Bangladesh Arrest Thousands in 'Violent' Crackdown: HRW

November 27, 2023 
Agence France-Presse

Police personnel stand guard in front of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party headquarters in Dhaka on Nov. 19, 2023, during a nationwide strike called by BNP activists. The party said about half of its five million members "face politically motivated prosecution."

DHAKA, BANGLADESH —

Bangladesh has launched a sweeping and violent crackdown on opposition parties to "eliminate competition" ahead of general elections, including arresting almost 10,000 activists, Human Rights Watch said Monday.

As well as the thousands arrested — many from the key Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) — a staggering number also face charges.

According to the BNP, about half of its five million members "face politically motivated prosecution," HRW said.

"The arrests, they are not leaving anyone behind, from senior level to the ground level," one activist told HRW.

Prisons are now at more than double their capacity, the rights group said.

The South Asian nation of around 170 million people holds a general election on Jan.7, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina eyeing her fourth consecutive term in power.

"Bangladesh authorities are carrying out mass arrests of political opposition in a clear attempt to quash the opposition and eliminate competition ahead of the general elections," HRW said.

New York-based HRW, who called it a "violent autocratic crackdown," said at least 16 people have been killed since protests escalated in October, including two police officers.

 

More than 5,500 people have been injured.

There was no immediate response by the government to the HRW report, but authorities say that those arrested should face justice for a range of violent crimes.

'Extrajudicial killings'

HRW based its report on multiple witness interviews, as well as analysis of videos and police reports.

It said it had found "evidence that security forces are responsible for using excessive force, mass arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings."

Bangladesh is one of the world's largest garment exporters — accounting for around 85% of its $55 billion in annual exports — with many global brands purchasing clothes from its factories.


Motorists watch as Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists set fire on a road during clashes with the police in Araihazar, on October 31, 2023. (Photo by Munir Uz Zaman / AFP)


"Diplomatic partners should make clear that the crackdown will jeopardize economic cooperation," HRW said.

Julia Bleckner, senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said credible elections could not be held under such conditions.

"A free election is impossible when the government stifles free expression and systematically incapacitates the opposition, critics, and activists through arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearance, harassment, and intimidation," Bleckner said.

The BNP on Sunday said at least 16,625 members had been arrested since October.

They include most of its leadership, most notably the BNP's de facto chief Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Prosecutors and lawyers said in the past two weeks at least 526 BNP officials and activists were convicted and sentenced, mostly in absentia, over what the party said were "trumped up" charges.

 

Addressing climate change and racial inequality

Connecting community with the land.

Joanne Paulson / USask2 days ago

• 
  
• 
  

USask alumni Jebunnessa Chapola dives into climate change and its effect on Indigenous and racialized women. Photo courtesy USask

SASKATOON — Dr. Jebunnessa Chapola (PhD) came to Canada from Bangladesh almost two decades ago, a self-described racialized woman who immigrated “from one colonial land to another colonial land.”

Since her arrival, she has dedicated herself to making connections with her own immigrant community, as well as Indigenous, immigrant, and refugee women using various means — including her radio program with Saskatoon’s CFCR community station and through volunteering, such as with the Saskatoon Community Garden.

Now holding a PhD from the University of Saskatchewan (USask), she continues this work at a different level as a post-doctoral fellow with the University of Regina, working under Dr. Margot Hurlbert (PhD), a professor and Canada Research Chair in the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (JSGS).

Hurlbert’s work explores the gap between what is needed to address climate change and current policy and behaviour. Hurlbert’s scholarship concerns climate change adaptation and mitigation, energy, Indigenous peoples, water, droughts, floods, water governance, and sustainability.

Following her doctoral dissertation based on her own journey, Chapola is now plunging into the complexity of climate change and its effects on racialized and marginalized women.

Her new research work, entitled Women-led Climate Change Solutions (WCCS): Developing A Policy Guide from Indigenous and Immigrants’ Perspectives, comes at the perfect time. It has helped inform a massive undertaking at JSGS: the Governing Sustainable Municipalities Project.

In turn, the project addresses the Government of Saskatchewan’s goals, which include economic and population growth, Indigenous participation, and climate change strategy.

“What the government is trying to do is reduce carbon and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions in extracting industries to supply the food, fuel, and fertilizer to serve the world’s needs,” Chapola said. “But more needs to be done.”

“I’m an anti-racist decolonial feminist and that is what my PhD work was about. I am focusing on women-led climate change solutions.”

Chapola’s work dovetails with one of JSGS’s primary project questions: How can municipal sustainability initiatives engage underserved groups, particularly Indigenous peoples, racialized people, LGBTQ2S+ people, and people with disabilities?

The project, detailed in several specific briefs, is based on the premises that sustainable development benefits society, the environment, and the economy; and that municipalities have the authority to undertake and support sustainability initiatives. How these goals can be achieved are at the basis of the project.

Chapola’s study has three related objectives:

To create Women-led Community Climate Solutions Spaces based on equity principles that foster community resiliency to climate change;

To address climate change risks and women’s related vulnerabilities;

To provide recommendations for creating socially inclusive climate policies at local, provincial, and federal levels.

Chapola notes that Indigenous, new immigrant, and refugee women — here and everywhere — are economically more vulnerable to climate change. Simply put, Chapola said, society must connect more closely with the land.

She began her research on how to achieve this goal by collecting the stories of Indigenous, immigrant, and refugee women.

“Indigenous women live close to the land. The way their lives have been impacted by climate change is different from racialized women,” Chapola said.

Chapola hears about the lack of clean, safe drinking water, and how their culture and spirituality are closely connected to the land; but these are not being sufficiently valued.

Most racialized women she has interviewed say climate change has not directly affected their lives because they generally live in cities with safe drinking water and accessible energy. However, Chapola said their migration is often for reasons of climate change, as well as war or other social reasons.

