Spain PM accused of ‘blackmail’ by tying budget to flood aid

By AFP
November 12, 2024

A woman rests in a street covered in mud in Paiporta, in the aftermath of deadly flooding in the region of Valencia - Copyright AFP JOSE JORDAN

Valentin BONTEMPS

Spain’s minority left-wing government wants to galvanise its deadlocked 2025 draft budget by linking it to urgent reconstruction funds following devastating floods, sparking “blackmail” accusations from the conservative opposition.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government unveiled its spending plans for next year in September, forecasting a public deficit reaching 2.5 percent of annual economic output.

But the text has been on the backburner as the fragile coalition grapples with fiendishly difficult parliamentary arithmetic.

Several Spanish governments have failed to pass their budgets since the European country returned to democracy after the 1975 death of right-wing dictator Francisco Franco, including last year.

They can avoid paralysis thanks to a constitutional mechanism that extends spending limits from the previous budget but constrains action to small adjustments.

“No one would understand” why Spain would settle for tinkering after its worst floods in decades, Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero said in Sunday’s El Pais daily.

The torrents of muddy water have killed 222 people, wrecked infrastructure, destroyed businesses and submerged fields, with the final bill expected to soar to tens of billions of euros.

The government has already announced economic recovery measures collectively worth more than 14 billion euros, but they will affect Spain’s budgetary outlook and require major adjustments.

The government insists fresh public accounts for 2025 can accelerate the desperately needed aid. “To rebuild, a budget is necessary… the emergency requires it,” Montero said.


– Aid ‘cannot wait’ –


Montero urged “unity” from Spain’s polarised political class, but the main opposition conservative party swiftly dashed any hopes the catastrophe would lay the ground for a new budget.

The flood victims “must not be used as bargaining chips in the budget negotiations”, the Popular Party said in a statement, condemning Sanchez’s “blackmail”.

Consultancy firm Teneo suggested the government could use the “extraordinary circumstances” to convince potential allies to “moderate their stances” but warned it would be difficult after the floods became politicised.

Junts per Catalunya, a Catalan separatist party whose support is essential for government proposals to pass, expressed doubts about the budget if it is linked to flood recovery spending.

Releasing the aid “cannot wait for the long scrutiny of a theoretical budget” and amendments to the current one can instead be adopted, Junts said.

The government’s “political use” of the tragedy is “unacceptable” because it can already request EU funds and approve emergency loans and grants without a budget, business daily El Economista said.

Court challenge begins against UK oil and gas field approvals

By AFP
November 12, 2024


Campaign groups Greenpeace and Uplift are opposing the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields - Copyright AFP/File Pedro PARDO

James PHEBY

Two environmental groups kicked off a legal challenge in Scotland on Tuesday to block the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields in the North Sea, with activists optimistic of success.

“We’re more confident than ever we can win,” said environmental lawyer Tessa Khan before the case opened at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

Her optimism was shared by hundreds of people who demonstrated outside the court, in celebratory mood given recent rulings that have put the future of the fields in doubt.

Campaign groups Uplift and Greenpeace argue that the UK government granted permissions unlawfully by failing to take into account all emissions from burning oil and gas.

A win for the campaigners would mean operators would have to resubmit environmental assessments for approval before drilling can start.

Former Scottish National Party lawmaker Tommy Sheppard called the case “the granddaddy because it is so big”.

“The case will be applied to the decision-making process in general,” he told AFP.

“There were 100 licences granted by the last Conservative government in its final dying months. All of them will now be under question.”

Regulatory approval for drilling at the Rosebank oil field, 145 kilometres (90 miles) off the Shetland Islands in Scotland’s far north, was granted last year.

It is the UK’s largest untapped oil field, estimated to contain up to 300 million barrels. Drilling had been due to begin between 2026 and 2030.

The Jackdaw gas condensate field, approved in 2022, is being developed 155 miles east of the Scottish city of Aberdeen and was expected to start production next year.

Rosebank is owned by Norwegian energy giant Equinor and the UK’s Ithaca Energy. Jackdaw is owned by Shell. Both say the developments are “vital” for UK energy security.



– Narrow window –



Khan, who is executive director of Uplift, said it had been a “David versus Goliath” battle at the start of the case, pitting campaigners on one side against the UK government and energy firms on the other.

But in July, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the previous Conservative government should have considered the carbon emissions of burning extracted oil and gas, not just of extracting it.

Then the incoming Labour government announced it would not contest the case, leaving the oil companies alone to fight legal challenges.

“We are on the precipice of a massive victory for the climate,” said Uplift campaigner Lauren MacDonald.

Khan said there was a broader message to the oil industry: that they now have to take into account all greenhouse gas emissions, even those that occur indirectly.

“We now have a government that is really trying to re-establish the UK’s climate credentials,” she said. “The window for approval has really, really narrowed.”

– Renewables –

Sheppard said the increased economic costs would force energy companies to look towards developing the renewables sector, provided the government gives the necessary investment and incentives.

At the same time, governments in oil-generating countries like Scotland must tread a fine line in balancing the longer term threats of rising temperatures with the shorter term risks of job losses in the sector.

Energy historian Ewan Gibbs, from the University of Glasgow, pointed to potential parallels with the breakdown of social cohesion caused by the closure of the UK’s coal mines in the 1980s without a plan for those made redundant.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in Baku, Azerbaijan for the UN climate change summit, intends to decarbonise Britain’s power grid by 2030 as part of government plans to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Sheppard said it was important that those affected by net-zero transition plans be reskilled and retrained to enable them to benefit from new jobs being created by clean energy technologies.

Boeing expects post-strike output recovery to take several weeks


By AFP
November 12, 2024

Aviation giant Boeing said it logged 14 aircraft deliveries in October

 - Copyright AFP/File Jason Redmond

Elodie MAZEIN

Boeing said Tuesday that it delivered 14 aircraft in October, but production will likely take several weeks to return to normal after a worker strike that hit operations at two major assembly plants.

