India's capital to shut schools as toxic smog chokes city

Primary schools in India's capital New Delhi will shut to protect children from the toxic smog choking the megacity of 20 million people, authorities said Friday

By AFP
November 04, 2022

The burning of rice paddies after harvests across northern India takes place every year. — AFP

New Delhi: Primary schools in India's capital New Delhi will shut to protect children from the toxic smog choking the megacity of 20 million people, authorities said Friday.

Smoke from farmers burning crop stubble, vehicle exhaust and factory emissions combine every winter to blanket the capital in a deadly grey haze.

On Friday, levels of the most dangerous PM2.5 particles -- so tiny they can enter the bloodstream -- were almost 25 times the daily maximum recommended by the World Health Organization, according to monitoring firm IQAir.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, under fire from residents and political opponents for failing to address the crisis, said primary schools would be closed from Saturday until "the pollution situation improves".

"No child should suffer in any way," Kejriwal told reporters.

Delhi is frequently ranked as one of the world's most polluted cities. On Friday it again topped IQAir's list of major cities with the worst air quality.

A Lancet study in 2020 attributed 1.67 million deaths to air pollution in India during the previous year, including almost 17,500 in the capital.

Authorities regularly announce different plans to reduce the pollution, for example by halting construction work, but to little effect.

Tens of thousands of farmers across north India set fire to their fields at the start of every winter to clear crop stubble from recently harvested rice paddies.

The practice is one of the key drivers of Delhi's annual smog problem and persists despite efforts to persuade farmers to use different clearing methods.

Farm fire smoke accounted for a third of Delhi's air pollution on Thursday, according to India's air quality monitoring agency.

The problem is also a political flashpoint -- with Delhi and the northern state of Punjab governed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a rival to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party.

But Kejriwal called for an end to "blame games and finger-pointing" over responsibility for tackling the smog, after India's environment minister lambasted the AAP for presiding over an increase in farm fires.

"It won't help in finding solutions. We can blame them, and they can blame us, but that would lead to nothing," he said.

"Farmers need solutions," he added. "The day they get a solution, they will stop burning the stubble."

CO2 capture and storage: Environmental lifeline or blank cheque for polluters?

Grégoire SAUVAGE -

CO2 capture and storage technologies are gaining momentum as the world struggles to reduce emissions enough to avoid a climate catastrophe. Some climate activists are sceptical and see this technology as a cop-out. But others say its use could well be necessary.


CO2 capture and storage: Environmental lifeline or blank cheque for polluters?

© Alexiane Lerouge, AFP

For years, carbon capture and storage (CCS) was outside the mainstream, hindered by prohibitive costs and a lack of political support. But now the CCS industry is booming.

The French Institute of International Relations counted a record 76 CCS projects on the go in Europe in a 2021 report.

“Currently, CCS is progressing along two tracks in Europe; there’s a lot of enthusiasm in northern Europe and a lot less enthusiasm in southern Europe, where there’s a lack of political will to implement these technologies,” said Thomas Le Guénan, a geologist at the French Geological and Mining Research Bureau.

The market for CO2 capture and storage equipment is expected to quadruple over the next three years, reaching some $50 billion in 2025, according to Norwegian research firm Rystad Energy. Thanks to surging investment in Europe and North America, the CCS industry should be able to sequester 150 million tonnes per year, up from 40 million at present. This is nevertheless a drop in the ocean when compared to the 38 billion tonnes of CO2 emitted by humans in 2019.

Piloted by oil supermajors Total, Shell and Equinor, the Northern Lights project is expected to make Norway a CO2 storage powerhouse. Near the island of Bergen, a terminal is set to capture nearly 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year produced by European industry. “The ship will unload its CO2 in liquid form; it’s like water, odourless and colourless,” explained Cristel Lambtone, the project's technical director, speaking to France Info. The CO2 will then be transported through pipelines to be stored 2,500 metres below the North Sea in wells currently being drilled.

How does CO2 capture work?

Needless to say, CO2 needs to captured before it is buried. The easiest way to do this is while fossil fuels or wood are being burned. There are various processes, but the one the CCS sector has mastered best is called “post-combustion” – using a solvent to isolate the CO2 from the industrial fumes. This technique is especially effective on the most polluting manufacturing sites, like power stations, steelworks, chemical plants and cement plants.

The next step is to transport the compressed CO2 to storage sites such as old oil reservoirs or saline aquifers. “These are not holes but deep formations with porous rocks that allow CO2 to be injected,” Le Guénan explained. “We also look for formations with impermeable rock on top to prevent CO2 from rising up.”