“A lot of factors are involved; but in a simple way, I would say it is high time for us to understand, what is the meaning of land and water? It’s for the betterment of all of us.”

“Learning from Indigenous, new immigrant, and refugee women in our communities is essential if we are going to address climate change and achieve our goals,” Chapola said.

Chapola’s PhD dissertation is entitled ‘A racialized settler woman’s transformative journey in Canada: Building relational accountabilities’ and can be found at: https://harvest.usask.ca/handle/10388/14135.

 

 

From Darfur to Dubai: former refugee to bring voices of the displaced to Cop28

Emtithal Mahmoud, a Sudanese refugee, writer and activist, is preparing to attend the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai this month as part of her mission to raise up overlooked voices. RFI met her during a visit to the Minawao refugee camp in northern Cameroon, where displaced people are experiencing the harsh realities of climate change first-hand.


RFI
Issued on: 25/11/2023 -

Activist and poet Emtithal "Emi" Mahmoud stands in the middle of a circle of people at the Minawao refugee camp in northern Cameroon. 

© Ngala Killian Chimtom / RFI

By: Ngala Killian Chimtom in Minawao

Liatou Habila, a 26-year-old Nigerian refugee in Cameroon, has a broad smile after shaking hands with Emtithal “Emi” Mahmoud.

“I am surprised that she came to see us,” Habila says of the Sudanese-American poet and goodwill ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR.

“She is so humble and so nice and everybody likes her,” Habila tells RFI.

The two women met at the Minawao refugee camp in Cameroon’s Far North region, which Mahmoud recently visited.

The activist, who fled Darfur as a toddler and then grew up in the United States, was in the region to speak to displaced people ahead of the Cop28 climate summit, which starts on 30 November.

She says she will be at the talks in Dubai “to lift the voices of refugees” – who have long been left out of discussions on climate change, but increasingly find themselves on its frontlines.

The Bogo camp for internally displaced people in northern Cameroon, which Emtithal Mahmoud also visited. 

© Ngala Killian Chimtom / RFI

Climate displacement

“You see other refugee situations where climate disasters did lead to displacement, because 70 percent of refugees actually come from climate-vulnerable settings, in different countries including Afghanistan, the DRC, Yemen and Syria,” Mahmoud says.

“But from my context specifically, I have experienced that kind of environmental loss at many different levels and many different climates, both in the States and in Sudan and many different areas.”

In Cameroon, the Far North region hosts thousands of displaced people, some from Nigeria and others forced to flee from within the country. Some have fled extreme weather events or conflicts over land and resources aggravated by climate change.

But they can’t escape climate pressures at the Minawao refugee camp.Forced to flee or too poor to leave: how climate change affects refugees
Drought, deforestation

The camp spans some 623 hectares, with temperatures sometimes reaching as high as 40 degrees Celsius. The area has seen regular droughts in recent years, much like many other regions of the Sahel, the semi-arid scrubland that borders the Sahara desert.

This has been made worse in Minawao by the loss of trees, which both refugees and the local population depend on for firewood.

According to the Centre for International Forestry Research, an estimated 80 percent of Cameroonians rely on wood for all their household energy. It estimates that 2.2 million metric tonnes of firewood is burned annually throughout the nation. And with electricity in short supply and domestic gas practically unavailable in remote places like Minawao, firewood is the camp’s primary source of fuel.

The rising demand for firewood is adding to the pressure on Cameroon’s forests, which are already threatened by logging, farming, mining and construction.

Desperate hunt for fuel threatens a once thriving forest reserve in Cameroon

Even as refugees like Habila go further afield in search of firewood, they face the prospect of sexual violence.

“They are sexually abused. They are raped almost every day they step out to look for wood,” said Luka Isaac, a spokesperson for Nigerian refugees at Minawao.

The refugees therefore initiated a tree-planting campaign – not only to help provide fuel, but also to provide shade from the searing Sahelian heat.
Over 50,000 new trees

“We started with just 500 trees,” Luka tells RFI. “With the help of the Cameroon government, the UNHCR and other aid agencies, we are now on more than 50,000 trees.”

Mahmoud sits in the shade of a neem tree taking in the breeze.

“I think what’s so brilliant about the climate solutions here are that they weren’t just offered or led by refugees, they were created by refugees from the outset,” she tells RFI. Cameroon's indigenous Baka sing to save their vanishing forest home

She says she performs her spoken-word poetry because she believes that “if one person hears it and it makes a difference in their lives, if it shifts their perspective about a refugee or a vulnerable person or it makes them see us as more human, if it just makes one person listen a little bit better or see the humanity a little bit more, that makes a huge difference for me”.

The same mission will take her to Cop28, where she hopes to ensure that refugees’ long-ignored voices are heard.

COP28

Scottish faith leaders issue call for climate change action

Faith leaders are urging politicians to ensure the Cop28 climate conference counts, warning that humanity stands "on the brink of untold destruction" without urgent action.

HMMM SAME THING THEY SAID AT COP26

​
By Lucinda Cameron, PA Scotland
Published 27th Nov 2023

They are calling on the UK Government to make paying into a loss and damage fund a key priority at the UN climate talks, which begin later this week in Dubai.

The 11 Scottish faith leaders are calling on the UK Government to commit to making the biggest polluters pay into the fund, so that it urgently delivers support to communities already experiencing climate breakdown, and to provide loss and damage finance in the form of grants not loans.

They are also writing to the leaders of all the main political parties in the UK asking them to use their influence ahead of the global summit and to sign the Global Parliamentarians' Pledge on loss and damage.

Signatories to the letter include representatives of the Church of Scotland, Scottish Catholic Bishops Conference, Hindu Temple of Scotland, Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Community, Salvation Army and Scottish Religious Leaders Forum.

