by road, residents said they were feeling the impact of the fighting.

"One bag of rice was 160,000 kyat ($76) before fighting," one resident told AFP, also requesting anonymity for security reasons.

"The current price is 190,000 kyat... if there is going to be long fighting, we will have a hard time to survive."

Goods traffic from Muse has all but halted since fighters from the Arakan Army (AA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) launched their offensive on October 27.

Chinshwehaw, another hub on the border with China's Yunnan province, is also currently closed for business.

Last week, the MNDAA posted footage of its fighters raising their flag at the border gate. The junta later admitted it had lost control of the town.

The Chinshwehaw and Muse crossings carried more than a third of the $5.32 billion in border trade with Myanmar's neighbours from April to the start of November this year, according to commerce ministry figures.

Analysts say around a billion dollars of that trade comes from natural gas piped into China through Muse.

More trade likely crosses the border through the black market and is not included in official figures.

Beijing "understood" that infrastructure had not been affected by the clashes, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said Friday.

- 'Embarrassing affront' -

The shutdown of the main overland trade routes to China -- a major ally and arms supplier -- is an "embarrassing affront" to the military, said Richard Horsey of the International Crisis Group.

Since the coup, the junta has tried to orient the struggling economy away from Western countries that have slapped sanctions on the generals and their businesses and deepen ties with its giant northern neighbour.

Earlier this month, its central bank chief announced that a cross-border inter-bank payment service had been launched that would "increase bilateral trade and investment" with China, according to state media.

But by then, fighting had already erupted along the border, sending residents near the frontier fleeing into China and strangling local transport.

A longer border closure would "negatively impact Myanmar balance of trade, current account and availability of foreign exchange," Horsey said.

The cash-strapped junta is desperate for foreign exchange to pay for imports, and, rights groups say, the weapons it needs to battle armed resistance to its rule that has taken root across swathes of the country.

- Troops blocked -

Losing control of the border crossings will be "a bit of a hit to revenues, but not a crippling one", Horsey said.

Of more immediate strategic importance is the military's loss of control of the roads along which it sends troops, analysts say.

"Deploying troops into northern Shan has become increasingly difficult, and the military is now relying on helicopters to send reinforcements into the border area," Jason Tower of the United States Institute of Peace told AFP.

The military would find it "difficult" to take back border infrastructure lost in the previous two weeks, he said.

"While it could launch air strikes to take back positions, it would risk infuriating China by destroying critical infrastructure," he said.

bur-rma/pdw/mtp/cwl

Myanmar junta faces ‘biggest threat’ since coup as fighting engulfs border region

Sarah Newey
Fri, 10 November 2023 

Members of the ethnic rebel group Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) take part in a training exercise at their base camp in the forest in Myanmar's northern Shan State - STR/AFP via Getty Images

Intense fighting in northern Myanmar has forced 50,000 people to flee, with military leaders conceding that the country is in danger of breaking apart unless it can contain the clashes.

A fortnight ago, an alliance of armed ethnic forces and newer anti-coup groups - formed when the junta seized power in February 2021 - launched a major, surprise offensive in Shan state. In a significant blow to the junta, the alliance has since seized dozens of military outposts and blocked critical, billion-dollar trade routes to China.

Analysts told the Telegraph the loss of territory is a turning point in the complicated conflict, and represents the “most significant challenge that the military regime has faced since the coup, at least in terms of armed conflict”.

In response to the clashes, former general Myint Swe - who was appointed as acting president by the military following the coup - has warned the country could end up “split into various parts” if the junta does not “manage” the fighting, according to state media.

While the military has regularly used the potential “disintegration” of Myanmar as a justification for their role in national politics, the context of this week’s warning is significant, said Tom Kean, a senior consultant on Myanmar at Crisis Group.

“His comments reflect the threat to the military regime. They understand that they could lose control over a significant amount of territory, including major towns, and not have the capacity to recapture it from these groups,” he told the Telegraph.
‘Reinvigorated the resistance’

The Shan state offensive - called Operation 1027, and launched by three groups collectively known as the Brotherhood Alliance - is also a “turning point in the way the war is being fought”, added Mr Kean.

Previously, anti-military forces mainly controlled rural areas; now they’ve captured several strategic towns - including Chinshwehaw, which borders China. More than a quarter of Myanmar’s $1.8 billion border trade with the superpower - which has not yet intervened in the clashes - passed through the town between April and September this year.

Operation 1027 also appears to be injecting renewed vigour into resistance movements elsewhere in Myanmar - in Sagaing, for instance, armed groups say they have already captured two towns, while central Myanmar has also seen attacks.

