Major climate benefits with electric aircraft

NEWS RELEASE 23-JAN-2024

CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: 

RESEARCHERS AT CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SWEDEN, HAVE PERFORMED THE WORLD'S FIRST LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) OF AN EXISTING, TWO-SEATER, ALL-ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT, WITH A DIRECT COMPARISON TO AN EQUIVALENT FOSSIL FUEL-POWERED ONE. ACCORDING TO THE STUDY, AFTER JUST ONE QUARTER OF THE EXPECTED LIFESPAN OF THE ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT, THE CLIMATE IMPACT IS LOWER THAN THAT OF THE FOSSIL FUEL-BASED AIRCRAFT, PROVIDED THAT GREEN ELECTRICITY IS USED. THE DOWNSIDE, HOWEVER, IS INCREASED MINERAL RESOURCE SCARCITY.

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CREDIT: CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY | DANIEL KARLSSON

Aviation has grown considerably in recent decades and accounts for approximately 2 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions and some 4 percent of all climate change impacts annually. While aviation is an important contributor to climate change and other environmental problems, electrification is one option for reducing these environmental impacts. The first electric aircraft are already in operation today and are mainly small planes used for pilot training and short flights in the immediate area. This is the type of plane that was studied in the life cycle assessment.

“In the short-term future, battery-powered electric aircraft will probably mostly be used for shorter distances, such as what in Norway is called "fjord-hopping", meaning shorter flights between deep fjords. In a larger perspective, the study shows that battery-powered electric aircraft have the potential to significantly reduce environmental impacts of aviation”, says Rickard Arvidsson, the lead author of the study from Chalmers.

 

The study: same aircraft, but different

The team examined a commercially available battery-electric aircraft with two seats, the “Pipistrel Alpha Electro”, in the life cycle assessment. The same aircraft is also available as a fossil fuel-powered model, enabling the researchers to make a direct comparison. The team investigated the entire impact of each aircraft from “cradle to grave” – from raw material extraction to end of life – with a functional unit of 1 hour flight time. Data and records from the aircraft manufacturer informed much of the study.

A wide range of impact categories were considered, with a focus on global warming from greenhouse gas emissions (e.g. carbon dioxide), mineral resource scarcity from the use of rare minerals (e.g. lithium for the batteries), particulate matter formation from particle emissions, acidification from acidic emissions (e.g. nitrogen oxides) and ground-level ozone formation from emissions of nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons.

“The key take-home from this study is that small electric aircraft can have a notably lower climate impact – up to 60 percent less – and other types of environmental impacts than equivalent fossil-fuelled aircraft. However, there is a trade-off regarding mineral resource scarcity – about 50 percent more even in the most favourable scenario, mainly due to rare metals in the batteries of the electric aircraft”, says Rickard Arvidsson.

As with electric cars, the electric aircraft is comparatively worse from a climate point of view when the plane is brand new, since the production of the battery consumes a lot of energy and resources. Then, over time, the relative impact decreases as the electric plane is in use and its benefits are realised – namely, emission-free electric propulsion. The longer the electric plane is used, the better it becomes for the environment, and eventually a ‘break-even’ point is reached.

After approximately 1,000 flight hours, the electric aircraft overtakes the fossil fuel aircraft in terms of less climate impact, after which the electric aircraft is better for the environment. This is measured in kg CO2 eq/h – carbon dioxide equivalents per flight hour and is true under optimal conditions, where green energy is used. All use thereafter thus becomes a “climate benefit”, compared to the conventional aircraft. The estimated lifespan of the aircraft is at least 4,000 hours, or four times as long as the break-even time.

“The lifetime of the lithium-ion batteries, however, would have to be about twice as long for the mineral resource scarcity to be about the same for the electric airplane and the fossil-fuel aircraft. Alternatively, have double the energy storage capacity such that only one of two packs are needed onboard for the same flight time”, says Senior Researcher Anders Nordelöf, one of the other authors of the study.

 

New and better batteries for a greener future

In the study, the researchers discuss the further development of batteries as a major step towards reduced lifecycle impacts of the electric aircraft. Already today – but after the study was carried out – the manufacturer of the aircraft model have managed to extend the life of the batteries as much as three times. New battery technologies could further improve both climate impacts and mineral resource scarcity.

“There is a constant development of lithium-ion batteries that can improve the environmental performance of the electric aircraft and make it relatively even more preferable than the fossil-fuelled one. There are also new battery technologies that could be developed and be applicable to electric aircraft in a longer time perspective, such as lithium-sulfur batteries, although these are still in an early phase of technology development”, says Rickard Arvidsson.

 

More about the research:

The research is presented in the paper, "Life cycle assessment of two-seater all-electric aircraft", published in The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

The researchers involved in the study are Rickard Arvidsson, Anders Nordelöf and Selma Brynolf. The researchers are active at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.

This work was supported by open access funding provided by Chalmers University of Technology.

 

About the aircraft

The electric aircraft in the study is a Pipistrel Alpha Electro manufactured in Slovenia. The wings have a span of just over 10 meters and the plane weighs 550 kg when fully loaded. Maximum flight time is about one hour, plus reserve. The battery is a 21 kWh NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt) lithium-ion battery, and the motor produces an output of 60 kW. The Alpha Electro was a pre-series model and has been replaced by an evolved series-produced model.

The fossil fuel-based aircraft compared in the study has the same basic structure as the electric aircraft. The differences are mainly an aviation gasoline engine and fuel tank, instead of an electric motor and batteries.

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JOURNAL

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment

DOI

10.1007/s11367-023-02244-z 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Life cycle assessment of a two-seater all-electric aircraft

The cause of recent cold waves over East Asia and North America was in the mid-latitude ocean fronts

East Asian and North American cold snap anomalies are caused by mid-latitude ocean fronts, not sea ice. Important predictor fornear-term climate change on a decadal time scale.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: 

OBSERVED TEMPERATURE TRENDS DURING THE WINTERS (DEC-FEB) OF 1995/96-2021/22.

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CREDIT: KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY(KIST)

If the world is warming, why are our winters getting colder? Indeed, East Asia and North America have experienced frequent extreme weather events since the 2000s that defy average climate change projections. Many experts have blamed Arctic warming and a weakening jet stream due to declining Arctic sea ice, but climate model experiments have not adequately demonstrated their validity. The massive power outage in Texas in February 2021 was caused by an unusual cold snap, and climate models are needed to accurately predict the risk of extreme weather events in order to prevent massive socioeconomic damage. In particular, climate technology leaders have recently set the ability to predict the climate of the next decade or so as an important goal.

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that senior researcher Mi-Kyung Sung of the Sustainable Environment Research Center and professor Soon-Il An of the Center for Irreversible Climate Change at Yonsei University (President Seung-hwan Seo) have jointly discovered the role of mid-latitude oceans as a source of anomalous waves that are particularly frequent in East Asia and North America, paving the way for a mid- to long-term response to winter climate change.

