Monday, July 15, 2024

Italy, Germany, France: The EU countries way off track from meeting 2030 emissions targets

Published on 15/07/2024

Only six of the 27 EU member states have submitted national climate plans that are up to scratch.

12 EU countries are set to miss their national climate targets under the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR), according to a study analysing national climate plans. Another seven are at risk of not meeting their goals.

If they don’t meet their required emissions reductions, they may have to pay financial penalties.

The ESR is a policy framework - part of the EU’s climate and energy package - that sets binding national greenhouse gas targets for the 27 member states. It requires them to collectively cut emissions by 40 per cent (compared to 2005) by 2030.

Member states have to meet climate targets for five key sectors: road transport, buildings, small industry, waste and agriculture. Each goal is adjusted based on a country’s GDP with richer nations having stricter requirements.

Under current EU countries’ plans, emissions would only fall by 35.5 per cent by 2030 - 4.5 per cent less than the 40 per cent target. And some countries are performing much worse than others.

Which EU countries are on track to miss emissions targets?

The report from Transport & Environment (T&E) found that the two worst-performing countries are Germany and Italy. Germany is projected to miss its climate targets by 10 per cent and Italy by 7.7 per cent.

France is only projected to meet its targets by a very close margin and any backtracking on policies or even a cold winter pushing up energy consumption could spell failure.

Plans submitted by the Netherlands also put the country on track to only just meet its goals.

Under the ESR, countries that don’t meet their climate targets can purchase carbon credits from those that do meet them. The price of these credits is decided by the two countries doing the deal. Expert projections say that each one could be traded at an average cost of €129.

The member states likely to accumulate the highest amount of these surplus credits are Spain, Greece and Poland. Spain is predicted to overachieve by 7 per cent and could receive an estimated €10 billion from countries that are not on track.

Germany alone could eat up 70 per cent of those available credits, however, according to the study. It could leave the country facing a €16.2 billion bill. Italy could face costs equivalent to €15.5 billion.

But, the T&E report warns, with so many countries set to miss their goals, there’s likely to be a scarcity of credits. This would push prices up as it could lead to a bidding war in 2030.

The penalties countries could face are ‘mind blowing’

There is still time to rectify government policies to meet these 2030 targets, according to T&E.

“The sheer amount of penalties countries might need to pay in 2030 is mind blowing,” Sofie Defour, climate director at T&E said when the report was released in June.

“Countries face a clear choice: pay billions to their neighbours for their carbon debt, or implement new policies that improve the life of their own citizens, such as insulating houses.”

Germany and Italy, for example, could implement new measures to increase the uptake of electric vehicles, insulate buildings and more.

Countries were expected to submit new National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) on 30 June but just four met the deadline - Netherlands, Denmark, Finland and Sweden. The ESR is a key measure in these plans but just a few countries anticipated that they would meet their targets in their draft texts.

Only six - Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Spain - got a clear pass mark from the Commission which assesses the plans. Denmark made some tweaks to its draft documents including in areas related to the ESR which it says now put it on track to meet its targets.

Trump attack could sway undecided US voters, analyst says

By Angela Skujins with AP

Published on 14/07/2024 -

The assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump could change the minds of those ‘in the middle of the two armies,’ one analyst warns.

It is going to be difficult to reverse the “acidic” political violence in US politics after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a campaign rally, a US-European policy expert has told Euronews.

Senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund think tank in Washington, Jackson Janes, said although he is unsure whether the attack on the presumptive Republican nominee will meaningfully impact the US presidential election in November, it could yet change the minds of undecided voters.

Janes said that the attack is expected to deepen the fervour of Republican voters supporting Trump and will not sway deeply embedded Democrats – but it has raised questions about the opinions of those “in the middle of the two armies” and how they will respond.

“I think that will have a large, large amount to do with the way that the leadership handles the event,” Janes said.

Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are regarded as key battleground states in the upcoming presidential election, with the states' hundreds of thousands of constituents crucial in deciding who will win in November.

'Blame game' rhetoric could impact undecided voters

Janes said that the opinions of undecided voters will be shaped by how leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties respond to the assassination attempt, and whether they will play into a “blame game” percolating in the political fringes.