“One of the most striking elements is that the military has not yet been able to hit back [in Shan state]… because it’s fighting on so many fronts,” said Mr Kean. “[Operation 1027] has certainly reinvigorated the fight against the military.”

But the continued conflict is coming at a heavy cost for many. On Friday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the clashes have so far displaced almost 50,000 people, but disrupted internet and phone signals have hindered humanitarian aid.

“The fighting in Shan State may be considered a turning point but civilians are once again bearing the brunt and caught up in the fighting,” Manny Maung, a Myanmar researcher at Human Rights Watch, told the Telegraph.

“The junta should allow unhindered humanitarian assistance so that the more than 50,000 people who are now displaced in northern Shan do not suffer further.”

Political Map of Myanmar - Nations Online Project

Iceland declares state of emergency over volcanic eruption threat

Sky News
Updated Sat, 11 November 2023 

Iceland has declared a state of emergency after thousands of tremors raised fears of a volcanic eruption.

Authorities have ordered thousands living in the southwestern town of Grindavik to evacuate as a precaution and have closed the nearby Blue Lagoon tourist attraction.

The area around Mount Thorbjorn on the Reykjanes Peninsula has been shaken by hundreds of small earthquakes every day for more than two weeks due to a build-up of volcanic magma - molten rock - around three miles (5km) underground.

Land in the region has risen by 9cm (3.5in) since the end of October, according to the Icelandic Met Office (IMO).

Scientists are closely monitoring the situation for any indication the seismic activity is getting closer to the surface.

Iceland, which sits above a volcanic hotspot in the North Atlantic, averages an eruption every four to five years.

The most disruptive in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed huge clouds of ash into the atmosphere and led to widespread airspace closures over Europe.

The Reykjanes Peninsula on Iceland's southwestern coast includes a volcanic system that has erupted three times since 2021, after being dormant for 800 years.

The evacuation of Grindavik came after the IMO warned "significant changes have occurred in the seismic activity" and that magma could have extended under the town, which is located about 33 miles (53km) from the capital Reykjavik.

The IMO said: "At this stage, it is not possible to determine exactly whether and where magma might reach the surface."

Iceland's civil protection agency ordered residents to leave the area but stressed it was not an emergency evacuation. It said there was "plenty of time to prepare... and drive out of town calmly".

"There is no immediate danger imminent, the evacuation is primarily preventive," the agency added.

Quakes rock southwestern Iceland as volcanic eruption looms


Jeremie RICHARD
Fri, 10 November 2023 

Iceland has 33 active volcanic systems, the highest number in Europe (Haraldur Gudjonsson)

Iceland declared a state of emergency on Friday after a series of powerful earthquakes rocked the country's southwestern Reykjanes peninsula, in what could be a precursor to a volcanic eruption.

"The National police chief ... declares a state of emergency for civil defence due to the intense earthquake (activity) at Sundhnjukagigar, north of Grindavik," the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management said in a statement.

"Earthquakes can become larger than those that have occurred and this series of events could lead to an eruption," the administration warned.


The Icelandic Met Office (IMO) said an eruption could take place "in several days".

The village of Grindavik, home to around 4,000 people, is located some three kilometres (1.86 miles) southwest of the area where Friday's earthquake swarm was registered.

It has evacuation plans in place in case of an eruption.

Around 1730 GMT, two strong earthquakes were felt as far away as the capital Reykjavik some 40 kilometres away, and along much of the country's southern coast, rattling windows and household objects.

According to preliminary IMO figures, the biggest tremor had a magnitude of 5.2, north of Grindavik.

Police closed a road running north-south to Grindavik on Friday after it was damaged by the tremors.

Some 24,000 tremors have been registered on the peninsula since late October, according to the IMO, with "a dense swarm" of nearly 800 quakes registered between midnight and 1400 GMT Friday.

The IMO noted an accumulation of magma underground at a depth of about five kilometres (3.1 miles). Should it start moving towards the surface it could lead to a volcanic eruption.

"The most likely scenario is that it will take several days rather than hours for magma to reach the surface," it said.

"If a fissure were to appear where the seismic activity is at its highest now, lava would flow to the southeast and to the west, but not towards Grindavik."

- New active era -

Nonetheless, the Department of Civil Protection said it was sending the patrol vessel Thor to Grindavik "for security purposes".

Emergency shelters and help centres were to open in Grindavik later Friday, as well as three other locations in southern Iceland, for information purposes and to assist people on the move.