Ocean currents have a major impact on the weather and climate of neighboring countries as they transport not only suspended and dissolved matter but also heat energy. In particular, regions where temperatures change rapidly in a narrow latitudinal band, such as the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean and the downstream region of the Kuroshio Current in the Pacific Ocean, are called "ocean fronts," and the KIST-Yonsei joint research team attributes the atmospheric wave response to the excessive accumulation of heat in these ocean fronts as the cause of the increase in extreme cold waves. From the early 2000s until recently, anomalous cold trend in East Asia coincided with the accumulation of heat near the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, and that in North America coincided with the intensification of heat accumulation near the Kuroshio Current. The oceanic frontal region acts as a thermostat to control the frequency of winter cold waves and anomalous high temperatures.

The process of heat accumulation in oceanic frontal regions lasts from years to decades. During this time, a warming hiatus can occur in the continental regions that bucks the global warming trend. Conversely, during decades of ocean frontal cooling, continental regions appear to experience a sharp acceleration of warming. This suggests that the recent decadal cooling trend is essentially reinforced by temporary natural variability in the global climate system, and that we can expect unseasonably warm winter weather to become more prevalent as the heat buildup in the ocean front is relieved. These results are also evident in climate model experiments that vary the amount of heat accumulation near ocean fronts, showing that observations and climate model experiments are consistent in their conclusions, in contrast to conventional sea ice theory. This highlights the importance of accurately simulating ocean front variability in climate models to improve our ability to predict medium- and long-term climate change over the next decade.

As global warming intensifies in the future and changes the structure of the ocean, these regional climate variations could change dramatically. Climate model experiments with increased greenhouse gases have shown that North America is likely to experience shorter and fewer warming hiatus, while East Asia is likely to experience more frequent intersections between warming hiatus and acceleration. These different continental responses are driven by the different oceanic responses of the Kuroshio Current and the Gulf Stream to global warming.

"Applying the effects of ocean fronts revealed in this research to global warming climate models can improve climate change forecasts for the near future," said Dr. Mi-Kyung Sung of KIST. "It will provide important references for long-term forecasts of winter energy demand and the construction of climate change response infrastructure to prevent climate disasters such as the 2021 Texas power outage."

 

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KIST was established in 1966 as the first government-funded research institute in Korea. KIST now strives to solve national and social challenges and secure growth engines through leading and innovative research. For more information, please visit KIST’s website at https://eng.kist.re.kr/

The research, which was funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Jong-ho Lee) through the Mid-Career Researcher Support Project (2021R1A2C1003934), the Leading Research Center Support Project (2018R1A5A1024958), and the Ultra-High Performance Computing Utilization Advancement Project (2022M3K3A1094114), was published on November 27 in the international journal Nature Communications.

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-43686-1 

ARTICLE TITLE

Ocean fronts as decadal thermostats modulating continental warming hiatus

ARCEO-ECO DISASTER
Mexico's Yucatan tourist train sinks pilings into relic-filled limestone caves, activists show

Associated Press
Tue, January 23, 2024 

FILE - The inaugural train with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on board passes near Chochola, Quintana Roo State, Mexico, Dec. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Martin Zetina, File)


MEXICO CITY (AP) — Activists in Mexico have published photos of steel and cement pilings from a government project that were driven directly through the roofs of sensitive limestone caves on the Yucatan peninsula.

The network of caves, sinkhole lakes and underground rivers along Mexico's Caribbean coast are both environmentally sensitive and have been found to hold some of the oldest human remains in North America.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had promised that part of his controversial $20 billion tourist train project, known as the Maya Train, would run on an elevated causeway supported by pilings to avoid crushing or disturbing the caves and sinkhole lakes known as cenotes.


They provide the region’s only fresh water source, because there are no surface rivers on the flat, limestone peninsula.

Authorities from the National Institute of Anthropology and History, known as the INAH, had claimed that soil mapping studies would be carried out to ensure the supports for the causeway wouldn’t hit caves. But caver and water quality expert Guillermo DChristy said Monday that was a lie.

“The promise from the president and the director of the INAH was that they (the caves) would be protected,” DChristy said. “López Obrador lied. They aren't protecting the caves and sinkhole lakes. The damage is irreversible.”

The army-run company that is building the train did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the pilings.

DChristy found the pilot columns sunk through the caves Sunday at a cave complex known as Aktun Túyul, near the beach town of Xpu Ha, about 17 miles (27 kilometers) south of Playa del Carmen. The columns appear to be almost 3 feet (1 meter) wide, with a steel jacket and poured cement core. The cave complex is located on an unfinished section of the train that runs between Cancun and the beach town of Tulum.

Because the caves were dry some 10,000 years ago, humans and animals used them before they were mostly flooded at the end of the last Ice Age about 8,000 years ago, essentially preserving the relics from being disturbed.

In December, López Obrador inaugurated another, partly finished section of the train to the north and east, between Cancun and the colonial city of Campeche.

The 950-mile line runs in a rough loop around the Yucatan peninsula and it's meant to connect beach resorts and archaeological sites.

López Obrador has raced to finish the Maya Train project before he leaves office in September, rolling over the objections of ecologists, cave divers and archaeologists. He exempted it from normal permitting, public reporting and environmental impact statements, claiming it is vital to national security.

While officials have touted the train as utilitarian transport for freight and local residents, its only real source of significant income would be tourists. However, given its frequent stops, unwieldy route and lack of feasibility studies, it is unclear how many tourists will actually want to buy tickets.

The train was partly built by the Mexican army and will be run by the armed forces, to whom López Obrador has entrusted more projects than any other president in at least a century.

Haiti's police force shrinks amid gang crisis -union

Reuters
Mon, January 22, 2024 

Police patrol the streets after gang members tried to attack a police station, in Port-au-Prince

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haiti's national police has lost nearly 3,300 officers in three years, according to data from the force's main trade union, as under-gunned security officials battle powerful gangs estimated to control most of the capital.

Nearly nine in 10 of those were sacked for abandoning their posts, according to a report which SYNAPOHA trade union's general coordinator Lionel Lazarre shared with Reuters on Monday, while 123 more resigned.

Lazarre estimated some 80 police officers were killed in action, died in accidents or disappeared last year.

Police need significantly higher incentives to justify the dangers, the report said, amid a shrinking force and lack of equipment, training and infrastructure.

It highlighted needs for armored vehicles, helicopters, guns and drones.

"The government should assume responsibility. It's not just about purchasing equipment, the police need to be supplied with the financial means to plan operations, for cops working day in, day out in areas controlled by bandits," Lazarre said.

Lazarre said the situation was difficult but police had made progress, recovering control of six neighborhoods and coming close to recovering another.

Around 200,000 people have been displaced as alliances of violent gangs expand their control beyond the capital to rural areas, bringing indiscriminate killings, sexual violence and threatening already precarious food supplies.

Last November, the United Nations estimated some 3,960 had been killed through the year and 2,951 kidnapped.

