Minneapolis is on the leading edge of biochar, a carbon sequestering material full of promise and still under research

Susan Du - Star Tribune (TNS)


Minneapolis is on track to become one of the first U.S. cities to invest in biochar, a multifunctional, charcoal-like material said to help grow bigger plants, reduce storm water runoff and remove carbon from the atmosphere.


The city has committed $700,000 to develop an industrial yard and buy a BluSky Carbon pyrolyzer, a spinning drum about the size of a 40-foot shipping container that heats organic material with minimal oxygen. According to the manufacturer, the wood doesn't burn in this low-oxygen environment, but is converted into a multiuse char that can lock away carbon that otherwise would have been released through natural decomposition. Natural gas starts the machine, but then the wood gas created as a byproduct of the process sustains it.

"It's almost obnoxious how many applications there are for biochar," said William Hessert, CEO of BluSky Carbon, as he named a few: improving nutrient and water retention, increasing crop yield and improving the strength of concrete, plastics and steel. "As long as you're not using the char to burn it like a briquette, the carbon in there can be stable, depending on how you do this, for hundreds or thousands or millions of years.


Jim Doten, the city's carbon sequestration program manager, said producing municipal biochar will be Minneapolis' first initiative under that program as it tries to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, a goal outlined in Minneapolis' Climate Equity Plan.

A lot of wood chips are produced within the city, Doten said. The Minneapolis Park Board manages the city's public trees, including cutting down diseased and damaged trees. Private tree companies do the same on private properties. Xcel and CenterPoint Energy trim along electrical lines to prevent fires.

Right now, all that wood waste is shipped over to St. Paul and incinerated for electricity and steam. But if it's converted to biochar, Doten believes that the city could prevent carbon from entering the atmosphere and create material to be used in large-scale transportation projects and community gardens.

"I'm glad that now not only is it happening but that it's sparked a lot of interest, and I'm getting a lot of calls from different cities and counties around the country about it," Doten said.

Minneapolis eventually may consider selling carbon removal credits to private companies looking to offset their greenhouse gas emissions, or bank them for the city's own carbon reduction goals, Doten said.

Council Member Robin Wonsley, in whose ward the biochar site is being built, said she would need to study the efficacy of other agencies' carbon credit programs, such as the one the Park Board launched in 2022, before supporting a similar one for the city.

"I'm really excited about this helping the city figure out how we can continue investing in bold and innovative municipally owned strategies to combat climate change," Wonsley said.

Eric Singsaas, director of the materials and bioeconomy group at the University of Minnesota, is studying biochar to better understand how its properties are affected by different factors, such as heating temperature and the type of source material, in hopes of informing industry as well as cities like Minneapolis wanting to predict exactly how long its biochar will be able to sequester carbon.

"Carbon removal credits, there's a lot of revenue potential there," Singsaas said. "The scientific community is developing tools and mathematical models that are allowing us to say with more confidence (that) if you make a biochar with the following properties, it will sequester carbon for 100 years or 1,000 years, to make a better estimate of that."

Right now the city should stay on top of the science and resist the trap of making hyperbolic claims because some kiln technologies on the market make biochar with "wildly varying properties," Singsaas warned. He said he is working with the city and believes BluSky's pyrolyzer is legitimate.

As private and public-sector organizations face increasing pressure to reduce carbon emissions, the market for carbon offset and removal credits is growing, with environmental organizations often playing a watchdog role differentiating between initiatives that actually remove pollution and those that "greenwash" it.

Per the Minnesota Natural Gas Innovation Act, Xcel Energy plans to purchase carbon offset credits from a local company that produces biochar. The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy argued on CenterPoint's NGIA plan against allowing companies to use carbon reductions in another location to offset the amount of natural gas delivered to customers. The Public Utilities Commission is expected to make a decision on that point later this month, which may affect Xcel's inclusion of biochar in its NGIA plan.

Hudson Kingston, legal director of the rural environmental nonprofit CURE, said the use of natural gas to create biochar through pyrolysis makes him wonder how beneficial it is for the environment.

"It's important that there's third-party analysis of what (Minneapolis) is doing," he said. "The fact that it's near the (University of Minnesota) is a great opportunity for them to pull in professors and grad students who don't work for the city to assess things ... for this to move forward in a way where the community knows whether it's actually benefiting them or not."

Biochar has been used in pilot projects through the city over the years. The city's biochar website shows a grinning Doten brandishing two ears of corn — one almost twice the size of the other — grown at Little Earth of United Tribes in 2015. The fatter corn was grown in biochar, Doten said.

Another biochar demonstration was conducted by the Linden Hills Neighborhood Council on a segment of the old trolley line near York Avenue and 44th Street from 2019 to 2022. The soil was so degraded along the trolley path that very few plants grew there, said Ginny Halloran, who was on the neighborhood group's environmental committee on the time. The demonstration used biochar and deep-rooted native to restore the soil.

"The beauty of it is because of all the ash trees in Minneapolis ... coming down, we can sequester that carbon ... by making biochar out of all these trees and using it to enrich the soil," Halloran said. "It gives us time to decrease the CO2 that's going up into the atmosphere, and it's just such a beautiful, ecological solution to some of our problems."

North America’s Largest Biochar Plant Announced In Canada


By Carbon Credits

July 5, 2023




A consortium of Canadian and French companies, including Airex Energy, Groupe Rémabec, and SUEZ, are investing C$80 million to construct North America’s largest biochar production facility.

This initiative highlights the growing global recognition of biochar’s potential in carbon sequestration and soil enhancement.

The plant will be located along the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Port-Cartier, Quebec, Canada.


The Quebec Biochar Plant: A Major Step in Canada’s Decarbonization Efforts

The Port-Cartier facility is Canada’s first industrial-scale biochar production plant, marking a significant milestone in the country’s net zero efforts.

The first phase of the plant will be finalized in 2024. It will focus on transforming forestry waste into biochar, contributing to a circular economy, and playing a crucial role in the fight against climate change.