In a statement accompanying the letter they say: "The climate crisis is devastating lives and livelihoods across the world, threatening nations and ecosystems and pushing the earth's life support systems to their limits. Without urgent action we are on the brink of untold destruction.

"This is a crisis for all humanity, but it is not experienced equally and not all are equally responsible. Many of the world's poorest nations, who have contributed the least to climate change, are already paying the price of other nations' actions.

"The loss and damage fund agreed in principle at Cop27 was a signal that the world is ready to correct this injustice. It must be enacted if we are to redress historic and current harms."

They recognise that there are "significant" challenges but say that if those in power recognise the urgency, and respond with integrity, humility and humanity, "then there is hope".

The group is also calling on the UK Government to ensure that the money for loss and damage is new and additional to existing climate finance commitments.

The other signatories are representatives of the General Meeting for Scotland (Quakers), Interfaith Scotland, Methodist Church in Scotland, Scottish Episcopal Church and United Reformed Church.

Dr Maureen Seir, director of Interfaith Scotland, said: "Urgent action is needed to reduce emissions as quickly as possible and to help those facing the worst impacts of this crisis, having contributed the least to it."

And Andrew Tomlinson, campaigns and advocacy lead at Christian Aid Scotland, said: "We're already seeing the impact of extreme weather, driven by climate change, on countries least able to deal with it.

"We want to see the leaders of all the richer nations, especially the UK, pushing for action."

A UK Government spokesperson said: "Alongside our international partners, the UK agreed a robust plan for the loss and damage fund.

"The UK played an important role in coming to this historic agreement, and we look forward to its passage at Cop28 which will support continued urgent action tackling loss and damage."

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "First Minister Humza Yousaf intends to participate in Cop28 in Dubai as an opportunity to underline Scotland's commitment to being a good global citizen, and to making a constructive contribution to addressing the twin crises of climate and biodiversity.

"The Scottish Government will use Cop28 to call on all to urgently step up to address the injustice at the heart of climate change by supporting those communities who are suffering the most but have done the least to cause climate impacts, including through our leadership on loss and damage."

Scottish Labour Environment spokesperson Sarah Boyack said "The climate emergency is already doing immense damage both at home and across the world.

"This is a global crisis that requires a global response, and Scotland must play its role.

"It is absolutely essential that we all do our part not only to stop temperatures rising but also to help countries hit hard by the effects of climate change."

Scottish Liberal Democrat climate emergency spokesman Liam McArthur MSP said: "There is no escaping the truth that wealthier countries have historically done more to cause the climate crisis, while poorer countries and the most marginalised are left to deal with the gravest consequences.

"That is why Scottish Liberal Democrats have put forward proposals that would see energy companies and the UK Government paying into this fund to support all those affected by climate disasters."

Failure is deadly: Vulnerable countries need climate action now, says the IRC ahead of COP28


MEDIA CONTACTS
IRC Global Communications
communications@rescue.org

November 26, 2023 — On the eve of COP28, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) urges global leaders to take urgent climate action that supports countries affected by the dual challenges of conflict and climate change.

Far from being on the periphery of the fight against climate change, these climate-vulnerable, conflict-affected communities like Afghanistan, Somalia and Syria increasingly represent the sharp end of the climate crisis. While these communities only account for 10% of the global population and less than 3% of global carbon emissions, they also account for 60% of global humanitarian need, over 70% of internal displacement, a growing share of extreme poverty, and half of all people affected by natural disasters over the past 3 years. Despite these dire statistics, these same communities are only receiving one-third of the climate financing compared to their stable counterparts.

The IRC’s Climate Action for the Epicenter of Crisis: How COP28 Can Address the Injustices Facing Conflict-Affected Communities lays out the four core areas IRC and its staff and clients in these communities are calling for at COP:Improving risk mapping of conflict-affected communities to target action where it is most needed - with specific commitment to ensure community-level risk maps exist in all 16 climate-vulnerable, conflict-affected countries by the end of 2025;
Investing in innovation, particularly adaptation, resilience and anticipatory actioninterventionsdesigned for conflict settings - such as anticipatory action or seed security - calling on climate finance contributors to deliver 50% of all climate funding to adaptation by 2025, with a particular focus on the 16 conflict- and climate-impacted countries and to commit a minimum of 5% of humanitarian budgets to anticipatory action with a strategy for further expansion by 2030.
Adopting a “people-first” approach to delivery through meaningful non-governmental partnerships- calling on multilateral development banks and vertical climate funds to channel 20% of adaptation financing through non-governmental partners in conflict-affected countries;
Making climate finance more equitable and accessible to adequately resource action - calling on donors to fulfill the $100 billion-per-year climate pledge with “new and additional” financing, and increase the ambition for a new goal set from 2025 starting from a floor of $100 billion.

David Miliband, President and CEO of the IRC:


“This year’s COP must not fail climate-vulnerable states. Negotiations in Dubai must prioritize the distinct challenges faced by conflict-affected, climate-vulnerable countriesthat have been left out of business-as-usual global climate action thus far. Devastating flooding in Pakistan and Libya, drought and the resulting impact on food security in Somalia and Afghanistan all highlight the present danger of inaction.

“But it doesn’t end there. Climate change acts as a threat multiplier, exacerbating existing fractures in fragile societies. The lack of support means injustices in these communities in particular are growing. The litany of warnings issued by humanitarians and climate scientists alike continue ad infinitum: 1.5 billion people could be displaced by 2050 as a result of climate shocks, food insecurity and overall humanitarian needs without sufficient investments in climate resilience. 250,000 additional deaths per year are expected due to climate-induced malnutrition, malaria, and heat stress over the next 25 years - the equivalent of 500 Boeing 747s crashing every year during that same period. Twenty years of progress toward gender equity could be reversed if the impact of climate change on women goes unaddressed.

“Behind a sea of dire statistics is a clarion call. The IRC and the people it represents are calling for a focus on the solutions within our grasp, and the clear opportunity presented by COP28 to make them a reality for millions.