Haiti's government called for international reinforcements in October 2022 and the United Nations ratified sending a force composed of voluntary contributions late last year.

Kenya, the only country which has offered to lead the force, has sent officials to meet with Haitian security forces ahead of a court hearing this Friday set to decide whether it is legal for it to deploy to the Caribbean state.

Despite worsening humanitarian conditions, countries are wary of backing Prime Minister Ariel Henry's unelected government and repeating abuses committed by past interventions.

Haiti's armed forces were disbanded in 1995 and reinstated in 2017, but the national police remains the main security force.

(Reporting by Harold Isaac in Port-au-Prince and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Editing by Stephen Coates)

US union membership rate hits fresh record low in 2023 -Labor Dept

ITS NOT ABOUT SIZE ITS ABOUT HOW MILITANT MEMBERSHIP IS


Tue, January 23, 2024 
By Dan Burns

(Reuters) -U.S. union membership rates fell to fresh record lows in 2023 despite it being a year of headline-grabbing organized labor strikes from the Rustbelt to Hollywood and some continued organizing successes at companies such as Starbucks.

The union membership rate fell to 10.0% from what had already been a record-low 10.1% in 2022, the Labor Department said on Tuesday in an annual census of the U.S. organized labor landscape that also showed continued growth in union membership among people of color and a narrowing pay advantage for union workers.

The number of union members, meanwhile, ticked higher for a second year, to 14.4 million, but the fact that overall employment among wage and salary workers rose faster resulted in a further decline in the membership rate.

"Although union density remained flat in 2023, that doesn’t reflect the surging momentum that working people have carried into this year," AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement. "Waves of workers across industries and geography are joining unions despite vicious union-busting campaigns by large corporations."

The increase in union members was entirely the result of the continued climb in organized labor participation by non-whites. Black union membership increased by 122,000 to the highest in two decades while Latino membership rose by 127,000 to the highest since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking it in 2000. White and Asian union membership fell.

The membership rate among private-sector workers was unchanged at a record-low 6%.

“Workers want unions, but a broken system is undermining their efforts to organize at every turn,” said Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute. “Employers have exploited weaknesses in U.S. labor law, and federal and state policymakers have failed to prevent this from happening.”

SMALLER PAY PREMIUM

The rate for government workers, which is more than five times the private-sector rate, slid to 32.5%, the lowest on record, from 33.1% in 2022. The government sector saw a net decline of 52,000 union workers in 2023, with declines in union membership at the state and local government level outweighing a 60,000 rise in federal government union member ranks, the largest since the BLS started tracking it in 2000.

The data also showed that union members' wage superiority continued to erode.

On the eve of the Global Financial Crisis in 2007, a union member's weekly pay on average was more than 30% higher than a non-union worker's earnings. By last year that margin was down to below 16%, perhaps owing to a tight labor market that has rewarded job switchers with outsized pay gains while union wage increases are set through multi-year negotiated contracts.

Since 2019, a run that has seen the highest inflation since the 1980s, union wages on average have climbed 15.3% but non-union weekly pay is up by 22.2%.

EPI's Shierholz said the smaller premium may also owe something to "spillover effects" when wider pay standards set by unions help boost non-union pay. It's a phenomenon she said played out "in real time" recently in the pay increases for non-unionized autoworkers after strikes by the United Auto Workers at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis resulted in substantial union pay hikes.

"So the union premium is reduced by the spillover effect, but that's all good as far as workers are concerned," Shierholz said.

SMALLER FOOTPRINT, BUT STILL WITH CLOUT

Union membership has been in steady decline since the 1970s and is now less than a third of its peak rate in the 1950s when more than 30% of workers were in a union.

That said, unions carry outsized political clout, especially in states critical to the outcome of this year's presidential race like Michigan and Pennsylvania where membership rates are higher than the national average. In Michigan, 12.8% of workers were in a union, down from 14% a year earlier, the report showed, while in Pennsylvania union membership rates bucked the trend to climb to 12.9% from 12.7%.

When the UAW went on strike last year against Detroit's "Big 3" automakers, President Joe Biden joined the picket line in Michigan, and he has repeatedly backed the union's efforts to organize at Tesla and Toyota among others.

That has yet to win him the UAW's endorsement, however, in a November election that appears on course to feature a repeat run-off between Biden, the likely Democrat nominee, and former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.

Last year was the most active for organized labor walkouts in more than two decades, with 36 strikes that idled at least 1,000 workers at a time, the most since 2000, according to BLS data. In addition to the UAW strikes, Hollywood actors, screenwriters and directors all staged work stoppages of varying durations and thousands of hotel workers walked off the job in Los Angeles in a series of rolling strikes targeting individual properties.

(Reporting by Dan Burns; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Japanese firms, unions kick off wage talks as markets bet on bigger pay hike

Tetsushi Kajimoto
Tue, January 23, 2024



By Tetsushi Kajimoto

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's biggest business lobby Keidanren and trade unions kicked off annual labour talks on Wednesday that may pave the way for the central bank to exit its decade-long super-loose monetary policy.

The talks come a day after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) took a hawkish turn in policy even as it maintained its accommodative monetary settings, with markets increasingly betting on a shift towards normalising rates in March or April.

Japan's big firms are expected to offer their unions wage hikes of 3.85% on average this year, the highest wage increase in 31 years, according to a poll of 37 economists conducted Dec. 25-Jan. 9 by Japan Centre for Economic Research, a private think tank.

The 3.85% estimate beat last year's three-decade high of 3.6%, the biggest gain since Japan's asset bubble burst in the early 1990s. An agreement for a 3.85% hike would mark the fastest growth in annual pay since 1993 when wages grew 3.89%.

"This year, we are aiming for wage hikes that beat inflation in order to achieve structural wage hikes," Keidanren chief Masakazu Tokura said in a video message, underscoring the importance of improving labour productivity through sustainable wage hikes.

Tokura stopped short of specifying target pay hike levels.

Since last year, a number of major firms had already announced their intention of delivering large pay hikes, though struggling smaller firms have lagged behind.

Small firms that employ seven out of 10 workers hold the key to wage hike talks and their ability to pass on costs to their bigger clients would determine if they are able to jump on the bandwagon of higher pay.

BASE PAY

In terms of the impact on Japan achieving sustainable inflation, a key criteria set by the BOJ to exit its easy policy, base pay hikes matter more than the seniority-based automatic annual raise built into the pay scale, analysts say.

Base pay rises of 3% would be enough to meet the BOJ's 2% inflation target, they say. At the moment, however, the base pay gains fall below that level.

Of the overall hikes of 3.85% expected by analysts for 2024, base pay rises make up 2.15%, while seniority-based automatic annual wage hike is 1.7%, according to the poll of analysts.

Rising base pay feeds into increased fixed labour costs, burdening companies with higher costs of retirement fees and pension payments.