Related video: Shipping industry feeling increased pressure to reduce carbon emissions

Duration 4:17 View on Watch

It is also possible to suck CO2 straight from the atmosphere using giant hoovers. The largest operation using this technology is the Orca site in Iceland. Although still in its infancy, this technology has won a lot of investment over the past two years, especially in the US. Tech titans like Elon Musk and Bill Gates have poured in money.

A gigafactory capturing CO2 directly from the atmosphere is due to start work in the US state of Wyoming, a big coal producer. This “Bison” project aims to capture 5 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030.

Limits of CO2 capture

CCS looks like a godsend as countries around the world struggle to wean themselves off fossil fuels.

But while prices have reduced significantly, the high costs of these energy-intensive technologies still place a ceiling on what the sector can do. “As things stand, the price of the carbon allowance issued under the EU’s CO2 emissions trading scheme is still lower than the costs for manufacturers of CCS technology,” said Florence Delprat-Jannaud, head of the CCS programme at the French Institute of Petroleum. “Subsidies are needed to accelerate the implementation of this technology.”

The cost is even higher for direct capture from the air – up to €335 per tonne of CO2 – because the process requires a lot of energy, since CO2 is not highly concentrated in the air.

Nevertheless, costs could fall below €100 per tonne by 2030 for facilities benefitting from large renewable energy resources, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

And it takes a long time to make storage locations operational. “You’ve got to collect a lot of data to have enough confidence in a site; all in all, it can take about a decade,” said Le Guénan, who is currently studying a potential storage area in Grandpuits in the Paris region as part of an EU project.

‘Essential’ or a ‘risky bet’?

At the same time, many people do not like the idea of CO2 storage sites in their local area due to fears of gas leaks and lower house prices. Fierce opposition from local populations to proposed projects has already been seen in Germany and The Netherlands.

Many environmentalists are also sceptical. “Manufacturers see CCS as a way of carrying on with the same production model, when it would be better to reduce energy consumption while recycling industrial materials,” said Léa Mattieu, head of the heavy industry programme at the NGO Climate Action Network.

“It’s a risky bet,” Mattieu continued. “Manufacturers have been talking about this technology for several decades – and we haven’t really seen the results come to fruition. CCS is still too expensive and it may well end up being a last resort solution, just for heavy industry.”

Indeed, as things stand CCS plays a marginal role in reducing CO2 emissions and its potential for development remains unproven. At present only around 30 large-scale installations are at work across the globe, capable of capturing and storing some 40 million tonnes a year. In order to achieve carbon neutrality, according to the IEA, 50 or even 100 times more than that needs to be captured and stored by 2035.

All that said, as countries struggle to bring enough renewable and nuclear energy on line, scientists from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say CCS is essential to averting a climate catastrophe – while highlighting that nothing must distract from the imperative of drastically reducing emissions.

This article was adapted from the original in French.

US Embassy officials visit Brittney Griner in Russian prison

It was the first consular access to the WNBA star since early August, when she was imprisoned in Russia on drug charges. Washington and Moscow are discussing a potential prisoner swap.

Officials of the United States Embassy in Moscow visited imprisoned WNBA star Brittney Griner on Thursday.

State Department spokesman Ned Price wrote on Twitter that the American representatives, "saw firsthand her tenacity and perseverance despite her present circumstances."

"We are told she is doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One.

The visit comes after a Russian court last week rejected Griner's appeal of her nine-year sentence for drug possession.

She has been imprisoned since her arrest in February after being caught bringing less than a gram of cannabis oil into the country.

Once the appeals process is over, she could be transferred to a penal colony.

Russian court rejects Brittney Griner's appeal

02:00

Potential prisoner exchange?

According to Jean-Pierre, President Joe Biden's administration is pressing Russia, "to resolve the current unacceptable and wrongful detentions," of Griner and Paul Whelan, a former US Marine also imprisoned in Russia

He was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison in Russia on espionage-related charges that he and his family say are bogus.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said over the summer that the US had made a "substantial proposal'' to Russia to try to secure their release.

Biden told relatives of Griner and Whelan in a White House meeting in September that his administration was committed to bringing them home.

The US has offered to exchange Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer currently serving a 25-year prison sentence, for the two Americans.

The US described the Russian court proceedings against Griner as a 'sham'

Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters/AP/picture alliance

On Thursday Russia's ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, said Moscow would seek the release of as many of its citizens as possible in any future prisoner exchange with Washington.

This came despite Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's saying last week that a potential prisoner exchange could only be negotiated quietly.

lo/msh (AP, Reuters)

GLOBAL HEALTH CARE CRISIS

How to save Germany's hospitals

The government has pledged billions to help hospitals face rising inflation and energy costs. It has also promised "the biggest hospital reform in 20 years" to fix the system. That is badly needed, but will it work?


Ben Knight C-DW - TODAY

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach revealed on Tuesday that German hospitals would be receiving an extra €8 billion ($7.9 billion) as a buffer against spiraling energy costs.