“It's an immediate opportunity for people to say that both sides have contributed to the kind of heated polarisation,” he said.

“What is really needed now is respect for the fact that there has been this violent attack on Donald Trump and this needs to be recognised for what it was, and I think (US President Joe) Biden did that in his statement.

“The question is going to be, as Trump has said – in one of his social media post recently on Truth United – how's that going to play out in the coming days and whether people on the fringes of both parties might use this as a way to heighten the commentary further.”

Biden denounced the attack, describing it as “sick” and stating “there is no place in America for this type of violence.”

Despite this, many Republicans quickly blamed the violence on Biden and his allies, arguing that sustained attacks on Trump as a threat to democracy have created a toxic environment.

Trump, who was lightly injured after being shot in the ear at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, posted on bespoke social media platform Truth Social confirming he was fine and “it is more important than ever” for the US to be united.

Trump added that he looks forward to “speaking to our Great Nation this week from Wisconsin.”

The presumptive nominee is expected to attend the Republican National Convention in the Wisconsin capital of Milwaukee kicking off July 15.

Although the event is centred on Republican Party members officially nominating a presidential candidate, Janes predicts the event will focus heavily on the emotions of the attack – but a new challenge that will emerge us how to lower the "temperature" of these emotions.

'Acidic' political violence and political talk

Although Trump survived, Janes is concerned that unless something changes in the US, the politically-motivated attack could be the first of many to occur over the next decade.

The expert likened the current atmosphere in the US to the tumult of the 1960s, punctuated by the the assassinations of political leaders John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, and community leaders Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.

“This momentum of political build-up, this acidity, this temperature that we have – you put that together with the same availability of people to use weapons… and you're asking for trouble,” he said.

"I would like to think that we've gotten this far but political violence and political talk has become much more acidic. We got to turn that around."

International leaders across the political spectrum condemned the attack, which left one rally-goer dead and two injured.

US Secret Service agents fatally shot the 20-year-old gunman Thomas Crooks shortly after he fired at Trump.

U.S. Political Analyst Warns Of Growing Political Instability: 'Violence Begets Violence'

July 14, 2024

By Todd Prince

MP urges care home owners to reconsider closure

PUBLIC OWNERSHIP NOT PRIVATE PROFIT

By George Thorpe,

BBC News, South West

BBC
Truro and Falmouth MP Jayne Kirkham met with Roseland Parc residents and staff

An MP hopes to make a care home's owners reconsider their plans to close a site in Cornwall.

Jayne Kirkham, who became Labour's MP for Truro and Falmouth after the general election on 4 July, said the Roseland Parc site in Tregony was at the "heart of the community".

Her comments came after the home's owners Retirement Villages Group (RVG) said it was going to close the site.

Ms Kirkham spoke to residents and staff at the home and said she was hoping to get RVG to consider other options.

Ms Kirkham said she felt the decision to close the property, which houses more than 30 residents and about 45 staff, was not the right move as she has been told the home was profitable.

She said she planned to meet with RVG bosses on Monday to discuss the plans.

"As the MP, I'm hoping my voice will add weight to the argument of the local community and the people who are running the care home successfully," Ms Kirkham said.

"I am intending to meet with the company on Monday and talk to them about this and really push the case for the people of Tregony."

Jayne Kirkham MP said Roseland Parc was at the heart of Tregony

Ms Kirkham said ultimately as it was a privately owned business, there was little control the authorities can have on keeping it open as long as it is done legally.

However, she wanted to add her voice to those concerned about the closure plans and hoped the care home would stay open.

Ms Kirkham said: "It's at the heart of the community and it's really important for the place that it stays here."

'Upsetting news'

During its announcement about closing the home earlier this week, RVG said the move would "enable investment" and the provision of additional supported, independent living for retired people.

RVG commercial and property services director Nick Jones said the company knew it was "upsetting" and "difficult" news for residents, family members and employees.

A statement from the company added it was working with Cornwall Council and other partners to find alternative care for those impacted by the closure.