On Thursday, the Blue Lagoon, a popular tourist destination located near Grindavik famed for its geothermal spas and luxury hotels, closed as a precaution following another earthquake swarm.

Also nearby is the Svartsengi geothermal plant, the main supplier of electricity and water to 30,000 residents on the Reykjanes peninsula.

It has contingency plans in place to protect the plant and its workers in the event of an eruption.

Since 2021, three eruptions have taken place on the Reykjanes peninsula, in March 2021, August 2022 and July 2023.

Those three were located far from any infrastructure or populated areas.

Iceland has 33 active volcanic systems, the highest number in Europe.

The North Atlantic island straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a crack in the ocean floor separating the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.

Prior to the March 2021 eruption in an uninhabited area around Mount Fagradalsfjall, the Reykjanes volcanic system had remained dormant for eight centuries.

Volcanologists believe the new cycle of increased activity could last for several decades or centuries.

An April 2010 massive eruption at another Iceland volcano, the Eyjafjallajokull in the south of the island, forced the cancellation of some 100,000 flights, leaving more than 10 million travellers stranded.

str-po/yad

US actors’ strike ended after securing ‘deal-breaker’ AI agreement


Ellie Iorizzo, LA Correspondent
Fri, 10 November 2023 

US actors’ union Sag-Aftra was engaged in a “very serious fight” with Hollywood studios over protections against the threat of artificial intelligence “up until the very end” of its 118-day walkout.

The long-running strike ended on Thursday with 86% of the union’s national board voting on Friday to approve a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers (AMPTP).

“We hold in our hands a record-breaking contract,” Sag-Aftra president Fran Drescher told a press conference in Los Angeles.

Sag-Aftra president Fran Drescher with national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland during the news conference (Richard Vogel/AP/PA)

The total package is worth more than one billion US dollars (£818 million) and includes “informed consent and fair compensation” for the creation and use of digital replicas of Sag-Aftra members – which Ms Drescher described as a “deal-breaker”.

“Up until the very end we were engaged in a very serious fight with these companies over what was going to happen in respect to the use of generative AI to create what we call synthetic fake performers,” said national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.

The deal over artificial intelligence (AI) specifies compensation has to equate to the amount of work that would have been done by the actor, while companies have to get the consent of performers to use their facial features as part of the creation of any synthetic.

Mr Crabtree-Ireland, who described the deal over AI as “robust and comprehensive”, said: “That was the piece that ultimately came together on the very last day, day 118 of the strike.

“It allows the industry to go forward, it does not block AI, but it makes sure that performers are protected, their rights to consent are protected, their right to compensation and the rights to employment are protected.”

The package also includes an 11% wage increase for background actors and 7% general wage increase, both effective immediately, which “breaks the so-called industry pattern”, Mr Crabtree-Ireland said.

The Sag-Aftra press conference on Friday (Richard Vogel/AP/PA)

He said the deal includes “new and very meaningful protections” for the self-tape audition process, for the first time a requirement to engage with intimacy co-ordinators for scenes of nudity or simulated sex and double pay for “singers who dance and dancers who sing”.

The ratification vote for members begins on Tuesday with ballots cast during a 21-day time frame, the press conference was told.

Ms Drescher and Mr Crabtree-Ireland were joined at the press conference by members of the TV and theatrical negotiating committee who were involved in achieving the deal.

The strike began on July 14 with disputes over pay and the threat of artificial intelligence at the forefront of concerns, causing major disruption to Hollywood productions.

It came at the same time as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike which was resolved in September as the union agreed to a deal with studio bosses after 146 days on the picket line.

Actors union explains AI guardrails in strike deal

Andrew MARSZAL
Fri, 10 November 2023 

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland set out new protections against the use of artificial intelligence in Hollywood (Robyn BECK)

From computer-generated "extras" to AI "zombies," new restrictions against the use of artificial intelligence in Hollywood were set out by the actors' union Friday.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) reached a deal with studios like Disney and Netflix this week to end its nearly four-month strike. Its board members on Friday voted 86 percent in favor of ratifying the agreement.

Besides a seven percent minimum pay increase, and a new $40-million-per-year fund to transfer a portion of revenues for hit shows from studios to actors, AI guardrails were a key part of talks.

The deal "allows the industry to go forward -- it does not block AI," SAG-AFTRA negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told a press conference.

"But it makes sure that performers are protected. Their rights to consent are protected. Their rights to fair compensation and their rights to employment are protected."