In the first 10 months of the year, Boeing said it delivered 305 airplanes, down from 405 in the same period last year.

The company also received 63 gross orders in October.

About 33,000 workers in the US Pacific Northwest walked off the job on September 13 after overwhelmingly rejecting an initial contract offer, sparking the costliest strike in the United States this century.

After a stoppage of more than seven weeks — costing the aviation giant billions — the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District 751 said it approved a new contract proposal.

Boeing staff could return as soon as November 6 and must be back on the job by November 12, according to the IAM.

Production of the company’s best-selling 737 MAX, as well as the 777 jet, were halted by the strike. Production of the 787 Dreamliner carried on at a plant on the east coast of the United States.

Boeing said Tuesday that it would be several weeks before it fully restarts airplane production, given that restarting a manufacturing line is a multi-stage process.

The company added that it was working on safely restarting operations in Washington and Oregon.



– New customer –


Boeing’s gross orders for October included 40 737 MAX 8 aircraft for Avia Solutions Group, in a transaction valued at about $4.9 billion.

Avia’s first firm order with the aviation giant comes with an option to add another 40 jets later, Boeing and Avia said in a statement Tuesday.

“We have committed to a strategic approach of expanding our capacity to meet our customers’ seasonal needs, and our first order with Boeing is a key pillar of this,” said Gediminas Ziemelis, chairman of the aviation services group.

The versatile 737 family is Boeing’s best-seller. The 737 MAX 8 can seat 162 to 210 passengers — with a range of up to 6,480 kilometers (about 4,000 miles).

The US Pacific Northwest strike had exacerbated the company’s already precarious outlook after a January incident in which a fuselage panel blew out mid-flight on a 737 MAX operated by Alaska Airlines.

Although there were no major injuries, the episode plunged Boeing back into crisis after two previous fatal MAX crashes, with US air safety regulators limiting production output until the company shows it has gotten its house in order.

Boeing announced a management shakeup in March that included the exit of CEO Dave Calhoun, who was replaced in August by former Rockwell Collins chief Kelly Ortberg.

But as the strike dragged on, the stoppage threatened Ortberg’s turnaround efforts.

With the strike in the rearview mirror, Boeing has overcome two major overhangs, after a successful push to raise more than $20 billion in capital, analysts earlier noted.

All eyes are now on Boeing’s prospects for increasing commercial plane production.

ARCHAEOLOGY

Buried and forgotten history

Rafia Zakaria 

November 13, 2024 

DAWN

FOR the longest time, archaeologists forever in search of lost civilisations used to walk the earth, and map and dig areas where they believed ancient settlements had once existed and now lay buried under centuries of sediment and overgrowth. Sometimes, discoveries were made inadvertently, as in the case of the magnificent Lascaux caves of France, which were found by a group of teenage boys walking in the forest with their dog in 1940.

Another example is that of Pompeii, which was covered in ash from Mount Vesuvius when it erupted in 79 AD. Its location was discovered in the 16th century during work on a canal. The find was stunning: volcanic dust and lava deposits had ‘frozen’ Pompeii in time. Some corpses were found in cowering and crouching positions, just as they had been in their last moments before perishing under a heavy rain of volcanic ash. Everything, from children’s toys to food containers, had been preserved, providing a picture not only of the tragedy that occurred so long ago but also of what life was like at that time. Pompeii remains one of the most visited archaeological sites today, so much so that that the authorities have had to lately limit the number of visitors to the World Heritage Site out of fear of over-tourism.

Perhaps among the most bizarre incidents in this category of inadvertent finds was the discovery of the catacombs of Alexandria, Egypt. The ancient Greco-Roman necropolis was discovered when a donkey fell through a hole in the ground.

Archaeology, however, has changed drastically since the days when luck and a little bit of knowledge helped explorers and archaeologists unearth some glorious object or a structure that indicated the prior existence of a bustling settlement. Archaeologists relied more on maps, ancient texts, geographical alignments, and surface finds. Without the resources of the modern age, archaeology was a calling and reflected the determination of the human spirit to excavate its way to the deep recesses of the past and bring to life all that was part of local lore and historical tracts. It was this restlessness that led Heinrich Schliemann to unearth the Homeric city of Troy and collect ‘Priam’s treasure’, consisting of a large haul of diadems, rings, earring, daggers and swords.


From maps and pickaxes, it is now possible to discover ancient relics from a distance, as in the case of a recent find.

Overcoming the odds, archaeologists braved difficult terrains, disease and ancient curses. In areas such as South and Central America, with their heavily forested landscape in many areas, digging was difficult and archaeological methods were labour intensive. Armed with their shovels, archaeologists relied on maps and local knowledge. It was thus that Hiram Bingham chanced upon Peru’s Machu Picchu, now one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

Archaeology has taken many steps forward. From maps and pickaxes, it is now possible to discover ancient relics from a distance, as in the case of a recent find. Luke Auld-Thomas, a PhD student, made a mind-blowing discovery while looking at aerial Lidar (light detection and ranging) images of the Mexican state of Campeche. Lidar, a remote-sensing technology, can look through heavily forested areas that are covered by vegetation to deliver images of structures from long ago. Archaeologists may not have access to the technique unless they have credible indication of the existence of some past settlement in the area. However, in many cases while archaeologists may not have the budget, people looking for other things, such as scientists or conservationists and land surveyors, may already have Lidar studies of a particular region.