The planned special funds "should come very quickly," Lauterbach said in Berlin, adding that the money was also meant to cover additional needs to offset inflation.

The German Hospital Federation (DKG) had warned that the sharp rise in costs would send many hospitals to the brink of insolvency.
Wrong incentives?

But the hospitals' immediate cash-flow troubles are overshadowed by larger structural issues, which Lauterbach has made it his task to resolve: Germany's understaffed and over-bureaucratic hospital system, where doctors and patients have for many years complained of too many financial incentives to "over-treat" patients, resulting in long hospital stays, unnecessary operations, unnecessary antibiotic treatments.

The number of operations on the spine has increased dramatically in Germany

 Felix Kästle/dpa/picture alliance

A recent documentary by public broadcaster ARD related several such stories. One was told by gynecologist Katharina Lüdemann, who described a patient who had developed a so-called placental insufficiency in the first 25 weeks of her pregnancy.

Following two weeks of daily assessments on whether or not her baby had more chance of surviving inside or outside her womb, a colleague at a conference told her: "You do know that if the child weighs more than 1,500 grams, then we make only half as much money. So what are you waiting for?"

"That really knocked me off my feet at the time," Lüdemann recounted. "What does it mean when it isn't even about that anymore about what is medically reasonable?" Premature babies are one of the most lucrative income sources for hospitals, and Germany has a network of 170 hospital centers for premature babies, far more than other countries.

There are similar stories in all hospital departments: Artificial ventilation, a treatment that was needed more than ever during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, costs nearly €11,000 for the first 24 hours, but anything over 25 hours, and the hospitals can earn twice as much and the sum goes up with time. And yet prolonged ventilation can cause significant damage to the lungs and heart.

Ventilation of patients has become a lucrative business

Jeff Pachoud/dpa/picture alliance

Diagnosis-Related Groups

The villain in this is the classification according to Diagnosis Related Group (DRG), the system by which hospitals in many countries classify cases and how they are paid by health insurers. This "Fallpauschale," or case fee, was introduced in Germany in 2003 partly to reduce the length of hospital stays and the ensuing pressure on hospital staff: Hospitals are now paid based on the case itself, not on how long the patient stayed in the hospital. It worked: The average length of a hospital stay in Germany has dropped from 10 days to 7 days since the introduction of the case fee. The occupancy of hospital beds remained low in 2021, despite the pandemic.

But this has only brought its own detrimental incentives with it: Namely, a pressure to get to treat as many patients as possible, and a pressure to over-treat them. There's an old medical joke about this, which the doctor and journalist Werner Bartens repeated in the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper last year: "There are no healthy people, there are only people who haven't been examined thoroughly enough." That, Bartens said, "was not irony anymore, but dangerous reality."

Promising the "biggest hospital reform in 20 years," Lauterbach has said he is determined to replace case fees with a better system and has instituted a 16-person experts' commission, made up of leading doctors and legal experts, to come up with radical solutions.

When there is not enough money for nursing staff, hospital beds have to stay empty

 Fabian Sommer/dpa/picture alliance

Gerald Gass, board chairman at the German Hospital Federation (DKG), is happy enough with the government's approach, but skeptical that the case fee system should be scrapped altogether. "We share the minister's opinion that there's a need to reform the financing of hospitals," Gass told DW. "But we aren't calling for the scrapping of the case fee system. We want it to be extended and adapted."

The parallel often drawn by doctors is that of firefighters: They are not paid per fire, but to be ready for all fires. In a medical context, that would mean giving hospitals a basic budget. Gass says the best path would be a flexible one: Give hospitals a budget but also case fees for certain individual cases — especially out-patient treatments.

This, says Gass, would negate the incentive to "permanently treat new patients." "This hamster wheel effect, which puts a massive strain on staff, would be reduced because the financing would also include other incentives," he said.
More out-patients

Such a flexible approach would bring with it another reform that the DKG is calling for: Equipping hospitals to better mix out-patient and in-patient services — something that Gass says is already standard in many European countries. It would mean getting rid of hospitals that only treat in-patients with a variety of ailments and creating more specialized hospitals able to take more out-patients.

German nurses demand better conditions

05:51

Other countries, including Switzerland, Sweden, and Norway, already have some kind of mixed system like the one Gass describes. Denmark has recently instituted a drastic reform of its hospital system that has resulted in the closure of some hospitals to make way for so-called "super-hospitals," some of which required the building of new roads and infrastructure.

Something similar, though not quite as far-reaching, could also be possible in Germany: Fewer in-patient-only hospitals, some fusion of hospitals, and other hospitals specialized in certain conditions.

"I am convinced that the minister and the commission are aiming for such a major reform," Gass concluded. "But I'm also skeptical whether the path they are choosing is the right one."