Studios have been experimenting with AI in recent years, from bringing deceased movie stars back using realistic "digital replicas," to using computer-generated background figures to reduce the number of actors needed for battle scenes.

Many cost-cutting producers want a growing role for AI, and have begun requiring some performers to take part in high-tech 3D "body scans" on set, often without explaining how or when the images will be used.

But now, an actor must be paid the same rate for any use of their digital replica as they would have earned doing the same "amount of work" on set themselves in real life, Crabtree-Ireland said.

Amid fears that background workers -- or "extras" -- could be the first to lose their jobs to AI, strict curbs have been put in place.

"No use of a digital replica can be used to evade engagement and payment of a background actor under this contract," he said.

Studios must gain consent from an actor -- or their estate -- every time their digital replica is used in any film or TV episode.

They cannot present actors with boilerplate contracts entitling them to use a replica in perpetuity, but must instead provide a "reasonably specific description" of how it will be used each time.

- 'Zombies' -

AI technology is advancing at breakneck speed, but has never previously been part of the discussions when SAG-AFTRA renegotiates its contract with studios roughly every three years.

SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said it was vital to nail down rules this time, because "in the world of AI, three months is equivalent to a year."

"So if we didn't get those barricades. What would it be in three years?... It would be so far out of our grasp, we would always be chasing something, but never quite get it."

The very final, contentious detail to be thrashed out with studios on Tuesday night concerned use of AI to create "synthetic fake performers."

Referred to by Variety as "zombies," or "digital Frankensteins," these are constructed using the various body parts of different real actors.

"If you're using Brad Pitt's smile and Jennifer Aniston's eyes, both would have a right of consent," Crabtree-Ireland told the trade website.

He elaborated at Friday's press conference, explaining that studios are now required to obtain permission from every actor whose features are used.

They also have to inform SAG-AFTRA each time a "synthetic fake performer" is created. The union will have the right to bargain for compensation on behalf of the actors involved.

- 'Deal breaker' -

Drescher said AI was a "deal breaker" in the talks, and that the guardrails will not just help actors, but many other entertainment industry professions down the line.

"In a synthetic world, you don't need hair and makeup people. You don't need drivers. You don't need set builders," she said.

"And so for us to keep holding out for the best AI package that we could get was also going to spill over into what their futures were going to look like."

Crabtree-Ireland urged politicians to do more to "make AI protections a priority."

"Our members will be advocating for legislative efforts and will remain actively involved in the movement to protect all individuals' rights to their likeness," he said.

amz/bfm

150 Bangladesh garment factories shut, 11,000 workers charged


Shafiqul ALAM
Sat, 11 November 2023 

Bangladeshi garment workers clash with police during a rally in Gazipur on November 9. They are demanding a minimum wage of about $209 a month (Munir uz ZAMAN)

Bangladeshi garment manufacturers on Saturday shuttered 150 factories "indefinitely", as police issued blanket charges for 11,000 workers in connection with violent protests demanding a higher minimum wage, officers said.

Bangladesh's 3,500 garment factories account for around 85 percent of its $55 billion in annual exports, supplying many of the world's top brands including Levi's, Zara and H&M.

But conditions are dire for many of the sector's four million workers, the vast majority of whom are women whose monthly pay, until recently, started at 8,300 taka ($75).


Violent protests demanding better pay erupted last month, with at least three workers killed and more than 70 factories ransacked or damaged since, according to police.

A government-appointed panel raised the sector's wage by 56.25 percent on Tuesday to 12,500 taka, but garment workers have rejected the hike, instead demanding a 23,000 taka minimum wage.

On Thursday, 15,000 workers clashed with police on a key highway and ransacked Tusuka, a top plant, along with a dozen other factories.

- 'Poverty wage' -

"Police have filed cases against 11,000 unidentified people over the attack on Tusuka garment factory," police inspector Mosharraf Hossain told AFP.

Bangladesh police often issue primary charges against thousands of people -- without specifying their names -- following large protests and political violence, a tactic that critics say is a way to crack down on dissent.

Human rights groups have previously warned such mass cases launched against thousands of unidentified people gives police the license to target innocent protesters.

Wage protests pose a major challenge to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 2009.

A resurgent opposition has challenged her rule as she readies for elections due before the end of January.

Police told AFP that 150 factories had closed in the major industrial towns of Ashulia and Gazipur, both north of the capital Dhaka, as manufacturers feared further strikes when Bangladesh's working week began on Saturday.

"The manufacturers invoked Section 13/1 of the labour laws and shut 130 factories at Ashulia indefinitely citing illegal strikes," Sarwar Alam, head of police in the manufacturing hub, told AFP.