It was one such study done all the way back in 2014 and commissioned by the Nature Conservancy of Mexico that Luke Auld-Thomas was poring over when he made the discovery of a lifetime. Through the Lidar images, Auld-Thomas could piece together the remains of what has been described as “a huge ancient city which may have been home to 30-50,000 people at its peak from 750 to 850 AD”. It also contains thousands of structures. Auld-Thomas and his team have named the city ‘Valeriana’. Auld-Thomas has said that he had been looking through the images because he felt that casting about in the region known to have been populated by the ancient Mayans would eventually yield a discovery. No doubt, it was quite something to be the actual person to have made the discovery. He is the lead author of an article on the lost city, which appeared in the journal Antiquity recently.

The impressive nature of Luke Auld-Thomas’s work lies not only in that he made the discovery but that he used what he had access to — in this case, old Lidar maps from a decade ago — to see if he could find anything that would substantiate the view that Mayan cities were often interconnected and spread over large areas which did not exhibit the same level of population density.

The discovery of the new city will yield a treasure trove of information about how the ancient Mayans lived, what they believed, and how they understood the world around them.

Junior researchers have a high bar to clear in that their relative lack of power means that they would never have the capacity to find the funds to commission a high-tech study on their own.

Clearly, that did not deter Luke Auld-Thomas and it should not deter others who pursue discovery and are often thwarted by doubters who think everything worthwhile either requires a huge budget or has already been discovered. In this sense, the ancient city of ‘Valeriana’ will not only reveal truths about a civilisation that disappeared long ago, but will also make us appreciate the spirit within us which charts new courses and makes new discoveries.

The writer is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy.
rafia.zakaria@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2024

EXCHANGE VALUE

Aga Khan emerald fetches record $9 mn in Geneva auction


By AFP
November 12, 2024


A Christie's employee poses with The Aga Khan Emerald - Copyright AFP Fabrice COFFRINI

A rare square 37-carat emerald owned by the Aga Khan fetched nearly nine million dollars at auction in Geneva on Tuesday, making it the world’s most expensive green stone.

Sold by Christie’s, the Cartier diamond and emerald brooch, which can also be worn as a pendant, dethrones a piece of jewellery made by the fashion house Bulgari, which Richard Burton gave as a wedding gift to fellow actor Elizabeth Taylor, as the most precious emerald.

In 1960, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan commissioned Cartier to set the emerald in a brooch with 20 marquise-cut diamonds for British socialite Nina Dyer, to whom he was briefly married.

Dyer then auctioned off the emerald to raise money for animals in 1969.

By chance that was at Christie’s very first such sale in Switzerland on the shores of Lake Geneva, with the emerald finding its way back to the 110th edition this year.

It was bought by jeweller Van Cleef & Arpels before passing a few years later into the hands of the United States’ Harry Winston, nicknamed the “King of Diamonds”.

“Emeralds are hot right now, and this one ticks all the boxes,” said Christie’s EMEA Head of Jewellery Max Fawcett.

“We might see an emerald of this quality come up for sale once every five or six years.”

Also set with diamonds, the previous record-holder fetched $6.5 million at an auction of part of Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor’s renowned jewellery collection in New York.

Mysterious diamond-laden necklace fetches $4.8 mn in Geneva auction


By AFP
November 13, 2024


The mysterious necklace contained around 300 carats of diamonds

 - Copyright AFP SAUL LOEB

Elodie LE MAOU

A mysterious diamond-laden necklace with possible links to a scandal that contributed to the downfall of Marie Antoinette, sold for $4.8 million at an auction in Geneva Wednesday.

The 18th century jewel containing around 300 carats of diamonds had been estimated to sell at the Sotheby’s Royal and Noble Jewels sale for $1.8-2.8 million.

But after energetic bidding, the hammer price ticked in at 3.55 million Swiss francs ($4 million), and Sotheby’s listed the final price after taxes and commissions at 4.26 million francs ($4.81 million).

The unidentified buyer, who put in her bid over the phone, was “ecstatic”, Andres White Correal, chairman of the Sotheby’s jewellery department, told AFP.

“She was ready to fight and she did,” he said, adding that it had been “an electric night”.

“There is obviously a niche in the market for historical jewels with fabulous provenances… People are not only buying the object, but they’re buying all the history that is attached to it,” he said.



– ‘Survivor of history’ –



Some of the diamonds in the piece are believed to stem from the jewel at the centre of the “Diamond Necklace Affair” — a scandal in the 1780s that further tarnished the reputation of France’s last queen, Marie Antoinette, and boosted support for the coming French Revolution.

The auction house said the necklace, composed of three rows of diamonds finished with a diamond tassel at each end, had emerged “miraculously intact” from a private Asian collection to make its first public appearance in 50 years.

“This spectacular antique jewel is an incredible survivor of history,” it said in a statement prior to the sale.

Describing the massive Georgian-era piece as “rare and highly important”, Sotheby’s said it had likely been created in the decade preceding the French Revolution.

“The jewel has passed from families to families. We can start at the early 20th century when it was part of the collection of the Marquesses of Anglesey,” White Correal said.

Members of this aristocratic family are believed to have worn the necklace twice in public: once at the 1937 coronation of King George VI and once at his daughter Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953.

– ‘Spectacular’ –

Beyond that, little is known of the necklace, including who designed it and for whom it was commissioned, although the auction house believes that such an impressive antique jewel could only have been created for a royal family.

Sotheby’s said it was likely that some of the diamonds featured in the piece came from the famous necklace from the scandal that engulfed Marie Antoinette just a few years before she was guillotined.

That scandal involved a hard-up noblewoman named Jeanne de la Motte who pretended to be a confidante of the queen, and managed to acquire a lavish diamond-studded necklace in her name, against a promise of a later payment.

While the queen was later found to be blameless in the affair, the scandal still deepened the perception of her careless extravagance, adding to the anger that would unleash the revolution.

Sotheby’s said the diamonds in the necklace sold Wednesday were likely sourced from “the legendary Golconda mines in India” — considered to produce the purest and most dazzling diamonds.