His worry is that, since Germany's health policy is largely determined at the state level, the state governments will block reforms like closing certain hospitals that might make them look like they mismanaged things for years. "The states aren't represented in the current commission," he said, "so everything that is being decided and proposed now will have to be approved later by the states." As always with ambitious plans, the political hurdles may be the toughest ones.

Edited by: Rina Goldenberg

ETHIOPIAN WAR OF AGGRESSION

Cease-fire agreed to stop Ethiopia's Tigray conflict

Isaac Kaledzi - DW

After previous truces failed, there is cautious optimism about the latest deal meant to end a two-year conflict that has caused a humanitarian crisis.

All warring parties involved in the conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region must now show strong commitment towards achieving long lasting peace, security and political analysts have advised.

Ethiopia's government forces on Wednesday reached a truce with rebel Tigrayan forces, mediated in South Africa by the African Union (AU) .

The deal is meant to end a two-year conflict that has caused a humanitarian crisis in the region with a population of 6 million.

A previous five-month cease-fire between the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan forces broke down in August, leading to fresh clashes.

In a joint statement, both sides said they "agreed to permanently silence the guns and end" the conflict, something that has been welcomed around the world.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that he welcomed "the signing of a cessation of hostilities between the government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People's Liberation Front."

Blinken commended the African Union "for its extraordinary efforts to bring peace to northern Ethiopia."



"The accord struck in South Africa is an important first step," said Ludger Schadomsky, head of DW's Amharic service, but cautioned that "as the mediators have rightly pointed put: The devil is now in the implementation."

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had sent government troops into Tigray in November 2020 after accusing the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) of attacking military camps.

The TPLF had dominated Ethiopia's ruling political alliance for decades before Abiy took power in 2018.

The ensuing conflict has killed thousands of civilians, uprooted millions and left hundreds of thousands facing famine.

Ethiopia's warring parties agree to peace deal

04:14

What did they agree on?

In order to end two years of misery for ordinary Ethiopians, the parties agreed that the "government of Ethiopia will further enhance its collaboration with humanitarian agencies to continue expediting aid to all those in need of assistance."

Both sides had pitted their strengths against each other for the past two years. The latest deal stipulates that the two forces have agreed to "stop all forms of conflicts, and hostile propaganda."

There would be a "program of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration for the TPLF combatants into the national defense force," according to the joint statement.

Again, the parties intend implementing "transitional measures that include the restoration of constitutional order in the Tigray region, a framework for the settlement of political differences, and a Transitional Justice Policy framework to ensure accountability, truth, reconciliation, and healing."

The conflict cut off Tigray's communications and transport links, which severely impacted the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia's northernmost region.

The agreement noted that Ethiopian government "will continue the efforts to restore public services and rebuild the infrastructures of all communities affected by the conflict."

The speed at which aid deliveries can be restored to the region after the truce is not yet clear but there is a call for students to go to school, "farmers, and pastoralists to their fields, and public servants to their offices."

Olusegun Obasanjo, a member of the African Union negotiating team, said at the signing of the deal that "today is the beginning of the new dawn for Ethiopia, for the Horn of Africa and indeed for Africa as a whole."

Tigrayans living in Addis Ababa has called on the US for a long-lasting solution for the Tigray conflict

Seyum Getu/DW

WHO: Tigray 'a health crisis for 6 million people'

Cautious optimism

Despite both parties saying the latest truce provides "a new and hopeful chapter in the history of the country," some analysts are cautiously optimistic.

Solomon Tefera, Political Science Teacher in Ambo University, Oromia region, told DW that to ensure a lasting peace there must be transparency in implementing details of the deal.

"To ensure sustainable peace across the country, the Ethiopian government must open the door for discussion with all opponents and groups especially in Oromia to achieve the peace process."

He asked that room is made for activists, scholars and other interested parties to contribute towards achieving peace in the country.

"I think that it is good that the killing will stop, we welcome that but there are a lot of major outstanding issues yet unanswered," Professor Merera Gudina, Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) Party Chairman said in an interview with DW.

He said he is concerned about the absence of a framework on the kinds of dialogues that would take place which would be all inclusive for achieving peace.

"Let us see how it [the peace deal] will be implemented," Gudina noted while demanding that the entire Ethiopian population is carried along during the process.

A civil servant from Tigray, Dawit Geberemichel, who is hopeful the latest truce will be key in resolving the conflict, told DW he had some doubts.

"How secure is the peace agreement? Because we have had experiences that promised things that were not fulfilled. For this reason, we have doubts about its implementation," he said.

The unresolved Eritrean factor

During the war, the Ethiopian national defense forces have had support from neighboring Eritrea.