It's a key reason why many Japanese firms shied away from base pay hikes for years when the economy stagnated in the early 2000s.

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

German train drivers ramp up pressure with longest strike yet

Reuters
Wed, January 24, 2024 

German train drivers union calls for longest strike in Deutsche Bahn's history


BERLIN (Reuters) - German train drivers walked off the job again on Wednesday in what is set to be Germany's longest-ever rail strike, spelling more headaches for commuters with scant signs of a return to the negotiating table on the horizon.

The strike, which began at 2 am (0100 GMT) on Wednesday and is set to last until Monday evening, is the fourth round of industrial action in the GDL union's dispute with state-owned Deutsche Bahn and comes just two weeks after a previous strike ground national rail traffic to a near halt for three days.

A spokesperson for the national rail operator spoke of renewed "massive restrictions" across the country.


"We believe you have to come to the table, you have to find compromises. That is the only way," the spokesperson told reporters, pointing to the six-day strike's "massive impact on the economy".

Drivers in rail freight are holding a simultaneous strike.

GDL leader Claus Weselsky told broadcaster ARD that he was ready to compromise in the dispute over pay and working hours, but said Deutsche Bahn's offers didn't go far enough.

"We have to strike longer and harder because the railway management is resistant to advice," he said.

(Reporting by Rachel More)

German railway Deutsche Bahn prepares for six-day drivers' strike

DPA
Tue, January 23, 2024 

Passengers walk through Hanover Central Station (picture with long shutter speed). The German Train Drivers' Union (GDL) has called for another strike at Deutsche Bahn lasting several days. Julian Stratenschulte/dpa


German national railway Deutsche Bahn and millions of passengers across the country are bracing for the start of a six-day strike by the train drivers' union GDL.

The strike is scheduled to begin in the early hours of Wednesday morning and is expected to cause massive disruptions to train service throughout the country.

Deutsche Bahn on Tuesday began publishing very limited emergency timetables of trains that will still run despite the strike by the GDL trade union.

The strike on passenger rail is expected to last until Monday. In freight service, the strike will begin hours earlier on Tuesday evening.

During previous strikes, about 80% of all long-distance trains were cancelled. Deutsche Bahn is also expecting considerable cancellations and delay in regional train service over the next few days, although the extent of these will vary from region to region.

Deutsche Bahn-operated urban commuter rail lines, branded as "S-Bahn" in Germany, will also be affected by the strike. The work stoppage also affects regional trains, though the rail operator said some areas may be more affected than others.

Deutsche Bahn and the GDL trade union have been locked in bitter collective bargaining talks for months, with the union demanding that the railway cut standard working hours in addition to offering raises.

The strike is the fourth by the union in recent months, but is expected to be the longest by far.

A Deutsche Bahn ICE train with an abandoned driver's seat at Hanover main station. The German Train Drivers' Union (GDL) has called for another strike at Deutsche Bahn lasting several days. Julian Stratenschulte/dpa

A scratched Deutsche Bahn DB logo is stuck up at Hanover Central Station. The German Train Drivers' Union (GDL) has called for another strike at Deutsche Bahn lasting several days. Julian Stratenschulte/dpa


Germany train strikes: DB drivers announce a week-long walkout starting on Wednesday

Ruth Wright
Mon, January 22, 2024 

Germany train strikes: DB drivers announce a week-long walkout starting on Wednesday


Train drivers in Germany have announced an almost week-long strike starting on Wednesday.

It is the latest in a series of walkouts over working hours, conditions and pay. Union GDL said it has rejected a pay offer made on Friday by German rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB).

"With the third and supposedly improved offer, Deutsche Bahn has once again shown that it is undeterred in pursuing its previous course of refusal and confrontation - there is no trace of any desire to reach agreement," the union said in a press release on early Monday morning.

Earlier this month, rail travel was brought to a 'near standstill' in Germany when GDL union members went on strike.

The upcoming passenger train strike will begin at 2am on 24 January and last until 6am on Monday 29 January.
Why are Germany's rail workers striking?

The GDL union voted overwhelmingly to authorise 'fully-fledged' strikes at state-owned DB.

The group staged a 24-hour 'warning strike' on 8 December, a common tactic in German wage negotiations, but the disagreement continues to escalate.

Following a three-day walkout earlier this month, the upcoming strike will be the longest to date in the ongoing row.

The central issue is the union’s call for shift workers’ hours to be reduced from 38 to 35 hours per week without a pay reduction, a demand at which employers so far have baulked.

GDL is seeking a raise of €555 per month for employees plus a one-time payment of up to €3,000 to counter inflation. DB said earlier this month that it made an offer that amounts to an 11 per cent raise.

It has also said shift workers can move from a 38 to a 37 hour week from 2026, or receive extra pay if they want to remain on their current hours.

Will there be more train strikes in Germany in 2024?

Unfortunately for travellers, it's likely there will be further strikes this year as negotiations continue.

“What is coming now will be more powerful, longer and harder for customers” than the walkouts so far, GDL's chairman said earlier this month - a threat that is now coming to fruition.
How will Germany's rail strikes affect passengers?

During the last strike in early January, Deutsche Bahn said only around 20 per cent of its long-distance trains were running, including many regional and commuter trains in cities like Berlin.

DB said that longer trains would be used for the available journeys to accommodate as many people as possible. However, it said services were not guaranteed and asked passengers to avoid non-essential travel during the strike.

During the 'warning strikes' earlier in December, long-distance, regional and S-Bahn services were subject to delays and cancellations. Other railway companies such as the Transdev Group (including Bayerische Oberlandbahn and NordWestBahn) were also affected.

As Germany's largest employer of train drivers, DB manages not only long-distance passenger trains such as ICE, IC, EC, and Nightjet trains, but also regional trains and S-Bahn lines.

The strike will be nationwide and impacts are expected to be felt across the country.

"The renewed strike will once again have a massive impact on all German rail operations," DB says in a statement about the upcoming strike.

The rail operator says it will run an emergency timetable with a "greatly reduced" range of journeys for long-distance, regional and S-Bahn services. It recommends that passengers check their journey 24 hours in advance and make seat reservations on long-distance services.

If you have a train ticket booked during this time, you can use it for travel on 23 January - ahead of the strike - or at a later date. If your train is cancelled, you will be entitled to a full refund. Read on for your rights as a passenger.
Where you can find information on train timetables

Customers can find up-to-date information about their train route via the DB Navigator app or the Deutsche Bahn website. It's worth double checking these before leaving home, as additional trains may be cancelled last-minute during the strike.

You can call DB's special travel information hotline on +49 (0)8000-996-633.

Is a flight really quicker than a train? I put it to the test from London to Lyon
Refunds: What are train passenger's rights in Germany?

If your journey is affected, you have various options, according to the Deutsche Bahn website:

Fears over economy grow as German rail begins longest strike

AFP
Tue, January 23, 2024 

Rail traffic comes to a standstill as German train drivers strike again (Tobias SCHWARZ)


German train drivers began on Wednesday their longest-ever strike, piling on travel misery for thousands of passengers in an escalating industrial dispute that economic experts warn could cost the economy up to a billion euros ($1.1 billion).