“The fortunate buyer has walked away with a spectacular piece of history,” Tobias Kormind, head of Europe’s largest online diamond jeweller 77 Diamonds, said in a statement.

“With exceptional quality diamonds from the legendary, now extinct Indian Golconda mines, the history of a possible link to Marie Antoinette along with the fact that it was worn to two coronations, all make this 18th Century necklace truly special.”

ENVIRONMENT: TO BREATHE OR NOT TO BREATHE?

Sheheryar Khan 

Published November 10, 2024

DAWN

Passengers wait for a train at a railway station amid smoggy conditions in Lahore on November 3, 2024 | AFP

The onset of smog season in October results in a decline in air quality across Punjab, on either side of the Pakistan-India border. Lahore and Delhi are traditionally the worst affected, with the Pakistani city recording “unprecedented” pollution levels.

The air quality index, which measures a range of pollutants, exceeded 1,000 in Lahore last week — it is considered “unhealthy” at the level of 100 and “hazardous” when it is 300 or more — according to data from IQAir, an air quality monitor.

The situation, in Lahore and elsewhere in Pakistan’s Punjab, is being made worse by the political and policy inertia of the Punjab government.

Every year, there are multiple studies and reports published on the subject and policy dialogues are convened to add to the public discourse. Despite these efforts, one question looms large: why, despite having ample scientific data and understanding of pollution patterns, has the government failed to take decisive action?

Despite having ample data and understanding of pollution patterns, Punjab has failed to take policy decisions to combat the year-round smog problem, thereby subjecting its residents to “hazardous” levels of pollution in winter…

The answer lies not in a lack of awareness, but in a deeply rooted knowledge-action gap, where the presence of scientific knowledge fails to translate into policy change, because of political and institutional barriers.

Over the past decade, environmental scientists, both locally and globally, have made substantial progress in identifying the root causes of air pollution. Detailed data have mapped out the major culprits: industrial emissions, agricultural stubble burning, vehicular emissions and construction dust. Seasonal spikes, most notably in winter, occur due to temperature inversions, trapping pollutants close to the ground and amplifying smog.

Similarly, there have been several studies on the socio-economic impacts of smog, especially related to deteriorating public health. Yet, despite having this data readily available and witnessing the devastating health and economic impacts of air pollution, policy responses remain fragmented, inconsistent and slow.

Punjab’s Environmental Policy

One might assume that simply knowing the causes of pollution would lead to swift action, but the science-policy relationship is rarely straightforward. Despite clear scientific evidence of the problem, decision-makers are caught between competing interests, fragmented responsibilities, and the political weight of environmental regulations on influential sectors.

For instance, while it is well-known that stubble-burning contributes significantly to smog, attempts to curb this practice have been largely ineffective. Farmers, already struggling with limited financial resources, view alternatives — such as crop residue shredders — as too costly, even with government subsidies, and continue with stubble-burning every year.

Over in the industrial sector, rather than enforcing stricter regulations or increasing support for alternatives, policymakers have often resorted to temporary shutdowns of industrial sites or limited brick kiln operations. Such actions fail to address the core issues and provide only brief respites from poor air quality.

Temporary shutdowns only reduce emissions momentarily and do not tackle the long-term pollution generated daily by factories and kilns. Addressing these issues would require establishing enforceable, year-round standards, incentivising cleaner technologies and alternative fuels, and ensuring a robust system for regular inspections and penalties for non-compliance.

AQI levels in Lahore between Nov 2-4, 2024: Lahore saw its AQI reach an “unprecedented” level of over 1,000, more than three times the level considered “hazardous” to health | IQAir

Political Stakes and Misplaced Priorities

A core reason for inaction lies in the political and economic stakes tied to air pollution and misplaced priorities. Punjab’s industrial sector, one of the primary contributors to pollution, is also a major economic driver. Implementing stringent regulations could slow down production, impact profits and even lead to job losses.

Similarly, agricultural practices such as stubble-burning are deeply entrenched, and sudden changes could lead to significant disruptions in an already strained agricultural economy. Even though these sectors have been identified as critical polluters, the government is reluctant to pursue measures that could be politically costly.

As far as the issue of misplaced priorities is concerned, a case in point is the development model of Lahore, which has relied on road infrastructure projects with the aim to ease traffic congestion in the city. This has resulted in the construction of signal-free corridors across the city. This also means that, during the construction phase of these projects, the cement and dust particles are likely to remain suspended in the air, contributing to the bad air quality.

Consequently, there is an incentive for citizens of the city to use private transport which, as a result of these corridors, will be much quicker for daily commutes than public transport. The entire development model of Lahore incentivises more vehicles on roads, rather than focusing on a public transport policy that doesn’t incentivise use of private transport and vehicles.

State’s Responsibility

With the recent passage of the 26th Amendment, the constitution of Pakistan now enshrines the “Right to a Clean and Healthy Environment” under Article 9A. This amendment mandates the government to protect citizens from environmental harm, making it incumbent on the state to address the severe air quality crisis.

Now that the evidence unequivocally shows air quality levels have reached hazardous levels, the government’s responsibility to act is more pressing than ever. To put it simply, government action against the smog crisis is a public health imperative.

What Punjab needs now is not more data, but a concerted, integrated approach that prioritises public health over short-term, knee-jerk, gimmick-oriented solutions, such as using mist machines on the streets of Lahore.

Way Forward

Much of the data points to automobiles as a major contributor of emissions and pollution. There is existing regulation on shifting to cleaner Euro-V fuels across the country, but that is only part of the solution.

The preponderance of old vehicles with inefficient engines is equally responsible for emissions, which is why the automobile legislation should focus on an effective motor vehicle-testing regime and a plan to phase out old/polluting vehicles. Additionally, there should be a focus on public transport legislation, whereby incentives are provided to citizens and organisations to take up public over private transport.

This was also among the recommendations of a recent policy report published by the World Wide Fund for Nature Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan), titled Situational Analysis of Air Quality in Lahore.

Among other things, the report lays emphasis on the need for an efficient mass transit system. It says that expanding Lahore’s mass transit options can mitigate vehicular pollution. Lahore’s Metro Bus and Orange Line Metro Train have been effective, but further development of affordable, efficient mass transit across the city would encourage public use, thus reducing private vehicle reliance and emissions over the long term.

Such a developmental project also makes political sense and is in line with the political parties’ emphasis on large-scale infrastructure projects that are tangible signs of ‘development’ and progress.

There is a need to influence policy and decision-making to consider environmental factors as part of the planning process. Lahore, and Pakistan as a country on the whole, requires a solid, integrated green and sustainable plan for urban expansion. Presently, cities grow and central business districts develop without proper zoning strategies and without keeping in mind the environmental footprint of such development.

Each year, the cost of inaction becomes more apparent. The time has come to bridge this knowledge-action gap by implementing policies that reflect both scientific insight and on-the-ground realities of Punjab’s social and economic landscape.

If the government can move beyond the political inertia that has paralysed efforts thus far, there is hope that Punjab’s air can one day be breathable again.

The writer is a Commonwealth Scholar at the University of Bristol in the UK

Published in Dawn, EOS, November 10th, 2024

An unwanted fifth season

Umair Javed 

November 11, 2024 

DAWN

PUNJAB’S unwanted fifth season — smog — is currently in full bloom. Air quality in cities like Lahore, poor throughout the year, is at its toxic worst between October and January, with AQI readings well above 500 on most days.

The government’s response so far hinges on school closures and the enforcement of location-specific lockdowns. While keeping vulnerable groups, like children, away from public spaces filled with poisonous air is understandable, it is unlikely that air quality will be much cleaner at home.

Protest and despair at poor air quality is now a standard ritual during these months. Since at least 2015, when the onset of smog became sharply apparent in October, environmentalists and other experts have deliberated on what can be done to solve the issue. The answers are wide-ranging, and the absence of government ownership of the problem in the first few years didn’t help.

Almost a decade on, we can claim some clarity on the proximate causes of the air quality crisis. We know, thanks to source apportionment studies, that transport and industrial emissions are a major source of the problem, when averaged out through the year.

On account of further work, by Cambridge- and Oxford-based scientists Abdullah Bajwa and Hassan Sheikh, we know that vehicle fleet age, two-stroke engines in motorcycles and rickshaws, along with fuel quality are significant features of the problem.


Air quality is an issue that cannot be privatised beyond the mere use of air purifiers in private spaces.

We also know that crop burning in East Punjab contributes to the spike in smog levels during these current months, partly because of wind direction and the inversion of temperature that keeps particulate matter suspended in the air for longer.

Knowing all what we know now, the set of solutions available to us is also fairly clear. Changes in fuel quality, enforcement of fitness standards to phase out polluting vehicles, stricter regulations on industrial emissions, and the development of mass transit solutions to reduce the number of private vehicles on the road are all steps adopted by cities that grappled with air quality issues during the 20th century. In the present context, we have the additional option of ensuring public transport doesn’t add to the problem, mainly by inducting New Energy Vehicles.

Similarly, given that emissions do not respect the Radcliffe line, fenced or otherwise, cross-border collaboration between the two Punjabs is a categorical necessity. Domestic standards and interventions mentioned earlier will clear up the air, through the year on average, but spikes during October-November require the two countries to cooperate more closely and forge a collective solution.

Like with many other public policy issues in Pakistan, offering a set of solutions is not necessarily the problem. In fact, many of these interventions have been identified by the government itself, including through its own source apportionment studies carried out in the last few years. The challenge for us is one of state capacity and fiscal resources. It is precisely this challenge that makes one far more pessimistic about the short- and medium-term prospects for cleaner air.

State capacity is the ability of public sector institutions to implement whatever rules, regulations, objectives it sets out to achieve. As sociologist Michael Mann put it, this ability itself is of two types of power — despotic, which usually relies on punitive and coercive capacity; and infrastructural, which relies on cooperation, coordination, and behavioural shifts.

The weakness of infrastructural power among Pakistani public sector organisations is fairly clear. Rules and regulations, when they do exist, are subverted by powerful societal actors, or undermined by state officials themselves. When the state attempts to deliver services itself, it runs into significant resource constraints, or falls prey to various forms of inefficiencies.

These weaknesses are both a cause and a consequence of increased privatisation in every domain. People who can afford to opt out of state delivery in domains such as housing, water, health, education, even energy, have done so. The market caters to all such needs, as long as people can pay. With the rich and powerful no longer reliant on the state, there is even less pressure on officials to cater to the needs of those who have no other option.

Air quality, however, is an issue that cannot be privatised beyond the mere use of air purifiers in private spaces. Given the rate at which the AQI index is climbing, even purifiers won’t be able to solve the issue. Sure, the rich will have access to better healthcare and the luxury of not going out unless absolutely necessary, but that doesn’t offer the same type of insulation that an off-grid solar system or generator does against a failing public sector electricity grid.

There is no option, then, but to address the crisis. All the steps mentioned above require not only great fiscal outlay, but also the state to perform at a level of ability and capacity that it has seldom demonstrated in recent years. Will government departments tasked with monitoring vehicle fitness levels step up and increase monitoring?

Will local administrators who carry the responsibility of shutting down polluting industrial units be given the resources and protection to take on powerful interests? Will narrow national security considerations be set aside, and meaningful cross-border collaboration initiated?

Such steps can only take place once there is a level of clarity within the government about the smog issue being a public health crisis bigger than any encountered in the past. And that it requires explicit and dedicated attention over a long period of time to solve. Praying for a change in weather is not a sound strategy; similarly hoping that people forget about it or get used to it won’t save anyone’s lungs. The capacity required to tackle the problem needs to be built by the state, and the time to do it is right now.

The writer teaches sociology at Lums.

X: @umairjav

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2024

The roads are killing us

Cities cannot become concrete jungles of flyovers and interchanges and still have clean air.

Arifa Noor 

November 12, 2024

DAWN

LAST week, the prime minister found time to inaugurate two flyovers in Islamabad. Despite the ‘live coverage’ on television, it wasn’t a news item that attracted much attention.

Most people were too busy discussing the judiciary, the failed attempt to sell PIA, or the smog in Lahore and the rest of Punjab, with the provincial capital topping pollution charts worldwide.

But as discussion focused on Lahore’s ranking and the filth that most urban residents in Pakis­tan inhale all year, a greyness also descended on Islamabad. By the end of the week, winter sunshine in the capital had disappeared, as had the clear views of the Margalla Hills.

While this is relatively new for Islamabad, it is not unfamiliar. An exceptionally dry spell the previous winter had covered our lives with similar dullness. In other words, the infamous smog has reached the capital too; it will stay until there is rain. True, Islamabad can’t compare with Lahore, but it’s a beginning. And we know how this story ends — in many shades of grey and no sun.

But what does this have to do with the prime minister’s presence at city events in Islamabad, some may wonder. Everything. For while we moan and groan about the poison the people breathe in, day in and day out, and discuss industrial pollution in cities and how the winds from India are to blame, the issue will not be addressed until we change the way we think. Cities cannot become concrete jungles of flyovers and interchanges for the comfort of cars and still ensure blue skies and clean air.

Politicians continue to be obsessed with brick-and-mortar projects, equating them with development and good governance. In this outdated worldview, roads, flyovers and interchanges are the cool kids of development projects. Modern-day Lahore is a testament to it; where concrete crept up on large parts of ‘elite’ Lahore — Gulberg, Liberty, Model Town, DHA. Roads were widened, signal-free corridors added, and when all else failed, flyovers were squeezed in so that cars could zip around.

In the process, the green areas were narrowed and even done away with altogether. Ask those who remember the green belt that made up the Gulberg Boulevard before it was shrunk, planted with palm trees, and the road widened. Few people might remember, but they may have noticed that the wide road is no longer enough for the traffic, which has grown exponentially since.

As Kevin Costner once told us, build and they will come. What we in Pakistan did not and do not realise is that once roads are built, the cars will come; so many that the bigger roads will not be enough either. And with the traffic comes air pollution, which is the far bigger cause of the smog than winds from India.

The same solution/problem was imported to Islamabad during the Gen Musharraf years, when the avenues were widened needlessly. Needlessly because more than a decade after Musharraf has left, traffic in the city is still not enough to warrant these wide avenues. But we continue to build more roads, widen the existing ones, and build flyovers because traffic should whizz through a city the way it does on highways and motorways.

No one complains or protests because it suits the policymakers and the rich — the same people who will petition the courts about Monal, stone-crushing, and the sanctity of the Margalla Hills but never about the concrete that is conquering the city. Roads suit those who can afford cars, and hence it is easier to pretend this is not about the environment.

Roads, frankly, are a project for the rich and by the rich. Anyone living in Islamabad will realise this if they glance sideways, while whizzing down a wide road at 80 or 100 kilometres per hour. On either side, ordinary people stand, trying to figure out when they should run across without being run over; they have to run because there is no dignified way of crossing many roads.

The motorists may also notice, if they bothered to look, the people standing patiently at one end of the flyover, hoping for someone to slow down and offer them a lift to the other end. Because that flyover takes a car just seconds to traverse but a pedestrian much longer.

With no public transport and these highway-style roads in the middle of a city, the message for everybody is that a car or a motorbike is essential for life. Without one, the city doesn’t work for you. How can it, for while cars require four- to six-lane roads, people are told to climb up sky-high stairs to cross a road because pedestrian crossings are for the convenience of the motorists.

These pedestrian bridges are surely a desi invention, because never have I seen one in big Western cities where the traffic moves slowly so that people can walk. Indeed, in the rest of the world, urban planners are ripping out flyovers and big roads, thus restricting traffic. But Pakistan continues to move in a different direction. In fact, our idea of public transport also begins with roads. Before the bus is even purchased, roads are built for it.

This hits one all the more in Islamabad, because the capital was conceived as a 15-minute city. Take a close look at any of the older parts of town and it’s evident: the small parks are easily located and wide pedestrian walkways (despite the generators and security guard room encroachments) and small markets are included in every sub-sector, ensuring that a grocery story is within walking distance of every house. Move further away to the newer sectors and most of these amenities are missing; but big roads and the dust are ever-present.

This did become a bit of a rant. But as a layperson, I don’t know how else to say that Pakistani citizens will not enjoy the luxury of clean air till there is an overhaul of our development model and city planning. Dirty air cannot be fixed via piecemeal efforts.

The writer is a journalist.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2024

Toxic smog smothering India’s capital smashes WHO limit


By AFP
November 13, 2024

Labourers stand on a scaffolding amid dense smog in New Delhi on November 13, 2024 - Copyright AFP Sajjad HUSSAIN

Residents of India’s capital New Delhi choked in a blanketing toxic smog Wednesday as worsening air pollution surged past 50 times the World Health Organization’s recommended daily maximum.

Cooler temperatures and slow-moving winds trap deadly pollutants.

At dawn on Wednesday, “hazardous” pollutant levels in parts of the sprawling urban area of more than 30 million people topped 806 micrograms per cubic metre, according to monitoring firm IQAir.

That is more than 53 times the World Health Organization recommended daily maximum of fine particulate matter — dangerous cancer-causing microparticles known as PM2.5 pollutants that enter the bloodstream through the lungs.