While peace talks were taking place in South Africa, Ethiopian government troops backed by the Eritrean army waged artillery bombardments and air strikes, capturing a string of towns from the rebels.

There was no mention by the AU mediators with regard to such calls from international community and Tigrayan forces for Eritrea's army to withdraw from the battlefield.

"The case of Eritrea has not been raised in the agreement," Geberemichel told DW.

"The Eritrean soldier committed many atrocities, killings of people in Ethiopia-Tigray. Therefore, we have doubts how the agreement will be fulfilled," he added.

DW's Schadomsky agreed on the subject of Eritrea's place in the conflict and the latest deal.

"The main obstacle to a lasting solution is the absence of the main aggressor, Eritrea, from the agreement," he said.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who has welcomed the truce, is calling on Eritrea to "lay down its arms & withdraw."

Naomi Kikoler, a strategist on mass atrocity prevention, told Reuters that ensuring the agreement's implementation will require "the departure of Eritrean forces, whose government was not part of the negotiations," describing that element as "critical."

Assurances from warring parties

The head of the government team, Abiy's national security adviser, Redwan Hussein, praised both sides for their "constructive engagement to allow the country to put this tragic period of conflict behind us."

"It is now for all of us to honor this agreement, we must be through to the letter in the spirit of this agreement," Hussein said.

"The people of Ethiopia expected more than the text of this agreement. They demand peace and harmony, they desire development, they have chatted a promising hand, bright future."

He assured that "the government on its part will take various proactive measures to nurture democracy and inclusive development in the country."

Getachew Reda, TPLF representative is also hopeful.

"So, I hope our efforts to silence the guns will be followed through in earnest. And our people deserve all peace in the world, and we need to rebuild communities, which have already been shuttered," Reda said.

He assured that the TPLF is "ready to do everything, to make sure that no effort on the part of spoilers will set us back [on our commitment for peace]."
Humanitarian situation

Before last month's peace talks, the United Nations had said that the level of need in Ethiopia was "staggering".

It said even before hostilities resumed in August this year, 13 million people needed food and other support across Tigray and its neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar.

Alyona Synenko, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross in East Africa, told DW that since August when the fighting resumed it has been difficult getting access to the conflict zone to assist civilians was a challenge resulting in several deaths.

"After two years of conflict the humanitarian needs are very high," she said noting that replenishing their stock of supplies hasn't happened since fighting resumed in August.

"All the areas of life have been affected," Synenko said, highlighting the challenges civilians face in accessing food, medical care, and clean water.

Synenko explained though that "this positive development [the truce] will allow us to deliver much needed humanitarian supplies to people in Tigray and other areas of the north."

The Red Cross spokesperson however said the implementation of the deal will be crucial if any success is to be realized on the ground in terms of humanitarian aid.

Million Haileselassie, Abu-Bakarr Jalloh and Seyoum Getu Hailu contributed to this article.

Edited by: Keith Walker

OBVIOUSLY NOT GREEN PARTY MINISTER

German minister urges clampdown on illegal climate protests

Louis Oelofse

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wants activists who break the law to be arrested and prosecuted. It comes amid a wave of civil disobedience acts by activists demanding tougher measures to combat the climate crisis.

Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Thursday took to Twitter to express her "full support" for a "police clampdown" on illegal climate protests if they block paths for emergency vehicles.

"These activists place themselves above the law and resort to means that do not benefit the important cause of climate protection, but instead do considerable damage," she told the German Press Agency (dpa).

She said climate activists who break the law, "must be prosecuted quickly and consequently."

"When crimes are committed and other people are endangered, then every limit of legitimate protest has been breached," the Social Democrat politician said.

Faeser specifically mentioned an incident in Berlin earlier in the week during which two protesters had glued themselves to a gantry sign on the city's autobahn.

Police said the two men, who are part of the group Last Generation, allegedly slowed emergency services' response to a severe traffic accident.

A cyclist, who had been run over by a cement mixer, was in intensive care following the collision and was declared brain dead on Thursday.

Berlin's fire brigade said the emergency vehicle was delayed due to heavy traffic but said it could not conclusively blame it on the protesters' actions. A Berlin paramedic told Buzzfeed that as he understood from colleagues on the scene, the patient was reached and treated before the delayed vehicle's arrival and in this specific instance the time lost probably did not affect the medical outcome.

Last Generation expressed regrets over the cyclist's condition but said they "interrupt everyday life because we are in an emergency.

"The government's course is deadly, self-destructive and leading us to climate chaos," the group wrote on Twitter.

Police union urges surveillance

Over the past few weeks, climate activists across Europe have thrown soup and mashed potatoes and glued themselves to celebrated artworks from Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" to Claude Monet's "Haystacks".

They have sprayed orange paint on buildings, including the headquarters of Germany's ruling coalition parties — the Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats — demanding tougher measures to combat the climate crisis.