Ashulia is home to some of the biggest Bangladeshi factories, with some employing as many as 15,000 workers in a single multi-storied plant.

Police on Thursday fired rubber bullets and tear gas at around 10,000 workers in Ashulia when they attacked officers and factories with bricks and stones.

At least 20 factories were also shut down in Gazipur, which is the largest industrial zone in the country, said its police chief Mohammad Sarowar Alam.

The minimum wage protests over the past two weeks have been the worst in more than a decade.

The prime minister has rejected any further pay hikes for workers and warned violent protests could cost jobs.

"If they take to the streets to protest at someone's instigation, they will lose their job, lose their work and will have to return to their village," Hasina said on Thursday.

"If these factories are closed, if production is disrupted, exports are disrupted, where will their jobs be? They have to understand that."

But unions staged protests defying Hasina's warning.

They had dismissed the panel's decision, because the pay hike does not match the soaring cost of food, rent, healthcare and school fees for their children.

The Netherlands-based Clean Clothes Campaign, a textile workers' rights group, has dismissed the new pay level as a "poverty wage".

Washington has condemned violence against protesting workers.

The United States, which is one of the largest buyers of Bangladesh-made garments, has called for a wage that "addresses the growing economic pressures faced by workers and their families".

sa/pjm/mtp

Scottish Water accused of holding pay rise ‘to ransom’ by striking workers

Craig Paton, PA Scotland Deputy Political Editor
Fri, 10 November 2023

Scotland’s Government-owned water company has been accused of holding workers’ pay rises “to ransom” as industrial action begins.

Hundreds of staff will be on strike over the weekend in action that began on Friday, with walkouts planned over 48 days in the next three months.

The disagreement stems from a new grading structure unions claim could cost the lowest paid up to £5,000, with Patricia McArthur, the Scottish Water branch secretary for the trade union Unison, saying workers are missing out on a pay increase by not agreeing to the plans.


The company’s chief operating officer Peter Farrer said he “regrets” strike action has been taken, adding the firm remains “committed” to agreeing a deal, with its most recent offer including an 8% pay rise.

New talks are scheduled for Wednesday after the most recent negotiations – which went on into the early hours of Thursday – failed.

Striking Scottish Water staff on the picket line outside the company’s Forth House in Stirling (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Speaking to the PA news agency at the company’s waste water treatment plant in Shieldhall, Glasgow, Ms McArthur said: “We’re on strike because Scottish Water are basically holding our cost-of-living rise to ransom.

“They’re trying to force the staff to accept a new pay and grading system that’s not been collectively bargained by the unions and we have some serious concerns about the content of it.

“We are just looking to get a decent cost-of-living rise before Christmas, we’re looking to work with Scottish Water to try and come up with a pay and grading system that is going to be good for everyone.”

Ms McArthur went on to say the strike action is likely to cause issues in the water network as temperatures plunged to their lowest since April.

“We are teetering on the brink of a potential disaster for our network by going out on strike – we don’t want to do that,” she said.

“Scottish Water is the unseen utility – you don’t know it’s there, until it’s not.

“We’re really proud, we love our jobs, but it’s got to the point where we can’t afford not to strike.”

Mr Farrer sought to assure Scots that plans are in place to avert any issues with the water supply, saying: “We will do all we can to ensure customers do not experience any disruption to their water supplies and that treatment of the country’s waste water continues as usual, despite the industrial action.

“A reliable water source is vital for everyone. Maintaining public health and protecting the environment are our priorities and it is the responsible course of action for us to have contingency plans ready.

“We are committed to maintaining our high levels of customer service during this dispute and are confident that those staff members who do not strike will be ready, willing and able to help ensure we do so.

“We are dismayed the unions have taken this course of action over what, at 8% or more for all, is an exceptional proposal for our people and one of the best in the public sector.”

Hundreds of workers walked out on the first of 48 days of strike action (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Stephen Deans, a regional co-ordinating officer for the Unite union, said resolving the dispute could be “very simple”.

He added: “This is one of the most simple and straightforward disputes I’ve ever been involved in in my career.

“It’ll take for the management to agree to honour collective bargaining with the trade unions in relation to their pay and grading system, it’s as simple as that.”

Claire Greer, Scotland organiser at the GMB union, said the unions agree the current pay and grading structure – which the company says is 21 years old – is “not fit for purpose”, but any replacement should be devised in collaboration with staff.