Transport Minister Volker Wissing has slammed as "destructive" the six-day industrial action that heaps further pressure on supply chains that are already facing disruption because of attacks by Yemen's Huthi rebels on shipping via the Red Sea.

The prolonged action "is a strike against the German economy," said Deutsche Bahn spokeswoman Anja Broeker, noting that cargo traffic handled by the service include supplies for power plants, refineries".

"DB Cargo will do everything to secure the supply chain, but it's clear that there will be some impact," she added.

The walkout called by the GDL union runs from 2:00 am (0100 GMT) Wednesday through to 1700 GMT on Monday for passenger traffic while the strike for freight trains began earlier on Tuesday.

Not only long-distance trains but also suburban services, some of which like Berlin's are operated by Deutsche Bahn, are affected, just over a week after the last round of walkouts between January 10 and 12.

The fourth strike since November left passengers scrambling to rebook or cancel their plans, and sparked warnings of huge costs to the state and industry at a time when the German economy was already ailing.

Deutsche Bahn estimated each strike day to cost "a low two-digit million figure", but industry experts warned the impact on the economy would be far bigger.

- 'Unreasonable' -

Michael Groemling of Cologne's Institute for Economic Research said nationwide train stoppages can cost up to 100 million euros a day to the economy, but warned that the impact "may not rise linearly in a strike that lasts several days, but partially multiplies".

Given the disruptions with sea freight over the Huthi attacks, as well as issues on road transport, "rough estimates suggest that in extreme cases, this strike can cost up to a billion euros", he said.

Wissing slammed the GDL union for refusing to negotiate during the walkout.

"I find that it is unreasonable vis-a-vis train travellers that the trains are standing there blocked, while one's not at the same time sitting at the negotiations table," said the transport minister.

But the union said it had rejected the Deutsche Bahn's "third and allegedly improved offer" because bosses had shown "no sign of a willingness to reach an agreement.

The GDL is seeking higher salaries to compensate for inflation, as well as a reduced working week from 38 to 35 hours with no loss in wages, arguing that it needed to make train driver jobs "more attractive" to young people.

But Deutsche Bahn blasted the latest round of industrial action, saying it had offered pay rises of up to 13 percent and a one-off inflation bonus, as well as the chance to reduce the working week by one hour from 2026.

Deutsche Bahn last year also clashed with the EVG rail union, which represents around 180,000 non-driver rail personnel, reaching an agreement in late August.

The latest walkout breaks the previous record of a May 2015 action, also called by GDL, that lasted around five days.

bur-hmn/mfp/rl

Poll shows far-right AfD still second among German voters

DPA
Tue, January 23, 2024 

Delegates walk up in front of the party logo at the AfD federal party conference at the Magdeburg Exhibition Center. A nationwide poll of German voters showed the far-right Alternative in Germany (AfD) remains in second place, although the party's support slipped slightly from the previous week. Carsten Koall/dpa

A nationwide poll of German voters showed the far-right Alternative in Germany (AfD) remains in second place, although the party's support slipped slightly from the previous week.

The weekly poll, conducted for the tabloid newspaper Bild by the INSA opinion research group and released on Tuesday, showed support for the AfD dropping from a previous high last week of 23% to 21.5%.

Despite the slight downward drop, the AfD has been on a clear upward trend in polls since mid-2022.

The party has recently been the target of mass anti-far right protests that attracted nearly a million demonstrators at the weekend in cities across Germany.

The protests follow revelations that some AfD politicians met secretly with far-right extremists in Potsdam in November to discuss plans to push immigrants out of the country, including some with German citizenship.

The conservative opposition CDU/CSU bloc remained the strongest party in the poll, at 30.5%, down about a half percentage point from the prior week.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) also lost a half percentage point, down to just 13.5%, while the Greens increased by roughly the same amount to 12.5%.

The liberal Free Democrats (FDP) remain at 5%, the threshold to receive seats in Germany's parliament, while the far-left Die Linke's slide continued, down another percentage point to just 3%.

Voters preferring various other parties increased sharply, from 8% to 11.5%, which may be due to growing support for the newly launched populist Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), which was not listed separately in the poll results.

The survey polled a sample of 2,000 German voters between Friday and Monday. The poll has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

Protests will not weaken far-right, says German firebrand politician

DPA
Tue, January 23, 2024 

Thousands demonstrate against right-wing extremism on the market square in Bremen. The demonstrations are a reaction to research by the media collective "Correctiv", which uncovered that radical right-wing circles had met with AfD officials and a leading head of the far-right Identitarian Movement in Potsdam in November 2023. 

Carmen Jaspersen/dpa

The leader of a new breakaway party in German politics, Sahra Wagenknecht, says she does not expect mass demonstrations to weaken the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

"The AfD is strong not because there are suddenly so many voters with right-wing extremist views," the leader of the Alliance party told dpa in Berlin. "The AfD is strong because the politics in Berlin are so disastrous."

Police said more than 900,000 people took part in demonstrations against right-wing extremism across Germany last weekend.

The protests were triggered by revelations earlier this month from the Correctiv research centre about a meeting of right-wing extremists in November in Potsdam, near Berlin.

The meeting was reportedly attended by AfD politicians as well as members of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, the conservative Values Union (WerteUnion) association, and far-right Identitarian movement.

According to participants, plans were discussed on how a large number of people of foreign origin in Germany, including asylum seekers, could be forced out of the country.

Wagenknecht said: "The demonstrations show that many people are worried when a party that has right-wing extremists and Nazis in its ranks becomes ever stronger."

"The federal government is responsible" for the AfD's strength, she said, as the government's "incompetence, aloofness and clientelism are rightly outraging people."

Wagenknecht split from the hard-left Die Linke party last year to form her own party, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).

Far-right AfD could be next after German court defunds neo-Nazi party

Sebastien ASH
Tue, January 23, 2024 

The court ruled the far-right Homeland party would be banned from receiving public funds (Uwe Anspach)


Germany's constitutional court on Tuesday approved a request to withdraw public funds from the neo-Nazi Homeland party, offering what one official called a possible "blueprint" for action against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

The verdict comes as Germany debates how to counter the rising popularity of the AfD, which is under close surveillance by domestic intelligence after being classed a "suspected case of far-right extremism".

Homeland, known until 2023 as the NPD, was "excluded from state funding for a period of six years", the court said.

In its reasoning, the court said Homeland sought to "eliminate the free democratic order" and had a "racist, in particular anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic and anti-Gypsy, attitude" that clashed with Germany's constitutional principles.

The neo-Nazi group would therefore lose access to state funding available to parties, as well as any tax breaks.

The ruling was a "confirmation of the pathway to not offering much space to the enemies of freedom", Chancellor Olaf Scholz told journalists.