In each case, the protesters were detained for their actions.

Climate activists create security nightmare for museums

02:43

The German Police Union (GdP) says that is not enough, they urged the government to act more decisively against activists that, "are increasingly resorting to criminal means."

The GdP chairperson, Jochen Kopelke, said the union was concerned that activist groups were being infiltrated by extremist groups.

He did not cite in any specific examples but said, "unchecked radicalization can lead first to extremism, then to terrorism. We don't want that, it must not happen here."

He called for police surveillance of certain groups.
German president warns activists risk losing public support for climate demands

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is on an official visit to South Korea, said the acts of civil disobedience might be hurting the climate activists' cause.

"The question is whether what we are seeing these days, food being thrown at valuable paintings, or people sticking themselves to the street, really helps the climate goal," Steinmeier said during a visit to Kyoto.

"I'm afraid it will undermine the broad social support to take more decisive climate protection or more specifically rob us of the opportunity to increase this support even more," he added.

In a speech at the Doshisha University in Kyoto he said "shock-induced paralysis or angry protests," wont succeed in containing the climate crisis.

Includes reporting from dpa.

Edited by: Mark Hallam

Greta Thunberg interview: world on climate precipice but activism offers hope

Channel 4 News

4 days ago

In an extended interview with Channel 4 News, as she launches The Climate Book, Greta Thunberg speaks about how she deals with online trolls and why she feels hopeful about the fight against climate change even as the world approaches a “precipice”. 

Plastic recycling a 'myth' as packaging explodes

NATURE AND ENVIRONMENT

GLOBAL ISSUES

Stuart Braun
11/02/2022November 2, 2022

Major companies are falling short on their commitments to recycle and reduce plastic, a fossil fuel byproduct, even as Coca-Cola sponsors this year's climate conference.

https://p.dw.com/p/4IxDb

When it was announced that Coca-Cola would be a major sponsor of the COP27 climate summit starting next week in Egypt, climate campaigners and activists quickly accused the company of greenwashing.

"This is greenwashing from Coca-Cola, plain and simple, all whilst they fill the ocean with plastic pollution and emit huge volumes of carbon by using virgin oil in their production of plastic packaging," said Amy Slack, head of campaigns and policy for UK-based ocean activists, Surfers Against Sewage.

Coca-Cola produces around 120 billion oil-based plastic bottles annually, according to anti-plastics campaigners Break Free from Plastics. Around 99% of the bottles are produced with fossil fuels, which is worsening climate change and fueling big oil's expansion into plastics amid the clean energy transition, say Greenpeace.

Despite a promise by Coca-Cola to reduce its emissions by 25% by 2030, a large majority of its containers are not recycled.

Surfers Against Sewage said that of the packaging waste collected on clean-ups across the UK, one-fifth carries the Coca-Cola brand.

With so little recycled of the 400 million tons of plastic waste created annually, according to the World Economic Forum, Coca-Cola is the pinnacle of a much broader problem. In the US, for example, only around 5% of plastic waste is recycled, noted Greenpeace in a report released last week that calls out the "failed, toxic plastic recycling myth."

2025 commitment to 'reuse, recycle and compost' won't be met

As plastic waste multiples, the companies that produce it have long claimed that their packaging will soon be largely recyclable or biodegradable.

In a statement released last month following the furor over its COP 27 sponsorship, Coca-Cola said it shares "the goal of eliminating waste from the ocean," and plans to "to collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one we sell" by 2030.

"Our support for COP27 is in line with our science-based target to reduce absolute carbon emissions 25 per cent by 2030, and our ambition for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050," the statement added.

But campaigners question the whole recycling premise.

"Corporations like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé, and Unilever have worked with industry front groups to promote plastic recycling as the solution to plastic waste for decades," said Lisa Ramsden, Greenpeace USA Senior Plastics Campaigner. "But the data is clear: practically speaking, most plastic is just not recyclable."

Nonetheless, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Unilever are among more than 80 corporate signatories to the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment that aims to either eliminate plastic waste or make it part of a sustainable circular economy.

Founded in 2018 by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation — a UK-based charity committed to creating a circular economy — and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the commitment's key target is for signatories to only sell reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025.

A progress report released today acknowledges, however, that the target won't be met.

 

No 'credible path forward'

According to Sander Defruyt, who leads the New Plastics Economy initiative that co-manages the Global Commitment, the failure to meet the key target is widespread among signatories that represent more than 20% of the global plastic packaging market.

"There is a lack of a credible pathway forward," said Defruyt, referring primarily to an ongoing reliance on flexible packaging used in snack, confectionery and personal care products. The problem "is a lack of worldwide consensus" on finding alternatives.