“We absolutely want to work with Scottish Water to make sure that we get something that is better than what is there just now and something that works,” she said.

“What is on the table is not that, so we need to make sure that we work together and that the work that Scottish Water have already done in the background without the trade unions, if there is anything that we could use and we can progress from, then absolutely the unions are in complete agreement with that.”

The GMB, she said, has “many, many concerns” about the current proposals, including what it sees as a lack of a process for workers to appeal against the grades they are in and for job evaluations, as well as the claim that workers’ pay is being benchmarked against companies like McDonald’s and Amazon as opposed to other utility firms.


Scottish Water strikes begin in pay and grading dispute


Katrine Bussey, PA Scotland Political Editor, Ryan McDougall, PA Scotland
Fri, 10 November 2023 

Hundreds of Scottish Water workers walked out on Friday in what marks the first day of a four-day strike in a pay and grading dispute.

It comes after First Minister Humza Yousaf said he hoped the strikes could have been averted.

The union Unite, which represents striking Scottish Water workers, branded talks a “waste of time”.


Sharon Graham of Unite previously said Scottish Water “failed to address the concerns of our members”.

She said the firm has “continued to press ahead with its proposed new grading structure” for staff, adding this is “foolishly” being linked to pay.

Striking workers on the picket line outside Scottish Water’s Forth House in Stirling (Andrew Milligan/PA)

“Talks have been a waste of time,” Ms Graham said.

“It appears to be the case that the bosses in the boardroom will only listen to us when our members have taken to the picket lines across Scotland.

“Unite will fully support our members in the fight for better jobs, pay and conditions at Scottish Water.”

Some 500 workers from the Unite, Unison and GMB trade unions began strike action as part of the row early on Friday.

Action is planned to run for 48 days over a three-month period.

Unison regional organiser Emma Phillips previously said: “Scottish Water truly are a rogue employer.

Sharon Graham said that talks have been a waste of time (Jacob King/PA)

“Our strong ballot result shows the strength of feeling among our members, who have overwhelmingly rejected the employer’s slapdash proposals.

“Despite this, Scottish Water are insisting they are still going to implement the changes to employment contracts and pay structures.”

Patricia McArthur, the union’s branch secretary at Scottish Water, said: “Strike action is always a last resort but Scottish Water managers are imposing a new pay structure with no involvement from staff, which is not acceptable.”

GMB Scotland organiser Claire Greer said: “It is impossible to underestimate how ineptly the company has handled what should have been a straightforward negotiation.

“It has managed to infuriate a committed workforce and drive them to strike action, when the dispute could have easily been resolved months ago.

“Scottish Water has repeatedly been given a clear choice between doing the right thing and making the situation worse, and has taken the wrong decision every single time.

“Its actions over the last six months are a template for how to demoralise staff and demolish industrial relations.

Scottish Labour MSP Pauline McNeill challenged the First Minister on bonus payments to Scottish Water executives (Fraser Bremner/Scottish Daily Record/PA)

“The priority is to resolve this dispute, but then lessons must be learned.”

Mr Yousaf, meanwhile, defended bonus payments made to Scottish Water executives.

He had been challenged on the payments by Labour MSP Pauline McNeill, who raised reports that three senior staff members had received almost £1.1 million in bonuses in 2021, claiming this was “in excess of public sector pay rules”.

She told the First Minister the “same executives are withholding a pay rise from their workers unless the staff accept a new pay structure”.

Mr Yousaf told her the bonuses were “in line with public sector pay rules” and help Scottish Water “attract and retain highly experienced personnel to run a vital public service”.

Regarding workers’ pay, he said the Scottish Government “has a very strong track record of ensuring workers are paid fairly”.

Scottish Water was previously contacted for comment.

A top LGBTQ+ advocacy org is quitting X over safety concerns

Story by By Clare Duffy, CNN •

 

The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ+ youth, is quitting social media site X, saying Thursday it is concerned about “increasing hate & vitriol on the platform targeting the LGBTQ community — the group we exist to serve.”

“If you’d like to keep up with our work supporting LGBTQ young people, we invite you to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Facebook,” or on TrevorSpace.org, the group said in a statement about closing its account on the platform formerly known as Twitter. “No online space is perfect, but having access to sufficient moderation capabilities is essential to maintaining a safer space for our community.”

The move to leave X comes after months of concerns about hateful speech on the platform, as owner Elon Musk emphasizes his desire for what he calls “free speech” instead. Musk has also taken hits at digital online watchdog groups who criticized the company’s handling of hate speech and other troubling content, including suing the Center for Countering Digital Hate and threatening legal action against the Anti-Defamation League (the lawsuit against the ADL never materialized, and the group later resumed advertising on X).