“The recently-released Climate Relief, Recovery, and Peace Declaration is a critical first step, recognizing the unique effects of the climate crisis on fragile and conflict-affected communities and making important calls for scaling up more accessible climate financing, investing in innovative climate adaptation program for these settings, and ensuring women, disability, and youth-led organizations have a seat at the table. But turning this substantive declaration into tangible impact for the communities hit hardest by the climate crisis will require an action plan to go with it. Governments, banks, climate funds and the private sector should endorse the declaration and commit to specific targets on the amount of finance going to these communities, the share going to adaptation, and the accessibility of this finance for non-governmental partners.

“The bar for COP28 to be considered a success is whether it can commit to a new chapter of climate action- accountable to the least prioritized, and the most vulnerable.”

Why Cop28 is an opportunity for India to boost its energy transition

The South Asian country is aiming for 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030

Panels at Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan, northern India. Currently, coal powers 70 per cent of India's electricity generation. AFP

Rebecca Bundhun
Mumbai, India
Nov 26, 2023


The Cop28 climate summit, which starts in Dubai on Thursday, is an opportunity for India to boost its efforts in transitioning to renewable energy, industry experts say.

The country’s limitations on moving away from dependence on coal will also come to the fore at the summit, given its rapidly growing energy demands.

“India’s priorities for Cop28 will revolve around building on the positive momentum gained at the recently held G20 [summit in New Delhi], including focusing on tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030, developments in green hydrogen and the need of low-cost finance for energy transition,” says Gautam Mohanka, chief executive at Gautam Solar in New Delhi.

“Additionally, India will focus on accountability and more ambitious climate mitigation plans from the wealthy, developed nations.”

Industry leaders are confident about what India might be able to achieve at Cop28

“As we enter Cop28, India has the opportunity to showcase not only the progress made but also our unwavering dedication to a green and resilient future,” says green energy company Avaada Group’s chairman, Vineet Mittal, who is part of the delegation.

India has been rapidly increasing its green energy capacity – especially solar – as it recognises this as not only a way to cut emissions, but also to boost its energy security and reduce its import bill from fossil fuels.

The country is aiming for 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030. As of July, India had an installed capacity of 176.49 gigawatts, according to official data.

“Realising the 2030 renewable energy target will be a milestone not to be missed if India is to stay on track for the 2070 net-zero goal,” says Anup Garg, founder and director of World of Circular Economy, a company offering sustainability solutions.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Cop26 in 2021 pledged India would cut its emissions to net zero by 2070, and renewables would make up half of the country’s energy mix by 2030. The US and EU have committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050, while China is targeting 2060 for the goal.

India is the fourth-largest emitter of carbon emissions after China, the US and the EU.

The Cop conference this year is seen as particularly crucial as the planet appears to be falling short in its efforts to tackle climate change. The first full global stocktake of the world’s climate targets will be delivered at Cop28.

Efforts by countries so far are insufficient to limit the world’s temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, an initial report on the summit found.


India, as the fifth-largest economy and with the world’s largest population of more than 1.4 billion people, is considered vital when it comes to global climate negotiations.

Irena: 'The future is bright if action is taken today'

“India’s energy demand continues to rise due to the growth in the country’s population and economy in the years ahead,” says Mr Garg.

However, because of these demands and despite pressure from developed nations, India has been resistant to setting a deadline to phase out fossil fuels such as coal.


The country relies on the highly polluting fuel to produce about 70 per cent of its electricity.

Although “India remains one of the fastest growing markets for renewable energy, it still remains largely dependent on coal to meet its growing energy needs”, Mr Mohanka says.

“While India still faces a relatively big challenge with coal dependency within its energy sector, we are quite optimistic about the efforts being made to reduce it,” says Sandiip Bhammer, founder and co-managing partner at Green Frontier Capital, a climate change-focused venture capital fund.

“The government is taking bold steps to phase out old and inefficient coal plants, promote cleaner coal technologies, and invest in carbon capture and storage research.”

The aim is “to balance energy security with environmental sustainability”, he adds. “It’s safe to say that India is committed to a sustainable, low-carbon future, prioritising renewable energy and addressing challenges to achieve this goal.”

For India to be able to lower its reliance on coal, more investment needs to be pumped into renewables and related infrastructure, analysts say.

“India has made very impressive strides in shifting to renewable energy sources, particularly in solar and wind power,” Mr Bhammer says.

“Government policies and incentives have attracted substantial investments, positioning India as a rapidly growing clean energy market globally. Nonetheless, challenges like grid integration, energy storage and intermittency issues persist, indicating the need for ongoing efforts to meet targets and strengthen the reliability of energy infrastructure.”

This will require significant investment.

“The future energy transformation with complete phase out of fossils requires substantial money, so climate finance is the most important challenge,” says Manish Dabkara, chairman and managing director of EKI Energy Services, a carbon-credit developer and supplier.

A key area of focus for India and the success of Cop28 partially falls on negotiations around financing to developing countries, experts say.

“Developed countries need to do much more in finance, technology and capacity building for developing countries,” says Pallavi Das, programme lead at Council on Energy, Environment and Water, a climate think tank.

“Without a clear definition and developed countries not meeting their older targets, the delivery of climate finance is a priority for developing India.”

In 2009, wealthier nations pledged to provide $100 billion per year by 2020 to poorer countries to assist with climate adaptation and mitigation – but they missed this target.

“Negotiators will work this year on developing a post-2025 finance goal, but continued disagreement between developing and developed nations will put the ability and willingness of developing nations to scale up climate mitigation efforts at risk,” a recent report by S&P said.

At Cop28, India plans to push developed countries to become carbon negative by 2050, rather than carbon neutral, Reuters reported last month, citing government officials. This would give emerging market economies more time to use fossil fuels to meet their development needs.