Around 16% of signatories' packaging is flexible packaging that is "super-efficient" at preserving goods, said Defruyt, but remains largely unrecyclable at scale. Flexible packaging such as chip packets or single-use shampoo sachets represents 40% of all plastic packaging globally. "It's incredibly hard to deal with," Defruyt added, noting that recycling rates peak at about 30% in a select few western European countries.

While in Europe at least, a single-use plastics ban will limit some of this packaging, it will be difficult to put a strict ban on flexible packaging "because it is so widespread," Defruyt noted.

Even if the 2022 Global Commitment progress report had some good news, with the share of post-consumer recycled content rising from 4.8% in 2018 to 10.0% in 2021, the level of virgin plastic use increased in 2021 after two years of decline.

The increase hints at skyrocketing demand for products whose plastic packaging cannot be recycled fast enough.

"This reinforces the need for businesses to decouple growth from the use of plastic packaging," stated the Global Commitment progress report.

Recyclability and compostability can help create a more circular economy for waste, but curbing growth will require a "fundamental rethink" of how products are sold and packaged.

A June report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) projects that global plastic use and waste will nearly triple by 2060. Even if plastic recycling does increase in that time, global plastic pollution is still expected to double.

Plastic bottles can't be recycled fast enough to combat fast-rising packaging production

Image: Joy Saha/ZUMA Wire/IMAGO

Recycling isn't the answer

"We can't recycle our way out of this mess — we need holistic system change," said Inger Andersen, executive director at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

Lisa Ramsden notes that recycling rates are "reducing dramatically" in the US, in part because China stopped accepting North American plastic waste in 2019 — around 7 million tons of it annually.

So much plastic is being produced that it's anyway "impossible to collect," she added. The hundreds of billions of PET plastic drink bottles produced annually are theoretically recyclable but sorting out PET from diverse and often contaminated plastic waste is not economically viable.

"The real solution is to switch to systems of reuse and refill," Ramsden said.

But while Coca-Cola has committed to reusing 25% of plastic bottles by 2030 — a program in Latin America has already achieved 16% bottle reuse — Ramsden fears this will be offset by a massive rise in the production of non-reusable bottles.
A global plastics treaty

The ultimate answer, she says, could lie in a legally binding Global Treaty to End Plastic Pollution, which is to be negotiated in November following the UN climate summit.

Endorsed by major polluters such as The Coca-Cola Company, Nestle and Pepsico, the treaty aims to enshrine a global regime of regulations and plastic reduction targets. The deal could become "a key moment in the plastic waste fight," Ramsden said.

For DeFruyt, if the principle of "extended producer responsibility" can be enshrined in the treaty it could also importantly force corporate polluters to pay for and implement recycling or reuse programs.

Tim Schauenberg contributed reporting to this article.
Edited by: Sarah Steffen

Thrown away in Haiti

SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER😈

Joe Manchin tells CEOs it's 'foolish' for them to give money to political candidates while 'asking nothing in return'

bmetzger@insider.com (Bryan Metzger) - 

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia speaks with Thomas McMillen, CEO of the LEAD1 Association, during an event on October 26, 2021 in Washington, DC. 

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin addressed a room full of top CEOs on Thursday morning.

He gave them advice on engaging with a "dysfunctional" political system: "Quit writing checks to everybody."

He said that by "asking nothing in return" for political donations, CEOs were "supporting bad behavior."

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia offered some oddly-worded advice to a gathering of business titans on Thursday: don't give money to politicians without expecting something in return.

The remarks came at the conclusion of his appearance at the Fortune CEO Initiative, where he was interviewed virtually by Fortune Media CEO Alan Murray about his support for the Inflation Reduction Act, his efforts towards passing permitting reform, and the notion of bipartisanship.

Murray concluded the conversation by asking the West Virginia senator, who's much more friendly with big business than other members of his party, how the business community could "better engage" with a "somewhat dysfunctional political system."

"Quit writing checks to everybody," Manchin replied.

He expanded, contrasting the investments that CEOs make in the business world with the money that they contribute to political candidates' campaign accounts.

"They've done that by taking risks, expecting returns on investment," he said. "The investments you've made in politics from the Democrat side, and the Republican side, by asking nothing in return, is a foolish investment because you would never do that in your business world or your private life."

Manchin, a conservative Democrat who has caused headaches for his party by opposing aspects of President Joe Biden's economic and climate agenda, has had his own political contributions from Republicans and corporate executives come under scrutiny over the course of the last year.

Following the initial publication of this article, the West Virginia's senator's communications director, Sam Runyon, sought to clarify Manchin's remarks.

"It is absurd to suggest Senator Manchin was advocating for a quid pro quo," she said in a statement to Insider. "He has long advocated for increased transparency in campaign finances and has repeatedly made the point that both voters and donors should hold elected officials accountable when they simply obstruct progress instead of looking for lasting, bipartisan solutions that put our country ahead of partisan politics."