X in April also rolled back a portion of its hateful conduct policy that included specific protections for transgender people, including removing a prohibition against “targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals.”

Musk himself — whose daughter is transgender and said earlier this year that she wanted to cut ties with her father — has been criticized for some of his statements on X regarding gender identity issues.

For example, in December 2020 he made a post, since deleted, that said “when you put he/him in your bio” alongside a drawing of an 18th century soldier rubbing blood on his face in front of a pile of dead bodies and wearing a cap that read “I love to oppress.” (In response to criticism to that post, Musk wrote on the platform: “I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic nightmare.”)

The Trevor Project also noted that its exit from X comes after hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ bills, a record number, have been introduced into statehouses across the United States in 2023. Fellow civil rights organization the Human Rights Campaign in June declared a “state of emergency” for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

“We have seen this rhetoric transcend politics and appear on social media platforms,” a representative for the Trevor Project told CNN. “The content we share on social media is intended to uplift and affirm LGBTQ young people, shedding light on stories to deepen the public understanding of their experiences. In response to mental health resources and messages of hope and support, we’ve seen anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and commentary on our posts that can negatively impact LGBTQ young people.”

Indeed, many of the replies to the group’s recent posts on X are filled with dozens of angry and hateful comments, in some cases hidden behind a label that notes they may be offensive.

A year after Musk acquired the platform, X has been scrambling to stem the tide of users leaving the platform for alternatives in the wake of the billionaire’s controversial leadership style and policy changes. A number of new social platforms have cropped up over the past year, including Meta’s Threads, Mastodon, a new site backed by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey called Bluesky and a platform from former Twitter employees called Spill.

The company has also been attempting to convince many advertisers to resume or increase their spending on the platform despite concerns that ads could show up alongside hateful content or misinformation. X CEO Linda Yaccarino has touted the platform’s brand safety controls that are meant to allow advertisers to choose what kinds of content their ads can appear next to.

CNN has reached out to X about the Trevor Project deleting its account.

Latvian parliament legalises same-sex partnerships


FILE PHOTO: People hold a giant rainbow flag as they walk during Riga Pride 2023 parade in Riga, Latvia June 3, 2023. 

REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File photo

By Andrius Sytas and Janis Laizans

RIGA (Reuters) - Latvia's parliament on Thursday voted to allow same-sex couples to establish civil unions, providing them with legal recognition but fewer rights than married couples.

Homosexuality remains a divisive topic in Latvia, whose legislators in 2005 changed the constitution to define marriage as only allowed between a man and a woman.

The new legislation, which is due to come into force in the middle of next year, allows same-sex couples to register their partnership with a notary.

It allows partners in such a union hospital visiting rights, as well as some tax and social security benefits.

But Kaspars Zalitis, a gay rights activist, noted same-sex couples would still not be able to adopt children and would continue to face inheritance issues.

"This is a great beginning... Latvia is not one of the six countries in the European Union that have no recognition for same-sex couples," he told Reuters. Latvia's parliament elected President Edgars Rinkevics as the first openly gay head of state in the European Union in May, despite 45% of Latvians telling a 2019 Eurobarometer poll they would be uncomfortable with having a homosexual or bisexual high-ranking official.

The 2019 poll found 54% Latvians uncomfortable with having a homosexual or bisexual colleague, while according to a 2023 Globsec poll only 40% of the country supports legalising same-sex rights such as marriage.

Justice Minister Inese Libina-Egnere said the parliament did not intend to provide civil union partners with similar rights to married couples.

"We are acknowledging that we have families which are not married, and this is the way they can register their relationship," she told Reuters. "The political will is to have a really specific kind of registered partnership."

The top Latvian court ruled in 2020 that the country must recognise non-married families, and 46 same-sex couples successfully petitioned the courts to get recognised as family units, public broadcaster LSM said.

Latvia's neighbour Estonia in June legislated same-sex marriage.

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius and Janis Laizans in Riga; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Vatican rules some transgender people and babies of same-sex couples can be baptized

Story by By Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN  • 1d

 A new ruling by the Vatican’s doctrine department has opened the door to Catholic baptism for transgender people and babies of same-sex couples.

The new rules, dated October 31, come from a set of questions, or dubia, submitted to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) by Brazilian bishop Giuseppe Negri. The answers to his questions about certain sacraments were published on the Vatican’s website in Italian on Wednesday evening.