Many in the city cannot afford air filters, nor do they have homes they can effectively seal from the foul smelling air.

The city is blanketed in acrid smog each year, primarily blamed on stubble burning by farmers in neighbouring regions to clear their fields for ploughing, as well as factories and traffic fumes.

But a report by The New York Times this month, based on air and soil samples it collected over a five-year period, revealed the dangerous fumes also spewing from a power plant incinerating the city’s landfill garbage mountains.

Experts the newspaper spoke to said that the levels of heavy metals found were “alarming”.

India’s Supreme Court last month ruled that clean air was a fundamental human right, ordering both the central government and state-level authorities to take action.

But critics say arguments between rival politicians heading neighbouring states — as well as between central and state-level authorities — have compounded the problem.

The WHO says that air pollution can trigger strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases.

It is particularly punishing for babies, children and the elderly.

A study in The Lancet medical journal attributed 1.67 million premature deaths to air pollution in the world’s most populous country in 2019.

Time running out to stop the melting in Hindu Kush, Himalaya

Hindu Kush Himalaya region may experience up to 80pc ice loss under high emissions scenario, a study released on COP29 sidelines says.



Zaki Abbas 

Published November 13, 2024

As climate change threatens the cryosphere — the frozen parts of the Earth — at an alarming rate putting almost a quarter of humanity at risk, Pakistan has advocated for coordinated regional efforts and international support to save the eco-system and build climate resilience, particularly across the Hindu Kush and Himalaya region.

The study ‘The State of the Cryosphere 2024’, released on Tuesday on the sidelines of COP29 in Baku, urged urgent action to control emissions to save glaciers, which are melting at a rapid pace due to global warming.

“Under a high emissions scenario…Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), may experience up to 80% of ice loss. With very low emissions however, up to 40% of glacier ice in the HKH region could be preserved,” it said, adding that projections in a few glacier regions even show slow re-growth beginning between 2100 and 2300, but only with very low emissions and essentially carbon neutrality by 2050.

Against this backdrop, the environment ministers from the HKH met on Tuesday at the Baku Olympics Stadium to come together to save the “third pole” and to keep global temperatures below 1.5 Celsius.

This gathering aimed to discuss the rapidly increasing climate risks and vulnerabilities in the region and beyond, while identifying areas for urgent collective actions, inevitable to addressing the pressing challenges and fulfilling the hopes of the quarter of humanity impacted by these changes, said a statement.

It stated that over the past decade, the rate of glacier melting in the HKH has accelerated by 65 per cent compared to the previous decade (2000-2010) and the trend is projected to continue.

“Over the last decade, the rate of glacier melting in the HKH has accelerated by 65% compared to the previous decade (2000- 2010), and the trend is projected to continue.”

Speaking at the event, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay said this was an opportune time for the region to unite to push for a new collective quantified role that would directly address the need of the countries which were most vulnerable to climate change.

Pakistan Prime Minister Adviser on Climate Change Romina Khurshid Alam said no country across the HKH region could tackle the climate crisis in isolation and besides regional unity, international response was essential.

She said Pakistan stood for regional partnership aiming to save the ecosystem and species, and build climate resilience. She argued for easy access to climate finance to ensure these countries could erect safeguards to protect themselves from climate change.

She said Pakistan was experiencing first-hand the impacts of climate change, increasing the risk of natural disasters in the form of GLOFs and threatening water security and agriculture as well as biodiversity.

Other speakers included delegates from China, Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. The event was organised by the Kingdom of Bhutan and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.

Bleak state of Cryosphere

According to the State of Cryosphere 2024 report, if the current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are met, global temperatures will likely reach 2.3°C by 2100, leading to irreversible ice loss, significant sea-level rise, and severe impacts on coastal regions, mountain communities, and polar ecosystems.

In case of a high emissions scenario, the temperature may rise to 3-3.5°C, which will cause extreme damage, including rapid ice sheet loss, the disappearance of glaciers, and widespread permafrost thaw.

However, the 1.5°C temperature in line with the Paris Agreement can help stabilise the cryosphere and preserve part of glaciers but that cannot happen unless there is a drastic cut in emissions.

“This requires urgent action, however, with emergency-scale tightening of mitigation commitments and fossil fuel emissions declining 40% by 2030,” the report added.

In case there is no action to stop the melting of glaciers, “severe and potentially permanent changes to the water cycle, due to loss of snowpack and ice run-off during the warm summer growing season, will impact food, energy and water security.”

Produced as part of the 2024 Climate Change Media Partnership, a journalism fellowship organised by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Centre for Peace and Security.

Header image: View of the landscape from Langtang, Nepal can be seen in this undated handout image. — Tika Gurung via Reuters

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2024

 

China's bullish pet economy shines at import expo

Xinhua | Updated: 2024-11-11

A Japanese pet products booth attracts visitors at the 7th China International Import Expo consumer goods exhibition area, in Shanghai, Nov 7, 2024. [Photo/VCG]

SHANGHAI - At the exhibition area of the seventh China International Import Expo (CIIE), a large Japanese-style pavilion featuring two eye-catching giant cartoon mascots has drawn the attention of many curious onlookers.

A black-and-white "cow cat" and a gray-and-white "cheese-colored cat" with glasses lounge atop the structure, playfully sticking out their tongues. Beneath them is a 400-square-meter display space.

The huge "cat's home" is the pet pavilion set up by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).

Aiming to tap into China's growing pet market, 54 Japanese companies and organizations related to the pet industry are showcasing 850 products and services here, covering all aspects of pet care -- from clothing and food to housing and travel for cats, dogs and more.

For many of these businesses and products, the CIIE marks their first appearance outside Japan.

Leading the pack is Buddy Cloud Inc, a Japanese startup that views China as a crucial "incubation hub" for innovation. The company introduced a pet urine-test-strip paired with an online consultation service, which was launched in Japan in August and is now making its international debut at the expo.