As we enter Cop28, India has the opportunity to showcase not only the progress made but also our unwavering dedication to a green and resilient future
Vineet Mittal, chairman, Avaada Group

India is also unlikely to sign a global pledge to reduce cooling-related emissions, the report said.

There is a lot India can achieve at Cop28.

E-waste recycling company Attero Recycling’s chief executive Nitin Gupta, who will be attending the summit, says he sees this year’s conference as “transitioning towards more execution, while Cop27 was more about strategising”.

“As a business, we strongly believe in a circular economy,” Mr Gupta says.

Biofuels, which are produced from renewable sources, will also receive more attention this year, following the launch of the Global Biofuel Alliance at the G20 summit in September, according to Ashvin Patil, founder and director of Biofuels Junction.

“At Cop28, India's commitment to integrating biofuels into its national energy strategy is expected to play a significant role in its approach to addressing climate change and meeting its environmental commitments,” he says.

India’s youngest participant at Cop28, Prasiddhi Singh, an 11-year-old environmental activist, says the country’s task now is to “balance economic growth and environmental stewardship”. She plans to call for collective action to work towards “a sustainable future”.

Updated: November 27, 2023

Dubai climate conference ‘COP28’ this week; over 200 countries invited. Details

ByManjiri Chitre
Nov 27, 2023 01:03 PM IST

COP28 will take place from November 28 to December 12 in Dubai under the presidency of the UAE.

After a year full of devastating extreme and record-shattering weather conditions across the globe, world leaders are set to gather for the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties (COP28) this week on a mission to curb climate change. The COP28 will take place from November 28 to December 12 under the presidency of the UAE.

The COP28 summit is being hosted by the UAE. (CREDIT: Reuters)

What is COP28 and why is it important?

COP28 is the 28th annual United Nations climate meeting where leaders across the world meet and discuss ways and measures to limit and prepare for climate change. The ‘COP’ stands for ‘Conference of Parties’ - referring to those parties who signed up to the original UN climate agreement in 1992. The conferences are of significant importance as they are intended for the governments to agree on policies to limit global temperature rises and adapt to impacts associated with climate change.

Read more: Cause and Effect | At COP28, world leaders are at a crossroads

Notably, the 21st session of the COP (COP21) led to the Paris Agreement, which mobilised global collective action to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels by 2100 and to act to adapt to the already existing effects of climate change.


COP28 in UAE is a controversial subject

The UAE is one of the top 10 oil-producing nations in the world. Oil, being a fossil fuel, becomes one of the main causes of climate change because it releases planet-warming greenhouse gases during its production. The UAE is also one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, due to its very hot and humid climate. Without a reduction in emissions, wet-bulb temperatures in the region are expected to cross 35°C (95°F) for a prolonged period of time by the 2070s.

Read more: What do top emitters want from the global stocktake at Cop28?

However, the UAE has been making efforts to reduce emissions in different ways across several sectors of its economy including - promoting organic and hydroponic agriculture, building the Etihad Rail, and reducing waste. The Middle Eastern country has also pledged to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. It was also the first country in the region to sign the Paris Agreement.

What will be discussed during the conference?

According to reports, this year's COP28 is expected to stress on the importance of collective action to stop climate change and the critical role of finance in the low-carbon transition. It is also likely to focus on delivering money for climate action from richer to poorer countries.

Who is invited to COP28?

Delegates from nearly 200 countries - over 70,000 people - are expected to attend the conference this week, in what could be the largest United Nations climate summit ever. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be traveling to Dubai from November 30 to December 1 to attend the World Climate Action Summit - the high-level segment of COP28. Other leaders including UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Pope Francis have also confirmed their attendance. However, US President Joe Biden will not be attending.

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Cop28 President-designate and UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, speaks at the opening ceremony of Pre-Cop28 in Abu Dhabi. All photos: Chris Whiteoak / The National

COP28: UAE planned to use climate talks to make oil deals

Justin Rowlatt - Climate editor, BBC News
Mon, November 27, 2023 

Dr Sultan al-Jaber is president of the climate summit and the head of the United Arab Emirates' state oil company


The United Arab Emirates planned to use its role as the host of UN climate talks as an opportunity to strike oil and gas deals, the BBC has learned.

Leaked briefing documents reveal plans to discuss fossil fuel deals with 15 nations.

The UN body responsible for the COP28 summit told the BBC hosts were expected to act without bias or self-interest.

The UAE team did not deny using COP28 meetings for business talks, and said "private meetings are private".

It declined to comment on what was discussed in the meetings and said its work has been focused on "meaningful climate action".

The documents - obtained by independent journalists at the Centre for Climate Reporting working alongside the BBC - were prepared by the UAE's COP28 team for meetings with at least 27 foreign governments ahead of the COP28 summit, which starts on 30 November.

They included proposed "talking points", such as one for China which says Adnoc, the UAE's state oil company, is "willing to jointly evaluate international LNG [liquefied natural gas] opportunities" in Mozambique, Canada and Australia.

The documents suggest telling a Colombian minister that Adnoc "stands ready" to support Colombia to develop its fossil fuel resources.

There are talking points for 13 other countries, including Germany and Egypt, which suggest telling them Adnoc wants to work with their governments to develop fossil fuel projects.

Graphic showing quotes from briefing document for the UAE COP28 team's meeting with China, saying they were "willing to jointly evaluate international LNG opportunities (Mozambique, Canada, Australia)"

The briefings show the UAE also prepared talking points on commercial opportunities for its state renewable energy company, Masdar, ahead of meetings with 20 countries, including the UK, United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil, China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kenya.

COP28 is the UN's latest round of global climate talks. This year it is being hosted by the UAE in Dubai and is due to be attended by 167 world leaders, including the Pope and King Charles III.

These summits are the world's most important meetings to discuss how to tackle climate change.