Regarding transgender people, the document says a person who identifies as transgender can be baptized like any other adult, “as long as there is no risk of causing scandal or disorientation” to other Catholics.

Children who identify as transgender can also be baptized if “well prepared and willing,” it says. The document also states that transgender people, including those who have undergone gender reassignment procedures, can be godparents and witnesses in Catholic weddings under the right circumstances.

Children of same-sex couples can also be baptized, as long as there is a “well-founded hope that he or she will be educated in the Catholic religion.”

The document makes clear that people who live in homosexual relationships are still committing a sin, and that baptism must come with repentance for such sins. The document cites several sermons by Pope Francis for the ruling.

“The church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems,” the document states, quoting the pope’s 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium.

In each circumstance, the priest is asked to use “pastoral prudence” in deciding whether to allow a transgender person’s participation.

“It is necessary to consider the real value that the ecclesial community confers on the duties of the godfather and godmother, the role they play in the community, and the consideration they show toward the teaching of the Church.”

The document added that the priest should also take into consideration if there are other people in the extended family who can “guarantee” the “proper transmission of the Catholic faith” to the baptized person.

LGBTQ issues were a major area of discussion during the Vatican’s recent synod.

Francis DeBernardo, executive director of the New Ways Ministry, a Catholic LGBT advocacy group based in the United States, said in a statement that the “Vatican’s affirmation that transgender people should be welcomed in the church’s sacramental life signals Pope Francis’ desire for a pastorally-focused approach to LGBTQ+ issues is taking hold.”

However, the group warns that the ruling doesn’t go far enough.

“If church leaders do not employ pastoral prudence with this guideline, it could be used by other officials to establish other policies which would exclude such people from other areas of church life,” DeBernardo writes.

“Focusing particularly on the ineligibility of people in ‘stable, marriage-like relations’ who are ‘well known by the community’ suggests that the DDF remains more concerned about ‘causing scandal’ than about integrating LGBTQ+ Catholics in the lives of the church and of their families,” he continues.

“We hope that church leaders will apply these guidelines by following Pope Francis’ example of extravagant welcome, rather than using them to continue old restrictions.”

The group calls the affirmation a “reversal of a previous Vatican decision” and notes that ”not only does this doctrinal note, known as a responsum ad dubia, remove barriers to transgender people’s participation, it proves that the Catholic Church can—and does—change its mind about certain practices and policies.”

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Apple is not passing on costs of climate goals to consumers, exec says

Story by Reuters • 1d


People stand outside an Apple Store as Apple's new iPhone 15 officially goes on sale across China, in Shanghai, China September 22, 2023. 

REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo© Thomson Reuters

(Reuters) -Apple does not charge more to account for its carbon reduction efforts on its widely-used consumer technology products, its top executive for sustainability said on Wednesday at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York.

“We don’t factor in a premium to take care of the work that we’re doing," Apple Vice President Lisa Jackson said in an interview with Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni.

Apple, with a roughly $2.8 trillion market capitalization, which makes it the world's most valuable publicly traded company, wants to show a way forward that can apply to other businesses, Jackson said. Apple CEO Tim Cook has set the tone, according to Jackson.

"I want to do it in a way that other businesses can say this isn't because they’re Apple," said Jackson, referring to Cook's direction. "It's because they understand how to make clean energy and (recyclable) materials work in the manufacturing chains and drive emissions down."

Apple has been aggressive among large U.S. companies in advocating for stricter public environmental policies. In September it endorsed legislation in California to require companies to report on their greenhouse gas emissions, even though trade groups in the state opposed the idea that recently became law.

Under Jackson, formerly the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Apple was also an early backer of federal rules to require companies to disclose emissions from their value chains.

Many other executives from large U.S. companies oppose the idea, which has not been finalized by securities regulators. Critics say it is easier for a tech company like Apple to meet such goals than it would be for corporations in more energy-intensive industries.

In her remarks on Wednesday, Jackson nodded at the challenges of figuring out and reporting supply-chain details. "Even making the windmills to generate renewable energy has a carbon footprint, and so you have to account for that," she said.

For a recent model of the Apple Watch, the company has reduced 78% of its carbon footprint but not some 8 kilograms of emissions for each device. "We just right now don't have the ability to take care" of that, which includes the environmental impact of transportation and logistics.

Jackson also said Apple is working with smaller processing companies to recycle rare earths and other materials. "That's somewhere Apple can invest and then help to scale and bring (other) businesses along," she said.

(Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin and Kenneth Li in New York and Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by Daniel Wallis)