"The forces that want to dismantle and destroy our democracy must not receive a cent of government funding," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.

The AfD currently sits second in national polls, and is leading them in several eastern regions where elections are set to be held later this year.

- 'Confirmed' extremist -

Markus Soeder, the conservative premier of the southern region of Bavaria, said ahead of the ruling that withdrawing funds from Homeland could be a "blueprint" for dealing with the growing threat from AfD.

Three of the party's regional branches -- in the eastern states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia -- are classed as "confirmed" extremist organisations for their efforts to undermine democracy and their anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Over the weekend, hundreds of thousands of people came out to protest against the AfD after its members were revealed to have discussed a mass deportation plan at a meeting with extremists.

The mooted mass deportation plan was "an attack on the foundations of our society", Faeser said.

"Right-wing extremism is the greatest extremist threat to our democracy -- and to people in our country," added Faeser.

Withdrawing public funding was "another instrument" to defend democracy, Faeser told journalists at a press conference, while refusing to rule out a similar move against the AfD.

Some government figures have urged caution, however, and warned against giving the AfD material for an anti-establishment campaign.

- Failed ban -

The challenge to the AfD needed to be "political", while any action should be limited to the "constitutionally necessary and possible", Finance Minister Christian Lindner told broadcaster Welt TV.

The parties of the "democratic centre" should not give the impression that they "want to use party law to fend off unwanted competition", Lindner said.

The request to exclude Homeland from state financing was made in 2019 by the German government, together with the upper and lower houses of the German parliament.

A previous attempt to ban the party outright in 2017 failed, when the constitutional court in Karlsruhe said the then NPD was not a real enough threat to be prohibited.

The German constitution was subsequently amended to introduce the possibility of withdrawing state funds.

Public money flows to any party in Germany that scores at least 0.5 percent in national or European elections, or one percent in regional votes.

Homeland, which was long a small but significant minority party under the NPD brand, has seen its following dwindle and dropped below the support threshold to be eligible for public funds.

But the party has still benefitted from tax advantages available to political parties, such as exemptions for donations.

AfD and the trouble with banning political parties

Arion McNicoll, The Week UK
Tue, January 23, 2024 

Protest against the AfD.


More than 800,000 people took to the streets of Germany's major cities over the weekend to protest against Alternative for Germany (AfD), following reports that members of the right-wing party have been discussing a radical plan to expel millions of migrants.

Independent investigative news site Correctiv reported on a meeting of right-wing groups including the AfD and the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). They were planning "for the so-called remigration, or expulsion, of millions of people who have immigrated to Germany", said Deutsche Welle.

The story "jolted the nation awake from its winter slumber", said The Guardian, "triggering sackings and resignations" and "mass rallies across German cities".

It also prompted "a politically risky debate over an outright ban of the country's second-strongest party", the paper added.
'Coloured by the country's Nazi past'

Debate about potentially banning the AfD heated up when Saskia Esken, the co-leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD), said earlier this month that she was in favour of discussing a ban, if only, as she said, to "shake voters" out of their complacency.

Since then, politicians from across the political spectrum have "weighed in on whether a legal effort to ban Alternative for Germany (AfD), while possible under German law, would be tactically smart", said Politico, or whether it would only "further fuel the party's rise".

Like "so much of German politics", the debate is "coloured by the country's Nazi past", the site added. Conscious that Adolf Hitler had made gains at the ballot box before ultimately seizing power, many politicians have begun to see the prohibition of the AfD as "an imperative rooted in historical experience".

One senior CDU politician, Daniel Günther, recently declared the AfD to be "dangerous", adding that "large parts of the AfD want to eliminate our democracy".

In an interview with Cicero, a Berlin-based political and cultural magazine, Günther said that he has "great sympathy for a [AfD] ban procedure to be initiated," which ought to be "carefully prepared by the federal government".

"A defensive democracy must use its instruments," he insisted, and that means "fighting parties that are unconstitutional with all the means of the constitutional state".

The idea of banning a party is "not only politically fraught", but also poses "a moral dilemma for many", said Euronews.

As Princeton professor Jan-Werner Mueller put it in a 2013 article for Project Syndicate, when it comes to banning extremist parties, democracies are "damned if they do, damned if they don't".

There is also a purely practical issue, said Lorenzo Vidino, director of the programme on extremism at George Washington University. "If you ban a group, it doesn't just disappear," Vidino told Euronews. "AfD has millions of supporters – the problem it poses isn't solved after you ban the party." In fact, by dissolving the party you might simply end up "losing the control you have over it".

Today, Germany's top court "stripped a neo-Nazi party", Die Heimat, meaning the Homeland, of the right to public financing and tax advantages, "a decision that could provide a blueprint" to head off the wider resurgence of the far right, said The New York Times. Die Heimat was too small to receive public funding anyway, but the move was described by Germany’s interior minister Nancy Faeser as a "clear signal" that "our democratic state does not fund enemies of the Constitution".

Some say a similar ban on public financing for AfD "could be an effective middle ground", said the paper. "It would hinder the AfD, without banning it outright."
'Incompatible with a free society'

The calls for a ban are "completely absurd and expose the anti-democratic attitude of those making these demands", said Alice Weidel, co-leader of the party, in a statement to Politico. They also show that "the other parties have long since run out of substantive arguments against our political proposals".

AfD has also insisted that its recent meeting that discussed the idea of sending migrants home has been completely mischaracterised.

In the parliamentary debate prompted by the joint motion led by the SDP, Bernd Baumann, parliamentary secretary of the AfD, told lawmakers it was no more than a "small, private debate club", not a "secret meeting dangerous to the public".

Nancy Faeser, the federal interior minister from the SPD, said that such a suggestion was nonsense. "We are seeing an active effort to shift borders and to spread contempt for democracy and misanthropy into the heart of society," she said.

A ban itself could represent a challenge to Germany's democracy, according to the Bavarian MP Petr Bystron. He told The European Conservative: "The last German chancellor who banned a democratic party was Adolf Hitler. All of those who are now trying to ban the AfD are following in his footsteps."

Opposition leaders like Sahra Wagenknecht, who recently founded a new left-wing party, the BSW, have sharply criticised calls to ban the AfD. "Banning unpopular parties because they become too strong is incompatible with a free society," she said in an interview with The European Conservative in November. She said she found "fighting a political competitor with unconstitutional ban proposals incompatible with democratic aspirations".

AfD lobbied Syria to take back refugees via ‘re-education’ in Russia

James Rothwell
Wed, January 24, 2024 

President Bashar al-Assad was lobbied by the AfD to take back Syrian refugees. In 2019, a delegation from the German far-Right party travelled to Syria to meet officials from the dictator's regime - LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images

Germany’s far-Right AfD party lobbied Bashar al-Assad to take back Syrian refugees retrained in Russia, it has emerged.

Five AfD MPs wrote to the Syrian dictator in 2018 to request an in-person meeting to discuss the “orderly repatriation of Syrians” and “mutually beneficial relationships with Russia and its allies”, broadcaster ZDF reported on Wednesday.