The hope is COP28 will help limit the long-term global temperature rise to 1.5C, which the UN's climate science body says is crucial to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. But that will require drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, it says - a 43% reduction by 2030 from 2019 levels.

What is COP28 in Dubai and why is it important?


Deep divisions ahead of crucial UN climate talks

As part of the preparations for the conference, the UAE's COP28 team arranged a series of ministerial meetings with governments from around the world.

The meetings were to be hosted by the president of COP28, Dr Sultan al-Jaber. Each year the host nation appoints a representative to be the COP president.

Meeting representatives of foreign governments is one of the core responsibilities of COP presidents. It is the president's job to encourage countries to be as ambitious as possible in their efforts to cut emissions.

The leaked briefing documents seen by the BBC were prepared for Dr Jaber - who is also CEO of the UAE's giant state oil company, Adnoc, and of the state renewables business, Masdar.

The UAE is one of the world's largest oil producers

The documents contain a summary of objectives for the meetings, including information about the minister or official Dr Jaber was due to meet and what issues he should raise in the UAE's efforts to progress the climate talks.

For more than two dozen countries, the documents also contain talking points drawn up by Adnoc and Masdar:

The Brazilian environment minister was to be asked for help "securing alignment and endorsement" for Adnoc's bid for Latin America's largest oil and gas processing company, Braskem. Earlier this month, Adnoc made a $2.1bn (£1.7bn) offer to buy a key stake


Germany was to be told by Adnoc: "We stand ready to continue our LNG supplies"


Adnoc suggested the oil-producing nations of Saudi Arabia and Venezuela be told "there is no conflict between the sustainable development of any country's natural resources and its commitment to climate change"

The BBC has seen an email exchange in which COP28 staff members are told Adnoc and Masdar talking points "always need to be included" in the briefing notes. The COP28 team said it was "simply untrue" that staff had been told this.

It is not clear on how many occasions Dr Jaber and his colleagues raised the talking points in COP28 meetings with foreign governments.

We know, on at least one occasion, a nation followed up on commercial discussions brought up in a meeting arranged by the UAE's COP28 team.

However, 12 nations have told the BBC there was either no discussion of commercial activities during meetings, or a meeting did not take place.

These included the UK. The leaked documents show the COP28 president had been briefed to "seek government support" to more than double the size of a wind farm off the coast of Sheringham in Norfolk in which Masdar has a stake.


Graphic showing quote from briefing document for the UAE COP28 team's meeting with Brazil's environment minister, mentioning the Braskem deal and saying "Securing alignment and endorsement for the deal at the highest level is important for us"

Attempting to do business deals during the COP process appears to be a serious breach of the standards of conduct expected of a COP president.

Those standards are set by the UN body responsible for the climate negotiations, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The UNFCCC says the "cardinal principle" for COP presidents and their teams is "the obligation of impartiality".

It told the BBC that COP presidents are "expected to act without bias, prejudice, favouritism, caprice, self-interest, preference or deference, strictly based on sound, independent and fair judgement".

"They are also expected to ensure that personal views and convictions do not compromise or appear to compromise their role and functions as a UNFCCC officer," it continued.

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, the head of the COP20 summit in Peru in 2014, worries a collapse in trust could mean no progress on tackling climate change in Dubai.

"The president of the COP is the leader of the world, is trying to build consensus on behalf of the planet," he told the BBC.

"If any president of the COP tries to bring a particular interest, [including] commercial interest, that could mean the failure of the COP."

The annual COP summits bring together leaders from almost every nation on earth

Prof Michael Jacobs of Sheffield University, who is an expert on UN climate politics, told the BBC the COP28 team's actions looked "breathtakingly hypocritical".

"I actually think it's worse than that," he said, "because the UAE at the moment is the custodian of a United Nations process aimed at reducing global emissions. And yet, in the very same meetings where it's apparently trying to pursue that goal, it's actually trying to do side deals which will increase global emissions."

Several of the proposed projects mentioned in the briefing documents appear to represent new oil and gas developments. The International Energy Agency, a global watchdog, has said that to keep temperature rises to the 1.5C target, no new oil and gas fields should be developed.

Graphic showing quote from briefing document for the UAE COP28 team's meeting with the UK, saying they would "seek UK government support to extend the seabed rights for Dudgeon Offshore Wind Extension"

At a press conference last month, COP28 director-general Majid al-Suwaidi said the UAE's climate summit team was "fully independent" of both Adnoc and Masdar.

COP28 has been "very clear about our independence" in discussions with the UNFCCC, he added.

In a statement, the COP28 team told the BBC: "The fact that Dr Sultan al-Jaber holds a number of positions alongside his role as COP28 president-designate is public knowledge and something we have been transparent about from the outset.

"Dr Sultan al-Jaber is singularly focused on the business of COP and delivering ambitious and transformational climate outcomes at COP28," the statement said, adding it would be a "distraction" to suggest that the work he has undertaken has not "been focused on meaningful climate action".

These are serious allegations but ultimately the success of the UAE's leadership of the climate talks, and of the COP28 president himself, will be judged by the results achieved at the summit, experts say.

The COP28 summit is due to end on Tuesday 12 December.

Additional reporting by Adam Eley and Sophie Woodcock

Cambodia to host 2024 Convention on mine-free world

Cambodia was elected to chair and host the 5th Review Conference of the Mine Ban Convention at the 21st Meeting of State Parties to Mine Ban Convention in Geneva on November 24.

VNA Monday, November 27, 2023 
https://link.gov.vn/fL1RIScL

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet (Photo: VNA)Phnom Penh 

(VNA) – Cambodia was elected to chair and host the 5th Review Conference of the Mine Ban Convention at the 21st Meeting of State Parties to Mine Ban Convention in Geneva on November 24.

According to Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet, the Siem Reap-Angkor Summit will draw the participation of 164 member countries and observer states, and man international organisations and institutions.