Manchin suggested on Thursday that CEOs were making political contributions based on broader ideological dynamics — referencing Democrats who are "too liberal" or Republicans who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.

"You say, well, this side's better than that side, yeah, I'll give them money, sure. I don't like that side. They're too liberal," he continued. "I don't like this side because they're deniers, they can't accept the truth or the facts — back and forth."

He told the group that they should engage with politicians directly.

"Why don't you do this: tell a politician when they come to you, say, 'listen, I'm sorry, I don't give checks. I don't give a donation or a contribution to any politician, but I'm willing to make an investment," he said. "What should I expect from you? What are you going to do? What have you done in your political life, and what will you do if this is your first time? Tell me so I can make a decision on whether I want to invest in you, because I can expect something in return."

Manchin added that political contributions from CEOs are fueling "bad behavior" by politicians, suggesting a broader point about political dysfunction.

"Alan, we can't fix it in Washington. I'm telling you, we cannot fix it. You know why?" he said. "You all are supporting bad behavior. You're giving checks to bad behavior."

NGO SOS Méditerranée asks France, Spain and Greece for help in disembarking more than 200 migrants

Daniel Stewart - Yesterday - News 360


The French NGO SOS Méditerranée has asked Thursday for help to the governments of France, Spain and Greece to disembark the 234 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean and who are on board the rescue ship 'Ocean Viking' waiting to reach a safe harbor.


The 'Ocean Viking' rescue ship - 

Gerard Bottino/SOPA Images via Z / DPA

The organization has warned that this is a matter of urgency in the face of possible deteriorating weather conditions. "Strong winds and high waves are expected later this week," the NGO said in a statement.

It has thus lamented that "supplies are running low" almost two weeks after SOS Méditerranée made the first request to dock at a safe port. While the first choice was Italy, the recent change of government and the anti-migration statements made by the new top Italian politicians have significantly reduced the possibilities.

Related video: Migrant rescue by Greek coastguard

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This Wednesday, the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, expressed his refusal to allow the entry of migrants rescued by ships of various NGOs in the Mediterranean and asked that the countries of origin of these ships be the ones to receive the migrants.

This is why the organization has turned to other countries such as France, Spain and Greece, which "are in a better position to provide aid and a safe harbor." However, the organization has clarified that "they are not looking for France to open a port for them" but simply to "contribute to finding a solution".

Since the beginning of 2022, some 1,700 people have disappeared in the Mediterranean, 1,287 of them in the central area, which is already the most dangerous migratory route in the world, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Italian government data indicate that almost 86,000 people arrived by sea in Italy between January and November 2022, half of whom are from Tunisia, Egypt and Bangladesh. In the same period of 2021, the figure was around 53,000, while in 2020 it was 28,300.

Germany urges Italy to help migrants stranded onboard NGO boats

Issued on: 04/11/2022 - 

01:24

Migrants are rescued by crew members of NGO rescue ship 'Ocean Viking' in the Mediterranean Sea, October 26, 2022. © Camille Martin Juan/SOS MEDITE via Reuters

Text by: NEWS WIRES|
Video by: Seema GUPTA

Germany has urged Italy to help migrants who have been onboard a German-flagged NGO boat for more than a week, saying charity vessels operating in the Mediterranean play an important role in saving lives at sea.

Three ships run by charities, including Germany's SOS Humanity, have been at sea off Italy for more than a week, carrying almost 1,000 migrants.

They said all their requests to dock have so far proved unsuccessful.

Giorgia Meloni, Italy's new rightist prime minister, said the flag nations of the charity ships in question should take care of the migrants currently stranded at sea, after her government threatened to ban them from entering its waters.

In an emailed statement seen by Reuters, the German embassy in Rome said there were currently 104 unaccompanied minors on the German-flagged ship Humanity 1.

"Many of them need medical care. We have asked the Italian government to provide help quickly," said the embassy statement, issued on Wednesday evening.

Earlier last week, Italy sent letters to the embassies of Germany and Norway saying the conduct of two NGO ships flying their flags was not in line with national security rules, border control and the fight against illegal immigration.

The German embassy replied saying its government believed "civil organisations" rescuing migrants at sea "make an important contribution to saving lives in the Mediterranean".

"Rescuing people in mortal danger is the most important thing," the German statement said.

Charity SOS Mediterranee, whose boat is currently carrying 234 people, said the weather was set to worsen at sea in the coming days and asked Greece, France or Spain to provide help as Malta and Italy had not responded to docking requests.

Italy's foreign ministry said it asked Germany to provide detailed information about conditions aboard the Humanity 1, and pledged to provide emergency assistance should it be necessary.

(REUTERS)