Priced at around 80 yuan ($11.2) per at-home test, it allows users to upload photos of the results to a mobile application to receive readings on protein levels, white blood cells, glucose and pH.

"Chinese consumers are highly adept at using online services, and at-home pet testing could see faster adoption in the Chinese market," said Shun Fujii, CEO of the company.

Celebrating its seventh consecutive year at the CIIE, JETRO has observed closely the evolution of the Chinese consumer market.

"We noticed that the average age of pet cats and dogs in China is between three and four years old, while in Japan, it's between six and seven years," said Hiroshi Takayama, deputy president of JETRO Shanghai. This suggests that many people in China are just beginning to adopt pets, and the pet market is still in its growth phase.

According to the organization, Chinese customers' interest has expanded from products like sake, plum wine, shochu and specialty soy sauces for various cuisines, to outdoor gear for activities like skiing and camping, and now to pet products and services -- all reflecting Chinese consumers' growing pursuit of wellness and an enhanced quality of life.

According to an industry report, the number of pet dogs in China reached 51.75 million in 2023, while pet cats numbered 69.8 million. The urban pet (dogs and cats) consumption market grew to 279.3 billion yuan in 2023, up 3.2 percent from 2022, and is projected to climb to 361.3 billion yuan by 2026.

Zhou Ting, a visitor from Shanghai, who bought a pet toothbrush at last year's CIIE, was once again amazed by this year's diverse array of products.

Her 3-year-old son and their 7-year-old corgi are best friends, celebrating birthdays, camping and traveling together -- even wearing matching coats. "I hope my dog can stay healthy and happy, and keep my child company for as long as possible," Zhou said.

Like Zhou, a growing number of Chinese people are embracing the companionship of pets, treating them like "children" and wanting them to enjoy a similar lifestyle.

Korean company Young In Bio is sniffing out opportunities in the promising market of pet food resembling human food.

During this year's CIIE, the company debuted specialized instant ramen for pet dogs in the Chinese market, catering to pet owners who want their pets to enjoy the same types of food they do.

"We've brought five flavors of ramen, including chicken, vegan, seafood, cheese and black bean sauce, which have been incredibly popular," said a staff member surnamed Yin. "Today is the last day of the expo, and we're down to just these last few packs in only two of the flavors."

"Since the Republic of Korea is known for its ramen culture, we thought this would add a sense of ritual for pet owners' daily lives and be effective for online marketing, especially on platforms like Instagram," said Choi In Jeong, the company's representative director.

"Last year, we entered the US market, exporting over a dozen containers of products within a year," Choi said. "And we dream bigger in the Chinese market."

The company is expected to formally enter the Chinese market early next year and establish a production line in China, which will further reduce product prices.

Amano Shinya, the president of JETRO Shanghai, believes that Chinese consumer demand is becoming increasingly diverse, with growth across niche sectors. For companies, accurately capturing market demand is essential.

This, he added, underscores the significance of China's commitment to holding the CIIE and continually expanding its opening up.

Airlines around Asia ground Bali flights after volcano erupts


By AFP
November 13, 2024


Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki spews ash and smoke in another eruption after multiple in recent weeks - Copyright AFP Arnold Welianto

Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore cancelled flights to and from the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Wednesday, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower miles into the sky.

Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a nine-kilometre (5.6-mile) tower a day earlier.

Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as cancelled on Wednesday, according to an AFP journalist at Bali’s international airport.

“Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” said AirAsia as it announced several cancellations.

Multiple eruptions from the 1,703-metre (5,587-foot) twin-peaked volcano in recent weeks have killed nine people, with 31 injured and more than 11,000 evacuated, Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency said Tuesday.

Eruptions can pose serious risks to flights, disgorging fine ash that can damage jet engines and scour a plane’s windscreen to the point of invisibility.

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific also listed its flights as cancelled, rescheduling routes to and from Bali until Thursday.

“Virgin Australia has made some changes to its current flight schedule, due to the impacts of the volcano in Indonesia,” the airline said, listing scrapped flights to Sydney and Melbourne.

Jetstar said all flights to and from Bali would be halted until noon on Thursday.

“Due to volcanic ash caused by the Mount Lewotobi eruption in Indonesia, it is currently not safe to operate flights to and from Bali,” the company said in an advisory.

Qantas said “a number of flights to and from Denpasar Airport in Bali have been disrupted” due to volcanic ash from Lewotobi.

Malaysia Airlines said it had cancelled six flights Wednesday in a statement on its website.

The airlines said they would monitor the volcano’s status and provide updates.

Singapore’s Scoot and Malaysia’s AirAsia did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. Singapore Airlines was still listing its flights as running on Wednesday.



– refunds, rescheduling, re-routing –



Ahmad Syaugi Shahab, general manager of Bali’s international airport, said 12 domestic and 22 international flights had been affected on Tuesday, without identifying the routes.

He did not provide details about affected flights on Wednesday’s schedule.

“Due to this natural event impacting flight operations, airlines are offering affected passengers the options of refunds, rescheduling, or re-routing,” he added in a statement.

Bali’s international airport operator PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia said Wednesday it had conducted tests in its airspace and no volcanic ash was detected, saying the airport was “operating as normal”.

Lewotobi erupted again from midnight Wednesday until early morning, and a large ash column could be seen pouring from its crater, an AFP journalist nearby said.

Laki-Laki, which means “man” in Indonesian, is twinned with a calmer volcano named after the Indonesian word for “woman”.

The island’s economy is heavily reliant on tourism but Indonesia is one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth, straddling the Pacific Ring of Fire where tectonic plates collide.

Lombok, an island neighbouring Bali, was rocked by earthquakes in 2018 that killed more than 500 and sparked a mass exodus of foreigners from the tropical paradise.