Pro Palestinian protester ‘punched by police officer’ in London

Danny RiggPublished Jul 14, 2024,

Police tackle the man to the ground, with a pro-Palestine placard and other campaign material behind him. — The Met Police referred itself to the police watchdog over the violence caught on camera (Picture: X/@revoltinghippie)

The Metropolitan Police has come under fire after a video emerged of an officer punching a pro-Palestine protester in the head during an arrest.

Footage shows a man wearing a ‘Free Palestine’ vest and carrying a Palestine flag beside a parked car equipped with Palestine flags and a ‘Stop Gaza Genocide’ placard when he was approached by police.

The officer then appears to punch the man in the head during the incident on Whitehchapel Road, Tower Hamlets, on Friday afternoon.

Other officers approached, one of whom placed the man in a headlock, tackling him to the ground where the first officer appears to punch him repeatedly.

The Met Police has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

A spokesperson for the force said the arrest ‘did not relate to protest activity and was not connected with the display of the Palestinian flag or any political statements made’.

They claimed the arrest was over a member of the public allegedly assaulting a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) after an earlier unspecified ‘traffic issue’.

In a statement, Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway said: ‘During an interaction with a member of the public on a traffic issue, the PCSO called on their radio for assistance.

‘Nearby police officers went to assist their colleague and an allegation was made that a member of the public had assaulted the PCSO.

‘The police officers then arrested the member of the public in relation to the allegation of assault.’

Despite the claim the arrest was ‘not protest related’, it sparked outrage among local politicians and pro-Palestine activists.

On Friday night, protesters gathered outside Bethnal Green police station where the man was held before being released on bail pending investigation the following morning.

Some carried Palestine flags or wore keffiyehs, a Palestinian scarf.

Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, said he was ‘deeply concerned’ by footage of the ‘violent incident’.

He called on officers involved in the violence to ‘be suspended while the investigation is carried out’, saying: ‘This situation requires de-escalation.

‘I call for calm in the community and a thorough investigation to be carried out urgently.’

US raises concerns over blood minerals in DR Congo

NO LONGER JUST DIAMONDS

Artisanal miners work at the Tilwizembe, a former industrial copper-cobalt mine, outside of Kolwezi, the capital city of Lualaba Province in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on June 11, 2016. PHOTO | REUTERSADVERTISEMENT

SATURDAY JULY 13 2024

By PATRICK ILUNGA
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In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the matter of smuggling has been subject of grapevine for years. Then reports after reports began confirming it: Hundreds of rebel groups fighting in the east of the country have remained potent, fuelled by money from smuggled minerals and timber.

This week, the United States of America weighed in, raising concerns that that trade is making it difficult to tame the arms flow into the battlefield.

But Washington’s linking illegal minerals trade to continual war isn’t the first. A United Nation’s panel of experts on the Congo, and various rights watchdogs, have said that before.

“The US remains concerned about the role that the illicit trade and exploitation of certain minerals, including gold and tantalum mined artisanally and semi-industrially in the African Great Lakes region, continues to play in financing the conflict.

Read: New proof shows Apple sourcing minerals from east Congo

“It is clear that some traders, sometimes with the support of various armed groups and security services, are transporting and exporting significant quantities of Congolese minerals out of the country”, said the US government statement.

“ In many cases, these minerals directly or indirectly benefit armed groups and leave the country via Rwanda and Uganda before being transported to the main refining and processing countries. These supply chains facilitate the illicit exploitation and taxation of these minerals, often involving acts of corruption.”

In the past, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame admitted his country was on the smuggling route, but laid the blame on the Western merchants, who provide unfettered market to the looters.

In eastern DRC, smuggling, war and illicit weapons trade are crimes that have been going on for nearly 25 years, making hope for an end to these practices slim.

The DRC seems to be finding it difficult to overcome the local and foreign armed groups operating in vast areas where the public and security services are absent.

The problem is particularly complex where artisanal mineral extraction and mining are legal and provide subsistence for thousands of families.

Congo’s mining law simply requires operators to join cooperatives to have the right to mine. This, coupled with insecurity, has created a situation in the east that is difficult to manage.