The letter, sent on Oct 11 of that year, suggested that the Syrians could first be transferred to Russia, where they would be “qualified for certain trades that would be needed in Syria”.

ZDF’s report did not state whether the personal audience with Assad was granted, though an AfD delegation did travel to Syria in 2019 to meet officials in his regime.

Months earlier, Waldemar Herdt, an AfD MP, travelled to Moscow, where he floated the idea of setting up a Russian-German organisation to promote a pro-Russian narrative on the annexation of Crimea.

It is unclear how advanced the discussions were between Syria, Moscow and the AfD, which has never been in power but has surged in the polls in recent years amid growing anti-immigrant sentiment in Germany.

The disclosure of the plan comes after tens of thousands of Germans took part in mass protests against the AfD this weekend and sparked renewed alarm about the fate of Syrian refugees given the Assad regime’s appalling human rights record.

But in a statement to ZDF, Harald Weyel, an AfD MP and one of the signatories of the letter to the Syrian leader, said “ was always about voluntary return and making it attractive and meaningful”.

Nazi echoes

The AfD’s migration policy is under intense scrutiny after it emerged earlier this month that some of its members had attended a secretive meeting with neo-Nazis and other Right-wing extremists in Potsdam, where they held talks on the mass expulsion of immigrants – including, allegedly, those with German citizenship.

Germans were shocked because of the meeting’s echoes of Nazi-era migration policies. The AfD denied being a racist party and said the gathering was not an official event.

“Of course everyone who has German citizenship is part of our people,” said AfD co-leader Alice Weidel, who has parted ways with a senior aide who had attended the meeting. “That’s exactly why the German passport shouldn’t be flogged to just anybody.”

Alice Weidel, the co-leader of AfD, distanced herself from a meeting attended by party members that called for the mass expulsion of immigrants - MICHELE TANTUSSI/AFP via Getty Images

Since the reports of the meeting emerged, huge crowds of Germans have marched in cities and towns across the country, with many calling for the AfD to be banned.

Political parties can be outlawed in Germany if they seek to undermine or abolish “free democratic basic order” but such a move would be hugely controversial and face many legal hurdles.

The row has dented the AfD’s polling figures, with support for the party slipping from 23 per cent to 21.5 per cent, according to a survey by INSA this week.

It also emerged on Wednesday that a former German state finance minister threw a party over the summer where a number of prominent AfD figures and Martin Sellner, a far-Right extremist, were in attendance.

According to Spiegel magazine, Peter Kurth, an ex-Christian Democratic Union member played host to the group on the terrace of his Berlin apartment in July.

He acknowledged hosting the party in a statement to the publication, but said he wasn’t familiar with Mr Sellner, a hugely controversial member of the Identitarian movement who is banned from the UK for his extremist views.

Economy minister: AfD is 'poison for Germany as a business location'

DPA
Tue, January 23, 2024

Robert Habeck German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, attends German government questioning session in the Bundestag. Kay Nietfeld/dpa

Germany's economy minister came out with some of his strongest comments to date about the rising popularity of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), saying the party is "poison for Germany" that would destroy the country's economy.

"If you take these crazy fascist plans that they have announced seriously - that is deporting all people who are not German according to their definition - then you can count the number of restaurants, tradespeople and haulage companies that this means. Then the location is dead," he told Welt TV in an interview on Tuesday.

Habeck, who is a member of the Green Party and is also vice chancellor, made his comments following the revelation of a meeting of right-wing extremists in Potsdam outside Berlin on November 25.


The investigative media outlet Correctiv reported that plans were discussed there about how a large number of people of foreign origin could be kicked out of Germany - even by force and including German citizens. Following the revelation, hundreds of thousands of people across Germany took to the streets in protest.

The meeting was attended by several AfD politicians as well as individual members of the mainstream conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the ultraconservative WerteUnion.

Habeck admitted that his coalition government was partly responsible for the rise of the AfD.

Two recent nationwide polls of German voters both showed the AfD remains in second place, although the party's support slipped slightly from the previous week.

A weekly opinion poll, conducted for the tabloid newspaper Bild by the INSA opinion research group and released on Tuesday, showed support for the AfD dropping from a previous high last week of 23% to 21.5%.

A separate poll for broadcaster RTL/ntv conducted by forsa showed the AfD down by two percentage points to 20%, although that poll also showed the AfD remaining in second place.

Despite the slight downward drop, the AfD has been on a clear upward trend in polls since mid-2022.

In earlier comments Habeck took a swipe at AfD co-chair Alice Weidel without directly naming her.

Weidel said in a recent interview with the Financial Times that the AfD would support a referendum to quit the European Union - a so-called "Dexit" - if the party fails to force drastic reforms to the EU.

Weidel told the newspaper that the United Kingdom's exit from the EU following the 2016 Brexit vote should be a model for Germany.

Habeck on Tuesday said that politics could not be much "more stupid" than saying that Germany should leave the EU and the European single market.

Both new opinion polls released on Tuesday showed the conservative opposition CDU/CSU bloc remained the strongest party, at 30.5% in the Bild poll and at 31% in the RTL/ntv poll.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) also continued to slide in the polls, down to just 13.5% in the Bild poll and 14% in the RTL/ntv poll. The Greens were backed by 12.5%-14%.

The liberal Free Democrats (FDP) remained at 5% in the Bild poll, the threshold to receive seats in Germany's parliament, while the RTL/ntv poll showed them just below the threshold at 4%.

The far-left Die Linke's slide continued in the Bild poll, down another percentage point to just 3%. The RTL/ntv poll showed Die Linke (The Left) at 4%.

Voters preferring various other parties increased sharply, from 8% to 11.5%, which may be due to growing support for the newly launched populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), which was not listed separately in the poll results.

The Bild survey polled a sample of 2,000 German voters between Friday and Monday. Forsa surveyed around 2,500 people over a slightly longer period of time. Both polls have a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

United Nations report heavily critical of UK’s ‘increasingly severe crackdowns’ on environmental protesters

Laura Paddison, CNN
Tue, January 23, 2024



A United Nations envoy said he was “alarmed,” “distressed” and “seriously concerned” by the treatment of climate activists in the United Kingdom, in a damning report published Tuesday that criticized “increasingly severe crackdowns” on peaceful protesters in the country.

Michel Forst, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders, who visited the UK earlier this month to meet with politicians, NGOs, activists and lawyers, said he had received “extremely worrying” information about peaceful protesters facing prosecution under “regressive” new laws, experiencing “harsh” bail conditions while awaiting trial, and being handed jail sentences.

British authorities have stepped up their response to climate and environmental protestors in recent years, especially when protests become disruptive, including blocking roads and slow walking tactics.


Last year, the the country introduced new legislation — the Public Order Act 2023 — giving police more power to stop protests. In December, the legislation was used to sentence a climate protester to a six-month prison term for taking part in a slow march on a public road as part of the activist group Just Stop Oil. The protester is now appealing the sentence.

“It had been almost unheard of since the 1930s for members of the public to be imprisoned for peaceful protest in the UK,” Forst wrote.

A spokesperson for the UK Home Office, the government department that tackles policing and other elements of national security, said that “while decisions on custodial sentences are a matter for the independent judiciary, the Public Order Act brings in new criminal offences and proper penalties for selfish, guerrilla protest tactics.”

Forst said he was “alarmed” to learn that some judges were banning defendants from explaining the motivation behind their protest, including mentioning climate change. “It is very difficult to understand what could justify denying the jury the opportunity to hear the reason for the defendant’s action,” he wrote.

The report referred to “highly concerning” information about “harsh” bail conditions for peaceful protesters awaiting trial — a period that could span up to two years — including wearing electronic ankle tags and curfews. “I seriously question the necessity and proportionality of such conditions for persons engaging in peaceful protest,” Forst wrote.

He also said he was “distressed” to see how environmental defenders are “derided” by the media and political figures in the UK. It puts them at risk of “threats, abuse and even physical attacks,” he said.

This “toxic discourse” can also be used by the government as justification for “adopting increasingly severe and draconian measures against environmental defenders,” he said.

“In the course of my visit, I witnessed firsthand that this is precisely what is taking place in the UK right now,” he said, adding this had a “significant chilling effect” on civil society and fundamental rights to peaceful protest.

“The right to protest is a fundamental part of our democracy,” the Home Office spokesperson told CNN, “but we must also protect the law-abiding majority’s right to go about their daily lives.”

Climate protesters are increasingly undertaking high-profile and disruptive actions. But the fact they cause disruption does not mean they are not peaceful, Forst said.

In January last year, one of the best known climate groups in the UK, Extinction Rebellion, announced it was pausing mass public disruption campaigns to focus on building more support.

But other organizations have scaled up their protests. Last year, Just Stop Oil, for example, disrupted several major sporting events in England, including Wimbledon, the Ashes cricket test series and the World Snooker Championship, as well as a performance of the musical “Les Misérables.”


UN expert slams government crackdown on environmental protest

Zoe Grunewald
Tue, January 23, 2024 


The Police, Crime and Sentencing Act has been deemed “regressive” by an expert representative of the UN (Getty Images)


A government crackdown on the right to protest has had a “significant chilling effect” on civil society and the exercise of fundamental freedoms, the UN Special Rapporteur said today.

Michael Forst, the UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders, released a statement following a two-day visit to the UK, where he observed first-hand the treatment of protestors under UK law.

He said after meeting with lawyers, NGOs, climate activists and government officials, he was issuing a statement in “light of the extremely worrying information” he had received regarding the “increasingly severe crackdowns on environmental defenders in the United Kingdom, including in relation to the exercise of the right to peaceful protest”.

Eco-activists and human rights campaigners have protested the raft of anti-protest laws that have been introduced by the government over the last few years (PA Archive)

Mr. Forst condemned the government’s use of widespread restrictions on peaceful protests, referring to them as “a matter of concern for any member of the public in the UK who may wish to take action for the climate or environmental protection.”

He emphasized, “The right to peaceful protest is a basic human right. It is also an essential part of a healthy democracy.

“States have a duty to facilitate the right to protest, and private entities and broader society may be expected to accept some level of disruption as a result of the exercise of this right.”

The UN expert called for the protection of eco-activism, stating “environmental defenders are acting for the benefit of us all” (Getty Images)

The UN special rapporteur also highlighted that new rules imposed on defendants in one London court prevented them from explaining their motivations to the jury. In another court, peaceful protesters were forbidden from mentioning the climate crisis, fuel poverty, or even the US civil rights movement in their statements.

“It is very difficult to understand what could justify denying the jury the opportunity to hear the reason for the defendant’s action, and how a jury could reach a properly informed decision without hearing it,” Forst said.

Mr. Forst criticized the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Court Acts, which became law in 2022, as “regressive” and revealed that those charged under this legislation were subject to harsh bail conditions for up to two years.

These conditions included prohibitions on engaging in any further protest, contact with those in their campaign groups, curfews, requirements to wear electronic ankle tags, and GPS tracking. The rapporteur also pointed out that prior to the Act being introduced, it had been “almost unheard of since the 1930s” for peaceful protesters to be imprisoned in the UK.

Mr Forst also condemned the “toxic” discourse around protest in the UK, stating that it “may also be used by the state as justification for adopting increasingly severe and draconian measures against environmental defenders.” Forst spoke out due to the gravity of his concerns about the widespread restrictions on peaceful protest, and says his investigations are ongoing as he considers formal complaints about treatment that have been submitted to him.

The former home secretary Suella Braverman spear-headed the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act in 2022 (PA Wire)

He concluded: “We are in the midst of a triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Environmental defenders are acting for the benefit of us all. It is therefore imperative that we ensure that they are protected.”

He called for a constructive dialogue with the Conservative government to ensure that members of the public seeking to protect the environment were not subject to persecution, penalization, or harassment for doing so.

Appointed by the Human Rights Council of the UN, special rapporteur’s act independently of governments and play an important role in monitoring sovereign nations and democratically elected governments and policies.

The UN special rapporteur is appointed under the Aarhus Convention, to which the UK is a signatory.

Sci-fi thriller ‘The Animal Kingdom’ tops nominations for France's Cesar awards

Oscar hopeful “Anatomy of a Fall” was narrowly bested by a beastly sci-fi thriller in the nominations race for France’s answer to the Academy Awards Wednesday.


Issued on: 24/01/2024 -

Adele Exarchopoulos, from left, Romain Duris, Paul Kircher, director Thomas Cailley, Tom Mercier and Billie Blain pose for photographers at the photo call for the film “The animal Kingdom” at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Thursday, May 18, 2023. © Daniel Cole, AP/ File picture

“The Animal Kingdom”, about a wave of mutations turning humans into hybrid creatures, picked up 12 Cesar nominations, including for best film.

Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall”, -- one of France’s biggest international arthouse hits of recent years—took one less.

The thriller about a wife accused of murdering her husband won two Golden Globes this month and has clocked up five Oscar nominations including for best picture.

It was a decent year for women filmmakers, who made up three of the five Cesar nominees in the best director category.

The prize has only once gone to a woman: Tonie Marshall for 2000’s “Venus Beauty Institute”.

Triet is nominated alongside veteran provocateur Catherine Breillat for “Last Summer” and Jeanne Herry for “All Your Faces”.

The awards ceremony will take place on February 23, with Christopher Nolan, who is leading the Oscars race with “Oppenheimer”, to receive an honorary Cesar.

Also nominated for best film is “Junkyard Dog” about a friendship upended when one person falls in love, and “The Goldman Case”, a courtroom drama about a true-life armed robber who became a media celebrity in the 1970s.

(AFP)