With an initial production capacity of 10,000 tonnes per year, the plant will triple its annual production capacity by 2026. This makes it the largest biochar plant in North America.

The consortium aims to produce 350,000 tonnes of biochar by 2035.

They have identified locations in Europe and Africa where they can access the input to produce biochar, as well as potential buyers.

The Project’s Impact and Plans

The facility, owned by CARBONITY, a joint venture equally owned by the three partners, will employ 75 people locally. It will produce carbon-rich biochar with high environmental qualities from the residual biomass of Groupe Rémabec’s operations.

The project will sequester 75,000 tonnes of carbon per year.

By sequestering carbon, biochar production will generate guaranteed, certified carbon credits. First Climate will then sell them on the voluntary carbon market.

This project became possible thanks to the financial participation of the Quebec and Canadian governments. A federal official commented on this milestone, the Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for CED, said that:

“Government of Canada has made concrete commitments to demonstrate that a strong economy and a healthy environment go hand-in-hand. That is why Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED) is granting a repayable contribution of $3M to CARBONITY for its set-up project in Port-Cartier.”
Biochar: A Powerful Tool for Carbon Sequestration and Soil Enhancement

Biochar is a charcoal-like substance produced from plant matter. It’s created through a process called pyrolysis, where organic material is heated in a high-temperature, low-oxygen environment.

The result is a stable form of carbon that resists decomposition, effectively locking away carbon that would otherwise return to the atmosphere. When added to soil, biochar can significantly improve soil health, enhancing water retention, nutrient availability, and microbial activity. All these lead to increased crop productivity.

Moreover, the production of biochar can generate Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) carbon credits. These credits can be sold or traded, providing an additional revenue stream for biochar producers and incentivizing further carbon sequestration efforts.

Airex earlier this year raised $38M to increase capacity at another Quebec facility that torrefies biomass.

A Shift in the Carbon Credits Market

The construction of the Quebec biochar plant signifies a shift in the carbon credits market. As countries and corporations strive to achieve their carbon neutrality goals, the demand for effective carbon offsetting solutions is growing.

Biochar production offers a tangible, measurable way to offset carbon emissions. The carbon credits generated from this process can attract significant interest from environmentally conscious investors and corporations.

Used as a soil amendment, biochar offers several benefits, including carbon sequestration, increased nutrient retention, and optimized soil aeration and drainage. Its properties allow it to contribute to soil regeneration, limit the use of fertilizers and sustain water resources.

When added to concrete or asphalt formulations, biochar brings new functionalities to the final material while helping to reduce its carbon footprint, a key issue for the construction sector.

Lastly, the production of biochar at high-temperature and with oxygen-free pyrolysis will generate surplus energy in the form of steam or pyrolysis oil, which is reusable on site.

In summary, here are just some of the potential industrial uses of biochar:

Source: Osman et al. (2022). Environ Chem Lett 20. 

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-022-01424-x

The Future of Biochar and Carbon Management

The emergence of North America’s largest biochar plant in Quebec is a milestone in the world’s journey toward sustainable carbon management. It highlights the potential of biochar as a solution for carbon sequestration, waste management, and soil enhancement.

With the establishment of the Port-Cartier facility, the future of biochar and carbon management looks promising. The project shows the potential of biochar in sequestering carbon while setting a precedent for future initiatives in the sector.

As we continue to grapple with the challenges of climate change, such initiatives offer a beacon of hope, showing us that with innovation and commitment, a sustainable future is within our reach.

Sciencedirect.comwww.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772416622000900

Biochar production techniques utilizing biomass waste-derived ...

Biochar is an incredibly rich source of carbon formed through biomass's thermal decomposition. There is a rise of interest in employing biochar derived from ...

Researchgate.netwww.researchgate.net/publication/356740620_Biochar_in_climate_change_mitigation

Biochar in climate change mitigation | Request PDF - ResearchGate

Biochar, a chemically stable and highly adsorptive carbonrich material produced by pyrolysis of biological organic materials, has demonstrated promising results ...

Mdpi.comwww.mdpi.com/2311-5629/9/3/67

Biochar for Soil Carbon Sequestration: Current Knowledge ... - MDPI

Biochar, a sustainable solid material derived from biomass pyrolysis enriched in carbon, has emerged as a promising solution for soil carbon sequestration.

 

US President Biden signs bill promoting distinct Tibet identity

Aabshar Ghassi | U. Pittsburgh School of Law, US

JULY 14, 2024 

US President Biden on Friday signed into law the Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act. The bill declares Congress’s position that Tibetans have a “religious, cultural, linguistic, and historical identity” distinct from the Chinese people which the Chinese government undermines by its claims and penalizes by its rights violations of Tibetans.

Congress found the Chinese government to be violating its obligations under international law, most notably violating the right of self-determination for Tibetans. It described the Chinese government’s rights violations of the Tibetan people to be systematic and pointed to Tibetan opposition and resistance.

Congress said urged the Chinese government to stop its alleged disinformation campaign against Tibet and the Tibetans, its violations of international law, and its unwillingness to engage in meaningful negotiations with Tibetan leaders. Congress also declared its aim to restart diplomacy between Chinese and Tibetan leaders that started in 2002 and ended in January 2010 without a successful resolution.

The bill implements Congress’s motives in resolving the Tibet-China dispute by statutorily defining Tibet and amending its Tibetan Policy Act of 2002. The bill defined Tibet as the Tibet Autonomous Region and the areas in China the Chinese government in 2018 recognized as “Tibetan Autonomous.” It amended the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 by adding that the President must annually send reports to congressional committees on “[US] efforts to counter disinformation about Tibet from the [Chinese government] and the Chinese Communist Party” and the Special Coordinator must “work with relevant bureaus … to ensure that [US government] statements and documents” fight the Chinese government’s disinformation campaign against Tibet and Tibetans.

Responding to the bill’s passage into US law, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson issued the following remarks:

The [bill] violates the US government’s long-held position and commitments and the basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China’s domestic affairs, undermines China’s interests, and sends a severely wrong signal to the “Tibet independence” forces … If the US continues down the wrong path, China will take resolute measures to firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests.

Chinese e-trucks in Europe ‘win-win cooperation’, says CEO

July 15, 2024

XINHUA – Collaborating with Europe on the development of electric heavy trucks yields mutually beneficial outcomes in both economic and environmental spheres, founder and CEO of Windrose Technology Han Wen told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Windrose Technology, a Chinese electric long-haul truck start-up, has been ramping up its presence in Europe to seek fresh investment and meet the growing demand for greener heavy trucks in the region.

The electric truck manufacturer has announced plans to establish its European headquarters and its first European factory in Belgium, which will create around 3,000 local jobs. Its assembly plant in Antwerp is expected to produce 10,000 electric trucks annually by 2027.

“We chose Antwerp as our European centre for several reasons,” Han noted. “Antwerp is one of Europe’s largest logistics hubs, with its pivotal role in land, rail, and road transport, making it an ideal location for our operations.”

He also highlighted the proximity of Antwerp to key customers.

With the European Union (EU) focusing heavily on expanding electric transportation, as it aims to become climate-neutral by 2050, Han believes Europe represents a significant market for electric heavy trucks.

“Heavy trucks are significant contributors to global carbon dioxide emissions… addressing their emissions through electrification in Europe is crucial,” Han said.

Data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association suggest that more than 400,000 zero-emission trucks will have to be on the roads by 2030 to achieve a 45 per cent carbon dioxide reduction.

Han said the company is considering further localising its supply chain in Europe and leveraging local production capabilities for the next step, with plans also underway to construct a battery factory.

The company’s electric heavy truck completed a 3,100-km single-trip road test in May across Europe, spanning from Antwerp in Belgium to Warsaw in Poland. As Europe is willing to provide an entry, “in return, we will introduce advanced Chinese electric heavy truck manufacturing technologies here,” Han noted. “It is a win-win cooperation.”

Southwest Airlines unveils electric air taxi venture

July 15, 2024


NEW YORK (AFP) – United States (US) carrier Southwest Airlines plans to jointly develop a fleet of electric air taxis to serve the California market with transportation startup Archer Aviation, the companies announced on Friday.

The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding envisioning Southwest making use of Archer’s “Midnight” aircraft throughout the nation’s largest state, offering short trips from California’s 14 airports.

Begun as an aviation venture in 2018, Santa Clara, California-based Archer has been working to gain Federal Aviation Administration certification of its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

The company’s Midnight eVTOL can carry four passengers in addition to a pilot.

The aircraft is “designed to transform urban travel, replacing 60-to-90-minute commutes by car with estimated 10-to-20-minute electric air taxi flights”, said a joint press release.

“The goal of Archer’s aircraft is to offer a safe, low-noise, cost-competitive transportation option with no direct emissions.”

The Southwest venture follows a joint announcement from Stellantis and Archer earlier this month in which the automaker agreed to an additional USD55 million investment in the startup.

Southwest – the fourth biggest US carrier after American, United and Delta – is “eager to explore the convenience Archer’s air taxis could provide customers flying Southwest at airports in busy urban areas”, said Paul Cullen, a vice president for real estate at Southwest.

In June, Archer received an FAA certificate to begin commercial operations to refine and improve its systems ahead of launching for Southwest and United Airlines, which also has collaborated with the company. Archer could receive FAA certification as soon as 2025, an Archer spokeswoman said.

“We are now in the final phase of certification with the FAA known as the ‘implementation phase’ and will begin crewed ‘for credit’ testing with the FAA next year which are the final sets of flight tests we are required to pass prior to obtaining Type Certification for our Midnight aircraft,” the spokeswoman said in an email.

Last Tuesday, French officials gave the go-ahead for construction of a floating landing pad on the River Seine for flying taxis set to be shown off during the Paris Olympics.

Mixed profits at US banks amid weaker signs from low-income customers

July 15, 2024


NEW YORK (AFP) – JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup reported increased second-quarter profits on Friday despite somewhat higher costs to account for bad loans in light of greater stress on lower-income customers.

Citigroup Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason pointed to a “bit of a pullback” from consumers with lower credit scores who are strained from higher interest rates and the consumer price hikes of recent years.

“The customer base is being discerning in terms of the nature of the spend in light of the environment that we’re in,” Mason said on a conference call with reporters.

JPMorgan Chase has also seen lower-income segments shift spending from discretionary to essential goods, which “for obvious reasons is understood to be a little bit of a sign of weakness”, said Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum, while noting that most of the bank’s customers tend to have higher credit scores.

Barnum offered measured optimism on the economy, saying conditions remain broadly positive, while noting persistent big-picture risks that include geopolitical instability and the chance that inflation and interest rate will stay high.

“Yes the economy is slowing but it seems to be very much on trend of a soft landing,” Barnum said.A Citigroup Citibank branch in California, United States. PHOTO: AFP

The comments came as the two banks reported second-quarter results, along with Wells Fargo, which saw profits dip.

At JPMorgan, profits came in at USD18.1 billion, up 25 per cent from the year-ago period.

The earnings were boosted by a USD7.9 billion gain from a share-exchange transaction with Visa.

Without that one-time boost, profits would have lagged the 2023 quarter. Revenues rose 22 per cent to USD50.2 billion.

The lender, the biggest US bank by assets, pointed to a boost from higher investment banking fees and asset management fees, as well as a lift from greater net interest income (NII); NII is based on the interest JPMorgan earns on loans less the interest it pays out to depositors.

The provision for credit losses rose five per cent to USD3.1 billion, with JPMorgan citing credit cards as a driver of both charge-offs in the latest quarter and reserves over future potential losses.

The bank has noted that consumer balance sheets were boosted by government payout programmes during Covid-19 that have largely lapsed. JPMorgan described the rising delinquencies as “credit normalisation”.

At Citi, second-quarter profits were USD3.2 billion, up 10 per cent from the year-ago period, reflecting the benefit of a six per cent drop in operating expenses following a reorganisation.

That push is expected to reduce overall headcount by 20,000.

Revenues rose four per cent to USD20.1 billion.

While Citi’s net interest income fell compared with the 2023 period, it benefited from a USD400 million gain on the Visa equity exchange, as well as higher profits in four of five divisions, including markets and wealth management.

The one division that suffered lower profit was US personal banking, which was hit by higher credit losses. Mason said the bank had increased monitoring of consumers, while shifting its approach on drawing new credit card customers to favor those with higher credit scores.

While loan delinquencies have risen above pre-Covid levels, the bank saw an improvement at the end of the quarter that may be a sign of consumer “resiliency”, according to Mason.

Earlier this week, two US regulators fined Citi USD135.6 million over the bank’s lack of progress in upgrading risk management and internal controls following a 2020 regulatory crackdown.

At Wells Fargo, profits were down 0.5 per cent at USD4.9 billion, while revenues edged up 0.7 per cent at USD20.7 billion.

While NII fell compared to the year-ago level, the bank pointed to growth in fee-based revenues in investment banking and asset management.

Although Wells experienced higher charge offs in the second quarter due in part to poorly performing commercial real estate loans, the bank’s provisions for bad loans fell compared with the year-ago period.

THE LAST COLONY, VIVA INDEPENDENCE

New Caledonia on the brink of civil war

Published: 09 July 2024

Ann-Sophie Levidis
Australian National University

IN BRIEF

New Caledonia has been experiencing a severe state of unrest since May 2024, which resulted from a controversial voting law viewed as discriminatory by the local Kanak population, leading to barricades, skirmishes, looting and widespread damage. To end the crisis and prevent a civil war, it is essential to establish long-lasting peace, requiring careful consideration of the historical influences, transregional collaboration, increased comprehension of the conflict between the Kanak people and France and awareness of wider global tensions.

Amid heightened global tensions and a local crisis centring on the efforts of the indigenous Kanak people to secure their rights, the restoration of long-lasting peace is necessary in New Caledonia as the threat of civil war looms.

Since 13 May 2024, the nickel-rich islands in the Southwest Pacific have experienced severe unrest, described by French President Emmanuel Macron as an ‘unprecedented insurrection movement’, with the indigenous Kanak population at the forefront of the riots. On 15 May, France declared a state of emergency in its Pacific territory. The riots have targeted vehicles and ambulances bound for hospitals in Noumea, affecting residents’ access to healthcare. Barricades, skirmishes with the police and looting has left nine dead and hundreds injured, inflicting hundreds of millions of euros in damage.

After one month of deadly unrest, Macron announced on 12 June a temporary suspension of the controversial voting reforms to restore order, though this fails to address the long-term issues concerning the future of New Caledonia. The French High Commissioner of Noumea confirmed on 17 June that a curfew will still remain in effect and public gatherings will remain prohibited. The transfer of seven New Caledonian pro-independence activists to prisons in mainland France following the recent unrest has fuelled a new wave of violence in the French Pacific territory since 22 June.

The unrest in New Caledonia stems from a controversial law allowing individuals living in the region for over ten years to vote in local elections, which the Kanak community views as discriminatory. The law contradicted the Noumea Accord, a 1998 agreement granting increased political power to the collegial elected government of New Caledonia, comprising independence and loyalist parties.

New Caledonia and Paris agreed to conduct three independence referendums and the final referendum in 2021 seemed to be a decisive win for those advocating to remain part of France, but Kanak leaders boycotted the vote. As French President Emmanuel Macron had refused to postpone the referendum during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kanak leaders argued that traditional mourning rituals for the deceased hindered their participation. This situation has since challenged the pursuit of autonomy and self-governance in New Caledonia.

The unrest in New Caledonia is far more complex, rekindling wounds from French colonisation and intertwining with global tensions. Since 1853, the Kanak people have resisted French subjugation under a restrictive colonial code, which limited their rights and enforced strict segregation. The Kanak independence movement gained momentum in the 1960s and 1970s, influenced by increased access to education and exposure to the global civil rights movement. The so-called Red Scarves movement demanded a return of the land, sparking a civil war in 1984.

In 1986, the UN Special Committee on Decolonization listed New Caledonia as one of the seventeen territories that had not achieved full self-governance. Growing tensions between Paris and Noumea resulted in the tragic hostage taking in Ouvea in May 1988. The signing of the Matignon-Oudinot Agreements later that year marked a significant turning point, granting more powers to territorial authorities and initiating a process of land redistribution that marked the end of the civil war.

The deepening crisis in New Caledonia is also embedded in global tensions and wider political instability. At the Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore from 31 May to 2 June, the Minister of the Armed Forces for France Sebastien Lecornu levied accusations against Azerbaijan for its interference in New Caledonia, allegations that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan have denied.

France’s support of Armenia in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh has also caused tension with Azerbaijan. In response, as the chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijan may have been providing support to independence movements in French territories, such as the Front de Liberation Nationale Kanak et Socialiste.

Political instability in France could also disrupt the development of enduring solutions to the crisis in New Caledonia. On 7 July 2024, the French National Assembly elections witnessed a historic victory for Emmanuel Tjibaou, a pro-independence leader. Emmanuel Tjibaou is the son of Jean-Marie Tjibaou, the founder of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (Front de Liberation Nationale Kanak et Socialiste), who was assassinated in 1989. This election result is particularly notable as it represents the first instance since 1986 of an independence advocate securing a seat in the French National Assembly, located in Paris.

This triumph is poised to significantly impact the political landscape of New Caledonia, suggesting potential shifts towards greater autonomy or independence. Analysts warn that global tensions and political instability may impact France’s long-term military strategy in the Indo-Pacific, with concerns that French Pacific territories may pursue independence.

Historical memories of colonialism, the discontentment of the Kanak youth, the nickel crisis and global tensions are substantiating fears of another civil war. On 8 June, New Caledonian President Louis Mapou urged immediate action, calling for support from its Pacific neighbours to address the current crisis. A potential first step to remedy the situation may be through the mediation of Pacific nations. The Chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum Mark Brown has already written to Louis Mapou, offering to provide a ‘neutral space … to find a way forward that preserves the interests of the people of New Caledonia’.

Re-establishing long-lasting peace is becoming an urgent priority, requiring transregional collaboration and understanding around the conflict between the Kanak people and France, as well as an awareness of wider global tensions. In the words of Kanak independence leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou, the pursuit of reconciliation will be a ‘bet on intelligence’.

Dr Ann-Sophie Levidis is Lecturer at the Australian National University.

https://doi.org/10.59425/eabc.1720519200

'Culture plays a big part': Pacific female journalists face harassment and worse



(L-R) - Panelists on the Gender and Media in the Pacific: Examining Violence that Women Face with Media. Dr Shailendra Bahadur Singh, Lice Movono, Jacqui Berrell, Georgina Kekea, Laisa Bulatale and Nalini Singh Photo: RNZ Pacific

Delegates at a Pacific media conference in Fiji two weeks ago heard harrowing stories of female reporters facing threats of violence and harassment.

This raised the question: is enough being done to protect female reporters in the Pacific region?

In 2022, the Fiji Women's Rights Movement, in partnership with the University of the South Pacific Journalism Programme, launched a research report on the Prevalence and impact of sexual harassment on female journalists: A Fiji case study.

Of the 42 respondents in the survey, the youngest was 22, and the oldest was 51, with an average age of 33.2 years. The average amount of work experience was 8.3 years.

Most respondents (80.5 percent) worked in print, with the others choosing online and/or broadcasting. Most respondents answered that they were aware of sexual harassment occurring.

(L-R) Laisa Bulatale and Nalini Singh of the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM) Photo: RNZ Pacific

The ABC's Fiji reporter, Lice Monovo is an experienced journalist who has worked for RNZ Pacific and the Guardian.

She said she was not surprised by the findings and such incidents were familiar to her.

"There were things I had encountered, and some close friends had, and they were things I had seen but what I did also feel was shock that it was still happening and shock that it was more widespread."

After reading the preliminary results of the report, she realised that although women did take steps including reporting harassment, approaching their employers or asking for help still not enough was being done to protect female journalists.

Panel discussion on 'Prevalence and Impact of Sexual Harassment on Female Journalists.' Panelists were Laisa Bulatale, Georgina Kekea, Jacqui Berrell, Lice Movono, Dr Shailendra Bahadur Singh. The moderator was Nalini Singh 

Photo: Stefan Armbruster

"Their concerns and worries, and the things they went through were invalidated, they were told to suck it up, they were told to put it behind them."

Movono added that often the burden and responsibility for the harassment were shifted to them, the victims.

"So no, I don't think enough was done," she said.

Fiji Women's Rights Movement's, Laisa Bulatale, said many of the women in the research experienced verbal, physical, gestural, and online harassment at work. She said it was not only confined to the workplace.

"A lot of the harassment was also experienced when they went and did assignments or when they had to do interviews with high-ranking officials in government, MPs, even rugby personalities or people in the sports industry," she said.

She said they were justifiably hesitant to report these problems.

"They [female reporters] feared victim blaming and a lot of shame so a lot of the female journalists that we spoke to in the survey said they carried that with them, and they didn't feel they knew enough to be able to report the incident and if they did, they were not confident enough that the complaint processes or the referral pathways for them within the organisations they were working in would hear the case or address it."

Georgina Kekea is an experienced Solomon Islands journalist and editor of Tauvali News. She completed a survey of female reporters in the Solomon Islands' newsroom.

"When I got the responses back, I guess for someone working in the industry, it just validated also what you have been through in your career. What all of us are going through as female journalists,"

Kekea said that there was not much support coming from the superiors in the newsroom.

"Mostly because I think have males who are leading the team, not understanding issues which women face, and of course, being a Melanesian society, the culture plays a big part, and also obstacles men face when it comes to addressing women's issues," Kekea said.

Alex Rheeney is the former news editor of PNG's Post-Courier and the Samoa Observer.

He said he was not surprised by the panel's discussion.

"Our female colleagues, female reporters, female broadcasters, they go through some very, very huge challenges that those of us who were working in the newsroom as a reporter before didn't go through simply because of the fact we were male, and it's unacceptable."

"Why do we have to have those challenges today?"

He said that newsrooms should develop policies to look after the welfare and safety of female reporters.

"We just have to look at the findings from the survey that was done in Fiji."

He was positive that the Fijian survey had been done but queried what the follow-up steps should be in terms of putting in place mechanisms to protect female reporters.

"I can only think back to the time when I was the editor of the Post Courier, I had to drive one of my female reporters to the Boroka police station to get a restraining order against her husband.

"I got personally involved because I knew that it was already affecting her, her children and her family."

Rheeney said that the media industry needs to do more.

The personal intervention he had undertaken, was a response to an individual problem. However, the industry needed to be able to do more, as harassment and violence against female journalists were in a state of crisis.

"We can't afford to sit back and just wait for it to happen; we need to be proactive."

Rheeney believed that the media industry across the Pacific needed to put more measures in place to protect female journalists and staff both in the newsroom and when out on assignment.

Unlocking the potential of Japan’s female workforce

Published: 07 July 2024Reading Time: 

Mary C Brinton
Harvard University



IN BRIEF

Japan has seen a significant increase in women's labour force participation over the last 15 years, but the impact of Japan's female workforce on overall productivity and GDP growth remains low due to an ongoing wage gap and under-representation in managerial roles. Adopting reforms at the firm level could help women maximise their workplace potential and transition to managerial roles or from irregular to regular employment.


For many years, women’s labour force participation patterns in Japan and South Korea were distinct from those in other post-industrial economies. Both countries had a so-called M-shaped age curve for female labour force participation, with large numbers of women exiting the labour force upon marriage or childbearing and then returning to paid work once their children entered school. While this pattern has persisted in South Korea, it has undergone considerable change in Japan in the past 15 years. In 2006, just over 60 per cent of Japanese women aged 30–34 were in the paid labour force. By 2023, this had increased to 80 per cent.

Despite this remarkable increase in women’s employment in Japan, the female–male wage gap has barely budged and the percentage of managers who are women remains far below the target set by former prime minister Shinzo Abe. Women’s contribution to Japan’s overall productivity and GDP growth remains stubbornly low.

The increase in women’s employment was one of the central aims of Abe’s now-famous ‘Womenomics’ policy package. Indeed, by 2016 the Japanese government and media were able to tout that the overall female labour force participation rate in Japan exceeded that in the United States.

There are likely two reasons for this increase in labour force participation. First, more and more Japanese women have remained single and childless. Unless they are relying entirely on their parents for income, they are in the labour force. Second, it is highly likely that the expansion of work-life policies at the firm level has helped increase the continuity of married women’s employment throughout the childrearing stage. Among Japanese working mothers whose employment status qualifies them for childcare leave, about 80 per cent take it and then return to the firm once their leave has ended.

It is well-known that the growth of the female labour force in Japan has disproportionately occurred in part-time and non-regular employment. This contributes heavily to the male–female gap in lifetime wages. But women’s representation in regular employment has increased as well, and it is unclear whether managers and firms have become effective in drawing on the abilities and experience of women who — unlike previous cohorts — are staying in the firm as regular employees after marriage and childbirth.

For example, it is yet to be seen whether middle-level managers know how to shape the workload of new mothers who have taken the short work-hour option (jitan) while their children are young. Such women are highly motivated to finish their work within a six-hour workday rather than the conventional workday of eight or more hours.

Learning to work efficiently is not a behaviour that has traditionally been highly valued by Japanese firms. This needs to change, and it can start with managers rewarding mothers who have learned how to work more effectively. The spillover effect to women who are non-mothers and to men could be very positive and might well lead to higher productivity for Japan overall.

An especially important group to target is university-educated women, whose representation in Japan’s labour force relative to male university graduates is much lower than in nearly all other OECD countries. Japan’s low productivity could be boosted if these women were managed more effectively.

Japanese sociologist Kazuo Yamaguchi has demonstrated the productivity-enhancing effects of company adoption of Gender Equality of Opportunity and Work-Life Balance policies. Companies with an equality opportunity policy are those that express a commitment to encourage employees to fulfil their potential regardless of gender, and companies with a work-life balance policy are defined as ones that have a department devoted to work-life balance solutions for employees.

Yamaguchi found that companies with more female university graduates had higher productivity if they had equal opportunity policies. The positive effect on company productivity was even greater if companies had both an equal opportunity and a work-life balance policy.

Looking back at the last decade and a half of change, it is clear that the government’s goal of bringing more women into the labour force and using policy levers — such as extended childcare leave, higher childcare leave benefits and the short work-hour option — to retain them has been successful. Dual-earner couples constitute the majority of households with two adults, and the era of the housewife has passed.

The next hurdle is to utilise female labour more productively, which will help accomplish the as-yet incomplete goal of increasing the proportion of women in management and leadership positions. Helping highly able women transition from irregular to regular employment and helping those who are already regular employees to maximise their potential in the workplace need to be primary goals.

Mary C Brinton is the Reischauer Institute Professor of Sociology at Harvard University.

https://doi.org/10.59425/eabc.1720389600

Japan's jobs market on the way to modernisation

Published: 07 July 2024

Yuri Okina
Japan Research Institute


IN BRIEF

The traditional corporate culture in Japan, anchored on lifetime employment and a seniority-based wage system, is gradually being modernised, influenced by the growth strategies under the administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Policymakers are focusing on promoting upskilling and labour mobility, while companies are raising wages to retain talent and compete with global firms. The increased dynamism of the Japanese labour market could contribute to the long-term growth of the Japanese economy.


In Japan’s labour market, an increase in people changing jobs is occurring in the middle of a growing labour shortage, and changing traditional features of Japanese corporate culture such as lifetime employment and seniority-based remuneration. Under the administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, labour market reform is a major theme in Japan’s growth strategy with increased government spending on the development of individual skills. This is steadily but surely changing the relationship between Japanese workers and their employers.

According to a 2018 Cabinet Office survey, about 10 per cent of mid-career and younger employees felt that it was beneficial to seek new jobs in order to better utilise their talents or were dissatisfied with their current position. A 2021 survey revealed that over 80 per cent of employees aged 25–44 expressed a desire to develop their careers independently.

By 2022, more than half Japanese companies had implemented systems allowing for side jobs and multiple occupations. According to a 2023 survey, 37 per cent of the working population was considering or planning a job change. More than half of those under 34 expressed a desire to change jobs. These data suggest that Japan’s post-pandemic labour market is becoming much more dynamic.

This change can be explained by three factors — the government’s labour market reforms, labour shortages and changes in the market such as rising wages and digital transformation.

The essence of the government’s labour market reform is expanding ‘job-based’ employment — as distinct from Japan’s traditional ‘membership-based’ system — that offers compensation commensurate with skills while facilitating reskilling and labour mobility. These policies aim to lift productivity and move Japan in what is thought to be the right direction.

But the changes are in fact fundamentally being driven by labour shortage.

Japan’s working-age population is expected to decrease by nearly 15 per cent between 2025 and 2040. As of April 2024, the seasonally adjusted ratio of effective job openings to jobseekers for all occupations was 1.26, but in industries like construction, it exceeds five.

Both large and small businesses have a strong desire to hire, making securing talent a critical issue. Labour shortages are just beginning to bite and are expected to become even more severe. Labour shortages put jobseekers in a better bargaining position.

The changes are also explained by market shifts such as rising wages and an increased need for digital talent. Nominal wages have been rising since 2023 with the advent of inflation driven by rising energy prices and increasing geopolitical risk. Advances in digitalisation have boosted opportunities for higher wages through new technologies and increased competition from global companies for top talent.

These changes are now forcing Japanese companies to transform their business model. Over the past 30 years, most Japanese companies have defended their business by cutting prices, suppressing costs and wages and preserving employment. But companies now need to shift to a business model that raises wages, retains talent, increases added value and expands profits by appropriately increasing mark-up rates.

To secure the funds to invest in wage increases and investment in human capital, companies have to achieve sustainably high profits to bankroll them while also improving productivity. This also means that workers will likely shift towards companies with high productivity. If these changes are successful, they could lead to increased labour productivity on a macroeconomic level and contribute to the long-term growth of the Japanese economy.

The stock prices of Japanese listed companies have finally recovered to levels exceeding those seen 30 years ago. Unlike then, few view this level of stock prices as a bubble — rather, it reflects the expectation that Japanese listed companies can now undertake business model reforms aimed at raising capital returns that exceed long-term capital costs. The CEOs of prime market-listed companies are gradually prioritising long-term investment in intangible assets like human capital in response to requests from the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2023 to consider stock prices and capital costs in their engagement with institutional investors.

This shift from an era of labour surplus to one of labour shortage requires new policy strategies. Individual reskilling needs support to ensure smooth labour mobility to companies and sectors with high labour productivity. Japan must also support corporate initiatives to adopt job-based employment suited to the new business model.

Creating an environment that facilitates business model reforms and corporate restructuring, including by supporting startups and mergers and acquisitions, is the challenge. Traditional labour market policy that emphasised the protection of long-term corporate employees will have to be replaced by the opposite: ‘active’ labour market policies that encourage higher wages and investment in human capital while making the labour market more dynamic.

Yuri Okina is Chairperson of the Japan Research Institute and Executive Vice President at the Nippon Institute for Research Advancement.

https://doi.org/10.59425/eabc.1720346400

Gender is reshaping South Korea’s electoral landscape 

Published: 09 July 2024

Soosun You
University of Pennsylvania


IN BRIEF

South Korea's electoral landscape is changing dramatically, with an ideological gender gap fuelled by anti-feminist rhetoric, economic and demographic changes, and escalating online gender battles. Policymakers need to introduce reforms that address gender bias, including measures like gender legislative quotas and guaranteed paternal leave, recognising that women still face significant inequality.


In South Korea, as in many other countries, a gendered ideological gap is growing as young women become more progressive while young men increasingly shift to the right.

Young men have become significantly more conservative than previous generations when they were the same age. They appear to hold hostilities against women, with men driving the anti-feminist backlash in South Korea. Many young men claim that discrimination against women is an artifact of the past and that they themselves are the marginalised group. Yet South Korea consistently ranks poorly in various gender inequality indicators.

The gender divide peaked in the 2022 presidential election, as the conservative party sought to appeal to the grievances of young men. Campaigning on anti-feminist rhetoric, now-President Yoon Suk-yeol received a majority of votes from young men in their 20s and 30s on the way to victory.

There are several explanations for the growing conservatism of young men in South Korea. One reason may be a backlash against the resurgence of a feminist movement. Starting around 2015, self-declarations of feminism on social media (#IamAFeminist) and the #MeToo movement revealed instances of sexual harassment and violence committed against female celebrities, public officials and political staffers, among others.

Yet feminist movements were themselves ignited by violence committed against women. Notable cases include the Gangnam Station murder, where a man killed a woman and later testified that he had been ignored by women throughout his life. Online forums like MERS Gallery and Megalia were created in response to misogynist rhetoric that spread online in communities such as Ilbe, an alt-right group known for making insulting accusations against women and LGBTQ+ individuals.

Feminist and anti-feminist messaging today often take place online. Many online communities, like Ilbe, are usually dominated by one gender. Misinformation often proliferates in these spaces as views get amplified and regenerated. By fostering an echo chamber of like-minded individuals, the media landscape has also shaped the content and intensity of the gender war.

Political rhetoric has been key in legitimising the views commonly found in such places and bringing them to the forefront of politics. Gender emerged as a prominent political force when Lee Jun-seok, then a 36-year-old politician, became the youngest-ever leader of the People Power Party, the main conservative party in South Korea. Despite opposition from the party establishment, he won by drawing legions of young men into the party membership through championing men’s rights.

A more structural explanation concerns economic changes. Since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, job security has dwindled and economic inequality has increased in South Korea, mirroring global trends. Belief in upward social mobility has deteriorated as educational opportunities have become increasingly stratified by family background. An intensely competitive education system, difficulty in attaining coveted jobs and soaring housing prices have fuelled economic anxiety among young South Koreans. This anxiety has led to a backlash against women’s empowerment. Mandatory military service for men may be further feeding into the economic grievances that young men hold, as they are forced to delay their entry to the workforce after typically serving in the military in their early 20s.

Another possibility has to do with the marriage and demographic shifts that have occurred in South Korea since the 20th century. Women are increasingly opting out of marriage, as evidenced in the 4B movement that professes a commitment to not engage in the activities of dating, sex, marriage and having children. In their 20s and 30s, women tend to see marriage as either unnecessary or undesirable at much higher rates than men. In a patriarchal society like South Korea where marriage is deemed crucial, this could activate status threat, intensifying backlash against women’s empowerment in a patriarchal society.

These factors are interconnected. Each is crucial to understanding not only the diverging ideological preferences of South Korea’s young men and women, but also its increasingly polarised political landscape. In the April 2024 legislative election, growing discontent with President Yoon led to a landslide victory for the Democratic Party. Yet largely missing from the election were policy debates. The results reflected not a triumph of democratic values but rather a growing political division and polarisation among the public as well as within parties.

