PANDEMIC ENDS OUTSOURCING 

City looking to bring more tech staff

 in-house following demand for new digital services

Jon Willing 

OTTAWA CITIZEN 

© Provided by Ottawa Citizen Ottawa City Hall.

After spending nearly two years making policy largely through virtual government, the City of Ottawa is ready to beef up its technology branch.

The city has been forced to move its council meetings and public consultations online, creating a legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic if the city permanently retains an option for the public to remotely participate in the workings of city hall.

Meanwhile, the city doesn’t have a single information technology employee dedicated to mobile apps, even though the demand for information accessed through smartphones continues to grow.

Council is being asked to endorse more spending for IT staff, however, a report submitted for approval by chief information officer Sandro Carlucci says new internal resources would cost less than outsourcing the work.

The request is for $1 million to be used for nine new hires, transferred from the budget assigned for buying professional IT services.

The average cost to taxpayers for each new position would be $112,000, which includes benefits, the report says. According to the report, this would be cheaper than contracting out the work, saving the city $888,000.

The city depends on its technology branch to provide internal and public-facing tech solutions, but the arrival of the pandemic put the heat on IT services to transition the municipal government to a remote workforce. The branch has had to lean heavily on private sector suppliers and consultants to handle a demand for services that required quick turnaround times.

Because so much new work has been farmed out recently, the city has been growing concerned about the knowledge and experience staying with the consultants, rather than in-house tech staff.

It’s time to build up that knowledge inside the municipal government, the report says.

“Building the complement of permanent internal resources supports the cultural change occurring within (IT services), where we invest in our own staff, and support employee engagement as well as our commitment to excellence in service delivery,” the report states.

The new staff would help the branch fulfill commitments to creating a “digital city” and modernizing the municipal government’s aging IT systems.

The city also wants more internal resources to handle IT security. It’s currently spending $340,000 annually on outsourcing security-related work and the city believes two new positions can be created to handle the demand.

The report argues the amount of available internal resources for the IT branch hasn’t kept pace with the booming demand for new digital services. The branch is also facing a backlog of work related to accessibility assessments.

IT services have a budget of $76.6 million this year.

The 2022 city budget added the equivalent of one full-time position to IT services, bringing the number of positions to 296. The branch’s budget grew about five per cent in 2022 over the budget approved for 2021, though the actual spending in 2021 was projected last fall to be over budget by nearly $3 million.

The finance and economic development committee on Feb. 1 will be asked to make a recommendation to council on hiring more IT staff.

SASKATCHEWAN

Excess death researcher defends against Moe's 'misinformation' claim

Phil Tank, Saskatoon StarPhoenix 

© Picasa University of Toronto professor Tara Moriarty has investigated excess deaths in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the excess deaths in Saskatchewan.

A University of Toronto professor is defending her reputation and her research on excess deaths after Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe suggested it amounts to “the most egregious misinformation.”

Moe made the comments after being asked about a Postmedia story on Saturday that quoted Prof. Tara Moriarty suggesting the actual death toll from COVID-19 is seven times higher than the number of deaths reported, which stood at 975 on Monday.

“That simply is nothing more than misinformation and it should be challenged,” Moe told reporters at a news conference.

Moriarty, who is conducting research into mortality in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, stood by her research in a statement sent to Postmedia after the news conference on Monday.

In her statement, she pointed to the lack of post-mortem testing for COVID-19 in Saskatchewan as one reason why deaths do not accurately reflect the toll from COVID-19.

In Canada, only Quebec and Manitoba conduct post-mortem tests, the only two provinces with a higher COVID-19 death rate per 100,000 people than Saskatchewan, she said.

Far from backing down from her estimate that the death toll from COVID-19 is seven times the number that has been reported, Moriarty said she expects that ratio to increase as death reporting becomes more complete.

Death reporting needs to be 95 per cent complete to fully reflect excess mortality and the last time that threshold was reached was on Feb. 1, 2020, prior to the pandemic, her statement said. When the seven-fold ratio was first calculated on Nov. 28, 2020, death reporting was only 93 per cent complete.

As of Oct. 1, 2021, death reporting was 70 per cent finished, the statement said.

“This means we will likely see large future increases in excess mortality in the province, probably over the next two years,” Moriarty wrote.

The deaths reported to the National Vital Statistics database up to Nov. 28, 2020 are twice the number reported provincially, she noted.

Prior to Omicron on Nov. 15, 2021, test positivity in Saskatchewan was nearly twice that in the rest of Canada, but Saskatchewan has conducted 24 per cent fewer tests than the national average, she added.

“This means that Saskatchewan has almost certainly missed many more cases than the rest of Canada,” Moriarty said. “If people aren’t tested and they die and if you’re missing a lot more cases than the rest of the country, you’re also missing more deaths.”

She also noted that the Saskatchewan deaths reported are two and a half times lower than expected based on the ages of the positive cases. This means COVID-19 deaths are two and a half times under-reported in the province, she said.

Moriarty noted she is the lead author on the peer-reviewed Royal Society of Canada report on excess mortality in the country during the pandemic.

She said all of the information she used to make the seven-fold calculation is available online and the report, including the estimate, has been reviewed by “leading” national and international experts.

“ It would be wise for Premier Moe to check that information and ask advisors to explain it if this is needed before characterizing it as egregious misinformation,” she wrote.

Moriarty offered to help Saskatchewan officials understand her analyses so they can improve “longstanding” issues with reporting deaths in the province.

Moe claimed during the news conference that about 10,000 people die of all causes in Saskatchewan each year. However, Saskatchewan has only passed that threshold once in the last 75 years, with 10,200 deaths in 2020. The five-year average prior to the pandemic was 9,502 deaths.

NDP Opposition Leader Ryan Meili criticized Moe for attacking scientists and suggested he is continuing to try to minimize the impact of the pandemic.

“We know that a lot more people have died of COVID-19 than are counted in the official counts,” Meili said at an online news conference. He also pointed to the lack of post-mortem testing.

ptank@postmedia.com

twitter.com/thinktankSK

Related

Data suggests Sask. COVID-19 deaths seven times higher than reported

Why Saskatchewan's COVID-19 death toll could be far higher than we know

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Desperate owners of poorly built homes in Alberta say industry advocate let them down

Andreane Williams 1 day ago


Early one morning in February last year, Adetola Wall had had enough.

The roof of her Edmonton house was leaking again.

Wall had purchased the newly built home in 2016, but within a year she noticed moisture in the attic. It would be the beginning of a four-year losing battle with the builder and warranty provider.

In February 2021, she learned about John McKale, owner of Home Warranty Advocates, who billed himself as a crusader for owners of poorly built homes.

But Wall says that moment of hope would turn into disappointment — and when she read a CBC News story about McKale, she felt she had to respond.

"The article was ... showing that he was in a good light and helping people, and that hadn't been my experience — and I knew a few people who hadn't had that experience," Wall said.
From hope to disillusion

When Wall contacted McKale, she was desperate.

"I was pretty frantic," she said. "I literally felt like there was no hope. I had a small child, so I just really was concerned about the mould in the home affecting him."

McKale agreed to advocate for her, suggesting he could get money from the builder or warranty provider so she could make the repairs herself, Wall said.

She paid Home Warranty Advocates $2,625.

"He always said throughout the process that it was refundable," she said.

But almost a year later, nothing has been done, Wall said.

The online portal created for her by Home Warranty Advocates shows no entries after an audit of her house was completed last February.

Wall says her warranty provider told her that no claim has been filed under her name by Home Warranty Advocates.

In June, she emailed the company seeking a refund but got no response.

In an interview with CBC News, McKale admitted his company did not provide the services Wall had paid for.

He said his company has more than 400 clients and the workload has become too heavy.

"We have way too many clients — and we have actually put a moratorium on taking clients so that we can turn around and help the ones that we do have," McKale said.

"We are still contacted daily by people all over the province who have issues with their house that they can't get resolved, and it's extremely difficult to tell those people that at this point in time, we don't have the resources to help them."

McKale said he intends to complete the contract with Wall or give her a refund.

More complaints

Several other dissatisfied clients have left reviews on the company's Google profile.

CBC News spoke to seven other homeowners who said they paid Home Warranty Advocates thousands of dollars without receiving services.

Deborah Teichroeb, who lives in Beaumont, just south of Edmonton, hired McKale in August 2020 to help her deal with some flooring issues.

"I kept saying literally, 'This is the only money I have. And I'm worried because my husband lost his job.'" 

© Hugo Lévesque/CBC Teichroeb hired Home Warranty Advocates in August 2020 for help in dealing with flooring issues in her home. After many requests for her money back, the company reimbursed her in 2021.

Teichroeb says Home Warranty Advocates left her with the impression it could get her $80,000 from her builder within three months to compensate for the deficiencies in her house. She would then hire someone herself to make the repairs.

"He made it clear that he had never lost a case and that I would have my money back in 90 days," she said.

So Teichroeb hired McKale for $2,625.

McKale denies having made promises to Teichroeb, but he admits that his company didn't get results.

"We didn't promise her $80,000," he said. "We said the amount of loss given all the defects in her home added up to that. That's what we would attempt to recover under the policy so that she could get the repairs done.

"We don't make any promises for the amount. Nothing is an absolute. We should have given her a more accurate picture of how it might go."

© Hugo Lévesque/CBC McKale founded Home Warranty Advocates, which represents owners of poorly built homes, in 2018. He says his company has more than 400 clients and the workload has become too heavy.

Seven months after hiring the company — and after having tried to follow up multiple times, Teichroeb's file still hadn't moved forward.

"We trusted him," she said. "I feel like a fool."

After many requests for her money back, Home Warranty Advocates reimbursed her in 2021.

Calgary lawyer Michael Kwiatkowski, who specializes in construction litigation, says warranty providers rarely give homeowners money to fix their houses.

"Usually [the warranty provider] will hire someone on their own," he said. "They prefer to use their preferred trades because they can get it for cheaper than the homeowner can."

This kind of litigation "moves at a snail's pace" in Alberta, Kwiatkowski said.

"I would never take someone's word over a phone or email that it can be done in a certain amount of time."
Homeowners on their own

The new home warranty system is complicated and homeowners get little help to navigate it, Kwiatkowski said.

Hiring a lawyer can cost tens of thousands of dollars, as complex claims can take months, even years.

"There is no independent ... ombudsman or a person appointed by the government to help homeowners with that sort, so they can either do it on their own or get a lawyer," he said.

"It's a flaw in the system."

Teichroeb says she filed a complaint against Home Warranty Advocates with Service Alberta's customer investigation unit.

Service Alberta said it can't comment on which businesses are being investigated.

However, Home Warranty Advocates isn't listed in its registry of businesses that faced enforcement actions.

As for Wall, she says she accepts that she will have to pay for the repairs out of pocket, saying she has been let down by Home Warranty Advocates and her warranty provider.

"This experience really impacted me with my level of trust with individuals," she said.

Indigenous non-profit looks to acquire ownership of Trans Mountain Pipeline

CALGARY — A new Indigenous non-profit organization is seeking an ownership stake in the Trans Mountain Pipeline, saying its aim is to make sure communities along the pipeline's route receive its benefits directly.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Nesika Services publicly launched Monday, calling itself a grassroots, community-led not-for-profit.

Chief Tony Alexis of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation in Alberta (and the chair and founding director of Nesika) said 14 Indigenous communities along the pipeline's route in Alberta and B.C. have already signed on.

He said Nesika is in the process of reaching out to all 129 communities that have been identified by the federal government as being impacted by Trans Mountain to ensure they have a chance to join in.

"Ultimately what we’re trying to do right now is to organize the communities," Alexis said in an interview. "Once Canada has decided they’re willing to sell this pipeline, then at that time we’ll be negotiating to purchase.”

The Trans Mountain pipeline carries 300,000 barrels of oil per day, and is Canada's only pipeline system transporting oil from Alberta to the West Coast.

It was bought by the federal government for $4.5 billion in 2018, after previous owner Kinder Morgan Canada Inc. threatened to scrap the pipeline's planned expansion project in the face of environmentalist opposition.

Under the ownership of Trans Mountain Corp., a federal Crown corporation, the Trans Mountain expansion project is currently underway, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has indicated that he is open to ownership of the pipeline by Indigenous groups.

Several Indigenous-led initiatives have already come forward. Project Reconciliation is seeking a 100 per cent ownership stake in the pipeline with no equity requirement or liability risk to Indigenous partners. Its goal is to distribute cash flow from the pipeline between the participating Indigenous community owners, and an Indigenous Sovereign Wealth Fund that will invest in energy transition projects.

Chinook Pathways — which is also seeking an equity stake — is an Indigenous-led partnership formed by Western Indigenous Pipeline Group and its industry partner, Pembina Pipeline Corp.

What sets Nesika Services apart from these other proposals, Alexis said, is that it is a true not-for-profit not backed by industry or affiliated with financial institutions or any other operating parties.

"These groups, these other groups, they are profit-oriented, which is a major conflict for Indigenous communities," Alexis said.

"For me, as a community leader, when I look at Nesika, it provides the best opportunity for us to build our wealth and grow our communities. Resources are needed within the communities and Nesika provides that kind of opportunity for us.”

Alexis said Nesika is exploring both equity and revenue sharing opportunities in Trans Mountain with no up-front capital requirements from participating groups.

He declined to see how a potential purchase would be financed, saying that will be determined once the government of Canada makes the potential terms of a sale clear.

Ottawa has not yet accepted any bids for the pipeline, though Alexis said he expects negotiations with interested parties to begin "within a month or two."

Deborah Archibald, director of the centre for regulatory and governance policy at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, said that there are now multiple Indigenous-led groups seeking a stake in the pipeline speaks volumes about both the viability of the project as well as the capacity of Indigenous-led businesses.

"It's a tremendous signal in terms of where Indigenous businesses are at in Canada today, in feeling that they can seriously compete in such a process," she said.

“I think it bodes well for the federal government as well . . . Like any party selling a project, I think the federal government would be very pleased to see there is more than one interested party – and in this case, more than one Indigenous-owned interested party.”

There are still Indigenous groups along the pipeline expansion route who oppose the project, regardless of ownership, and Archibald said an Indigenous equity stake won't magically eliminate the concerns of environmental groups.

But she said it will go a long way toward improving some of the social license issues that have plagued the project in the past, while at the same time marking a significant milestone in Canadian oil and gas and pipeline operations as well as Canada's relationship with its Indigenous people.

"This will be a project in which Indigenous people are the decision-makers. They’re not being consulted by the decision-makers, they are the decision-makers," Archibald said. "And that I think is a quantum leap forward for Indigenous people in terms of their participation in resource development."

Nesika's other founding directors include Chief Alice McKay of Matsqui First Nation, Coun. David Walkem of Cook’s Ferry Indian Band, and Mark Peters from Peters First Nation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2022.

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press

Four Treaty 6 First Nations form alliance to build economic sovereignty
Ashley Joannou 

Four Treaty 6 First Nations in Alberta have joined together to form an investment group to pursue ownership in major infrastructure projects.

© Provided by Edmonton Journal Treaty 6 Grand Chief and Alexander First Nation Chief George Arcand Jr., right, and Chief Tony Alexis of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation are shown together in 2019. The two are part of a coalition that recently formed the First Nation Capital Investment Partnership.

Alexander First Nation, Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, Enoch Cree Nation, and Paul First Nation have formed the First Nation Capital Investment Partnership (FNCIP) to invest and acquire assets collectively with commercial partners who share Indigenous values, they announced last week.

Treaty 6 Grand Chief and Alexander First Nation Chief George Arcand Jr. told Postmedia Saturday that there has been an increasing number of opportunities brought to individual First Nations that would be hard for them to manage alone.

“We started sharing some of the individual opportunities that came and some of them were fairly big and were tough for a single First Nation to undertake in terms of size of a project and size of a partnership,” he said.

“So the idea was, why couldn’t we consider creating a business based on some fair principles around what kind of business we get into?”

Arcand said the partnership is looking for environmentally “greener” opportunities that are over $50 million, which could include potential options like carbon sequestration projects.

“If we’re going to get involved in oil and gas, we think, ‘Why can’t we get involved in trying to help on making things better?’ ” he said.

In a statement, Chief Tony Alexis of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation called the partnership the way of the future for First Nation communities.

“We are reclaiming community care and collective sovereignty, which will bring our communities back to the shared wealth we once had thousands of years ago,” he said.

“Entrepreneurship and collaboration is part of who we are. With qualified professionals on our team, our industry partners, and our intergenerational knowledge, we are stronger together.”

In the same statement, Chief Arthur Rain of the Paul First Nation said ownership of infrastructure projects will generate significant economic and social benefits and Chief Billy Morin of the Enoch Cree Nation said the move supports the long-term vision of becoming a self-sufficient First Nation.

Arcand said the group has already signed some letters of intent for projects but said he can’t provide details until they are public within the next week or so.

The group has chosen Calgary-based Axxcelus Capital Advisory Partners as its exclusive financial advisor.

Shell’s massive carbon capture facility in Canada emits far more than it captures, study says

The "Quest" plant in Alberta, Canada, owned by oil giant Shell, has previously been touted as a "thriving example" of how CCS is working to significantly reduce carbon emissions.

However, an investigation by watchdog group Global Witness, showed that while 5 million tons of carbon dioxide had been prevented from escaping into the atmosphere at the plant since 2015, it released a further 7.5 million tons of greenhouse gases over the same period.

In response, a spokesperson for Shell told CNBC via email that the analysis was "simply wrong."

 Provided by CNBC Signage for Royal Dutch Shell Plc at a refinery near the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, on Tuesday, May 25, 2021.

One of the only facilities in the world that uses carbon capture and storage technology (CCS) to reduce the emissions of hydrogen production has been found to emit far more greenhouse gas emissions than it captures.

The Quest plant in Alberta, Canada, owned by oil giant Shell and designed to capture carbon emissions from oil sands operations and safely store them underground, has previously been touted as a "thriving example" of how CCS is working to significantly reduce carbon emissions.

However, an investigation by watchdog group Global Witness, published last week, showed that while 5 million tons of carbon dioxide had been prevented from escaping into the atmosphere at the plant since 2015, it also released 7.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gases over the same period.

The investigation noted that, per year, that's the equivalent carbon footprint of 1.2 million gasoline cars.

It means just 48% of the plant's carbon emissions were captured, according to the report. That's far short of the 90% carbon capture rate promised by the industry for these types of projects in general.

In response to the report, a spokesperson for Shell told CNBC via email that Global Witness' analysis was "simply wrong" and stressed that the Quest facility was designed to capture around a third of carbon dioxide emissions.
Energy transition

Proponents of CCS believe these technologies will play an important role in meeting global energy and climate goals. And using CCS alongside hydrogen production, which is sometimes referred to as "blue hydrogen" or "fossil hydrogen," has been pushed by the oil and gas industry as a potential solution to the energy transition.

Climate researchers, campaigners and environmental advocacy groups have repeatedly admonished CCS as a climate solution, however, arguing that not only do these technologies have a history of failure, but backing these projects prolongs our reliance on the fossil fuel industry and distracts from a much-needed pivot to renewable alternatives.

"Oil and gas companies' promotion of fossil hydrogen is a fig leaf for them to carry on with their toxic practices – the extraction and burning of fossil fuels," Dominic Eagleton, senior gas campaigner at Global Witness, said in a statement.

"The single best way for companies like Shell to help tackle the climate crisis is to phase out all fossil fuel operations, rather than find ways to hide their climate-wrecking activity behind false solutions."

The burning of fossil fuels such as oil and gas is the chief driver of the climate emergency and researchers have repeatedly stressed that the best weapon to tackle rising global temperatures is to cut greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible.

Yet, even as politicians and business leaders publicly acknowledge the necessity of transitioning to renewable alternatives, current policy trends show that our reliance on fossil fuels is not likely to go away — or even decline — any time soon.
'Demonstration project'

Shell's Quest CCS facility opened in late 2015 near Edmonton, Alberta and is part of the group's Scotford complex, where hydrogen is produced for use in refining oil sands bitumen (a type of petroleum deposit). The Quest plant does not cover the emissions for the entire facility.

"Our Quest facility was designed some years ago as a demonstration project to prove the underlying CCS concept, while capturing around a third of CO2 emissions. It is not a hydrogen production facility," the Shell spokesperson said.

"The hydrogen projects we're planning – like Polaris – will use a new technology that captures more than 90% of emissions. Global Witness are comparing apples with pears."

Shell announced plans in July last year to build a large-scale CCS project called Polaris at its Scotford refinery and chemicals plant. The initial phase is expected to start operations in the middle of the decade subject to an investment decision by the company next year.
A 'serious blow' to fossil hydrogen

Global Witness said its findings are likely to deliver a "serious blow" to fossil hydrogen proponents pushing for more public funds to support its use, noting that $654 million of the $1 billion costs of Shell's Quest facility stemmed from Canadian government subsidies.

Eagleton described the analysis as "yet another nail in the coffin" for claims made by the oil and gas industry that fossil hydrogen is climate-friendly.

"Governments cannot let the wool be pulled over their eyes to invest vital public funds in projects that will not deliver what's needed to avert climate disaster. Instead, they should use that money to end our reliance on fossil fuels and direct it towards renewable alternatives," Eagleton said.

Commenting on the report, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg said via Twitter on Saturday: "This is exactly what happens when people in power care more about their reputation and imagery than to actually reduce emissions."

SERIOUSLY
Saudi energy minister touts pink hydrogen made by “emancipated young ladies”

Saudi Arabia wants to become a leading exporter of hydrogen from both clean and dirty sources as part of an economic diversification plan


(Photo: World Economic Forum/Flickr)

By Joe Lo
Published on 21/01/2022

Saudi Arabia is touting hydrogen exports as a win for the climate and gender equality, as the petropower seeks to diversify its economy away from oil.

Energy minister Abdulaziz bin Salman told the online World Economic Forum this week the kingdom was pursuing blue, green and pink hydrogen development, the colours representing the way it is made – some cleaner than others.

He said the EU was interested in green hydrogen, made with renewable electricity, and joked that pink – to be generated with planned nuclear power plants – was of particular interest to women in the industry.

“We are recruiting, by the way, young Saudi ladies that are happy to see the pink coming along,” said bin Salman. “We have started being very conscious of taking care of our female new recruits and new cadets. We’re becoming an extremely well emancipated society.”

However the bulk is likely to be blue, made from methane gas and emitting carbon dioxide in the process, some of which may be captured and stored.

“We will have a field day with blue hydrogen because again, we’re the cheapest cost producer of gas,” bin Salman said. “We’re doing a huge investment in shale gas in Saudi Arabia and we will be dedicated to have that gas to be used for producing blue hydrogen.”



Likely future importers of hydrogen are in yellow with exporters in blue (Photo: Natural Earth)

Hydrogen can be burned to power processes like steel-making or propel planes and ships. While it’s currently expensive and not widely used, many analysts see it as a clean fuel of the future, particularly for applications that cannot be easily electrified. How clean depends on how it is made.

By 2050, the global trade in hydrogen is expected to be worth more than global trade in oil, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

Europe and East Asia are likely to need more hydrogen than they can produce and Gulf nations are well-placed geographically to export through ships or pipelines.


Egypt names foreign minister Sameh Shoukry to lead Cop27 climate talks

Bin Salman said that he had discussed exporting green hydrogen to the EU with the European Commission’s vice-president Frans Timmermans. Saudi Arabia is developing a $5bn green hydrogen plant in its new megacity of Neom, which is due to start running by 2025.

E3G hydrogen analyst Lisa Fischer said the EU is developing guidelines on what constitutes “low-carbon” hydrogen and blue hydrogen, particularly if it comes from fracked shale gas, is likely to be excluded.

The other big hydrogen market is East Asia, which is more likely to accept blue hydrogen. Saudi Arabia is in hydrogen talks with South Korea and Japan.

Saudi Arabia’s electricity has always come almost entirely from oil and gas but it is now planning to ramp up renewables and to build two large nuclear power reactors for power and smaller ones to power taking salt out of sea-water.



The cost of producing green hydrogen. Red is the cheapest and blue is the most expensive (Photo: International Energy Agency)

With its abundant gas reserves and sunshine, the kingdom is well placed to produce both blue and green hydrogen cheaply. Its competitive advantage in nuclear power is less clear.

While women have won more freedoms in Saudi Arabia in recent years, notably permission to drive cars, in 2021 the World Economic Forum’s gender equality index ranked Saudi Arabia 147 out of 156 countries.

There are no female government ministers in Saudi Arabia, women take up just 7% of managerial roles and earn a quarter of a man’s income on average, the report found.

Green hydrogen creates jobs in production of renewable energy and electrolysers, and can support industries like fertiliser production.

Those jobs would help Saudi Arabia transition away from oil and gas while keeping its public on side, Fischer suggested. “If you don’t have that many rents any more from your fossil fuels then you need some other way of keeping people happy, to manage the politics.”

Norway underpaid Indonesia for forest protection results, study argues

British research sheds light on why Indonesia might have cut ties with donors, finding that funds were inadequate to compete with palm oil sales

An oil palm concession in Papua, Indonesia

 (Photo: Ulet Ifansasti / Greenpeace)

By Chloé Farand

Published on 24/01/2022

Norway’s scheme to reduce emissions from deforestation in Indonesia made only a tiny dent in meeting the nation’s climate target – but the forest nation deserved to have been paid more for it, a study has found.

In 2010, Norway signed a $1 billion payment-by-results deal with the Indonesian government for curbing its emissions by conserving peatlands and forests.

To achieve this, Indonesia agreed to a moratorium on new oil palm, timber, and logging concessions in primary and peatland forests.

Researchers calculated that the moratorium prevented between 68 and 87 million tons of carbon from being released into the atmosphere – more than Norway’s assessment but only about 3-4% of the emissions cuts Indonesia has committed to achieve by 2030 under the Paris Agreement.

Lead author professor Ben Groom, who researches biodiversity economics at the University of Exeter Business School, told Climate Home News: “If Indonesia was going to be paid for the carbon emissions that it prevented, then Norway would have had to come up with a lot more money than it did.”

But Groom and his co-authors suggest that the scheme’s modest results mean Indonesia is unlikely to meet its 2030 climate target since more than half of the emissions cuts needed to meet it are due to come from the forestry sector.

Indonesia is home to the world’s third largest span of tropical rainforest. The encroachment of logging and plantations on that forest has made it responsible for 4% of historical emissions – the fifth largest share of any country.

From 2010 to 2016, when deforestation spiked, Indonesia was responsible for around a quarter of global emissions. The agreement with Norway aimed to reverse this trend. But forest cover continued to decline both inside and outside moratorium areas during that time, the study found.

In September, the Indonesian government abruptly ended the decade-long funding agreement after delays and setbacks over a first payment of $56 million for reducing emissions from deforestation in 2016-17.

Researchers estimate that over the period 2011-17 the moratorium was more effective than Norway’s calculation suggests.

Norway’s performance assessment used the average deforestation rates for the whole of Indonesia rather than just the moratorium area, which Groom and his colleagues argue wasn’t an accurate or rigorous measure of whether the programme was effective.

Instead, they set out to assess the effectiveness of the scheme between 2011 and 2018 by comparing deforestation rates inside and outside of the moratorium area using satellite data.

The study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that dryland forest covered by the moratorium had on average 0.65% higher forest cover than forest areas in the rest of the country. The moratorium had “no meaningful impact” on peatland loss.

It suggests that despite the moratorium, “deforestation has continued largely unchecked”.

Based on their calculation and when applying Norway’s price of $5 per tonne of avoided carbon emissions, they concluded that the forest nation deserved a payment between $340-435m.

Instead, Indonesia received the equivalent of $1 per tonne of carbon emissions it prevented, the study found.

Groom said this was “incredibly cost effective” for Norway but could be seen as unfair towards Indonesia.

While “there should be more efforts like Norway’s in the world,” Groom said the price of a tonne of avoided carbon emissions should be much higher and reflect the opportunity cost of not being able to grow palm oil on the land.

“If you are going to use this mechanism to increase forest cover then you are going to need to scale them up hugely. If you don’t fund them properly, they give very poor results,” he said.

“Maybe perceptions of fairness were driving the failure in this otherwise positive bilateral arrangement.”

The Norwegian government did not respond to Climate Home’s request for comment.

Waterspout swirls over Greek island during rare snowfall

Storm Elpida swept across Greece, with snow blanketing beaches, disrupting air traffic and forcing schools to close.

Monday 24 January 2022 

VIDEO

Waterspout swirls over Greek island during rare snowfall (msn.com)

Spain's Catholic Church agrees to return usurped real estate

Jan 24, 2022

by Associated Press

20211216T1300-SPAIN-CANARY-CHRISTMAS-1514350 (1).JPG

A priest talks with parishioners before celebrating Mass in the Church of San Isidoro in La Palma, Spain, Sept. 25, 2021. (CNS photo/Nacho Doce, Reuters)

MADRID  — The body representing Catholic bishops in Spain has acknowledged that nearly 1,000 real estate properties across the country were registered as possessions of the Church despite having no proof of ownership or clearly belonging to others.

The Catholic Church will now begin a process to "regularize" those properties, according to a joint statement on Monday by the Spanish Episcopal Conference and Spain's Presidency Ministry, which handles religious affairs in the southern European country.

Dioceses and individual parishes for years used their influence in local registries and a legal reform undertaken by a conservative administration to list in official records as their property churches and adjacent premises, educational facilities, monasteries, residential buildings, as well as empty plots of land.

Using a new law passed in 2017, the left-to-center coalition government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez listed nearly 35,000 properties registered by the Catholic Church between 1998 and 2015, including some 20,000 places of worship and nearly 15,000 non-religious facilities.

Negotiations between the two parties led to establishing a joint commission to address the list, resulting in 965 buildings that the bishop's conference said were "erroneously" registered.

Monday's announcement followed a meeting between Sánchez and the head of the Spanish bishops, Cardinal Juan José Omella.

Relations between the two sides have strained under Sánchez's government over taxation, public funding for the church and the handling by the Catholic hierarchy of sex abuses committed by clerics.

3 Palestinians injured after Jewish extremists attack West Bank village near Nablus

Settlers parade through Hawara, stoning cars and storefronts, in convoy to celebrate release of Israeli imprisoned for attacking Palestinians

By AARON BOXERMAN

A Palestinian examines damage to a shop allegedly from Jewish extremist stone-throwing in Huwarra, near Nablus, on January 24, 2022. (courtesy)

Jewish extremists hurled stones at Palestinians while parading through a West Bank town near Nablus on Monday night, injuring three people and smashing cars throughout the village, Palestinian officials and Israeli rights groups said.

A convoy of settlers drove through Hawara, honking their horns and blasting music to celebrate the release of an Israeli imprisoned last year for throwing stones at Palestinians, according to an Israeli security official. The extremists later began throwing stones at local Palestinians.

“The friction began when a number of cars driving on Road 60 through Hawara, threw stones at businesses and parked cars and caused much damage,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

At least 20 Palestinian cars were damaged and storefronts smashed in the village, the left-wing Yesh Din rights group said. An Israeli police spokesperson said officers were investigating the incident.

Local Palestinian Authority official Ghassan Daghlas said in a phone call that a 15-year-old Palestinian from Hawara was rushed to a Nablus hospital after being struck in the head by a stone thrown by a Jewish Israeli.
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According to Hawara town mayor Mueen Dameidi, another two Palestinians, respectively aged 12 and 17, were also lightly wounded by the extremists’ stone-throwing.

Palestinian officials claimed that Israeli soldiers were present at the scene, but did nothing to prevent the attacks. When Palestinians threw back stones at their assailants, soldiers fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse them, Dameidi said.

“The settlers broke cars. They smashed storefronts and shouted and cursed at the village residents — all in the presence of the army,” Dameidi said.
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A Palestinian points at a car whose windows were allegedly smashed in by a stone-throwing Jewish extremists on January 24, 2022. (courtesy)

The Israeli army declined to comment on Dameidi’s claim.

Hawara mostly lies in the West Bank’s Area C, where Israel maintains full military and civilian control. An Israeli checkpoint at the northern end of the village has frequently seen clashes between Palestinians and soldiers.

To the northeast lies Yitzhar, widely seen as one of the West Bank’s most hardline Israeli settlements. The Jewish Israeli former prisoner was reportedly being taken back to his home in the town following his release.

Israeli security officials have warned that violence by Jewish extremists in the West Bank has spiked in recent months. Shin Bet officials told The Times of Israel in late December that Jewish extremist violence had increased by 50 percent over the past year.

Following Monday night’s attack, Defense Minister Benny Gantz pledged more action on “nationalist crime.” As in previous statements, Gantz avoided specifying exactly who was carrying out the attacks.

“The recent incidents of nationalist crime in Judea and Samaria are grave and we will deal with them severely. Anyone who throws stones, sets vehicles ablaze… is a terrorist,” Gantz tweeted.

Nonetheless, the internal Israeli political debate over the phenomenon has been divisive. Right-wing Israeli politicians have denounced the characterization of the attacks as “settler violence,” charging that it is an attempt to besmirch all Jews living in the West Bank.

“There are marginal elements in every community and they should be dealt with using all means, but we must not generalize about an entire community,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in mid-December.

Much of the violence is allegedly perpetrated by Jewish extremists who live in illegal outposts. Last Friday, masked figures descended from the Givat Ronen outpost — one of several outposts near Yitzhar — and viciously beat left-wing Israeli activists in the nearby Palestinian town of Burin, wounding at least six.

“If Palestinians attacked Israelis, with the Israeli army right there — would they just allow it to happen? Of course not. You’d have a dead Palestinian,” said Hawara town mayor Dameidi.

Settler riot in West Bank village causes damage, injuries

Rioting settlers hurl stones and damage storefront windows and cars in village of Huwara near Nablus as they celebrated release from custody of one of their number accused of hurling a stun grenade at a Palestinian home

Elisha Ben Kimon,Elior Levy|

Published: 01.24.22, 

At least three Palestinians, including a three-year old boy, were slightly wounded and property was damaged when dozens of settlers rioted in a West Bank village on Monday.

Police say they have launched an investigation after considerable damage was caused in Huwara near Nablus, where settlers apparently hurled stones at cars and shops, breaking windows.

A car damaged by stones thrown by rioting settlers in West Bank village of Huwara

The settlers who drove through the West Bank village in a convoy of cars as they rioted, were celebrating the release of one of their number from detention, after he was charged with hurling a stun grenade at a Palestinian home.

IDF forces separated local residents from the rioters.

Storefront window damaged from stones thrown by rioting settlers in Huwara near Nablus

The incident comes a day after cars were allegedly vandalized by settlers and two days after a group of settlers attacked Palestinian farmers and left-wing supporters using stones and sticks near an illegal outpost on the West Bank causing injuries.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz condemned the incident and the previous violence saying he intended to act forcefully against the perpetrators.

A car set on fire during rioting of West Bank Settlers on Saturday

(Photo: Rabbis for Human Rights NGO )

"Whoever hurls stones, sets cars on fire, and uses any kind of weapon is a terrorist and we will treat them as such," gantz said.

"We are in the midst of a process to strengthen the forces on the ground [in the West Bank,] including the police and the Shin Bet and focusing our legal efforts there," he said.

Several arrested at Washington protest against Sheikh Jarrah expulsions

Hundreds staged a sit-in at the Israeli embassy in Washington to protest forced expulsions of Palestinians in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood

A protest organiser leads a crowd in a series of chants in front of the
Israeli embassy in Washington (MEE/Umar Farooq)

By Umar A Farooq in Washington
Published date: 24 January 2022

Several people were arrested on Sunday after a day of largely peaceful protest outside of the Israeli embassy in Washington, where hundreds gathered to condemn the forced expulsions of Palestinians from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah and other areas of occupied Palestine.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of pro-Palestine activists gathered in front of the embassy to protest Israel's policies towards the Palestinians. After blocking off a road in front of the embassy, protesters set up three tents and laid down banners in front of the building's gate.

Many of the demonstrators wore black and white keffiyehs, a headscarf that has come to symbolise Palestinian resistance against colonialism and the Israeli occupation, as they held up placards saying, "Hands off Sheikh Jarrah!"

The Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), the organisation which organised the sit-in, said seven demonstrators were arrested after the protest had largely ended and they were being held in two precincts in Washington.

The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia referred MEE to the US Secret Service for comment, and the Secret Service did not respond by the time of publication.

The sit-in came amid widespread condemnation over Israel's decision last week to demolish the home of the Salhiya family in Sheikh Jarrah, leaving 18 people, including children, homeless.

Sheikh Jarrah has become a flashpoint over the past year, as the Israeli government has tried to expel multiple families from the neighbourhood in order to make way for Israeli settlers.The demolition was carried out on Wednesday by a large Israeli security operation that saw Israeli forces violently raid the home of Mahmoud Salhiya before arresting him, a number of his relatives and supporters.

Since Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and subsequently annexed it in 1980, settlers have been trying to displace Palestinians from their homes in the area based on claims of Jewish ownership dating back to the Ottoman era.

"We all came out here today to protest against the US complicity in the war crimes and funding of these war crimes that Israel's committing against the Palestinian people," an organiser with the PYM, who asked to remain anonymous, told Middle East Eye.

"Israel is currently ethnically cleansing Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah, in al-Naqab, and in al-Khalil. And we don't want our tax dollars to go towards that."

Seven people were arrested during the sit-in in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, on 23 January 2022 (Courtesy of Palestinian Youth Movement)

'It's like we're back to square one'

At present, 37 Palestinian families live in Sheikh Jarrah, six of them facing imminent eviction.

Since 2020, Israeli courts have ordered the eviction of 13 Palestinian families in the neighbourhood. Last May, the forced evictions of multiple families ignited an international protest movement, with tens of thousands of people marching in Washington, New York, London and many other major cities across the world.

Since then, despite the continued protests, some protesters told MEE that momentum seems to have died down.Celebrities including Bella Hadid, Mark Ruffalo, The Weeknd, Halsey, and Kehlani, all came out in solidarity with Palestinians, either directly participating in protests or sharing content on social media.

'So we're hoping that this event and this action will revitalise the protest movement'

- Dalia, a Palestinian protester

"It feels like last year all over again. And it's really frustrating to feel like we're kind of back to square one," said Dalia, a protester who asked that her last name not be revealed.

"So we're hoping that this event and this action will revitalise the protest movement."

However, Dalia noted that since last May, the crowds attending these protests had become more diverse, showing that the cause for Palestinian rights is being supported not only by the Palestinian community in the US. More and more Americans understand the plight of Palestinians in the occupied territories.

Polling over the past year has shown that there has been a shift when it comes to the discourse around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with a Gallup poll released in March 2021 finding that the majority of Democrats felt the US should be putting more pressure on the Israeli government.

"I'm very hopeful when I see so many people from so many different backgrounds showing up and helping us because it's exhausting doing this alone," Dalia said.

"We're constantly bombarded with information. We have to be on top of everything and it's good to know that we have a community to rely on."

Protesters set up tents in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington (MEE/Umar Farooq)

Puerto Rico: statue of Spanish explorer toppled before King Felipe’s visit

Juan Ponce de León statue came down hours before king arrives on island to mark 500 years since founding of capital San Juan

The Juan Ponce de León statue in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. The capital’s mayor criticized what he said was an ‘act of vandalism’.

 Photograph: Ricardo Arduengo/AFP/Getty Images

AFP in Miami
Mon 24 Jan 2022 

A statue of the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León has been toppled in Puerto Rico’s capital, San Juan, hours before a visit to the Caribbean island by Spain’s King Felipe VI.

The capital’s mayor, Miguel Romero, criticized the incident on Monday as an “act of vandalism” in remarks to news outlet El Nuevo Día, but sought to downplay the significance of the incident and the extent of the damage.

“Some individuals approached the statue”, located in a square in the historic center of San Juan, and “caused damage”, according to a police report quoted by local media.

Felipe VI was due later on Monday in Puerto Rico, a US territory, to mark the 500th anniversary of San Juan’s founding.

The city’s origins date back to 1521, but the official celebrations were delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Authorities indicated they were looking at security camera footage to help identify those responsible for damaging the statue.

Local media reported that a group known as the Boriken Libertarian Forces has claimed responsibility.

“Faced with the visit of the King of Spain, Felipe VI, to Puerto Rico and the escalation of ‘gringo’ invaders taking over our lands, we want to send a clear message: neither kings nor ‘gringo’ invaders,” the group wrote in a statement.

Ponce de León undertook a royal mission in 1508 to explore and colonize the island, which the native Taino inhabitants called Boriken. He eventually became Puerto Rico’s first governor.

The statue was forged in 1882 in New York, with bronze obtained from British cannons captured after a failed attack on the Spanish in Puerto Rico in 1797.

5.5 magnitude earthquake shakes Haiti days after anniversary of 2010 disaster

Country's geology makes it susceptible to devastating earthquakes


Laura Gamba |24.01.2022

BOGOTA, Colombia

A 5.5 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti's southern peninsula on Monday, leaving at least two people dead, shaking houses and buildings and prompting schools to close.

"The earthquake occurred at 08:16 local time, with magnitude 5.5, and depth of 3.0 kilometers," the country's seismological services reported. The tremor was followed by several aftershocks.

Haiti's Civil Protection Directorate reported that at least two people died following the earthquake. In Anse-a-Veau, a man died when a wall collapsed and the second death was caused by a landslide.

Haiti is one of the most seismically active places in the world due to its unique geology. The country sits on a fault line between huge tectonic plates, one in North America and the other in the Caribbean.

Monday's earthquake comes just days after the 12th anniversary of the 7.0 magnitude quake in 2010 that killed more than 220,000 people and left its capital Port-au-Prince devastated.

In August of 2021, Haiti experienced a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 2,000, injured at least 5,700 people and destroyed hundreds of houses leaving thousands displaced from their homes.

In 2021, experts reported at least 1,647 earthquakes, the largest of which was the 7.2 magnitude on Aug. 14, an increase of 230% over the previous year.

The country is still struggling with the coronavirus pandemic, a wave of gang violence and political instability following last month's assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

Biscuit World union effort rooted in West Virginia history

By LEAH WILLINGHAM

1 of 4

Former Tudor's Biscuit World employee Jennifer Patton, 38, holds up stickers displaying the logo of the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 union at her coworker's home in Elkview, W.Va., on Jan. 20, 2022. Patton said she was retaliated against and fired by management after she joined efforts to unionize the restaurant. Employees at the Elkview, W.Va., restaurant have already case ballots to decide whether or not they want to create a union. The votes will be read Tuesday. (AP Photo/Leah M. Willingham)


ELKVIEW, W.Va. (AP) — While making biscuits and meatloaf at a fast-food restaurant during the coronavirus pandemic, 64-year-old Cynthia Nicholson often thinks back to her husband’s coal mining days in West Virginia.

In that job and in his time as a pipefitter, she said, the work was grueling and sometimes dangerous — but there were standards for safety, working conditions and wages, and people felt they were treated fairly. She said that was because he belonged to unions.

At Tudor’s Biscuit World in Elkview, a franchise of a regional chain that serves comfort food, Nicholson says workers have no such protection. With the coronavirus surging, she doesn’t feel safe.

So, a few months ago she did the only thing that makes sense to her: She reached out to her late husband’s union friends and asked for help. On Tuesday, after months of organizing, National Labor Relations Board officials will count votes cast by some of the franchise’s roughly two dozen workers to find out if it will become the first unionized fast-food restaurant in the state

The push for a union in this mountain town of fewer than 2,000 people echoes a larger national movement of organizing among retail and food service workers. In a business where workers have routinely been asked to stay on the job and interact with the public during the pandemic, they hope forming a union will give them more say in how they are treated.

The effort also resonates deeply in a state with a storied history of labor activism, coming 100 years after the largest worker uprising in U.S. history erupted in West Virginia coal country.

“We’re tired of being treated as badly as we’re being treated,” Nicholson said. “The workers are treated with no dignity, no respect, like they’re just a number.”

The vice president of Tudor’s Biscuit World did not respond to a voicemail or text message from The Associated Press, and no one from the chain’s corporate offices responded to phone calls.

Relatively unknown outside the region, Tudor’s Biscuit World is a staple of West Virginia: a must-stop eatery where diners can get made-from-scratch biscuits doused in gravy; country-fried steak and sandwiches including the Miner or the Mountaineer. Founded in Charleston in 1980, the chain now has more than 70 locations, mostly in West Virginia and in parts of neighboring states Ohio and Kentucky.

In one sense, the Elkview franchise, surrounded by hills and parked next to a Dairy Queen, is far removed from the West Virginia coal mines where men and women once stood in the vanguard of the American labor movement. In another, the connection is visceral.

Workers here feel connected to the state’s labor history in their bones, bonded by blood to men and women who saw the value of organizing for safer conditions and better pay in their own lives. Unions have been weakened considerably over the years, but many West Virginians remember a father, a husband or some other relative who once held a union job, and they witnessed the power of banding together.

Employees in the state have often gravitated toward unionization when concerns about job safety are heightened, notes West Virginia University historian William Hal Gorby.

“Workers across sectors are saying, ‘We are living through a moment in time where it’s making you wonder: Do you want to do this particular job because you could get sick and or die from it?’” he said. “In the early 20th century, it was the coal mine and lack of regulations and now it’s COVID.”

A century ago, concerns over safety and quality of life drew workers to Blair Mountain, where armed miners were subdued by government officials and at least 16 men died. It was a setback for the labor movement at the time, but union membership in the state reached a peak in the decades following the battle. In the 1940s and 1950s, roughly half of West Virginia workers were employed in heavy industries such as coal, steel and glass, and the majority of those workers belonged to a union.

By 2021, however, only 10.5% of West Virginia workers were represented by unions, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics released last week.

Nicholson is a retired dental assistant who lives in Elkview. She started working at Tudor’s about a year ago, earning $9 an hour as a prep cook for extra income after her husband died of cancer.

She saw things that worried her immediately. After an employee tested positive for COVID-19, the restaurant’s employees were never informed, she said. When one of her coworkers questioned the store’s COVID policy, Nicholson said, she started getting her hours cut. Employees often had to work past their scheduled hours to cover shifts and then were reprimanded for working overtime, she said.

Nicholson also alleges that she and other employees were shorted on their paychecks and charged hundreds of dollars for meals at work they never ate.

“The belittling that goes on astonished me,” she said, adding that in her previous job as a dental assistant, “You weren’t allowed to act like that.”

Nicholson reached out to one of the unions her husband had belonged to: the Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 625, based in the capital of Charleston. Union officials there connected her with the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400, which represents 35,000 workers across six states and Washington, D.C.

When a majority of the workers at Tudor’s Elkview franchise signed authorization cards, Nicholson said, there was a lot of excitement. They hosted rallies where people held signs saying, “We love union biscuits.”

But soon the temperature changed. Employees started worrying that they could lose their jobs or have their hours cut. Nicholson said she was written up for small things, something that hadn’t happened before.

Former Tudor’s head cashier Jennifer Patton, 38, said she was afraid of joining a union at first, but felt more comfortable after talking to her father-in-law, who was a union man.

She signed on after she found out that an employee she had been riding with to another Tudor’s location had tested positive for COVID-19 and she hadn’t been told.

Her decision had consequences: In the months that followed, she said, she was suspended multiple times even though she had never been disciplined previously and had even been promoted. Her bosses then took away her security clearance to work cashiers. Last week, she was fired.

Patton’s son just started his first year of college. She said paying for her son’s education is important to her.

“Me and my husband work every day, as many hours as we possibly can, and we still struggle,” she said. “Nobody deserves to be talked to and treated the way we are.”

Tudor’s employee Susie Thompson, 67, agrees.

“I wouldn’t be doing this job at my age unless I had to,” said Thompson, whose ex-husband belonged to a union as a strip miner. “It’s hard. Morale is so low.”

Nicholson hopes enough workers feel the connection to the state’s past to tip the balance in favor of a collective bargaining unit now.

“Unions protected our family members, so many workers in this state’s history,” she said. “We need that protection at Tudor’s.”