Washington’s concerns also relate to the extraction, transport and export of minerals, which it says have given rise to a wide range of human and labour rights violations, such as forced labour, the worst forms of child labour, and sexual and gender-based violence, particularly in artisanal mining areas.

Read: DRC, US to go slow on Israeli mining mogul

When, in June 2021, the DRC and Rwanda signed an agreement for the joint exploitation of gold, one of the reasons given for this cooperation was to “deprive armed groups of income from the gold industry,” according to a press release from the DRC presidency.

In Kinshasa, officials called this “the economic response” to the conflict in the east. That deal, like several others, has since been suspended, as the two countries bicker over sponsorship of M23 rebels now considered terrorist group in Kinshasa.

Meanwhile, war has flared up again, and illicit exploitation and trade have flourished, in a region where the sound of gunfire and all the misfortunes that go with it are staggering.

The US government asserts that the situation is worsening due to “control first by the Pareco armed group and then by the alleged Rwanda-backed M23 armed group in April 2024, of a key tantalum mining area near the Congolese town of Rubaya (eastern Congo) and control by non-State armed groups of gold mining areas in the provinces of Fizi, South Kivu and Ituri, among others.”

The armed groups are particularly targeting tantalum, of which the DRC is the world’s leading producer. The mineral is considered a “critical ore” by the US Geological Survey and the US Department of Energy.

DRC itself has tried legal means to tame the appetite by Western corporates it accuses of fuelling illegal mining. Recently, Kinshasa tapped some lawyers to sue Apple, the American tech giant that makes iPhones.

Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said Robert Amsterdam and William Bourdon, the lawyers representing DRC, are “working closely with us in the action we have taken against Apple, because today we want to be able to trace all those who benefit from (mining) products that are being smuggled out of the country.”

Read: Congo moves to curb trade in ‘blood minerals’

“We are putting pressure on all those who benefit directly or indirectly from products of murders and other crimes,we are sure this will eventually succeed, but it will take time. This will be the best form of economic sanctions for those who, for 25 years, have built their economic model on the pillaging of the DRC’s resources,” he said.

DRC officials say they regret that the cooperation with Rwanda on this issue didn’t last. “We thought that, as neighbours, we could cooperate economically with the necessary transparency. But this time, it’s the beginning of the end,” Mr Muyaya said.

The DRC has activated the “judicial front” among four others in the search for peace. Through its lawyers, Kinshasa has issued a notice against Apple, for allegedly using illegally mined minerals in its high-tech products.

“It is crucial to demonstrate the bloody impact of this exploitation on the end products. Apple, like other multinationals, must be held accountable,” said Robert Amsterdam and William Bourdon.

They hope that this legal action will force the company to reconsider its sources of supply.

Virtually all the experts agree that the best way to tackle the war in the east of the DRC is to take a holistic approach: Economic efforts must be accompanied by a solid political or diplomatic approach.

By way of diplomatic effort, the US proposed and obtained from the parties involved in the Congolese conflict a “humanitarian” truce between Rwanda and the DRC.

This truce, running from July 5 to 19, constitutes “a path marked out for the return of peace” in the east of the DRC, which has been plagued by violence for decades, said Foreign Affairs Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner. The minister warned, however, that “a truce does not mean that we are not vigilant.”

UK Migrant deal: Rwanda enjoys windfall, PR

President of Rwanda Paul Kagame (L) and Britain's former prime minister Rishi Sunak pose for the media, ahead of their meeting inside 10 Downing Street in London, Britain on April 9, 2024.

SUNDAY JULY 14 2024
The East African

By MOSES K. GAHIGI
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Rwanda is going to enjoy the windfall from Britain after the ill-fated asylum deal with London fell through, as the new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, killed the scheme on his first day in office.

Rwanda will not pay back the money it was advanced by Britain, with the new government only settling for saving the two instalments that were yet to be disbursed.