One commonality between young men and women may be that these groups have been for too long ignored by political leaders. Over 85 per cent of elected members of the National Assembly are over the age of 50. Addressing young people’s issues and representing their voices will be crucial going forward. At the same time, politicians and young men must recognise that women still face an uneven playing field. To secure an equal society, policymakers must seek to reform gender bias.

Government policies may be helpful in this regard, such as guaranteed paternal leave and enforcement of gender legislative quotas. But more research is needed to understand the effects of such policies in South Korea. As young women grow more liberal and young men more conservative, a gendered political landscape is increasingly drifting to the fore in South Korea’s electoral considerations.

Soosun You is Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania.

https://doi.org/10.59425/eabc.1720562400

Indonesia’s evolving lesbian, bisexual and trans movement

Published: 11 July 2024

Saskia E Wieringa
University of Amsterdam


IN BRIEF

In Indonesia, the historical acceptance of sexual and gender diversity, including trans and same-sex practices, is currently under threat. This is due to increasingly conservative religious influence and regional regulations criminalising such behaviour, culminating in the 2022 Criminal Code which prohibits all forms of sexual relations outside of heterosexual marriage. Despite dwindling tolerance and societal hostility forcing many LGBT organisations into hiding, members of these groups continue to fight against oppression and intolerance. The internet remains a significant source for both support and information.


Despite a long history of acceptance of trans and same-sex practices, homosexuality in Indonesia is currently framed as deriving from the West, and as alien to the country’s traditions and majority religion, Islam.

Numerous regional regulations have been promulgated in which homosexuality is either prohibited or condemned as immoral. At the national level, a process of criminalisation culminated in the acceptance in 2022 of the revised Criminal Code, which prohibits all forms of sexual relations outside of heterosexual marriage. This has been accompanied by a political and religious hate campaign which gained full strength from 2015 onwards.

Yet Indonesia has a long history of gender and sexual diversity. Three deities serve as examples of gender diversity, and while they have mostly lost their powers now, they have been important historically — Ardhanary and Durga in the Hindu religion, and Kwan Im in Buddhism. In several traditional religions transgender priests played important roles. They were seen as mediators between the world of the gods and that of the humans. They might marry partners of the same sex but of a different gender.

The combined effects of colonialism, bringing with it European heteronormative morals from a period in which homosexuality was widely denounced and even criminalised, homophobic monotheistic religions and national histories built on leaders’ postcolonial amnesia have almost destroyed these gender diverse practices. Postcolonial amnesia refers to a process in which postcolonial leaders adopt the heteronormative morality of their colonial predecessors, ignoring traditional non-heteronormative practices and beliefs.

Both in courtly and village cultures, various forms of transgender practices, including cross-dressing and same-sex practices, used to be common. They have now almost disappeared and most of the originally transgender dances have been heteronormatised, with girls or women dancing the parts of formerly male-born transgender dancers.

The so-called ‘events of 1965’ also contributed to the decline of popular art forms and the strengthening of conservative, fundamentalist religious practices.

On 1 October 1965, six of the country’s top generals were abducted by a group of conspirators, consisting of military personnel and a few leaders of the communist party. Based on false rumours of an intended coup they were to be brought before then-president Sukarno. Instead, they were murdered. General Suharto declared it an attempted communist coup. He took over power from Sukarno and orchestrated a brutal campaign of mass murder and imprisonment of the communist party and its associated organisations.

Incited by sexual slander against the socialist women’s mass organisation, Muslim militias and the army murdered about one million people. In this genocide, the cultural organisation LEKRA was also targeted, as it propagated people’s art. Thousands of artists, such as puppet masters, dancers and musicians were killed or imprisoned as they were accused of propagating communist, anti-Islamic values. Transgender practices and fertility rituals became suspect.

The first stirrings of lesbian, bisexual and trans (LBT) organising were seen in the early 1980s, when a group of lesbians living in so-called butch–femme relationships established the organisation Perlesin (Persatuan Lesbian Indonesia, or Union of Indonesian Lesbians). This effort was short-lived, but other groups were established in the following decades. After the fall of the military dictatorship in 1998 society opened up and the space for human rights movements widened, including the struggle for sexual and gender-based rights.

A new discourse on identities allowed people to adopt a wider range of gender-based and sexual identities than had previously been possible. The movement expanded in the wake of the growing feminist movement. The women’s mass organisation Indonesian Women’s Coalition established a section on ‘sexual minorities’. Many activists of the pre-1998 LBT movement joined this rights-based group. Several lesbian women were influential leaders of the nascent women’s movement, but the relationship between the women’s and the LBT movements has often been strained due to prevailing societal homophobia.

In 2004 the LBT organisation the Ardhanary Institute was founded. They assist victims of family violence, including corrective rape by family members and forced marriages, conduct seminars and implement research projects. But from 2010, after an attack on an international meeting of LBT people in Surabaya, the space for organising on sexual rights became restricted again. From the end of 2015 a wave of politico-religious homophobia spread, forcing the whole LGBT movement into hiding. In 2015 the first organisation of trans men was established, Transmen Indonesia, followed by Persatuan Priawan Indonesia and Transmen Talk.

Members of the LBT organisations continue to fight against the oppression they face from their families, educational institutes and workplaces. The rise of conversion therapies and religious intolerance are major issues. It is very difficult now for LGBT organisations to work from their offices due to threats from hardline militias. Foreign funding has also dried up.

Websites have also been shut down or renamed, depriving LGBT youth of access to much needed information and support. Yet despite this censorship, the internet remains a major source of information. Support services such as psychological counselling can also be done online.

The history of gender and sexual diversity in the country continues to be a major source of inspiration.

Saskia E Wieringa is Professor of Gender and Women’s Same-Sex Relations Crossculturally at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Amsterdam.

https://doi.org/10.59425/eabc.1720692000