Cambodia is the 5th country in the world and the first in Asia to chair and host the review conference, he said, adding the event is a forum where Cambodia will reaffirm its commitment to the international community on mine clearance and review the progress of past action plans.

Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet commended Senior Minister Ly Thuch, First Vice President of Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), the management, officials and staff of the CMAA, development partners, national and international operators, mine action communities, and all stakeholders for their efforts and contribution to save Cambodia and its people from the misery of anti-personnel mines, which are a legacy of the country's chronic war.

The Prime Minister also thanked the member states of the Ottawa Convention and the international community for their continued support and appreciation for Cambodia's efforts in the field of mine action, as well as for their election for Cambodia as the chair and host of the 5th review conference.

He highlighted Cambodia’s priorities when hosting the event, including promoting the globalisation of the convention, enhancing the implementation of the convention’s article 5 on clearance of anti-personnel mines, and supporting bomb and mine victims.

The first conference took place in Kenya in 2004, the second in Colombia in 2009, the third in Mozambique in 2014, and the fourth in Norway in 2019./.

Indonesia launches first carbon storage project

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has freshly launched the construction of the country’s first carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) project in West Papua province, operated by the British multinational oil and gas company BP Plc.

VNA Monday, November 27, 2023 
https://link.gov.vn/fjeabUf1

Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo has freshly launched the construction of the country’s first carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) project in West Papua province, operated by the British multinational oil and gas company BP Plc.

The CCUS project has the capacity to store up to 1.8 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, energy minister Arifin Tasrif said in a statement on November 24.

BP was reported to invest 2.6 billion USD in the project, with the first carbon injection expected in 2026.

Indonesia has an estimated carbon storage capacity of 8 gigatonnes in depleted oil and gas reservoirs and 400 gigatonnes in saline aquifers.

Energy ministry data shows there are currently 15 carbon capture and storage (CCS) and CCUS projects in various stages of preparation in the country with a combined investment of nearly 8 billion USD, including BP's project./.

A multidisciplinary rumination on artificial intelligence

Aleezeh Fatimah 

Published November 27, 2023 

KARACHI: Three individuals from the diverse realms of business, education and literature gathered to offer their perspectives on ‘The Rea­lity of Artificial Intelligence’ on the second and final day of the Adab Fest.

With numerous scholars and scientists warning that AI may eventually supersede human efforts, the discussion between Sarmayakaar CEO Rabeel Warraich, Ziauddin University Vice Chancellor Dr Syed Irfan Haider, and author Bina Shah tried to make sense of what AI could and couldn’t do.

“Technology is evolving rapidly. Back in our time, having access to a computer was considered a significant blessing. If we rewind ten years from today, the idea of freely using technology seemed unimaginable. Yet, now, all it takes is entering a prompt into ChatGPT, and voila, you get precisely articulated responses,” Mr Haider said between chuckles.

The moderator was keen to find out if, in the opinion of the discussants, AI could ever replace the human element.

Sarmayakaar CEO says AI not a replacement for human brain; creativity is subjective, holds author Bina Shah

“Although I firmly [believe] that creativity is subjective, I acknowledge the existence of certain criteria that only a human mind can comprehend and explore to expand creative boundaries,” said Ms Shah.

The author of several acclaimed books noted that while AI now has the capability to replicate her face precisely in scenarios she may never have imagined, “I am confident that when an artist paints my portrait, each brushstroke would convey narratives of human effort”.

“Business and technology work hand in hand. There is no way you can keep one separate from the other. With business growing each day, tech is growing too. However, AI is not a ‘replacement’ for human brain, but it sure does make things easy for a brain that has to perform multiple tasks during the day,” Mr Warraich noted.

“I always preach that before we decide if a technology is good or bad, we must learn how to utilise it to its full potential. If we actually pay attention to how AI works, it could work wonders for businesses especially that have near to no staff, and starting small. I mean you don’t have to write multiple emails in a day, you can use AI for that, how cool do you think that is?” he added.

He also explained that OpenAI holds the distinction of being the pioneer in providing a Generative AI model trained on extensive datasets.

“However, Google has entered the generative AI competition with its own product, Google BARD, which seems to possess capabilities akin to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Limited information is available regarding the specific datasets utilised for the training of both models, giving rise to concerns about the trustworthiness of the results they generate,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2023

 

IDF Knew Real Hamas HQ While Lying About al-Shifa

While telling the world that Hamas HQ was under al-Shifa Hospital, the IDF had already found the actual command center 8.5km away

by Gareth Porter Posted onNovember 24, 2023

Reprinted from Consortium News with the author’s permission.

Although corporate news media have made it clear they don’t buy the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claim that al-Shifa Hospital has been a cover for a Hamas command and control center and weapons armory, Western media have failed to report a much bigger story.

The IDF and the Israeli government already knew when they launched their propaganda campaign about al-Shifa that Hamas had no military command and control facility hidden there because it had already found the complex kilometers away.

As Consortium News reported last week, for 15 years the Israelis claimed  Hamas was operating its primary command and control base from a tunnel underneath al-Shifa. After the Israeli bombing campaign against Gaza began in October, the Israeli military amplified that message to press its contention that by hiding the Hamas high command, al-Shifa Hospital had lost its immunity from military operations under the law of war, and could now legitimately be taken over by force.

On Nov. 11, IDF spokesman Richard Hecht declared that al-Shifa was the “main hub of Hamas activity;” Newsweek reported the IDF regarded al-Shifa Hospital as “Hamas’s main command post” and the Times of Israel headlined “Hamas leaders again hiding under hospital”.

The crescendo of Israeli propaganda about al-Shifa being a “human shield” for Hamas came with a long report published by The New York Times on Nov. 14. It was based on interviews with eight present and former intelligence and defense officials, describing a vast military command complex under al-Shifa with multiple levels.

But something quite unexpected had happened during this new round of press stories on al-Shifa that completely demolished the entire IDF story line: the IDF had gained control of the real Hamas command and control center in an area where the Hamas leadership had previously had their above-ground offices in the Al Atatra neighborhood, in the extreme northwest of Beit Lahiya city, 8.5km away from al-Shifa.

After that office building was demolished, the IDF discovered a major tunnel facility that was quite certain had been the central headquarters for the Hamas high command – the command and control center for the entire war.

As the IDF leaked to The Jerusalem Post in a story published Nov. 14, the discovery was made “several days ago” of a tunnel with an elevator that reached thirty meters underground, compared with only five meters underground in other tunnels.  Furthermore it had been equipped with oxygen, air conditioning and more advanced communications than seen anywhere else.

Discovery of Real Hamas High Command Bunker

Map shows route to al-Shifa Hospital from the real HQ. (Google Maps). Click for large version.

That major IDF discovery, made on or before the Nov. 11 false stories about al-Shifa, threatened to undermine the Israeli political campaign to justify the IDF’s takeover and destruction of Gaza’s hospitals on the grounds that they were “human shields” for Hamas.

Al-Shifa Hospital was the centerpiece of that campaign, based on the claim that it was hiding the high command of Hamas in a tunnel underneath it. Obviously the IDF and the extreme right-wing Israel government would want to stop all further publicity about the discovery of the actual Hamas high command’s underground base.

No story about the discovery of the real Hamas high command bunker has been published inside Israel or elsewhere in the nearly two weeks since the detailed Jerusalem Post piece on Nov. 14. Somehow the Israeli government and media have been able to completely suppress the discovery of the Hamas headquarters, despite the fact that a number of foreign news media have offices in Tel Aviv and the story is still available on the internet.

Instead of forcing a major climb-down by the IDF and the Netanyahu and the Biden administrations, the discovery of the real Hamas underground high-command center merely brought a slight revision in the wording used to refer to the issue.

Sullivan Revises Wording of Issue

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaking to reporters in August 2021. (White House/ Erin Scott)

That slight nuance was introduced not by the IDF, but by U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Nov. 13, when he said:

“You can see even from open-source reporting that Hamas does use hospitals, along with a lot of other civilian facilities, for command and control, for storing weapons, for housing its fighters.” [emphasis added.]

And a U.S. official familiar with “U.S. intelligence” who may also have been Sullivan, commented that Hamas had a “command node” under al-Shifa Hospital, using a term that Israeli officials apparently adopted in light of the new discovery of the actual high-command bunker.

Thus the IDF arrived at al-Shifa late at night on Nov. 15, a day after The Jerusalem Post story, to begin the process of the Israeli takeover with a propaganda campaign aimed at convincing the American public in particular that Hamas had been inside the hospital.

Several hours later that morning, in a seven-minute video inside the MRI building, IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus showed “grab bags” of military gear with AK-47s, grenades and uniforms neatly arranged on the floor. He insisted that Hamas had used the MRI room to store weapons and military gear.  He also  produced one computer, which he suggested had been found to contain “incriminating evidence” of military relevance.

The most obvious problem with this seven-minute video, however, is that it showed nothing that could not have been easily brought into the building by the IDF itself. The more serious problem with the presentation is that it offered no plausible reason for Hamas to have hidden a few dozen small weapons and other military gear in the MRI room of a hospital and then supposedly having left them there when they departed.

There was simply no need for the Hamas to store weapons there.  After all, Hamas is estimated to have 150 to 300 miles of space for such storage in its vast tunnel network.

Hagari Video Deleted

IDF Telegram channel. (https://t.me/idfofficial/4666/Wikimedia Commons). Click for large version.

A much bigger problem for IDF credibility on al-Shifa is that on Oct. 27, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari presented an artist’s conception showing that Hamas had taken over parts of five different buildings at al-Shifa Hospital and was using all of them to plan and coordinate its military activities.

He also showed a drawing of the structure of the main building, which he insisted was based on Israeli intelligence, showing that an underground floor of the main building was completely controlled by Hamas. He also insisted that there was an entrance within the hospital to that underground floor.

The Hagari presentation came before the discovery of the actual Hamas high-command bunker underneath the above-ground Hamas high-command office in Beit Lahiya. The IDF has now eliminated the entire video of that long, detailed and illustrated presentation by Hagari from its website, because it would become a major embarrassment to the IDF once the full truth is known.

In recent days, the IDF has fixed the world’s attention on a tunnel, the opening of which was discovered very close to the outer fence of al-Shifa Hospital grounds. The tunnel was found by the IDF to be 10m deep, compared with the 30m deep abandoned high command tunnel.

On Nov. 21, the IDF announced it had breached the heavy blast door of the tunnel, meaning that it could now determine what lay on the other side, if anything. But given that the IDF has already discovered the real Hamas command bunker elsewhere – and the absence of evidence of a connection from  hospital buildings to a tunnel – the IDF is unlikely to find such a connection from the tunnel to the hospital.

The real story of the Israeli effort to sell its argument that Hamas took over al-Shifa and other hospitals to coordinate attacks is the massive deception aimed at U.S. media and public opinion in order to justifying Israel’s war of obliteration of the population of Gaza.

That campaign of deceit has had the full-throated support of the Biden administration, which stands equally guilty of misleading the American people in its support for an illicit Israeli war.

The failure of the Israeli propaganda campaign has been so decisive that most major media organizations have explicitly distanced themselves from the Israeli claims about al-Shifa, and several have shown either field reporters or analysts in the studio declaring explicitly that the evidence displayed by the Israelis had not proved their case at all.

Gareth Porter is an independent investigative journalist and historian writing on U.S. national security policy. His latest book, Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare, was published in February of 2014. Follow him on Twitter: @GarethPorter.