Following the developments, the Rwandan government says it is under no obligation to refund the £270 million ($350 million), after it upheld its end of the deal until the British government scrapped the asylum scheme, according to Doris Uwicyeza Picard, Coordinator of Migration and Economic Development Partnership Coordination Unit (MEDP - CU) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“We took note of the UK’s decision to terminate the agreement, we want to reiterate that this was a partnership initiated by the UK to solve a UK problem, and Rwanda stepped up as we have always stepped up in the past to provide safety, refuge and opportunity to migrants and asylum seekers. We have upheld our end of the deal, and we believe if there is any overpayment that can be discussed, however we are under no obligation to provide any sort of refund” Ms Uwicyeza said.

In making a case for how the money has so far been used, she said government of Rwanda has “ramped up capacity and increased our capacity to accommodate thousands of migrants and asylum seekers.” Up to 1,500 houses had been constructed in Gahanga, Kicukiro district, to accommodate the asylum seekers, as the two countries worked to expedite the deportations.

“This is part of our ethos as a country and we have done so countless times when we evacuated migrants from Libya, the Sola Girls School, welcoming Sudanese medical students. This is what we do as a country,” she said.

Rwanda has already received two instalments of the asylum deal money, and more was scheduled to also be disbursed in the next two years. President Paul Kagame had earlier indicated that Rwanda would return the money if the deal falls through and UK asylum seekers are not sent to Rwanda, but this is now highly unlikely.

The new Premier Starmer came good on his campaign promise of killing the asylum deal, even before finding any alternative solution to the UK asylum seekers problem.

“The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started. It’s never been a deterrent,” Starmer said after his Labour Party won a landslide in the general election. He described the asylum plan as a “problem that we are inheriting”.

Only four failed asylum seekers have so far been voluntarily flown to Rwanda after being offered £3,000 ($29,812). Under a break clause in the agreement, Britain can withdraw from the two further payments of £50 million ($65 million) in 2025 and 2026 without any penalty, but it is likely the UK government will have to continue to fund the four asylum seekers flown to Kigali.

Read: UK Rwanda migrants plan to cost $760m

“We understand that changes in governments happen, and incoming governments can have different priorities and policies. However, this was a state-to-state agreement and we believe that this good faith would remain,” Uwicyeza said.

Deputy Rwandan government spokesperson Alain Mukurarinda told local media on Tuesday that the migrant deal did not include any “clause regarding reimbursement.”

“The British government has no basis of asking for reimbursement. this was not a loan. is there any clause that Rwanda did not fulfil in the agreement so it can maybe be the basis for asking a refund? nothing like that? They approached us for a partnership and we agreed.

Both parties signed an agreement, we went through the back-and-forth, and it later even became an international agreement. We started implementing it and now they are cancelling it. We are not to blame,” Mr Mukurarinda said.

The plan was to expedite the deal, so the asylum seekers would be sent to Rwanda even before the UK elections, but the scheme stalled due to legal hurdles and moral questions it faced.

Save for the intense scrutiny, the deal attracted to Rwanda’s human rights record and its past dealings with asylum seekers from other countries.

There was no loss for Rwanda, a country which seems to not miss any opportunity to enhance its status in continental and international politics, as one that shows up with solutions even relevant for bigger powers.

Analysts also say the publicity Rwanda has got as a country and destination from the global news coverage it enjoyed since the deal was announced will go a long way to give it mileage.

Building onto the attention brought by its Visit Rwanda campaigns, where it signed multimillion-dollar sleeve-shirt deals with big football clubs Arsenal, Paris Saint Germaine (PSG) and Bayern Munich.

For years Rwanda has hosted Libyan migrants who were trapped in deplorable conditions in detention centres, and are currently hosted in the Bugesera district camp, where they are processed and sent to third countries that accept them.

Read: UK sends first voluntary asylum seeker to Rwanda

It also received schoolgirls from the School of Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA), after the political turmoil in Kabul made it dangerous for them, and they have continued school in Rwanda.

The country also recently welcomed Sudanese medical students to come and complete their studies from Rwanda, after fights between two generals erupted in their country, causing instabilities.

The government of Rwanda has indicated that it will continue engagements with the UK government, as it keeps options open for any likely continuation of the partnership about asylum seekers.

Election sees Sinn Féin extend its dominance in Northern Ireland

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment